Chapter 273 Getting Ready for Publication
From there, the Rebirth Sword Technique was submitted to the Knight Association, and supposedly, it would feature in the Knight’s handbook that was due to be handed out at the end of the month. The Headmasters of the respective academies and big shots of the various departments would then slowly get to know about how powerful the Rebirth Sword Technique was, and then start to purchase the rights to this sword technique. The entire process would probably still take very long.
Therefore, while the Rebirth Sword Technique could bring about great returns, it would probably be of no help to Fang Xingjian in the short run.
Now, Fang Xingjian still had to earnestly practice the Ninety Thousand Godly Demon Flash, and publish books to earn money while the hype related to his Regional Champion title was still there.
Therefore, after Fang Xingjian had spent one night bringing the Ninety Thousand Godly Demon Flash to level 9, the next morning, he once again headed to the inn where Ferdinand was at.
However, when he arrived at the inn, he was informed that Ferdinand and the others were no longer staying there. Following the address that Ferdinand had left behind, Fang Xingjian came to a small two-storey manor in the southern corner of the Great Western City. The manor had a small garden of about twenty square meter. The building was a European-styled house which seemed to have only been built a couple of years before.
Ferdinand opened the door to welcome Fang Xingjian and said, “This place isn’t that bad, right? I was thinking that we can’t keep staying at the inn, and since I’ve won a large sum of money from you winning the title of Regional Champion, I might as well put the money to use and buy this house.
“This house originally belonged to a Knight from Great Western City. He was transferring to Southern Flame Region, and since he was in a rush to sell it off, I got it for only 800 gold.”
As he spoke, he was leading Fang Xingjian to the hall, where they found a furry carpet and a real leather couch that made one feel as if they would sink in when they sat on it. There would be maids serving drinks and snacks at all times, and each corner of the room had a block of ice half a meter tall, that emanated a chilling air. There was no hint of the summer heat in the room at all.
Fang Xingjian sighed, “You really know how to enjoy yourself.”
Ferdinand smiled, “Since I have the money, I can’t possibly treat myself badly. How’s your progress?”
Robert and Anthony also walked in, looking at Fang Xingjian in anticipation.
Fang Xingjian took out the outline he wrote on the process of his cultivation. There was another set, which consisted of the main points and insights he had when he was cultivating the basic sword techniques.
Ferdinand took the books and flipped through them. Fang Xingjian asked, “Oh, right. If we were to sell books, do we need to get approval from the government? How are you guys planning on printing them?”
These two were the questions he had been puzzled about, but had not managed to find an answer to.
Ferdinand looked at the documents, nodding occasionally, while he answered Fang Xingjian, “Approval? We’re just selling books, what approval do we need? At most, we’ll just need to pay some taxes to the municipal government. Alternatively, we can pay them some bribes, or just sell them illegally. We won’t even have to pay any taxes then.
“As for the printing, we can use mechanical printing. Haha, we have the Second Prince to thank. If not for him gathering a bunch of people together to invent paper and printing, it’d be troublesome.”
Only after Fang Xingjian asked for more details did he learn that paper and printing had also existed in Miracle World in the past. However, it was basic woodblock printing or rough papyrus. The Second Prince had taken the lead to start a revolution for making mechanical printing and white paper of better quality possible. It had sped up the dissemination of documents and culture within the Empire.
‘Is the Second Prince thinking of using the modern technology on Earth to slowly change the entire country? However, against the First Prince’s absolute violence, this method would take effect far too slowly…’
Fang Xingjian contemplated about the Second Prince while Ferdinand continued, “The story is too simple. I’ll get someone to make some changes to it. As for the insights, I’ll leave them be. I have faith in your sword arts level.”
“Changing the story?”
Ferdinand grinned, “Just twisting it a little. It’s best to say stuff like ‘despite being looked down on by superiors, teachers, and foreigners, the student independently proved himself to be outstanding,’ or stuff like that. People like to read things like these.”
Fang Xingjian frowned. Although he did not like having his story falsified, earning money was more important. Therefore, he could only say, “Don’t go overboard with it.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely make you sound great.” Ferdinand then smiled again, “A Knight who was down in the dumps becoming a great genius, soaring and amazing everyone else! After gaining fame and reputation, he was neither conceited nor rash, falling in love at first sight with a lady who was a commoner. Hehe, the maids from my previous manor all liked to read such novels.”
Fang Xingjian said with indifference, “I’ve also registered a new Nurturing sword technique. When the time comes, I’ll need you to help work things out. If anyone comes to purchase the rights, I’ll get them to look for you here.”
Ferdinand nodded, his eyes still fixed on the book Fang Xingjian had written, not paying much heed to the new sword technique. It was really not easy to sell Nurturing sword techniques, let alone to sell them for a good price.
Most of the time, they were created by people with great authority, great masters, or who owned an entire academy after much effort and after having invested a tremendous amount of time and money.
After all, creating things like Nurturing sword techniques as a basic research study was something that countless generations of people had gone through great efforts to accomplish. Even the slightest improvement required a much too great price to be paid.
However, Ferdinand had another idea. He lifted his head and asked Fang Xingjian, “Xingjian, currently, your talent is great, and the speed at which you learn at is very fast, right?”
He was asking the obvious. A person who was able to comprehend all seven mysteries of the Pantheon Monument would undoubtedly have great talent and amazing learning abilities.
Fang Xingjian ‘looked’ at him and nodded.
Ferdinand then asked again, “Then what’s the level 29 armor that the academy has rewarded you with? Is it an entire set of armor? Are its defensive abilities very strong? When do you think you’ll be able to complete your second transition?”
Hearing his series of questions, Fang Xingjian said, “Get to the point.”
“Hehe, I’m hoping to stir up your reputation a bit before starting to sell the books. I’ve heard that in your Regional Academy, ordinary Killing techniques are in the library, while the compulsory Killing techniques of each department are in the Killing Techniques Palace.”
“Killing Techniques Palace?” Fang Xingjian frowned. He had yet to learn about this, but he was now hearing it from Ferdinand, an outsider to the academy.
The Regional Academy had various courses, one of which was the Killing technique class. The requirement was for each student to pick up the compulsory Killing techniques of their respective departments.
These Killing techniques were all in the Killing Techniques Palace. The Sword Arts Department that Fang Xingjian was in had four sets of Killing technique in the Killing Techniques Palace. Each student needed to gradually progress in the respective Killing technique before moving onto the next one.
Ferdinand continued, “I don’t know the details of the learning process in the Killing Techniques Palace, but I’m thinking that with your talent, you’d probably be able to set a new record in the Regional Academy. When that happens, it’ll be easier for us to sell the books.”
He smiled and said, “Solving the mysteries to the Pantheon Monument, then setting a record in the Killing Techniques Palace. An unrivalled talent breaking consecutive records, astonishing the higher echelon of the Empire and climbing to the peak in the Regional Academy. What are the secrets behind his success? It’ll all be in the book. Hehe, how attractive is this headline? How many people would buy the book?”
Anthony grabbed his chin and said, “Is it too offending?” If this was really written in the books, it would probably offend a whole load of students in the academy.
Ferdinand laughed coldly, “Offending? The Prefectural Selection chooses ten out of hundreds and thousands of people, the Regional Selection chooses ten out of a few hundred people, and the National Selection chooses another ten out of eighty people. Each of the champions fight their way to the top.
“There’re limited resources in this world. One must fight to get what they want. Only those who are weak and have mediocre talent are afraid of offending people. It’s because they can’t win in a fight.
“As for those who succeed… Which genius would be afraid of offending people? To get first place, to get even more resources, one naturally needs to snatch from others. When you get more resources, others naturally get less. If you’re afraid of offending people, then you can just resign to being a person without any accomplishments for all your life.”
With that, he looked at Xingjian and said, “Isn’t that right, Xingjian?”