Chapter 661: Chapter 89: The Right to Interpret Scriptures Cannot Be Conceded to Others Chapter 661: Chapter 89: The Right to Interpret Scriptures Cannot Be Conceded to Others “What is this?” Wei Dongliu returned to the back hall and placed the item in front of Jiang Lian.
“Ah, this,” Jiang the Witch said nonchalantly, “I’ve heard about this.
It seems to be just a lot of cultivators trying to interpret your thoughts, and then as the errors get passed along, they become more and more absurd until they turn into a collection of statements falsely attributed to you, haha.”
So that’s why it’s become such a game of broken telephone…
Wei Dongliu felt somewhat powerless, and his brow furrowed tightly.
Words he had never said were being falsely pinned on him, which was not exactly a fun situation.
“The roots of this issue can be traced back to speculations about the mechanism of the Dharma Transmission Hall,” Jiang Lian continued to explain.
It turned out that the stone statue in the Dharma Transmission Hall recently seemed to enjoy giving people three choices: one with the greatest temptation but potentially very difficult, one that was moderate but lacked potential, and one that was obviously easy but of the least value.
Choosing the third option was the safest, but no one wanted to pick the third; many chose the second, but those who passed the trial often looked dejected, beating their chests and stomping their feet, wishing they could go back and choose the first, “If only I knew it was that easy, I would have chosen the first one.”
Based on the psychology of many Mortal Life Path Cultivators who were afraid of loss and gain, an industry soon evolved that specialized in analyzing the logic mechanism of the Dharma Transmission Hall’s stone statue.
Mortal Life Path Cultivators recorded all the choices of cultivators applying for transmission, the content of their trials, and whether they passed, etc…
They compiled it all into a booklet and sold it among their fellow sect members for money.
Since making the wrong choice could result in losing everything, everyone was naturally willing to spend a bit more money to buy this booklet in order to increase their chances of making the right choice, which followed the same logic as paying for a college entrance exam prep course.
However, the booklet was purely a category of statistical data and did not lead to any simple and clear conclusions.
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Many cultivators lacked the ability to perform logical analysis and could not understand the patterns hidden behind the big data, so this extended to annotations of the booklet-many cultivators did nothing else but wait for the booklet to be updated and then conducted their own data analysis, selling and explaining the analyses.
Although no one knew what “knowledge for sale” meant, it wasn’t long before people started peddling the concept and using various methods to increase their own authority.
For example, I deduced some of Sect Leader Wei’s hidden psychology behind setting the stone statue, based on something he said, and thus came to some conclusions…
Although the reasoning process used to arrive at those conclusions was often far-fetched, it didn’t prevent many cultivators from lacking brains.
Since Sect Leader Wei did indeed say those words, the conclusion must be credible-so thought many gullible individuals.
Consequently, cultivators selling their knowledge started to compete with each other in a race to the bottom, trying to claim a connection to a higher authority, and eventually producing something called “The Thoughts of Sect Leader Wei,” which compiled all the words Wei Dongliu had ever spoken and added the compilers’ own annotations for everyone to study and learn.
By the end, Wei Dongliu was also feeling numb.
???G?.??
If Confucius had known that in later generations people would make a living by studying (and misinterpreting) his theories, he probably would be numb too…
but Wei Dongliu clearly had no intention of becoming another Confucius.
He started seriously considering whether to completely forbid idol worship to prevent these people from continuing their nonsense and truly hoisting him onto a pedestal.
Being put on a pedestal…
actually wasn’t a problem, but given that he was only at the Golden Core Realm, ascending the pedestal now was too soon and would be laughable.
The will of the people is like water, it can carry a boat or overturn it; the key is that public opinion must serve me and not grow unchecked.
Otherwise, given these cultivators’ natures, it would eventually come down to who can spread rumors better and capture more attention.
The phenomenon of the masses loving outrageous opinions is something that can’t be avoided in any world.
“My dear, this book is actually quite interesting,” Wei Dongliu said indifferently, “The things written inside are true, but the analysis is completely wrong.
If this continues, it will inevitably mislead the disciples of the sect and corrupt the atmosphere.”
“I think it’s quite interesting,” Jiang Lian said, intrigued.
Spreading rumors, twisting facts, brainwashing-doesn’t that sound incredibly fascinating?
The Great Unrestrained Heavenly Demon was very eager to try it out himself.
“In my opinion, it’s better to channel rather than block,” Wei Dongliu continued, “Although many people are spreading rumors, the more we try to refute them, the more we feed the spread of rumors.
Instead, you should come forward as the wife of the Sect Leader, compile these remarks, and set the record straight.”
“You want me to do it?” Jiang Lian, clearly eager to give it a try, put on a cautious front and hesitated before asking, “Why can’t you write it yourself?
I’m afraid I won’t do a good job…
Perhaps you should write it yourself.”
As expected, just the mention of writing a book gave Wei Dongliu a headache, and he had to explain:
“Where is the sense in writing one’s own commentary?
That would just invite ridicule.
I originally disliked such matters, but I can’t stand by and watch them distort the truth, so I have no choice but to intervene.”
“My wife is the person closest to me; you know and understand me best.
There’s no one I trust more than you to handle this matter,” he said confidently.
This was exactly what Jiang Lian had been waiting for!
She laughed wildly in her heart, but outwardly she modestly said:
“Then…
then I shall give it a try.
If it doesn’t turn out well, you will have to write it yourself.”
“How could you not do well?
With your wisdom being beyond that of ordinary people, you will surely do an excellent job,” Wei Dongliu hastily flattered her, promptly delegating the authority to interpret the scriptures to Jiang Lian.
A few days passed, and the official “Wei Dongliu Theory” had not yet been released when the Blood Sea Ancestor summoned him first.
“I’ve heard that you’ve initiated some kind of law transmission?” Atop the summit of Central Peak, beneath a massive rock, the frost-covered Blood Sea Ancestor inquired.
“Yes,” Wei Dongliu said evenly, recounting the whole story from beginning to end.
“Well, that’s good,” the Blood Sea Ancestor nodded with approval, “Since it’s a Daoist transmission belonging to Myriad Laws Mystic Profound Sect, if you choose to share it with all Mortal Life Path Cultivators, I naturally have nothing to say.”
“However, I’ve heard that someone is recording your words and attempting to analyze some principle from them, which is really quite preposterous.” He sighed deeply, “If word gets out, it will be a joke to other sects.”
“I will clarify with the entire sect immediately,” Wei Dongliu hurriedly responded, “The mechanism for transmitting the laws through the stone statues is to select three Daoist Magics that the cultivator might be able to learn.
Whether they can actually learn them, however, primarily depends on the abilities of the cultivator themselves.”
“Exactly,” the Blood Sea Ancestor agreed, “As long as one’s own abilities are sufficient, any choice should be handled with ease.
Conversely, if one isn’t focused on how to improve their own strength but instead obsesses over what Daoist Magic to choose, that’s really putting the cart before the horse.”
Wei Dongliu sighed inwardly: Everyone understood the principle, but human nature is such that people don’t like putting in solid, steady work-they prefer the idea of a quick fix.
Working hard to enhance one’s own strength requires persistent effort over many years, while figuring out which choice to make only takes a few days; it’s self-evident what most people would opt for.
“By the way,” the Blood Sea Ancestor brought up another matter, “That Wen Yang from the Nether Ghost Path, I’ve heard she’s an old acquaintance of yours?”
“She has recently become a Direct Disciple of White Bone.
If you have some free time in the coming days, pay a visit to congratulate White Bone on my behalf and present a gift.”
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