After a while, Wen Zhong said, "A single good cultivation method is capable of building an entire household out of nothing. For example, the Myriad Text Sutra is split into the Skysoar and Cloudbreach versions. It is the most commonly practiced cultural art. One can purchase the Skysoar version for 200 merit points and the Cloudbreach version for 500 merit points. In total, they can earn 700 merit points per set.
"The academy will take a 10 percent share of the sales. The local prefecture will take a 30 percent share of the sales. The Knowledge Seeking Realm will take a 20 percent share. The remaining 40 percent will be given to the creator.
"A Cloudbreach will have to spend 700 merit points for the cultivation method alone, excluding techniques, willpower texts, and everything else. The creator can earn 280 merit points per copy. Su Yu, do you know the number of cultural researchers in the Human Realm?"
Su Yu shook his head. He had no idea.
"In Great Ming alone, we have roughly 10,000 of them. And I'm only taking about those at the Skysoar Realm and above."
"What?" Su Yu said, "There are only about 500 in Great Xia Cultural Research Academy..."
Wen Zhong said, "That's the academy, not the prefecture. Including all three cultural research academies of Great Xia, they have over a thousand cultural researchers. Only those at the Skysoar Realm and above can be considered cultural researchers.
"Also, you might have forgotten one thing. The academies do not have the highest number of cultural researchers. For example, the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy is required to provide at least 50 Skysoars to the army per year. You're aware of that, right?"
"Yeah."
"Think about it. Both the Daoseeking Cultural Research Academy and Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy are probably required to provide around 40 to 50 cultural researchers per year as well, right? Thus, the military will receive around 100 cultural researchers per year. Sure, Great Xia has a high number of yearly casualties as well, but even if they lose a third of their cultural researchers per year, they will still have 70 survivors. In the Human Realm, each generation lasts about 100 years. All in all, Great Xia probably has over 10,000 cultural researchers in their ranks."Su Yu was surprised, "You mean..."
"We have 38 prefectures, but excluding the Dual Holy Prefecture and the Allheaven Prefecture that are not proper prefectures, we have 36 regular prefectures. Assume we have 360,000 cultural researchers in the Human Realm, excluding the elders from the previous generation. Each of these people can contribute a profit of 280 merit points to you. You can earn around 100 million merit points within a single generation of 100 years. That is the minimum you can earn.
"This is the kind of money a household that has created a popular cultivation method can stand to earn. And the income will last for many years since new cultural researchers will appear each year. Thus, with the appearance of your cultivation method, you are essentially ruining their income."
Su Yu frowned. This was not something he had considered before.
"This is different from something like acupoint fusion arts. An acupoint fusion art won't ruin anyone's income..." But his tone turned bitter as he said, "Not really. You did ruin my income. Whatever. It's not like there are a lot of people using my cultivation method before this."
Su Yu suddenly felt awkward. That was right.
Wen Zhong was the creator of the Fusion Sutra.
"Junior Brother, you also need to consider the fact that the Knowledge Seeking Realm is the distributor of the Myriad Text Sutra. That does not mean that it belongs to the entire Knowledge Seeking Realm. Rather, only some of the families in the Knowledge Seeking Realm hold the rights. It's the same case for the War God Art. Great Xia actually holds part of the rights to the War God Art."
So he was essentially going to be ruining the income of others. This was something that could earn those people millions per year. That was a terrifying figure. Even after getting so many Sunmoons and Mountainseas killed, Su Yu had yet to earn a million merit points. Meanwhile, those people were easily earning that much each year.
As the saying goes, severing one's income was the same as murdering one's parents. If they were open-minded, it would be fine. If not, then they would deem Su Yu their number one enemy.
Even Su Yu himself would be furious if someone dared to ruin his income of a million merit points per year.
"Do you understand now, Junior Brother."
Su Yu said, "Yes. But this is how things are. The better will always replace the worse. My cultivation method is better, so it will replace theirs. Just like how the Myriad Text Sutra replaced whatever cultivation method humanity was using before. And this is how things should be. Cultivation methods should always be replaced by better options."
He understood the risk, but this was the way the world works. The better would always replace the worse. Why should the masses continue using an inferior cultivation method? It made no sense.
Su Yu asked, "Which family holds the right to the Myriad Text Sutra?"
"The Zhou and Yuan Families." Wen Zhong said, "The Zhou Family of Great Zhou and the Yuan Family of Great Yuan. The Myriad Text Sutra was something jointly created by Great Zhou King and Great Yuan King. Great Ming is not a part of that. You're essentially planning to ruin the income of Invincible families."
Su Yu frowned, "Am I supposed to keep a powerful cultivation method to myself?"
"Of course you can distribute it, but you need to reach an agreement with the Zhu Family." Wen Zhong softly said, "The Zhu Family is not necessarily evil, but they also aren't stupidly righteous. Just be careful lest you get scammed. Prefect Zhu is not a bad person, but he might intentionally neglect this risk so that you will be forced to stay with Great Ming forever. After all, you have offended two Invincible families..."
Su Yu nodded in understanding. That was right. Was Zhu Tiandao a bad person? Su Yu did not think so. But did Zhu Tiandao want to keep Su Yu in Great Ming? Definitely. And how was he supposed to achieve that?
If Su Yu could leave Great Xia, he could definitely leave Great Ming in the future as well. But what if Su Yu ended up offending two Invincible families? Other prefectures would not be so willing to take him in anymore.
After all, he would essentially offend the Zhou, Yuan, Zhu, and Xia Families at that point. Was he even worth recruiting anymore? Where else could he go? The price of leaving would be too high.
Su Yu nodded in understanding. He said nothing else. He would wait and see.
***
Prefect's residence.
Zhu Tiandao was lazily listening to some music while lounging on his comfortable couch. He was surrounded by the descendants of the Zhu Family. Some were focused on the singers on the stage, while some were enjoying the delicacies before them.
This was an everyday sight in the Zhu Family. There were a lot of family gatherings.
Zhu Tiandao placed a lot of importance in the relationship between his family members. Thus, most of them stayed in the palace, and they would frequently have their meals together. According to Zhu Tiandao, cultivators were too long-lived, so they could very easily lose touch of their human side. And someone without emotions could very easily turn into a psychopath. Thus, he wanted to avoid that.
Suddenly, a guard walked in and whispered into his ear. Zhu Tiandao raised his brow. Su Yu and Wen Zhong were visiting? Why were they visiting so late?
But he still stood up. He was about to leave when Zhu Qingyan asked curiously, "Grandpa, is Su Yu here to see you?"
"Yeah."
"He's a boring guy..." Zhu Qingyan gloomily said, "He's as dull as a piece of plank."
Zhu Tiandao laughed.
He looked at the others. At this point, the singers on the stage had stopped singing. He smiled and said, "We're family, so I'll be frank. I don't care how arrogant and proud you guys are in private. Publicly, all of you represent the Zhu Family. Be respectful when you see an expert. Be polite when you see a genius. Be lively when you see your elders.
"Stop doing stupid things. The Zhu Family is not afraid of trouble, but we do not like causing trouble. The Zhu Family will protect its descendants even if those stupid descendants end up causing trouble due to their arrogance. But it's not like we can't afford to give up on a few descendants that are too unreasonable."
His gaze landed on Zhu Qingyan as his smile vanished. With a frown, he said, "Be mature. For his sake, I killed two Sunmoons and more than ten Mountainseas. I courted a massive trouble because of him. Even if you don't know how important he is, you should be able to see his value from my actions. Do not make me think that you're a fool. If I think that you're too stupid to be educated, your identity as the eighth princess is honestly not even as valuable as a Sunmoon. Do you understand me?"
Zhu Qingyan's expression changed as she hurriedly nodded, "I understand, Grandpa."
"Good girl!" Zhu Tiandao smiled. He looked at the male descendants and said, "The Zhu Family is not afraid of having weak descendants. But we're definitely afraid of having stupid descendants. It's fine to be weak since my old man is still around. I'm still around as well. We can protect you. But stupidity....there is no cure for that.
"Su Yu is a genius. He is both talented and smart. He also has plenty of courage. Thus, I have a very high opinion of him. But that's not the reason for you to be envious. Do not be stupid. Why am I trying so hard to rope in talented individuals? They are meant to protect people like you, not me!
"Someone like that can be your friend and your future savior. Why must you turn someone like that into an enemy? A smart person will turn an enemy into a friend. Only an idiot will turn a friend into an enemy.
"Let me reiterate. The Zhu Family does not need any fools in its ranks. You can be weak, but you can't be stupid. Do you understand me?"
All the youngsters answered, "We understand."
Zhu Tiandao smiled and walked away.
Immediately after, the third son of Zhu Tiandao and Zhu Qingyan's father frowned as he berated, "Qingyan, do not make such a foolish mistake in the future. Your grandpa picked you as Su Yu's betrothal candidate because he looks highly upon you. You are in no position to be nitpicking. Even if you're willing to accept the marriage, Su Yu might not be willing. Geniuses and experts will only consider marrying into Invincible families if they are left with absolutely no choice."
Zhu Qingyan felt wronged. She said, "Dad, I didn't even say much! Grandpa already scolded me. Why are you scolding me as well?"
What did she say? She had merely said that Su Yu was dull. Was she wrong? That bastard had even claimed that he wasn't a playboy. In that case, why did a girl chase him all the way from Great Xia? That girl had even moved in with Su Yu. That Su Yu was totally a hypocrite and a liar!