Chapter 525: I Know Your Secret (3)
Marquis Xia sighed and said, "And this is reality. A cruel reality. Do you still think that you only need proof for everyone to kill that Invincible and avenge the fifth principal? At most, that person would be told to fight an enemy Invincible to the death. The matter would be erased with the death of one of them. Without my old man's help, who can you rely on?"
Su Yu had nothing to say. Yes. That was reality. Marquis Xia was not giving an empty promise. Great Xia King was the only person who might be willing to punish the perpetrator for them.
"I understand." Su Yu sighed and nodded, "I can agree to this. The Xia Family will be given priority when I have new cultivation methods to sell in the future. But the Xia Family needs to give me fair prices for those cultivation methods."
"Sure." Marquis Xia said, "Don't think that you have been wronged. Don't think that this is a loss. To speak the truth, the Xia Family could always pretend to be blind like all the other Invincibles. Do you think that an Invincible is so easy to deal with? A single mistake might destroy the entire Xia Family. What would happen then? This might be our promise to you, but this is also our way of showing our regret to the fifth principal. This is also a way to showcase my old man's determination to eradicate all evil."
"Great Xia King is a great man."
Su Yu praised. But he had to admit that Marquis Xia was really...persuasive.
Sigh.
He had not managed to get any benefits from this talk. Threats and promises, carrot and stick. The marquis had utilized all that masterfully.
Marquis Xia smiled, "Su Yu, do you have any other requests?"
"Yes. The Xia Family can all three versions of the acupoint fusion method, but the best version can only be taught to those from the main branch. My permission is required if you wish to teach it to anyone else. And I need payment for each person you taught."
Marquis Xia raised his brow. He still need to pay?
"I will get some people to protect Liu Wenyan and Bai Feng..."
Su Yu said, "That was why I agreed to give you the first and second versions without charging you anything. The removal of the debt is only worth getting a copy of the three versions and no other associated rights.
"If you think this isn't worth it, just stop protecting. If even the Vanguard Regiment, a place receiving so much attention from the Invincibles, can be touched by people with ulterior motives, I can only say that there is no light in the Human Realm. In that case, I should stop struggling and go into retirement. I'll calmly wait for death."
Marquis Xia was completely speechless.
Su Yu continued, "Both the first and second versions must be named the Double Wu Acupoint Fusion Art. They are the products of our Source Soul Research Center. Be sure to put that label on every copy you make.
"Also, for the two versions, the Source Soul Research Center will be entitled to one merit point per person you teach. This isn't an excessive request, right? After all, we need money for research and development."
Marquis Xia said, "So 300,000 merit points, protection for your father and teachers, and more payments after that?"
Su Yu shook his head, "No. The one merit point is the copyright fee for letting you use the name of our Source Soul Research Center on your cultivation manual. It's fair, right? After all, you're making a profit from a product with our name on it."
"..."
Fuck!
What manner of logic was this?
This kid was the one who had asked to have the Source Soul Research Center labeled on each copy. And now, he was charging for that? In that case, why should he agree to label the copies?
Su Yu solemnly said, "Because not long after this, the Source Soul Research Center would become a research center known throughout the Human Realm or even the Myriad Realms. Our name would embody quality and evoke confidence in others. There are a lot of other acupoint fusion methods in the market. Why should others buy ours? Because ours came from the Source Soul Research Center!"
"Those are some boastful words." Marquis Xia laughed, "You seem quite confident."
Su Yu nodded, "Yes, I'm confident. If the marquis thinks that I don't deserve to be confident, you are free to get the Xia Family to create their own acupoint fusion method."
"..."
Marquis Xia laughed and asked, "Are you not afraid of offending me? I might hold a grudge from this."
"The marquis is a generous person. He naturally wouldn't hold a grudge over something like this. Business is not something you do once or twice. It is something you do long-term. If you're unwilling to take a step back even once, how can you do it for long?"
Su Yu smiled, "After taking a loss this time, I might start asking myself if there is any need for me to take out my new creations. After all, I won't get anything out of them. Wouldn't it be better to cultivate them myself? Apart from a bellyful of anger, I would get nothing out of disseminating my creations. You're taking this step back today for the sake of more opportunities to cooperate in the future."
Marquis Xia smiled, "Interesting. Are you interested in joining the Xia Family after reaching the Skysoar Realm?"
"Sure."
Xia Huyou hurriedly said, "Second Granduncle, he's trying to provoke the enemies of the multiple character faction. He might even go and provoke the Zhou Family. That will bring a lot of trouble to us!"
Marquis Xia laughed and gave Xia Huyou a kick before saying, "What are you scared of? So what if we provoke them? All smart people know that to get more, you need to give more as well. If he decides to provoke the Zhou Family, he naturally has to produce enough benefits to offset that level of trouble. Do you understand now?"
"Why should the Xia Family protect him from the Zhou Family?" Marquis Xia smiled, "If he has more value than the Zhou Family, we would definitely do so. For example, he is someone capable of creating a profit of millions and millions of merit points for us each year. In that situation, we can easily get your great grandpa to go and fight a few rounds against the Zhou Family. He can satiate his lust for battle while we get to profit from it. Isn't that great? What do you think, Su Yu?"
Su Yu had a helpless smile. The marquis was right.
Marquis Xia said, "The Xia Family won't kill anyone for him. If he is capable of killing an Invincible, he is free to do so. But if he provokes one without the ability to face that Invincible, we can simply protect his life. If we can get something in equal value for that protection, we won't make a loss."
He looked at Xia Huyou and sighed. What a stupid grandnephew. What was this silly grandnephew thinking?
Why would they be afraid of the Zhou Family? What was the big deal of offending them? Did the silly grandnephew not know that his dad and great grandpa were both free labor? If there was an opportunity to send those two out to fight while they kick back and earn money, why would they say no?
The two of them could simply treat the fights as an exchange of pointers. How great was that? The Xia Family was wary of the Zhou Family, but was the Zhou Family not wary of them as well? What a joke!
Su Yu laughed, "The marquis is wise. Compared to Brother Xia, the marquis is truly an example I should learn from."
Marquis Xia smiled, "Why didn't you ask for protection for yourself?"
"There is no need for that."
Su Yu grinned.
Marquis Xia smiled as well. Yeah, there was no need to ask for that. Because they would protect him even without being asked to do it. They couldn't allow him to die, right? That would be a great loss! The kid was still hiding a lot of things in that brain of his. If he was killed off just like that, it would be a massive loss.
At this point, Marquis Xia stopped talking about business. While sipping on his tea, he sighed, "At such a young age, you sure specialize in a lot of things. Do you even have enough time?"
Su Yu smiled, "It's fine. I'm not really specializing too much. I simply never enjoyed getting bullied since I was a boy. These days, some people love bullying others. Someone without a background would be bullied even worse. I don't know why some people enjoy doing something so unethical."
"This is a flaw of humanity." Marquis Xia said, "You're right. Nobody has it easy nowadays. This has been a productive talk. Do you have anything else to sell? A cultural art or something like that?"
"I'm not lacking in money for now."
Marquis Xia said, "Money is not the only thing you can get. You can also consider selling your stuff for natural treasures, grotto entries, willpower texts, or anything you lack. Feel free to tell us about it. The Xia Family is still quite wealthy."
Su Yu smiled, "I don't lack anything for now. I'll be sure to look for you when I need something."
"Sure." Marquis Xia stood up. He suddenly recalled something and smiled, "If we manage to find that Nanyuan ruin, we can split what we get at a ratio of 3:7. You'll get 3 while we'll get 7. What do you think?"
"..."
Su Yu's expression did not change in the slightest. His mind remained empty as he smiled, "I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Forget it. When you need to look for that ruin again, let me know. This ruin...is very interesting. I think I underestimated it before."
"..."
Marquis Xia left with Xia Huyou in tow. Meanwhile, Su Yu was still forcing his mind to stay empty. Although Sunmoons were supposed to only be able to sense the thoughts related to themselves, he still didn't want to think anything. A ruin!
"Yes. I can't expose the ruin!"
Su Yu started madly thinking about that one thing. He continued walking with Marquis Xia until the entrance while repeating that thought in his mind. Even when Marquis Xia's carriage was already far away, he was still maintaining that thought. Yes. He had discovered a ruin in Nanyuan. That was how he had accomplished all this. That was why he was so special.
A ruin!
After a long, long time, Su Yu finally stopped. Ruin your mother. Why was he not aware that he had found a ruin? Had he obtained the golden book from a ruin? He was unsure, but it felt unlikely. Or perhaps there was really a ruin there. He had obtained a book through the ruin by pure chance when he was young. Who knew the truth?
Evidently, Marquis Xia believed that he had received the inheritance of a ruin.
At this moment, Su Yu started growing curious about these ancient ruins. Were these ruins...so amazing? He could use one of these ruins as the scapegoat for the incredible cultivation method he created and the marquis wouldn’t even doubt it? In that case, these ruins might really be quite impressive.