Chapter 213: Sacrificing a Son to Benefit Others

“The Human Sovereign is the protector of the Nine Provinces. Looking back over nine thousand years of history, the Human Sovereign has defended the Nine Provinces nearly a hundred times, ensuring that Outer World Demons never returned. All of us owe the Human Sovereign our lives.”
“Not to mention the current Human Sovereign, Jiang Li, who has slain multiple Outer World Demons, earned glorious battle merits, broken through to the Mahayana Stage, and accomplished feats not seen in nine thousand years, standing shoulder to shoulder with the legendary ancient powers and Immortals.”
“What does this mean? It means Jiang the Human Sovereign is mandated by Heaven, Heaven’s chosen, the Son of Heaven.”
“As cultivators, we should naturally align ourselves with the Heavenly Dao and submit to Jiang the Human Sovereign.”
“Although theoretically, the Human Sovereign and the emperors of the Nine Dynasties are of the same rank or half a rank higher, in truth, the Human Sovereign surpasses everyone, born to rule. Therefore, the Human Sovereign stands one full rank above the emperors, and the emperors should regard themselves as subjects, and the Human Sovereign as their lord…”
Mr. Dong spoke eloquently, raising the position of the Human Sovereign to an unattainable height.
Jiang Li thought that by this logic, he wasn’t just the master of the Nine Provinces, but practically the ruler of the Celestial Realm itself.
“Does Mr. Dong often teach you about the Order of the Three Bonds?” Jiang Li asked the student next to him.
The student shook his head: “This is the first time we’ve heard of it.”
The entire morning was spent on the Three Bonds Order; in the afternoon, Mr. Dong switched to cultivation subjects, using the textbook Complete Guide to Cultivation (by Jiang Li).
It gave Jiang Li a feeling like he was back at the Great Zhou Imperial Academy, coming in last on the exams.
But unlike back then, Mr. Dong didn’t teach mechanically. Instead, he broke down the knowledge, explained it carefully, step by step.
The students listened with rapt attention.
Setting aside Mr. Dong’s ideological problems, when it came to teaching and explaining cultivation knowledge, he was impeccable—dedicated, thorough, hiding nothing, even teaching concepts that only a Fusion Stage cultivator would normally know.
It was easy to imagine these students would take far fewer detours in the future and would far surpass their peers.
This was a true virtue of teaching.
It showed that Mr. Dong’s character had admirable aspects.
“Does Mr. Dong usually teach you these kinds of cultivation theories?” Jiang Li continued asking the student.
“Yeah, that’s what we usually study.”
Jiang Li neither left out of dissatisfaction nor felt that Mr. Dong was the right person, nor did he tell him to report to the Human Sovereign Hall tomorrow.
When Jiang Li was leaving the private school, he happened to run into Mr. Dong’s son bringing lunch for him.
Seventeen or eighteen years old, with dual spiritual roots, but with a mediocre cultivation level—only at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
Mr. Dong’s son was well-mannered, bowing to everyone he met, and naturally bowed to Jiang Li as well.
Jiang Li had heard that Mr. Dong placed great importance on family discipline and was strict with himself and his family, and now it seemed to be true.
“Are you Mr. Dong’s son?”
“I am,” Mr. Dong’s son replied, unsure why Jiang Li stopped him.
“You have decent talent. Why are you only at the fifth layer of Qi Refining?”
Mr. Dong’s son didn’t have blocked meridians, nor was there any mysterious force draining his cultivation. He wasn’t laying a deep foundation either; he simply was just at the fifth layer.
His dual spiritual roots were practically useless to him.
“Has Mr. Dong never taught you how to cultivate?”
“My father said that Jiang the Human Sovereign hopes for an age where everyone in the Nine Provinces can cultivate and become cultivators. If I were to cultivate and reach the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stages, I would consume a massive amount of resources—resources that could instead nurture many other cultivators.”
In the Nine Provinces, a third-layer Qi Refiner was a mortal; a fourth-layer Qi Refiner was considered a cultivator.
Jiang Li had indeed pushed for the widespread dissemination of cultivation methods, advocating for open sharing across sects to enable more mortals to become cultivators.
“As the son of my father, of course, I must honor my father and obey the Human Sovereign. I must listen to my father’s instructions, follow the Human Sovereign’s will, and sacrifice myself to benefit thousands of others.”
“Unfortunately, I still can’t completely control myself. In daily life, I still inadvertently absorb spiritual energy, reaching two layers higher than a mortal, up to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.”
“I am deeply ashamed.” Mr. Dong’s son lowered his head in shame. “By occupying these two layers of spiritual energy, isn’t it as if I deprived two people of the chance to become fourth-layer Qi Refiners?”
“That’s certainly an… unusual viewpoint.” Jiang Li left and contacted Dong Zhongren, the leader of the Confucian Sect.
The materials Commander Liu had handed over clearly stated Mr. Dong’s identity.
Mr. Dong’s real name was Dong Wuwei, a descendant of Dong Zhongshu, the founding ancestor of the Confucian Sect, and the elder brother of Dong Zhongren, the current Confucian Sect Leader. He had left the sect decades ago due to ideological differences, fitting the requirement of neutrality for a Human Sovereign Hall commander.
“How much do you know about Dong Wuwei?”
“Dong Wuwei? You met him?” Dong Zhongren was slightly surprised, but then answered Jiang Li’s question. “Dong Wuwei and I are brothers. He greatly reveres our ancestor Dong Zhongshu, especially believing in the theory of Heaven’s Mandate—that divine will bestows sovereignty and that royal authority is the will of Heaven, which must not be defied. He believes the world should have strict hierarchical divisions.”
“My views oppose his. He says I have betrayed our teachings; I say he’s trying to force everything into rigid frameworks. We argued endlessly and finally decided to settle it the Confucian way: each of us became a national advisor to a different kingdom and applied our respective ideas. After ten years, we would see which kingdom was stronger.”
“In the end, the kingdom I advised became far stronger than the one he served, and I naturally won. But Dong Wuwei accused me of cheating and refused to accept defeat, demanding a rematch. If I agreed, wouldn’t that imply I had cheated?”
“Since I refused, he became convinced I was guilty and left the sect, vowing to prove himself. I’ve waited decades, but he’s never managed to prove anything.”
“I see.” Jiang Li roughly understood Dong Wuwei’s thinking.
Jiang Li sat at a teahouse, ordered a pot of tea and some pastries, and waited for Dong Wuwei.
After finishing his classes, Mr. Dong left the private school with his son. Jiang Li waved him over. Mr. Dong sent his son away and came over, looking puzzled.
“Student Ding Li, is there something unclear from the lesson? Some question you didn’t understand? Since you came all the way from Great Zhou, I can’t let you leave with doubts.”
“Dong Wuwei, drop the act. You know who I am, and I know who you are,” Jiang Li said bluntly.
Commander Liu had already questioned Dong Wuwei, testing him. With his intelligence, how could Dong Wuwei not realize this was the first evaluation for joining the Human Sovereign Hall?
A few days later, a man with the surname “Li” but whose given name sounded suspiciously like “Li” as well came to find him, speaking eloquently, claiming to be from Great Zhou. It wasn’t hard to figure out it was Jiang Li himself.
That first lesson about the Three Bonds Order—Human Sovereign as lord, others as subjects—wasn’t aimed at the students but at Jiang Li. Dong Wuwei hoped to use his philosophy to win Jiang Li over and secure a position as a commander of the Human Sovereign Hall.
Judging by his rhetoric, Dong Wuwei didn’t just want to become a commander. He wanted Jiang Li to ascend the throne, depose the dynasties, and establish the absolute supremacy of the Human Sovereign.
Just like his ancestor, Dong Zhongshu.