Even selling books could boost his Qi Luck. What started as Ian Song’s idle way to pass the time was now turning serious.
Once six hundred copies of Legend of the Condor Heroes had been sold, the book’s reputation began spreading through the capital. Storytellers started performing Legend of the Condor Heroes in teahouses and taverns as well.
So, on the tenth day—
A thousand copies of Legend of the Condor Heroes actually sold out.
Since the System could make books incredibly fast, he simply pulled out another two thousand copies and distributed them to each bookstore.
Then, over the next three days—
Sales exploded, with twelve hundred copies sold in just three days.
But on the fourth day, sales suddenly plummeted. Ian Song was surprised and sent the bookstore clerks to investigate. That’s when he learned that pirated copies had appeared on the market.
Official copies cost five mace of silver each, but pirated copies were only one mace. Even though the pirated books were shoddier, the content was the same.
“Damn it!”
Naturally, Ian Song was annoyed. After selling over two thousand books, his Qi Luck had increased by more than three hundred points. But now someone was trying to block his Qi Luck—how could he tolerate that?
So, that very day, he tracked down the workshop making the pirated books.
He knocked out all the workers on the spot, smashed every piece of equipment in the workshop, and dragged the pirated books into the yard to burn them in a single blaze.
The next day—
When the owner of the pirate workshop heard the news, he was so furious he started cursing. All his printing equipment had been smashed, costing him at least dozens of taels of silver. And the burned pirated books? That was money up in smoke too.
Unfortunately, even if he wanted to rebuild the workshop, it would take at least five or six days.
So—
With no pirated books on the market, sales of Legend of the Condor Heroes bounced back to over three hundred copies.
Then Ian Song produced another two thousand copies.
And as Legend of the Condor Heroes continued to make waves, the author Azure Lotus Hermit began to gain fame as well. That’s right—Azure Lotus Hermit was Ian Song’s pen name.
Unbeknownst to Ian, a whole month slipped by in the blink of an eye.
By the end of the month, sales of Legend of the Condor Heroes had surpassed ten thousand copies. As for that persistent pirate workshop, after Ian smashed up their operation a second time, they finally gave up.
With one pirate shop out of the game, others sprang up to take its place. Ian dealt with them in the simplest, most brutal way possible—wrecking their equipment and burning every pirated book he found.
After several rounds of this, the pirates finally lost their nerve and abandoned the idea altogether.
A few days later—
Book merchants from other towns started showing up at the bookstore, eager to buy in bulk.
Seeing the opportunity, Ian sold three hundred copies at three maces of silver apiece. Over the next few days, more merchants came knocking, and he sold to all of them at the same price.
"Brother Song, when's your next novel coming out?"
That day, Ian had just returned to his dorm when Gavin Yan cornered him. With Legend of the Condor Heroes selling like hotcakes and Ian handing him a generous twenty taels of silver, Gavin was more motivated than ever.
"Funny you should ask, Brother Yan—I was just looking for you!" Ian grinned, handing Gavin a fresh manuscript. "Here’s the new novel. Read it first, then work on the illustrations. No need to rush—it’s a ten-day deadline this time, and the total pay is fifty taels!"
"No problem, Brother Song! I’ll have the illustrations done within ten days, guaranteed!"
"I believe in you, Brother Yan!"
Ian clapped Gavin on the shoulder. The book he’d handed over was none other than Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Gavin devoured Romance of the Three Kingdoms in just two days, once again blown away by the story. After a brief rest, he dove straight into the illustrations.
On the eighth day, Gavin delivered over a hundred illustrations to Ian, who reviewed them and was quite pleased. He paid Gavin fifty taels on the spot, leaving Gavin so happy he nearly forgot which way was north.
The very next day—
Fifteen bookstores now had Romance of the Three Kingdoms on their shelves.
With the clerks actively recommending it, the novel took off like wildfire—selling eight hundred copies in just three days.
After that, sales only got hotter.
A month later—
Total sales of Legend of the Condor Heroes reached thirty thousand copies, including purchases by out-of-town booksellers. Romance of the Three Kingdoms unexpectedly surged ahead, selling nearly forty thousand copies—mainly because outside merchants, having tasted success, bought twenty thousand copies directly from Ian.
The capital had no piracy, but outside regions did. So, these merchants bought extra copies of Romance of the Three Kingdoms to seize the market and get ahead of the competition.
Combined, the two books sold over sixty thousand copies. Ian earned tens of thousands of taels of silver and gained more than ten thousand Qi Luck, convincing him to expand his publishing business.
However, he didn’t rush to release a third book, since the jinshi exam was just days away. His teacher, Zachary Cai, had just returned to the capital for an official post and sent someone to summon Ian for private tutoring at his mansion.
A few days passed in a blur.
Ian made his way to the exam hall with practiced ease, passed the security check, and entered.
The following afternoon—
Ian left the exam hall and was escorted to Zachary Cai’s mansion. Zachary first asked about his exam performance, kept him for dinner, and only let him leave after. Ian also met Zachary’s family.
Zachary Cai had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son became a second-tier jinshi six years ago and now works in the Ministry of Personnel.
His younger son is still a xiucai.
His seventeen-year-old daughter should have married by now, but her fiancé passed away before the wedding.
She’s remained unmarried at seventeen, observing a three-year mourning period for her late fiancé. The mourning will end by year’s end.
Back at the Imperial Academy dorm, Ian entered and was greeted by the smell of alcohol. Gavin Yan was dead drunk, tear-streaked—clearly, he’d failed the exam.
Ian put Gavin to bed and pulled out an essay collection to read.
The essay collection was written by his teacher, Zachary Cai, and given as a personal gift.
Ian flipped through the essays, nodding in admiration—Zachary Cai truly deserved his reputation as a literary patriarch; every line was a gem.
The jinshi results wouldn’t be posted for another three days.
So Ian decided to start another novel.
This time, he planned to write for a female audience.
Next morning—
Ian found Gavin Yan awake and packing his bags.
“Gavin, what are you doing?”
Ian asked.
“Ah, I failed the exam again. I have a wife and child at home—I can’t make them wait any longer!” Gavin sighed, looking utterly dejected.
Ian consoled him: “Don’t lose heart, Gavin. Even if you didn’t pass this time, as a juren you can still secure an official post back home.”
“You’re right!”
Gavin nodded.
Ian personally saw him off at the capital gate.
Back at the Imperial Academy, Ian exchanged his new manuscript for a finished book and then illustrated it himself.
The new book was called Wrong Carriage, Right Groom. Ian hadn’t read the original novel, but he had seen the TV drama.
He drew at remarkable speed.
In just half an hour, he produced hundreds of illustrations, had the System scan and color them, then bound the book.
By the next day, bookshelves at fifteen stores held copies of Wrong Carriage, Right Groom.