People in Conferred Gods: Rising from humble beginnings, I am the God of Wealth

"A top-grade Fortune Coin?!"

Even Confucius was greatly surprised when he saw the Fude coins that Yang Xuan took out.

His knowledge far surpassed that of Zixia, and he had a much deeper understanding of the Fude Coin.

Although Fude coins are divided into four different grades: low, medium, high, and top grade, each grade has a 100x exchange rate.

However, this is only the official theoretical exchange rate.

There's no problem exchanging between mid-grade and low-grade items; the exchange rate is always the same. However, the exchange rate between mid-grade and high-grade items is often different.

Medium and low grade Fude coins are common and are the main currency in circulation, but high grade Fude coins are issued in relatively small quantities.

Every time a new Fude Coin is minted, it is immediately exchanged. Unless you are very lucky, it is impossible to exchange a high-quality Fude Coin from the money shop.

The same applies to the highest-grade Fude coins, which are issued in even smaller quantities.

Therefore, the exchange price of superior and top-grade Fude coins in the market is far more than one hundred times, and they are extremely rare and hard to come by.

Having enough low-grade and mid-grade Fortune Coins doesn't necessarily mean you can exchange them for high-grade and top-grade Fortune Coins on the market.

This isn't about scarcity driving up prices, but rather that top-grade and premium Fude coins are worth this price.

The minting process of low-grade and medium-grade Fude coins is relatively simple, and the materials used are also relatively ordinary. The Fude aura contained within them will gradually dissipate over time.

Although both low-grade and mid-grade Fortune Coins will bring good fortune during this process, once the pure energy of the Fortune Coins dissipates, the Fortune Coins will no longer have the effect of increasing good fortune.

You can either refine it yourself to obtain its spiritual energy, or take it to a money exchange to buy it back at a low price.

Superior and top-grade Fude coins are different; these two types of Fude coins have more sophisticated craftsmanship and use more precious materials.

Not only do these two types of Fude coins possess more Fude Qi, but they also lose it more slowly.

Especially the top-grade Fortune Coins, unless they are refined, their Fortune and Pure Qi will not be lost, and they can be used for tens of thousands of years without any problem.

That is why top-grade and premium Fude coins are so precious.

Yang Xuan's act of taking out a top-grade Fortune Coin to pay for tuition and rent is equivalent to taking out a gold bar to pay for a meal at a roadside stall.

Even Confucius was greatly shocked and instinctively wanted Zixia to return it.

Seeing Yang Xuan's nonchalant expression, he finally gave a wry smile and nodded.

"Since you say so, sir, then I won't stand on ceremony. You may stay as long as you wish."

That evening, Confucius invited his students to prepare a grand banquet to entertain Yang Xuan.

At the banquet, Yang Xuan did not conceal his name, but he did not show his true appearance, and no one associated the name 'Yang Xuan' with the great sage of the human race and the emperor of the Heavenly Court and the Underworld.

Halfway through the banquet, Yang Xuan had a conversation with Confucius.

Some of Confucius's words sounded strangely familiar to Yang Xuan.

Confucius valued the virtues of "benevolence" and "propriety," and also said that education should be inclusive.

For the human race of Kyushu, these words mean nothing; they would consider them to be the fruits of Confucius's spiritual practice.

However, Yang Xuan was a Quasi-Saint, a powerful being whose knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary Quasi-Saints.

Confucius's sayings are somewhat similar to the "theory of innate talent" of the Primordial Celestial Venerable, and also somewhat similar to the "theory of education" of the Tongtian Sect Master.

The teachings practiced by Confucius bear some resemblance to those of the Jie and Chan schools.

The fact that he could understand the great Dao cultivated by the two sages seemed far beyond what one could expect from self-enlightenment.

Yang Xuan put down his chopsticks, looked at Confucius with a puzzled expression, and asked:
"Confucius, may I ask who your teacher was?"

As Yang Xuan had suspected, Confucius was indeed not entirely self-taught.

Confucius thought about it carefully for a moment, then shook his head:

"I don't know the names of my two masters. About 30,000 years ago, when I was a child, I met them under a willow tree outside the village."

"Under the guidance of my two masters, I have the foundation I have today. But more than 20,000 years ago, my two masters left this place and went somewhere."

Confucius's words contain a mix of emotions:感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep feelings), 念念 (niànniàn, reminiscence), and 吝悔 (lìnghuǐ, regret).

Two masters...

Upon hearing this, Yang Xuan suddenly realized that Confucius's two teachers must indeed be the two sages, Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu.

As for the time point of more than 30,000 years ago, isn't that the time when Yang Xuan went to Huoyun Cave and proposed the Hundred Schools of Thought?

At that time, Laozi said that he would personally inform the Jie Sect and the Chan Sect.

It now appears that Laozi directly notified Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu.

It is unclear why these two sages, for what reason, would set aside their prejudices and jointly teach Confucius.

"Could it be because of the Sage Taiqing?"

Yang Xuan seemed to be deep in thought.

Both Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu are saints. If you want them to compromise, besides Hongjun Daozu, the only other person who would be Taiqing Shengren, the elder brother, would probably be able to do so.

After clarifying this line of thought and thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem surprising at all.

After the Investiture of the Gods, the relationship between Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu became somewhat delicate, especially considering the promise Yuanshi Tianzun had made to the two Western Saints.

The Sage of Taiqing may have wanted to take this opportunity to ease the tension between the two, circumvent the promise made by the Primordial Celestial Venerable, and delay the rise of Buddhism—a win-win situation.

Confucius was not a disciple of the Chan sect, so even if Confucius caused great trouble for Buddhism in the future, Yuanshi Tianzun would not be considered to have broken his promise.

As for why Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu chose Confucius, it is not difficult to understand.

Although Confucius was not entirely self-taught, he was indeed born at the right time, a chosen one during the era of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

They are favored by heaven and earth, and are born with an amazing level of understanding that is difficult for ordinary people to reach.

Since Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu were choosing a successor, the best choice would naturally be Confucius, the chosen one.

With their extraordinary abilities and the absence of methods to deduce the future due to the interference of calamity energy, identifying the chosen one and finding him would be as simple as eating and drinking.

Yang Xuan nodded secretly, having basically determined the cause and effect, but he didn't take it too seriously, as these things had nothing to do with him.

He has now found the opportunity to sever his good corpse and become a quasi-saint with two corpses. All he needs to do is stay in the Confucius Academy and be nourished by the righteous spirit.

During this time, his work—whether it was developing the superior incense-golden body condensation method or preparing to spread the divine way and the incense way—would not be affected in any way. So, Yang Xuan settled down in this courtyard.

Although this place is said to be Confucius's school, it is actually also Confucius's residence, or rather, it is Confucius's place of practice.

However, Confucius's cultivation level was too low, so this place cannot yet be called a Taoist temple.

However, Yang Xuan knew the influence of Confucianism in the prehistoric world in the future. Now that he had found Confucius, how could he just watch? Given his personality, he naturally had to make a move in advance.

After the banquet, Yang Xuan went to the pond in the backyard, took out three golden lotus seeds, each only the size of a thumb, from his sleeve, and threw them into the pond.

These three lotus seeds are the seeds of the Golden Lotus of Merit.

Such spiritual objects cannot be created by ordinary means; they can only take root and sprout under the nourishment of abundant fortune.

Given the future influence of Confucianism in the prehistoric world, its fortune will definitely not be lacking.

Logically speaking, nurturing a golden lotus of merit should not be a problem. As long as one of these three lotus seeds takes root and sprouts, it will be a huge success.

Even if we fail in the end, it's not a big deal.

During the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, Yang Xuan obtained quite a few lotus seeds from the Guide Daoist. With his current wealth, even losing three lotus seeds wouldn't be a big deal for him.

Zixia was quite curious about Yang Xuan, who could casually produce a top-grade Fortune Coin, and followed behind Yang Xuan, witnessing Yang Xuan scattering three lotus seeds.

The lotus seeds of the Golden Lotus of Merit possess a divine quality, appearing extraordinary. Even though Zixia lacked knowledge, he could discern its remarkable nature. Curious, he inquired:
"Mr. Yang, what are you doing?"

Initially, Confucius's students, including Confucius himself, addressed Yang Xuan, this powerful immortal, as their senior.
But since this was an academy, at Yang Xuan's request, these people changed their address and began to call him "Teacher".

“Plant lotus flowers, isn’t that obvious?” Yang Xuan smiled slightly and walked towards the room in the backyard.

"I know that, but these three lotus seeds look unusual. Should I go and dig up some spiritual soil?" Zixia scratched his head and followed behind Yang Xuan.

He could tell that these three lotus seeds were extraordinary, and he also knew that the more extraordinary a spiritual object was, the higher its requirements for its growing environment would be.

There's no spiritual soil in the pond; it's fine for planting ordinary lotus flowers, but it's clearly not enough for planting spiritual creatures.

"No need, just leave it like this," Yang Xuan waved his hand, his tone kind.

"Then... what kind of lotus is this, and when will it grow?" Zixia looked back at the pond and asked curiously.

"When the time is right, the lotus will grow, and then you'll know what kind of lotus it is." Yang Xuan smiled, not revealing the origin of the lotus seeds, afraid of scaring the little guy Zixia.

……

In the time that followed, Yang Xuan's true form resided in Confucius's courtyard, where he developed the superior incense and golden body condensation method.

The evil corpse Sun, with the authority of the Sun Star, patrolled the primordial world, keeping abreast of its movements and the progress of the Hundred Schools of Thought, in addition to the messages from the celestial gods and gods of the Heavenly Court and the ghosts and gods of the Underworld.

Even if Yang Xuan never leaves his house, he can still find out whatever he wants to know.

In order to further enhance the righteous spirit and to capture some of the Confucian aura, Yang Xuan would discuss scholarship with Confucius in his spare time.

On occasions, he would even help Confucius teach and instruct his students.

However, what he did was merely icing on the cake and providing assistance from the sidelines. He did not try to influence Confucius's thoughts in order to strengthen the righteous spirit, nor did he do anything to force growth.

On the contrary, in order to enable Confucius to go further in the future and to allow Confucianism to have a higher ceiling,

Yang Xuan often advised Confucius and the students in the academy to lay a solid foundation, to be down-to-earth in their work, and not to be too hasty.

Gradually, Yang Xuan's prestige within the academy grew, and no one was afraid of him anymore because of his Golden Immortal cultivation level.
Rather, it was because of his knowledge that we felt respect and sincerely called him Teacher Yang.

And so, time flew by.

Unbeknownst to them, ten thousand years had passed, and the ancient East had become increasingly lively, with many different schools of thought emerging.

Over the years, under Yang Xuan's subtle guidance, Zixia and other students of the academy collected Confucius's sayings and compiled them into a book called "The Analects" to warn future generations.

If the Analects could be written and cast in advance, when Confucius established his teachings in the future, the Analects might be able to transform into the most precious teaching of Confucianism by taking advantage of the great fortune of Confucianism!
The Analects was originally intended to be a masterpiece passed down through generations and had a profound influence on Confucianism. Yang Xuan's actions would not affect the content of the Analects, but would only speed up the completion of the book.

In the original timeline, the Analects was compiled by Confucius's students after his death, but in the current timeline, this is obviously impossible.

After more than ten thousand years, Confucius's cultivation advanced further, and he broke through to the level of a Xuanxian (a high-level immortal).

With his talent and comprehension, even without making such a great contribution to Confucianism, reaching the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm would have been a certainty.

The Analects could not have been written after Confucius' death.

Therefore, Yang Xuan's actions will not have any negative impact on Confucianism and are not considered an attempt to force growth.

However, one thing was beyond Yang Xuan's expectations.

In the beginning, the content recorded in the Analects was the same as the original timeline, which was Yang Xuan's memory. It was all Confucius's sayings, such as "To learn and at due times to practice what one has learned..."

However, due to Yang Xuan's memories from his previous life, and perhaps influenced by the righteous spirit in the specific setting of the Confucius Academy, he would involuntarily utter some classic phrases.

For example, if Confucius's friend came to visit from afar, Yang Xuan would instinctively say, "Isn't it a joy to have friends coming from afar?"

These were originally quotes from the Analects, so naturally, they were copied down by Zixia and others.

Later, some of the sayings in the Analects became like this.

Master Yang said: "Is it not pleasant to learn and practice what you have learned? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar? Is it not the mark of a gentleman to remain unperturbed when others do not understand you?"

Confucius said, "What Master Yang said is very true!"

Master Yang said: "Learning without thinking is futile; thinking without learning is dangerous."

Confucius said, “What Master Yang said resonates deeply with me!”

……

Of course, given Yang Xuan's cultivation and knowledge, it wasn't just the original Analects that could be copied down by Zixia and the others.

In fact, many of his words, especially regarding cultivation, were truly enlightening for Zixia and the others, giving them many insights.

For this reason, even before the Analects was compiled, a small portion of its contents consisted entirely of Yang Xuan's words, changing the original "Confucius said" to "Master Yang said".

Yang Xuan had not expected such a change; originally, he had only hoped to obtain a portion of the Confucian fortune.

Judging from the current situation, he will not only gain the fortune of Confucianism, but also the merit of compiling the Analects, and the amount will be considerable.

His own status within Confucianism would likely be extraordinary! (End of Chapter)