Volume One: Jiang Chengzi Chapter Five: The Release of "Investiture of the Gods"

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Spreading the paper, grinding the ink, lifting the brush—all proceeded smoothly, and then... Li Ling suddenly froze at the desk. It was only then that he realized he hadn’t decided what novel to write, or rather, what novel to copy. This was quite an awkward predicament. Li Yuer, seeing her brother arrange everything this way after returning home, was full of hope, her eyes shining brightly as she watched him. Then she saw him just standing there, dazed, not putting a single stroke down for quite some time.

Actually, it wasn’t that Li Ling couldn’t think of a story. On the contrary, he had too many ideas. After all, he had traveled from an era of information explosion. He had read and watched perhaps a hundred or so novels and dramas, most of which were masterpieces, at least by the standards of this era.

The problem was, choosing one to copy now wasn’t easy. First, there were the constraints of the era and aesthetic preferences. The values of people centuries later were entirely different from those of the ancients, with many taboos. One small mistake could mean the book might never be published—or worse, implicate him personally.

Secondly, when it came time to write, Li Ling sadly discovered that writing a novel was vastly different from bookkeeping or composing advertisements. The vivid scenes in his memory refused to flow onto the paper as he imagined. The saying "thousands of words in the heart, but not a single one on paper" was painfully true.

Li Yuer, having waited for a while without seeing any progress, couldn’t contain herself and quietly asked, “Brother, what exactly are you going to write?”

“Um... I want to try writing a storybook novel. I heard that once a novel is recognized, the income can be quite substantial,” Li Ling replied casually, his mind still racing, trying to decide what would be most appropriate to write.

According to Old Boss Gu, readers around Hengzhou Prefecture were very interested in novels about seeking immortality and exploring Daoism. Maybe he could write one in that style? “The Illusory Journey”? “The Jade Sword”? After considering a few popular immortal hero web novels from his future, Li Ling immediately dismissed them. He had read those books—they were indeed brilliant—but they were too long, and after so many years, he couldn’t remember the plots clearly.

On the other hand, the novels about talented scholars and beautiful ladies, which had been looked down upon by others, were books Li Ling had casually flipped through in the bookstore during his free time. He thought he could imitate one of those, but he doubted Old Boss Gu and his circle would favor them.

He needed something classic, memorable, and compatible with ancient aesthetic habits... Combining these requirements, the options were really quite limited. Li Ling wasn’t a seasoned book lover, so he felt even more troubled. After careful thought, an idea suddenly struck him: “Right, I can try writing a classical masterpiece!” After all, novels like “Dream of the Red Chamber” and “Water Margin” that had been passed down were nowhere to be found in this era yet.

But then another problem arose. Although these classics were excellent, Li Ling had only read them a few times in middle and high school. They had since been shelved and left untouched. He might remember the general plots, but copying them faithfully would still be difficult. And if he wanted to rewrite them, he admitted he lacked the skill. More importantly, “Water Margin” and “Journey to the West” contained taboo content and had been banned several times. Li Ling really didn’t want to take that risk.

“Seeking immortality, Daoism, cultivation, immortals... classical novels...” Li Ling pondered these keywords together, and suddenly a name popped into his mind—“Investiture of the Gods,” also known as “Fengshen Yanyi”!

Growing up in the 1990s, Li Ling had watched the classic TV adaptation of this ancient Chinese myth, featuring characters dressed in Roman-Greek style costumes. Even now, he could still recall many main characters, a testament to the work’s enduring charm.

However, having read the original novel, Li Ling had to admit that Xu Zhonglin’s story and character development were far inferior to other novels. Yet this book had its strengths: the entire framework and worldview were superbly constructed, instantly drawing the reader into the story. Concepts like the Jie and Chan schools, the Investiture War, and King Wu’s campaign against Zhou were top-notch ideas, and Li Ling could still recount the storyline even now.

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Clearly, “Investiture of the Gods” was not a novel known for literary finesse, making it an ideal match for a novice writer like Li Ling. Moreover, the story mainly featured battles among immortals, which was far more exciting than the usual cultivation tales of struggling to become immortal. Here, it was a clash between great immortals and gold-ranked celestial beings—the scale elevated by leaps and bounds.

At this moment, Yuer’s voice sounded again: “Brother, why haven’t you started writing yet? If you finish it, can we have fried dough sticks every day?”

Li Ling smiled and ruffled her hair: “Yes, not just fried dough sticks, but many more delicious things. Just be good and watch quietly, don’t disturb me.”

“Okay!” Yuer nodded vigorously, tightly sealing her lips but her eyes were full of curiosity as she continued to stare at the paper in front of Li Ling, waiting for him to produce a bestseller. In her young heart, her brother was capable of anything.

At this point, Li Ling no longer cared about his sister’s thoughts. With a gentle flick of the wrist, neat tiny characters flowed onto the paper: “Long ago, before heaven and earth were separated, there was chaos. Suddenly, within it, a giant named Pangu was born...” Since he was writing “Investiture of the Gods,” he might as well start from the creation of the world, compiling all Chinese mythologies into one book. Adding his own understanding of ancient myths from the future, this new version of “Investiture of the Gods” would surely be richer than the original.

In the following days, whenever he had free time at home or in the bookstore, Li Ling wrote tirelessly. The new version of “Investiture of the Gods” grew steadily, from Pangu creating the world, to Nuwa making humans; from Fuxi deriving the Eight Trigrams to Emperor Chiyou’s war. Then came the rise and fall of the Yao, Shun, Yu, and the Xia and Shang dynasties.

Only after three chapters did the main plot begin: King Zhou’s moral decline and Nuwa sending the nine-tailed fox to deceive him. In a later era, a novel focused solely on world-building might fail miserably, but in this slow-paced age, there was no such worry.

At least, when Li Ling showed the first few chapters to Yuer, she was utterly captivated, exclaiming she had never read such a grand, vivid, and interesting mythological story. From her expression, Li Ling could tell she wasn’t just flattering him because they were siblings—she was genuinely fascinated by the story.

This boosted Li Ling’s confidence greatly. He spent a few more days writing up to chapter ten, covering King Zhou’s corruption under Daji’s influence, the queen’s forced death, the exile of his two sons, and the important figure Jiang Ziya descending the mountain under his master’s orders—over 100,000 characters, constituting the first volume.

In some sense, after cutting the original poems, the progress between this new version and the old “Investiture of the Gods” was almost the same. However, Li Ling planned to slow down the pace in the second volume, focusing more on developing main characters like Nezha and Wen Zhong, thereby increasing the book’s overall value.

Meanwhile, as Li Ling busily wrote and managed his bookstore, April passed, and early May was drawing to a close, with the weather gradually warming. One afternoon, with no customers in the store, Li Ling took the manuscript and returned to the Gu Family Bookstore, hoping Old Boss Gu would have a look.

The old shopkeeper greeted him warmly: “Young Master Li, your business must be booming! You sold out all your books in less than half a month? What new books are you planning to bring in this time?”

“Shopkeeper, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not here to buy books today. I have another matter to discuss with Old Boss Gu.”

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“Oh? What kind of matter?”

“Publishing. I heard your bookstore offers high prices for new manuscripts, so I’ve written a novel recently. I wonder if Old Boss Gu could take a look and offer some corrections.” As he spoke, Li Ling placed his bag on the counter and opened it, revealing a thick stack of manuscripts.

The shopkeeper looked somewhat surprised. “You only thought of this after last time, and you’ve already written so much?”

“That’s right. Is there a problem?” Li Ling was puzzled. To him, writing 100,000 words in just over half a month was not difficult. After all, talented online writers in the future could easily write 10,000 words a day.

Outside, perhaps the wind was strong enough to blur his vision, a passerby hurried past the bookstore, their wide sleeves covering their face...

Inside, the shopkeeper’s expression grew stranger. He didn’t want to say it outright, but most authors the bookstore worked with took around three months to write a volume of over 100,000 words. Writing a volume so quickly made him skeptical. Clearing his throat, he said politely, “In that case, please come to the back courtyard, Young Master Li. Our master is inside.”

In the rear hall, Li Ling met Old Boss Gu again. Upon learning Li Ling’s purpose, Gu was slightly surprised but still courteous: “Since this is your masterpiece, Young Master Li, I’m genuinely interested. I hope it won’t disappoint me.”

Of course, Gu’s sincerity was known only to himself. He thought Li Ling was young and business-minded but lacked scholarly depth. Moreover, the manuscript was hastily written and unlikely to be good. Before reading it carefully, he was already planning how to tactfully reject the submission without offending Li Ling.

After a brief pause, Gu lowered his head to read the manuscript, while Li Ling waited quietly nearby...