Map of Bianjing Town and Surroundings [https://i.imgur.com/6KCvGJK.jpg]
This is a map of Bianjing Town and the surrounding area, of the type that would usually go in a front page insert in a fantasy novel. Royal Road requires that I have 500 words in order to publish this, so I'll talk about the map a little bit below.
First of all, the map itself has been sized down in order to fit into Royal Road's layout. If you right click and open the image in a new tab, you will be able to zoom in and take in the full level of detail that the artist put into it.
My favorite detail is the linework in the water. This was inspired by actual old Chinese maps, as was the depiction of the mountains. The illustrations of the trees and forests are also quite nice. I also liked the effort put into depicting the cities.
I'm the kind of reader who used to spend hours staring at the maps in the front of books like The Eye of the World and A Game of Thrones. Besides just acting as a guide to where everything is located, a great map can help to bring a whole fantasy world to life.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
I hope that this map can do that for everybody reading Heart of Cultivation. The artist, Tiffany Munro, did a fantastic job. The map looked great from the initial draft, but it really came alive as we went back and forth to flesh it out. Tiffany was very enthusiastic about the project and was very easy to work with. I highly recommend you look her up for all of your fantasy cartographical needs.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank everybody reading this on Royal Road for your support. I love seeing comments on the story, I love getting reviews, and I love getting ratings. Every time I get some indication that you guys are not just reading the story but that you're also getting invested in what's going on, it makes me so happy.
Right now, Heart of Cultivation has received enough support that it should make a decent splash on the trending list when it becomes eligible. If I understand how the system works, that will be in a week or so. I will be releasing a chapter a day for at least the next eight days so you'll all have a reason to keep an eye on the story.
If you can take a minute to leave a rating on the story, it really would be a big help. Every star is incredibly precious right now. The Trending list is Royal Road's main tool for promoting newly written stories. In order to catch on in a big way, it's important to make the most of your chance to shine on trending. Your rating, besides being valuable feedback in and of itself, can also help push Heart of Cultivation higher on the list and help bring it to the eyes of a bigger audience.
Anyways, that's my 500 words, so I'll shut up and let you enjoy the map. Have fun!