Chapter 111: Piracy Is Absolutely Not Allowed!

Pirated copies? What pirated copies?

"Pirated supplementary cultivation manuals—do they make money or not?"

Of course they do!

Shi Tiexin suddenly realized he had stumbled upon a lucrative opportunity: pirating supplementary cultivation manuals!

Think about it—how many exquisite, top-tier, even peerless supplementary manuals have we come across? And how many of the same quality has the top scholar Shi seen since childhood? I won’t claim to have them memorized, but I know them thoroughly.

With my flawless mastery of basic arithmetic, even if I forget all the problems I’ve solved before, I can easily create a whole new set from scratch. The various checkpoints, difficulties, and gradients in the first level of foundational math cultivation are all as clear to me as the patterns on my palm.

I’m not aiming for the absolute best or even the top-tier; just producing something of good quality would suffice. No, I don’t even need high-quality—ordinary supplementary manuals will do!

The ordinary quality from Shi’s worldline is already the best available on the market here. With a 20% boost in cultivation speed—even if only for the first level, even if pirated—setting a super low price of 100 points a copy would surely cause a buying frenzy!

How foolish of me not to have thought of this before!

This is the biggest and best money-making avenue I can currently master and fully leverage my strengths!

If I make thirty to fifty copies a day, that small fortune will... hehehehe, muahahahaha!

With a clap and a fist gesture, cracking his knuckles, Shi Tiexin, brimming with ambition, lifted his pen and began to write.

Simple, simple, how simple it is—addition and subtraction within ten, here we go!

The pen tip touched the paper—then stopped.

Huh???!!!

Shi Tiexin lifted his pen as if shocked by an electric jolt, staring uncertainly at the tip, then at the blank sheet, baffled by what just happened.

What’s going on? Why can’t I write?

Try again!

---

The pen tip touched down... addition and subtraction within ten... here we go—

Snap!

The pen lifted again, leaving only a faint dot on the paper, but Shi Tiexin’s face turned pale. For some reason, he suddenly felt his mental energy surging fiercely. The harder he tried to write, the more intense the surge became.

What on earth is happening? Why can’t I write it out?

Normally, when doing ordinary calculations, I never feel this. Supplementary manuals just omit the final answer after the equal sign—why can’t I produce them?

It’s as if something is blocking me.

But what could it be? My moral compass? Nonsense!

Shi Tiexin froze for a moment, then shook his head sharply.

This is crazy. If I can’t make pirated math worksheets, I’ll just copy handwritten practice sheets instead. I’m used to writing, practicing calligraphy is writing, and copybooks are writing too—there’s no difference; I must be able to write those.

So, as if facing a formidable enemy, Shi Tiexin placed his pen on the paper for the third time, preparing to transcribe a simple Thousand Character Classic.

But the pen barely touched the paper before freezing, immovable. Gritting his teeth until they clicked, veins bulging on his forehead, face flushed red, he let out a low roar and forced the pen to move.

He only managed a single horizontal stroke—the first stroke of the character “Heaven”—when his expression changed drastically.

His face flushed white then red, and he suddenly staggered to the toilet, where he retched violently.

After vomiting for a long time, pale-faced, Shi Tiexin finally stood up, feeling a bit better. That sensation was terrifying—it attacked directly his mental domain and his spiritual energy, delivering an intense stimulation without any dilution.

This time, Shi Tiexin truly felt there was an incomprehensible grand mechanism blocking his pirating attempts.

It felt somewhat like the perfect cliff of the profound ninety-nine degrees, but also quite different. First, this obstacle wasn’t passively defensive—it actively counterattacked! The harder he tried to break through, the stronger and larger the counterstrike.

Shi Tiexin’s vomiting was a direct result of this counterattack mechanism.

Second, he felt this defense was not as strong, hard, or thick as the perfect cliff. Of course, even if it’s thinner, softer, or weaker, that’s only relative; right now, Shi Tiexin couldn’t break through it at all.

Still, letting his mind wander, he thought if he used the Heaven-bestowed Golden Light, it might be enough to shatter this defense mechanism...

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Ah, never mind.

With a flop, Shi Tiexin collapsed onto his bed.

Stop overthinking it. The Heaven-bestowed Golden Light is far too rare to waste on such a trivial matter. It must be that those great beings like the demigods have embedded rules that bar individuals from producing supplementary cultivation manuals. Otherwise, why would the market for these manuals be so lucrative and monopolized?

If it were like the other world, with manuals everywhere like common cabbage, freely scattered, that would be the proper state.

Hmph!

It seems those big shots spare no effort in blocking the spread of knowledge and shutting off pathways for ordinary people.

What bastards...

Rubbing his throbbing temples, Shi Tiexin looked at the thick stack of blank paper cards. Better not consider shady shortcuts; honestly joining forces with that glasses-wearing man to seize Liu Qigang’s company assets is the right path. Though harder and slower to make money, it’s a practical and feasible way.

By the way, what’s that glasses man’s name again?

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—The line separating the “No Chance for Piracy” segment—

“Star, Work, Meat, Union, Factory, Office, Deputy Director, Tao Zhongming.” The glasses man carefully read each character, then examined the corners and back of the business card, finally nodding with satisfaction. “Good, not bad at all. The writing is really quite excellent.”

“Deputy Director Tao has an eye for talent. My brother’s skill is rock solid. Though he’s not famous yet, he will definitely become a celebrated master one day,” Little Dog Egg patted his chest with exaggerated expression. “I guarantee, Deputy Director Tao has made a big profit by owning the first batch of personalized cards from a future master. Once my brother becomes famous, these cards won’t be cheap—they’ll be collector’s items!”

Hearing this, Tao Zhongming was momentarily stunned. He didn’t know what crossed his mind but glanced around furtively, then leaned in and whispered to Shi Tiexin, “Your little brother talks loud and boisterous and seems to emphasize the ‘deputy’ title in a way that annoys people, but he’s not entirely wrong. I think, with your handwriting, you could enter competitions.”

“Competitions? What kind of competitions?” Shi Tiexin perked up at the mention of contests, especially ones with credibility—those can win Heaven-bestowed Golden Light, and you can never have too much of that.

“Calligraphy contests!”