Confucianism under Heaven

Chapter 63 *Investiture of the Gods*

Chapter Sixty-Three: Investiture of the Gods

Lin Yanze and many other members of the Heavenly Class fell to the ground, leaving everyone in shock.

"Good riddance!"

"You deserve it!"

"Deserve it!"

A moment later, many members of the Wasteland Class clapped and cheered.

The students in those classes turned pale, never expecting that Lin Yanze's literary talent would actually benefit someone else.

Ye Ru was nourished by the talent of the Wenqu (a mythical literary talent), and the inner core of his book gradually grew stronger, eventually resembling a giant rock as tall as a person, with golden inscriptions surrounding it.

"As solid as a rock?"

Ye Ru looked inward at his inner core and suddenly felt a surge of joy. Before this joy could subside, his inner core began to change at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"The Imperial Academy has also changed. It has actually grown stronger. I'm afraid that after passing the imperial examination, one can directly reach the level of Xiucai (a scholar who has passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). Then, this year, one can participate in the provincial examination and directly obtain the Xiucai degree."

Ye Ru took a deep breath. This time, he had gained a lot.

"Evil will be punished. As the saying goes, a gentleman loves money, but he acquires it in a proper way. I'll accept this rosin as a prize."

Ye Ru walked to Lin Yanze's side and took the rosin from the latter's hand.

Upon seeing this, the latter was consumed by rage, coughed up another mouthful of blood, and fainted.

Ye Ru, supported by the crowd, left the place.

"I wonder how Ye Ru is doing... I'm really worried."

Zhao Cheng lay on the bed and sighed softly.

"I should have known better than to tell Ye Ru about this. If Ye Ru loses, wouldn't that be harming him?"

Qian Wei also sighed, filled with self-reproach.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I should have let my injury heal before going to see Young Master Ye Ru."

Su Tongyao twisted the hem of her clothes with her small hands and murmured.

With a creak, the door suddenly opened, and everyone walked in dejectedly, which made Zhao Cheng and the others feel a chill in their hearts.

"Lost?"

Qian Wei said softly, then his fist suddenly clenched:

"Tong Yao, help me up! I can still fight Tian Banwen!"

"Alas, a gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years."

Seeing Qian Wei's expression, one of them couldn't help but chuckle, then exclaimed with delight:

"Won!"

"Won? What did you win?"

"Brother Ye Ru single-handedly defeated Tianban. You didn't see how miserable Tianban looked. He really gave us poor folks a great sense of relief."

'Where is Ye Ru? Where did he go? For the sake of our entire wasteland class, we must have a drink with him.'

"Ye Ru said he had some things to take care of. As for the gathering, that's easy to arrange. We'll definitely have a big celebration after we finish the imperial examinations."

One of them said with a smile on his face.

……

With the news of Ye Ru single-handedly defeating the Heavenly Class settling down, it quickly spread again within a few hours, plunging the entire Wenxing Private School into a strange atmosphere...

"Don't make enemies with people from the abandoned class in the future."

"That's what one of the ground crew said."

"Stay away from those in the wasteland class. With Han Dingsheng gone, we've gained Ye Ru, the Holy Descendant Scholar."

The people in Hongban were even more decisive.

……

The students from the remaining two private schools also began to discuss the matter:

"Have you heard? Ye Ru, the Saintly Descendant Scholar from the Desolate Class, actually fought against the entire Heavenly Class all by himself. He was incredibly impressive."

"No way, who were those people in that class? They were all the most promising candidates for the imperial examination. Is Ye Ru really that amazing?"

"This matter is by no means unfounded. It is said that the person in charge of that class was spreading false accusations against Ye Ruwen and even beat up Ye Ruwen's sweetheart, which caused him to fly into a rage."

……

While everyone was talking about Ye Ru, Ye Ru, the protagonist, returned to the riverbank and began his invention journey.

"We have the rosin now, so it's time to make the frame."

Ye Ru's serious expression startled Xiao Bai, who had never seen anyone so earnest. Then, it seemed to smile and uttered a single sentence in its own words:

"I hope you really succeed. This might be a printing revolution in the Confucian and Taoist continent."

Ye Ru found an iron plate, then lit a stove and mixed rosin, wax, and paper ash together to make a special agent, which he then applied to the iron plate.

After completing all the preparations, he knew he should write a manuscript for typesetting.

Ye Ru thought for a moment, pondering which novel he should write.

The Four Great Classical Novels are too terrifying, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms is too close to the present day. After all, there are still people living in the Three Kingdoms period. If someone were to slander the people in the novel, it could cause a lot of trouble.

However, "Water Margin" exposes the corruption of society too much and is incompatible with the Confucian and Taoist traditions of mainland China.

As for "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West", they are even less acceptable.

"Tang poetry, Song lyrics, Yuan drama, Ming and Qing novels, yes, let's write about 'Investiture of the Gods' written by Lu Xixing and Xu Zhonglin in the mid-Ming Dynasty."

After making the decision, Ye Ru searched for "Investiture of the Gods" in the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), removed unsuitable content and fonts, and replaced Shen Gongbao and others with demons.

Then, Ye Ru took out a brush and Xuan paper suitable for writing small regular script and began to write.

With the ability to write in one stroke, Ye Ru's writing ability greatly improved. Coupled with the support of practicing calligraphy, his handwriting became extremely neat, almost indistinguishable from printed materials.

Each character possesses its own unique charm, as if it were alive, making it exceptionally extraordinary.

As the sun rose from its zenith and set in the west, Ye Ru completed a new edition of "Investiture of the Gods" in three hours.

Although this book cannot surpass the Ming and Qing dynasty classic "Investiture of the Gods," it still features a storyline that is popular and enjoyable in the Confucian and Taoist world.

The central theme of killing demons resonates more deeply with the people.

Subsequently, Ye Ru included the names of the authors, Lu Xixing and Xu Zhonglin, in the book.

After finishing the manuscript, Ye Ru began to arrange the clay movable type according to the font. After arranging the clay movable type according to the font in the manuscript, Ye Ru found that this was not enough, so he made more than twenty more clay movable type pieces for the commonly used characters.

Although movable type printing is useful, it is quite laborious to print only one or two copies, but it is much easier to print hundreds or thousands of copies.

After completing the entire set of movable clay type, Ye Ru used fire to heat and melt the chemicals on the iron plate to create a template. He then placed a sheet of Xuan paper on it and made a rubbing of the movable type.

Looking at the exquisite book in his hand, Ye Ru picked up his pen and wrote four characters: "Investiture of the Gods".

"I've finally finished this book."

Ye Ru breathed a sigh of relief, then murmured.

"You actually invented a new printing method? And it only took you a little over forty minutes to print a whole book!"

Little White clenched its tiny paws slightly, its big eyes filled with shock.

Ye Ru smiled slightly, clutching the manuscript tightly in his hand, then looked up at the distant sky and murmured:

"Since you don't want to give me the right to publish a book, then I'll just have to do it myself..."