Three-Ring Goal: Fifty Thousand Years!

"Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? That was indeed not bad."

Wukong had never cared whether writing books could make money.

What he cared about was whether this book could spread across the entire continent.

And the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect clearly possessed that capability.

Thus, Wukong did not dwell on the matter and readily agreed. He then asked, "Uncle Li, how will the royalties work? When can we start selling it?"

Li Shoumin pondered for a moment before cautiously saying, "How about twenty percent? For every book sold, you get one Silver Soul Coin. There will also be an advance payment, but since you're a new author publishing for the first time, it probably won't be much. In my opinion, a hundred Gold Soul Coins would already be quite good. But don't worry, Uncle will do his best to fight for more from headquarters!"

For the novel business, this was already a rather high price.

Especially considering that Wukong was an unknown newcomer.

Wukong was not interested in money. He only cared about sales and influence.

So he did not continue bargaining and simply nodded in agreement.

"Alright, we'll do as Uncle Li says."

Once the matter was settled.

Li Shoumin summoned his martial soul, Ink, and used the Soul Skill Imprint to swiftly copy Wukong's manuscript three times. They would be sent to headquarters for evaluation.

Of course, the two of them still needed to draft a contract to ensure that Wukong would not go back on his word midway.

If a copyright dispute arose in the future, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would only recognize what was written in black and white. If there was trouble, Wukong would have to settle it himself.

Wukong readily agreed.

He also knew that Li Shoumin still did not believe he had written the book himself.

So establishing the terms in advance benefited both sides.

The two quickly drafted all the terms of the contract.

The profit split, liability for breach, and copyright ownership were all written clearly.

Li Shoumin put away the contract, then suddenly asked.

"By the way, little Wukong, you're a Soul Master too, right?"

Wukong nodded and answered openly.

"That's right. What is it, Uncle Li?"

Curiosity flickered in Li Shoumin's eyes.

"Then what is your martial soul? And what level is your Innate Soul Power?"

In the extraordinary world of Douluo Continent, a Soul Master's talent was also an important standard for judging one's potential.

Li Shoumin wanted to infer Wukong's family background from the quality of his martial soul and his Innate Soul Power.

A family capable of producing such an outstanding manuscript was surely no ordinary family.

Wukong chuckled and extended his right hand.

"My martial soul is a staff."

As soon as he spoke, Wukong summoned the Ice-Fire Twin Dragon Staff.

He deliberately restrained the Twin Dragon Staff's aura and sharpness.

The red and blue twin-dragon patterns originally coiled around the staff vanished from sight.

The attributes of Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire were also suppressed within the staff.

What appeared in Wukong's hand at that moment.

Was simply an ordinary dark-golden iron staff.

It did not stand out at all, the sort of mediocre martial soul that was not terrible but was certainly not top-tier.

That way, he would neither be bullied after pretending to be weak nor draw unwarranted covetous attention by standing out too much.

Naturally, Wukong had his reasons for concealing his true Body Martial Soul.

He had not yet mastered the Seventy-Two Transformations and could not conceal the age of his Soul Rings.

Moreover, Body Martial Souls were simply too rare.

In this era, Body Martial Souls were often regarded as ordinary, or even worthless.

After all, before their second awakening.

In the eyes of the world, Body Martial Souls neither provided the physical enhancement of beast martial souls nor possessed the obvious edge of tool martial souls, making it difficult for them to display their true power.

Only ten thousand years later would Body Martial Souls truly enter their golden age.

But staff martial souls were different.

They were a broad category of martial souls. There were countless Soul Masters across the continent who had awakened staff martial souls.

There was nothing unusual about them at all. Thrown into a crowd, they would attract no notice.

Holding the dark-golden iron staff, Wukong continued his lie.

"My Innate Soul Power is level five, and I'm nearly level ten now."

"I'll soon be able to hunt a Soul Ring and become a true Soul Master."

Level-five Innate Soul Power indicated modest talent.

It likewise would not attract attention and suited his current disguised identity perfectly.

Looking at the staff in Wukong's hand, Li Shoumin inwardly thought, Just as expected.

No wonder this child was so mature at such a young age.

And could even produce such a high-quality novel manuscript.

His family background truly was anything but ordinary.

He just did not know where Wukong was from.

A Tiandou noble? Or a great family from the Star Luo Empire?

That was impossible to tell.

After all, Dragon Rising City stood at the border between the two nations, where people came and went constantly.

It was not strange for someone of any identity to appear here.

Li Shoumin praised him a few times with a face full of envy.

"Level-five Innate Soul Power? Your talent is far greater than Uncle's."

"Even if you don't become an author, you'll definitely achieve great things in the future."

Wukong withdrew the staff back into his body.

The entire process looked exactly like an ordinary Soul Master retracting his martial soul.

And with Li Shoumin's knowledge and cultivation, he could not see anything suspicious at all.

"Compared to being a Soul Master, I still prefer writing novels and being an author."

Wukong replied with a grin, then prepared to take his leave.

"Uncle Li, I'll head back for dinner first."

"Please put some thought into the book. I'll wait for your good news."

Li Shoumin patted his chest and promised solemnly.

"Don't worry. I'll send the manuscript to headquarters for expedited processing today."

"At most half a month, this book will definitely be available in all the major cities!"

With that matter settled.

Wukong returned to the inn with light steps and continued his secluded cultivation.

He was already level twenty-six. With his physique, talent, and deep foundation, he would naturally break through the level-thirty threshold within half a year at most.

And the content of his new book was absolutely strong.

Even if it did not become a massive hit, it would certainly receive a good market response.

By then, it should provide at least some faith and providence.

So he no longer needed to worry about providence in the future.

"By that calculation, I can still increase my cultivation speed a little more."

Wukong's mind began to turn, and he set his sights on the Optimized Meditation Technique again.

Previously, he had raised the efficiency of the Universal Meditation Technique from five times to six times. Over the following two months, he had raised it again to six and a half times.

That increase was not actually very significant.

In the end, it was because his energy had been limited lately.

He had needed to cultivate Soul Power, temper his body, and divide his attention to write the manuscript.

He truly could not spare much time to continue optimizing the circulation route through his meridians.

Now that the manuscript was finished, he could finally free up his hands and study it properly.

"However, I can't neglect body tempering either."

"Not only can I not slack off, I have to work even harder at it."

"After all, Old Sun's target for his third Soul Ring is fifty thousand years!"

As his cultivation surged, Wukong's body's carrying capacity rose once more.

He could already withstand the impact of a Soul Ring around twenty-five thousand years old.

But he was still half short of his grand target of fifty thousand years.

And that gap could only be bridged through relentless tempering.

Fortunately, as his level rose rapidly, this body of his was also about to enter a period of rapid growth.

When that time came, his physical strength would naturally transform as his bones grew, giving him hope of reaching the thirty-thousand-year threshold.

Together with the continued nourishment from the residual medicinal power of the Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid within his body, he could rise another step.

As for the remaining gap of more than ten thousand years.

He could only rely on high-year Whale Rubber and premium medicinal baths to fill it.

Of course, Wukong had consumed too much Whale Rubber lately, and his body had already developed some resistance to it.

Unless it was top-quality Whale Rubber at the ten-thousand-year level, ordinary goods would likely have little effect.

The same was true for medicinal baths.

"I can only do my best to reach the fifty-thousand-year threshold. If I'm still lacking, then I'll have to consume another immortal herb."

"Or return to the Star Dou Great Forest and ask Boss Di Tian for help."