Ikasa carefully read each and every word of the User manual. When he was finished reading, a joyous feeling arose from the bottom of his heart.
"Not only can this Printer help me earn money, but it can also help me level up… Ahem Cultivate."
The Cultivation Manuals created by the Printer were one-time use. After using them once, they will be destroyed. The user will, in turn, develop an instinct to cultivate according to the correct method. This would prevent the scenario where 1 cultivation manual is shared by many.
For every Path Forging realm Cultivation Manual used, Ikasa will receive 1 cultivation point.
And these Cultivation Points could be used to increase his Cultivation. Ikasa needed 100 cultivation points to step into Path Forging Realm.
"But I need 1 cultivation point to copy or draw a Cultivation Manual. How am I supposed to earn points?"
Ikasa rubbed his head in frustration.
"Wait. The Silver Buttons! If Golden was a First Time User Bonus and White was regular expenditure, then what was Silver?"
Ikasa once again skimmed through the relevant sections of the User manual.
"... On every Sunrise, the Printer will gather enough energy to Print a new manual or Copy an existing Manual without expending respective points."
"Woo-Hoo! This basically means I have one free Random Print or a Copy every day!"
That night Ikasa dreamed of becoming the Strongest Person in the world.
The following morning, Ikasa connected to the Printer and waited. As soon as the button turned Silver, he immediately chose Print. Rubbing his hands, he watched in anticipation as the Printer sucked in air.
A new Manual had appeared before him. Different from the black background of the Cultivation Manual, this one had a dark red cover.
On this red background, silvery-white letters had appeared.
{Gazelle Punch}
It was actually a Punching Technique! A quick skim through the book, and he classified it as a Mid Grade Path Forging Realm Battle Technique.
Though a bit disappointed with Mid-Grade, he still kept it. He once again went to the Printer interface.
As expected, Gazelle Punch had appeared below the list of Manuals available for Copying.
After exploring for a while, he disconnected himself from the Printer.
He had thought all night of how he could earn money while getting other people to use his Manuals.
The most obvious answer was to sell them.
'But how should I sell them? Obviously, I can't give away samples of the manuals. That would be a one-way ticket to some Family's Dungeon or even death.'
Ikasa thought about what his marketing manager, Mike, would advise him to do.
"They are precious goods. So, I should market them as rarities. Since I am selling them, I should choose a place where my safety would be guaranteed."
A name came to his mind. Prosperity Street!
Every day, numerous rare and valuable goods change owners on this street. The Prestigious Families, along with the City Lord's Manor, guaranteed the safety of the vendors.
Their goal was simple. Encourage commoners to sell any precious object they come across instead of keeping it hidden in their house.
Thus, it created a win-win situation for both. The seller could rest assured about his safety. And the Nobles didn't have to go out of their way to exploit commoners and find the luxurious goods they might be hiding.
This Prosperity street had quickly earned a reputation worthy of its name in the entire Sal City.
"Yes, I can sell my manuals there!" He exclaimed happily.
"I even have a perfect excuse for their source, having just returned from the Ruins."
Without wasting any more time, Ikasa packed the Manuals he had. He was just about to leave when a Li Family servant came knocking.
"Is the book our young master asked you to copy ready?"
Only now did Ikasa remember he had taken a copying job which he had left halfway to go and explore the ruins.
"No, not yet. I will have it ready in a couple of days."
He waved at the servant impatiently as if swatting a fly. He didn't even bother to turn around and face Li Chun. As one of the few literates in the City, his pride was justified.
"You already took a whole week! You don't want the 10 Gold coins anymore?" Enraged, the servant arrogantly asked.
"10 Gold Coins? It paid so much?"
Ikasa's eyes shined. 10 Gold coins were enough for an average family to spend for a month. If he could get that amount, he won't have to worry about food and clothing for a few months.
Immediately, his voice turned humble, and with a big smile on his face, he turned to face the servant.
"This Brother, I suffered an injury so I couldn't write. Now that it is healed, I will complete the work by the day after tomorrow. Please come by then."
The sudden politeness caught the errand-runner off guard. He fumbled for words.
"This… Hmph… I will come on the day after tomorrow then… You better have the work completed." The servant turned with a flair and walked out of the small residence.
He looked at the residence in disdain and thought, "Sucker for Money." Ptui.
Meanwhile, Ikasa turned back to the booklets and thought, "Mere dog barking for his master." Ptui.
For the next three days, Ikasa gave his all to complete the assigned work. The 10 gold coins reward kept him going even when his wrists pained.
His efforts paid off.
When the servant of the Li Family arrived three days later, Ikasa happily collected his remuneration. When Li Chun handed him the pouch containing the gold, he carefully took the coins out before the servant.
"1 gold coin, 2 gold coins, 3 gold coins,..." Ikasa slowly counted the coins to stoke the envy of the servant. 10 gold coins were worth a month's salary to the servant.
Ikasa watched amusedly as the servant tried to ignore him but still greedily eyed the gold coins in his possession.
"Do you want a gold coin?" Ikasa asked the man while flipping a coin in the air that landed in his palm.
The servant eagerly nodded, thinking Ikasa was going to reward him. Contrary to his expectations, he put the gold coins in the pouch.
"Then go and do your work. I am sure your master will pay you at the end of the month." And with that, he slammed the door in the servant's face.
The servant's face turned red to purple to black. He contemplated breaking the door and pummeling Ikasa.
'No, I can't do that. Not only does my Eldest young master favors him, he even has connections in the City Guards. If he blabs about me….'
He shuddered at the thought. Ultimately, his rationality prevailed over his anger.
"You shouldn't tempt fate like that, Ikasa! If not for my Wife and Children, I would have surely killed you!"
After threatening, he turned and walked away.
Ikasa watched the servant leave with impotent rage from his window.
"Hehehe, that felt good. Serves you right for looking down on a Scholar!"
Now that he had taken care of his prior duties, Ikasa was free to pursue his business plan. He connected to the Printer and entered the System Interface.
In the past two days, Ikasa had drawn two new Battle techniques -
{Fast, Faster, Fastest} a movement technique focusing on increasing the pure running speed of the cultivator, and {Peek-a-Boo Defense} a defensive art that made upper body nigh-invincible against lower realm arts.
He excitedly clicked the silver print button. He rubbed his hands, anticipating a new manual. But nothing changed in the interface.
On the other hand, the Printer had started to suck in air or whatever energy it needed, and new pages were being spat out.
Shortly after, a book formed with a familiar black cover and golden letters. It was another {Dumb Belle's Guide to Strength}.
"Huh! So the Random Print can also print an existing manual."
Ikasa carefully kept it with his previous manuals. He now had three copies of the Cultivation Manual, {Dumb Belle's Guide to Strength} and 1 each of the Battle technique manuals, {Gazelle Punch}, {Fast-Faster-Fastest} and {Peek-a-Boo Defense}.
"These many manuals are more than enough to start a new influential family! Too bad they are only one-time-use manuals."
Ikasa packed the manuals in his shoulder bag and left the house. His goal was Prosperity Street in the Inner city.
"Sal City - Inner City."
Ikasa saw a gate with a large sign erected on it. This gate was on an uphill slope leading to an elevated plateau. And on this plateau, the affluents of the Sal City lived.
Though both the outer and inner city were administered by the City Lord's Manor, the Inner City was more defensible and protected from the frequent floods of the Yellow River.
And the most prosperous area of Inner City was the Prosperity Street.
The tinkling sounds of coins exchanged for goods were like music to his ears.
He decided to get a stall in the hopes of hitting it big.
'I should get a Stall permit first,' he thought as he looked at his surroundings.
Every day, 100 permits were sold at a fixed price of 50 silver each at the administrative office on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Many times vendors, who got the license, only had a few luxury goods. They were sold as soon as they set up a stall. To recoup some of their operating costs, they resold the license.
Ikasa spotted one such vendor. After conducting the shady deal where he paid 30 silvers, Ikasa took over his stall and spread his manuals.
In the bright sunlight of the high morning sun, the titles of his glossy cover manuals attracted the attention of the passersby.
He closed his eyes and assumed a sage posture while secretly watching the potential customers.
He had laid his bait, and now he was just waiting for a fish to be hooked.
Soon a curious lady approached the stall. Her attention was attracted by the shining golden letters on the Cultivation Manual. She picked up the manual and shielded it from the sun's rays to see the title.
"Dumb Belle's guide to Strength?"
Her face immediately reddened from anger. She thought it was some sort of prank the vendor was pulling on her. But she immediately dismissed such thoughts. Since this was a public place, there was no way the vendor would target her. That means…
"What is the meaning of this?"
Ikasa had seen everything the lass had done. But to maintain his mysterious persona, he still kept his eyes half-closed. So he was taken aback at her sudden furious question.
He opened his eyes and looked at her with a bit of confusion.
"Are you calling all the female cultivators Dumb?"
Ever since he first printed the copy, Ikasa had a feeling that there was something wrong with it. He thought it was because of the mysterious nature of the Single-Use manuals.
Only now did he realize where that feeling came from! It pointed to neither the mystical abilities of the Printer nor the fantastic quality of the manuals; It was the name of the manuals!
In his euphoria of receiving a golden finger, he had neglected what should be obvious. The cultivation manuals should have domineering names like Nine Cauldrons Body Art or Invincible Dragon's Sutra.
On the other hand, his manual was named {Dumb Belle's Guide to Strength}! He was effectively asking for a beating from female cultivators.
He can think about these matters later. First, he had to placate this lady before him.
"Beautiful Miss, please calm your anger. What you are holding in hand is a High-Grade Path Forging Realm Cultivation Manual. I found it in an ancient ruin during my travels. I did not choose the name for the manual. I am just a conduit for it to meet its fated owner."
Ikasa had learned earlier on that the best lies were half-truths. He had guessed the combination of a high-quality manual with mysterious ancient ruins would placate the girl. And his guess was correct.
The girl did calm down. In fact, the glossy cover alone was enough to disarm her.
Just as she was about to flip through the manual and verify its authenticity, he stopped her.
He could read the manual because he was inept at cultivating. But if this lass read the manual, it would mean that the manual was used, and it would disappear. Wouldn't he suffer a loss?
"Miss, this manual can only be used once! So if you want to read it, please pay first."
The girl stopped. She stared at Ikasa as if looking at a swindler.
"Do you think I am an Idiot? What kind of manual disappears just from looking at it?"
"These manuals are not like the other manuals…."
But before Ikasa could finish his explanation, she had flung the manual back onto the stall and left with a huff.
Ikasa smiled wryly as he watched the departing figure. He tidied up his stall and awaited the next customer.