Man is the most precious.
After bringing back the books of the Hundred Schools of Thought from Huaguo, Huang Yifan was studying the writings of Zengzi.
Just as described in the piece 'Zengzi on the Roundness of Heaven': Zengzi said that the refined qi of yang is called spirit, and the refined qi of yin is called soul. Spirit and soul are the foundation of all living things. When yin and yang each follow their proper course, everything is calm. When the balance tilts to one side, wind arises; when both gather together, there is snow; when they intersect, there is lightning; when they are in disorder, there is fog; when they are in harmony, there is rain. When yang qi prevails, it disperses as rain and dew; when yin qi prevails, it condenses into frost and snow. The concentrated qi of yang becomes hail; the concentrated qi of yin becomes sleet. Sleet and hail are transformations of a single qi…
This line of thought holds that caterpillars and winged creatures are formed from yang qi, while shelled and scaled creatures are formed from yin qi. Humans are born naked, without feathers, fur, or scales, because they are born from the refined essence of both yin and yang. This clearly highlights the idea that "man is the most precious." In essence, it emphasizes that humans are the spirit of all living things, the greatest existence between heaven and earth.
Because Zengzi elevated the idea of "man is the most precious" to such heights within Confucianism, he was later honored in Huaguo as a sage.
A so-called sage was an existence on the same level as Confucius.
Furthermore, many great Confucian scholars of later generations in Huaguo, inspired by Zengzi's idea that man is the greatest existence between heaven and earth, proposed that precisely because humans hold this position, they should not submit to nature, but instead transform nature and make the world serve them. This line of thinking greatly improved human productivity and strongly emphasized humanity's importance in the natural world.
Who would have thought that in this world, without Confucius, without Mencius, without Laozi… these people could still produce such philosophically profound classics?
Huang Yifan sighed.
But then again, it made sense. Huaguo, like China in his previous life, also had a brilliant five-thousand-year history. History had always created heroes, not the other way around. These philosophers, these sages, were no exception. In special environments and special worlds, supremely classic philosophies of great predecessors could likewise be born.
Setting aside the writings of Zengzi from the Hundred Schools, Huang Yifan planned to take some time to digest the wisdom of these ancient sages.
…
He almost forgot. How had 'Jiangshan' been doing with his new book lately?
Thinking of how Flying Dragon Points Out the Rivers and Mountains had been publishing on Huanyue, and that quite some time had passed, Huang Yifan decided to check on the situation.
With that thought, Huang Yifan logged into the Feilong.
The moment he entered the idle chat section, a featured post caught his attention.
"I'm Just a Scoundrel vs. Urban Supergod: A Summary Post."
The post evaluated:
"Whether noob-style fiction has a future has long been a topic of fierce debate on Feilong. Today, we can finally conclude."
'I'm Just a Scoundrel' is an urban underworld novel published by the newcomer author 'Jiangshan,' while 'Urban Supergod' is an urban superpower novel released by the level-4 minor god Paradise Bird. One is noob-style, the other more in line with current mainstream web fiction. At the beginning, many believed that 'I'm Just a Scoundrel' would be defeated without question. Although under the influence of The Number One White Under Heaven's personal charm, there were quite a few supporters of 'I'm Just a Scoundrel,' it was, after all, a newcomer's work, and not personally written by The Number One White Under Heaven himself. In the web novel world, that meant The Number One White Under Heaven had found a ghostwriter, and a rookie one at that. Meanwhile, the other novel was written by a level-4 minor god. Whether in popularity, connections, or resources, 'I'm Just a Scoundrel' had no way of competing with 'Urban Supergod.'"
"In fact, during the first two weeks, 'I'm Just a Scoundrel' did indeed perform worse than 'Urban Supergod.' However, after two weeks, 'I'm Just a Scoundrel' finally revealed its potential. After receiving a Huanyue contract recommendation, it surged to third place on the new book rankings, ranking just below Paradise Bird's 'Urban Supergod.'"
"If Huanyue had not suddenly carried out a mass deletion of books identical to Lingdian's actions, it might not have been impossible for 'I'm Just a Scoundrel' to surpass Paradise Bird's 'Urban Supergod.'"
"Nevertheless, even though 'I'm Just a Scoundrel' was deleted, this battle has already allowed us to see the unique charm of noob-style fiction."
"Noob-style fiction has great potential. This is a statement from The Number One White Under Heaven."
"The previous failure of Lingdian's noob-style fiction special topic cannot be blamed on noob-style fiction itself, but only on the fact that those people didn't know how to write it."
"Finally, to summarize."
"Perhaps the noob-style fiction genre pioneered by The Number One White Under Heaven still faces a great deal of controversy. However, what I want to say is this: to those newcomer authors, to those friends who want to enter the writing circle, you might as well, while putting pen to paper, study The Number One White Under Heaven's works more. The emergence of noob-style fiction has added another path to success to an already brutally competitive writing road."
After the post came more than ten pages of replies.
"Top! Noob-style fiction rises from here."
"Looks like I should go write a noob-style novel too."
"The Number One White Under Heaven is insanely awesome. Just casually giving someone a few pointers, and he wiped out a level-4 god."
"Amazing! The Number One White Under Heaven, do you take disciples?"
"Bullshit. If Paradise Bird hadn't switched genres, he wouldn't have lost. No, he hasn't even lost yet."
"Get lost. If Huanyue hadn't deleted 'I'm Just a Scoundrel,' let's see if Paradise Bird would have lost or not."
"Looks like Huanyue, just like Lingdian, has started large-scale book deletions too. Stuff like banned content can't be written anymore."
"I don't care whether Huanyue deletes books or not. All I see is that noob-style fiction is about to rise."
"Brothers, charge! Let's go write noob-style fiction."
"Don't rush. Didn't the OP say it clearly? If you want to write noob-style fiction, you should first study The Number One White Under Heaven's novels. Otherwise, you'll end up as the noob-style fiction Lingdian pushed before, completely ignored."
"That's true, but still, The Number One White Under Heaven's noob-style fiction doesn't seem like it should be popular."
"I agree. Logically speaking, The Number One White Under Heaven's 'Bad Guy' is just simpler in language. Oh, and it's about the underworld. But now you can't write about the underworld either. Just having plain language, can that really attract readers? That seems unlikely, right?"
"My head hurts. Looks like writing an outstanding noob-style novel is no easy task either."
…
This battle could be considered a win.
After reading the post, Huang Yifan felt very pleased. He logged into TT and opened the Baicai group.
At this moment, the Baicai group was also buzzing with activity.
Liuxing: "Jiangshan, awesome! You even KO'd Paradise Bird. Worship!"
Taozi: "Jiangshan, so strong. You really stood up for us newbie authors. Damn that Paradise Bird, what kind of trash is he? Just because he's a level-4 minor god, he thinks he's something special, spraying nonsense all over Feilong. Now look at him, a level-4 minor god getting PK'd by a level-1 author. He's completely lost face."
Bulu: "Yeah, that Paradise Bird is disgusting."
Hongmeng: "And Huanyue too, even more disgusting. Just when 'I'm Just a Scoundrel' was about to surpass Paradise Bird's novel, they deleted it. And they even used 'starting large-scale book deletions' as an excuse."
Xiao Qiankun: "But Huanyue really is doing large-scale deletions. Could it just be a coincidence?"
Guoguo Li: "Coincidence or not, Huanyue is disgusting, that's for sure."
Jiangshan: "You're making me embarrassed. I'm really not that amazing. I just continued writing for White Bro, that's all. I was actually planning to ask White Bro for some guidance on what my next book should be."
Xiao Qiankun: "Sigh, White Bro doesn't know where he's gone. He hasn't been online these past few days."
Taozi: "Yeah, I haven't seen White Bro speak on Feilong either."
While everyone was discussing, Huang Yifan, as usual, sent a sly grin emoji to signal that he was online.
The moment the exclusive emoji appeared, the group erupted.
"Holy crap, speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. White Bro, you're finally online. We've waited so long for you."
"White Bro, I love you."
"White Bro, you haven't been online for days."
"White Bro, teach us how to write noob-style fiction. We'll even become your disciples."
"White Bro is already my master. Even if White Bro doesn't accept disciples, I'll still call him Master White."
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