There is no conclusion yet on the author of "The Romance of the Gods". There is only evidence to prove that Xu Zhonglin is the most likely candidate and is also the candidate with the most supporters so far. Because in Japan's royal collection, there is a copy of "The Romance of the Gods" from the Ming Dynasty. There is a sentence written in this book "The Romance of the Gods" edited by Zhongshan Yisou Xu Zhonglin. This sentence is very obvious. "Fengshen Yanyi" is a work from the Ming Dynasty. The versions handed down since the Ming Dynasty all say that "Fengshen Yanyi" was edited by Xu Zhonglin, which means that Xu Zhonglin may be the author. Sex is the biggest.
However, there is a controversial point: whether "editor" and "author" in the Ming Dynasty have the same meaning. Later, after verification by all parties, it can be confirmed that they do not mean the same thing. In other words, Xu Zhonglin just The editor, not the author of the book. This led to speculations by other authors, such as a Taoist practitioner named Lu. It is said that he was originally a scholar during the Ming Dynasty. He failed several scientific examinations, so he stopped taking exams and began to live in the world.
While traveling among the people, the scholar surnamed Lu met many Taoist priests who traveled far and wide, and thus learned a lot about Taoist theories. Later, he became obsessed with Taoism and couldn't extricate himself. Finally, he compiled what he had learned throughout his life and compiled "The Romance of the Gods". In fact, this can be explained reluctantly, because the magic techniques of gods in "Fengshen Yanyi" are indeed Taoist methods. Regarding Western Buddhism, it can also be seen in "Fengshen Yanyi" that Buddhism is just a A newly emerging sect located in a corner. Moreover, "The Romance of the Gods" is very disapproving of Buddhism and feels that most of their development relied on robbery and plunder.
However, some scholars believe that "The Romance of the Gods" should be a novel compiled by Xu Zhonglin based on folk stories, so they humbly wrote the word "editor" when signing the name. To sum up, there is no clear evidence so far to prove who the author of "The Romance of the Gods" is, but Xu Zhonglin is the most likely.