「Three days passed.」
Li Wei attended classes during the day. At night, after finishing his Cultivation, he would write his novel.
Occasionally, he would read *Mage Legend 8* to learn about the different cultures and customs of various regions, as well as Magic Knowledge.
During a break between classes, Teacher Gu Ze sat at his desk on the platform, sipping tea and reading a book.
The students in the classroom were quietly discussing the wildly popular new novel, *Dragon Knight*.
Maple City had a total population of just over two hundred thousand, but only a tenth of them—twenty or thirty thousand people—were well-off.
Among them, the number of people who enjoyed reading was even smaller.
The literary circle was small, and most people in it knew each other.
After someone read *Dragon Knight*, they would eagerly recommend it to their acquaintances, and the novel quickly caught fire within Maple City.
The Apprentices at the Mage Tower were also mostly aware of this explosive new novel.
Some had read it, while others had only heard of it.
"Bathing in Dragon Blood… can it really awaken a Giant Dragon bloodline?"
"Impossible! Novels are just fiction. Dragon Blood is as hot as molten lava. A human bathing in it would just be burned to a crisp."
"Why would it be impossible? In *Dragon Slayer Warrior Legend*, Adam killed a Giant Dragon, then swallowed its blood to gain a Giant Dragon bloodline and become the most powerful Warrior!"
"Is that the same thing? One is an ordinary person, and the other is a Dragon Slayer!"
...
Ordinary people were focused on whether Raine could survive the crisis and succeed in his revenge.
The Apprentices of the Mage Tower were more concerned with whether the various fantastical encounters described in the novel were real.
Gu Ze slowly closed the fifty-sixth edition of the Xinghuo Collection. He picked up his teaching ruler, tapped it on the desk, and said, "Class is starting."
Hearing this, everyone hurried back to their seats and fell silent.
After class, Li Wei took the next manuscript for *Dragon Knight* to the Xinghuo Literature Society.
When Jimmy saw him, he could hardly believe it. The author of *Dragon Knight* was so young.
"Hello, I'm your editor, Jimmy."
"Hello. I'm Li Wei, a Mage Apprentice from the Mage Tower. I'm also Wooden Man, the author of *Dragon Knight*."
Li Wei handed Jimmy the follow-up manuscript for *Dragon Knight*, proving his identity as the author.
When Jimmy saw the subsequent plot where Raine embarked on his path of revenge, his heart skipped a beat, and he eagerly began to read.
After reading for a moment, he suddenly realized that he was still in the middle of a meeting with Li Wei.
He quickly put down the manuscript and smiled sheepishly. "My apologies. Your novel is just too captivating."
Li Wei smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's my honor."
Jimmy quickly took him to see the director of editing. When the director learned that the author of *Dragon Knight* had arrived, he met with him personally.
Li Wei and Director Gus sat talking in a room while Jimmy hurried to pour tea for them.
Gus glanced at the next part of *Dragon Knight*'s plot, then turned to Li Wei and asked, "Mr. Li Wei, the Xinghuo Literature Society is willing to offer a high price for a full buyout of your novel, *Dragon Knight*."
Li Wei shook his head. "I don't plan on selling the rights to *Dragon Knight*. I hope to sign a royalty-based contract with the Xinghuo Literature Society to receive a portion of the novel's profits. In return, all my future works will be published exclusively with you."
Gus looked troubled. "I'm sorry, but the Xinghuo Literature Society has no precedent for this kind of arrangement."
He tried to persuade him, "A royalty contract might not pay as much as a buyout. The price the Xinghuo Literature Society is offering will absolutely satisfy you. Why don't you reconsider?"
Li Wei shook his head. "There's no need. I'm only considering a royalty contract."
Gus's expression turned slightly awkward. He wasn't sure how to continue the conversation with Li Wei.
With a buyout, they just had to estimate the monthly sales of the Xinghuo Collection, then subtract various costs and author fees. From there, they could calculate how much they could pay to acquire *Dragon Knight* and still turn a profit.
But a royalty deal involved too many factors. Just figuring out how to calculate the profits was enough to make one's head spin.
After all, the Xinghuo Collection didn't just publish *Dragon Knight*; it also contained articles and poems by other authors.
Li Wei had considered this issue on his way over and had already thought of a solution.
He looked at Gus and said, "I'm also a loyal reader of the Xinghuo Collection."
Hearing this, Gus looked up at him.
Li Wei continued, "The Xinghuo Collection only comes out once a month. The update speed is just too slow."
Gus said helplessly, "Even one issue a month is a struggle to maintain the collection's quality. High-quality submissions are getting scarcer and scarcer. There's nothing we can do."
Li Wei said, "I suggest we publish *Dragon Knight* as its own separate volume, updated once a week."
Gus asked in astonishment, "Once a week? How is that possible? Even if you only update one chapter at a time, you can't possibly create new story content every single week."
Li Wei was speechless. 'Is it really that hard to write five or six thousand words a week?'
In the past, he could write twenty thousand words a day.
He didn't argue with Gus about it. There was no point. The facts would speak for themselves.
Li Wei said, "To date, I've submitted sixty thousand words of my novel. That's enough to be published in ten installments, which can sustain updates for at least two and a half months. Director Gus should know better than I do how much profit that can generate for the Xinghuo Literature Society."
Hearing this, Gus thought for a moment. The idea seemed feasible.
Based on current sales trends, if they really did switch to a weekly release as Li Wei suggested, two months of sales could surpass an entire year's worth for the Xinghuo Collection.
Crucially, it wouldn't have much of a negative impact on the Xinghuo Collection itself.
The Xinghuo Collection primarily published poetry, essays, and travelogues.
The readership for the collection was not the same as the readership for novels.
Novel readers might buy the Xinghuo Collection to read *Dragon Knight*, but people who wanted to read the collection wouldn't stop buying it just because they had already bought the standalone novel.
Gus was already tempted.
Gus said to Li Wei, "Please wait a moment. I need to discuss this with the others at the Xinghuo Literature Society."
He glanced at Jimmy and said, "Jimmy, you stay here and keep Mr. Li Wei company."
Jimmy quickly replied, "Of course."
Li Wei sipped his tea, in no hurry at all.
'Can't rush perfection.'
By now, *Dragon Knight* had already made a name for itself. He could take his manuscript to any other literary society and find someone willing to publish it.
The ones who should be worried were the Xinghuo Literature Society.
After discussing it with a few of the Xinghuo Literature Society's founders, Gus decided the plan was viable.
Finally, Gus returned to the room to negotiate the royalty percentage with Li Wei.
After some intense negotiations, they finally agreed to a 50/50 split of the net profits for *Dragon Knight* after deducting costs.
After signing the business contract with the Xinghuo Literature Society, Li Wei prepared to leave.
Gus stopped him. "The first chapter of *Dragon Knight* was already published in the Xinghuo Collection. It's difficult to calculate the royalties for that, so the Xinghuo Literature Society will pay you for this month's manuscript based on the original buyout price. We'll start calculating royalties from next month onward."
Hearing this, Li Wei nodded, not fussing over such a small detail.
Until Gus took out fifty Silver Coins and gave them to him.
Li Wei was surprised. "This much money?"
"The Xinghuo Literature Society originally planned to pay three Gold Coins for the buyout of the first six chapters of *Dragon Knight*," Gus said with a smile. "If you're having second thoughts, you can still sign the buyout contract now."
Li Wei was taken aback. He hadn't expected Gus to still be trying to buy out his novel.
Putting away the fifty Silver Coins, he shook his head and said, "No, thank you."
He smiled confidently. "The sales of *Dragon Knight* will absolutely exceed your expectations."
Gus chuckled. "Then I'll be looking forward to it."