Chapter 241: Jiang Li Wants to Retire

“National fortune really is a love-hate thing.”
If not for the drag of national fortune, Ji Zhi would’ve reached the Fusion Stage long ago and gone back in time to give Jiang Li a good beating.
Ji Zhi continued, “Faith energy is way more convenient—use it if you want, don’t if you don’t. I heard that kid Jiang Li stored all of Nine Provinces’ faith energy in the bronze cauldron, saving it for the next Human Sovereign.”
“Who knows who the next Human Sovereign will be—probably not as good as Jiang Li.” Though Jiang Li stirred up trouble often, Yu Yin had to admit his competence and character were outstanding among all past Human Sovereigns.
“Gossiping about me again.” Jiang Li had just arrived when he heard them talking about him.
“We were discussing which junior might be the next Human Sovereign. You’ve always had a good eye—anyone you favor?”
“There are a few, but without trials and tempering, I can’t say for sure who’s fit to be the Human Sovereign. Enough about that—what’s going on with the Luban Sect?”
Yu Yin spoke up: “Let me explain.”
“After their puppets gained sentience, Luban Sect developed a trend of marrying them. Some in Nine Provinces have a bias, saying they’re just marrying fake wives. The sect wants to use legal authority to prove the legitimacy of these marriages.”
“Tianyuan’s laws don’t carry as much weight as Great Zhou’s, so they want to move their sect and get married in Great Zhou.”
Luban Sect had four Fusion Stage elders—if such a sect left Tianyuan, it would weaken its national fortune.
Great Zhou didn’t really want them either. Under Great Zhou’s marriage law, as long as an intelligent being of the opposite sex is involved, the marriage is valid.
This law was made to include not just humans but also demons and spirit creatures.
No one expected it to go so far as marrying spiritual treasures—that concept was just too ahead of its time.
This loophole in the law would damage Great Zhou’s national fortune.
Jiang Li winced—today it’s puppet marriages, tomorrow someone’s proposing spiritual treasures taking human form, and the day after that, someone will want to marry a sentient pill.
Why did every other Human Sovereign get to focus on fighting Outer World Demons, while he had to deal with this absurd nonsense?
How was such an honest man like him supposed to handle this crap?
Why couldn’t people just cultivate quietly?
Ji Zhi and Yu Yin glanced at Jiang Li—they could tell from his face exactly what he was thinking.
Now you know how the Old Human Sovereign felt whenever you and Bai Hongtu showed up, right?
Jiang Li started thinking maybe it was time to kick off the Human Sovereign candidate competition, pick a successor, and retire early to enjoy some peace.
He’d already been doing this for over three hundred years. How many three-hundred-year stretches did a person get in a lifetime… wait, Fusion Stage cultivators could live ten thousand years.
That didn’t matter. He just wanted to retire.
Jiang Li tried to solve the problem: “Is it too late to amend Great Zhou’s marriage law?”
“Fastest would still take half a month. I saw with my double pupils that the Luban Sect will arrive in Great Zhou in ten days.”
“Any quicker options?”
Ji Zhi thought for a moment: “Actually, yes.”
Jiang Li perked up: “What?”
“Declare wartime status. All laws can be modified freely.”
“Forget I asked.”
Jiang Li knew what wartime status meant—massive war with another country, life-or-death stakes.
Sure, the Luban Sect issue would be solved, but a bigger war would break out.
And the Human Sovereign’s job was to prevent war, not incite it.
“What about trying to talk them out of it?”
“They won’t budge. You can’t exactly stop people from getting married. If you tell them they can’t marry puppets, they’ll come at you.”
“Alright then, you head back to Great Zhou and start the law revision. Yu Yin and I will go check out the Luban Sect. Maybe we can stall them.”
“Fine.” Ji Zhi and Yu Yin agreed—it wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the best they had.
…
Luban Sect used to be like all other forces in the Tianyuan Dynasty—cold-hearted, believing dao partners were unnecessary, avoiding marriage.
After all, marriage risked betrayal.
You never really knew what someone was thinking—just marrying someone didn’t guarantee they truly cared.
Better to not marry at all than to pick someone untrustworthy.
That was the general attitude of cultivators above Foundation Establishment.
Qi Refining stage cultivators didn’t have enough assets for a betrayal to be worthwhile.
But once puppets gained sentience, Luban Sect realized they weren’t unwilling to marry—they just couldn’t find the right partner.
Who could resist a puppet that could change its appearance to your liking, loved you wholeheartedly, and was… available day and night?
At the very least, Luban Sect couldn’t.
Besides, a soul was the distinction between a living being and an object. If it had a soul, it counted as alive.
Jiang Li shook his head: “You Tianyuan folks made competition so intense, you scared cultivators out of getting married. That’s too bleak.”
“I’m working on changing it.”
Yu Yin also felt Tianyuan had gone overboard with its competitive culture.
When she was only at the Fusion Stage, some ignored her commands. Now that she’d reached the Tribulation Stage and truly ruled the dynasty, no one dared disobey. She could finally take measures to reform the country.
They decided to observe the situation before taking action and didn’t reveal themselves immediately.
Even before entering the Luban Sect, they were shocked by the two massive puppets stationed at the entrance.
These two puppets were nothing like the mainstream Nine Provinces designs. Made of specialized metal, each stood fifty meters tall. Under the sun, they gleamed, radiating power. Though humanoid, they had sharp, angular lines—far from human.
In the Mingzhong World, these were called mechs.
They overheard some disciples discussing the puppets.
“These puppets look so badass.”
“No kidding. I heard the elders got the idea after talking with Dao Sect elders about the Mingzhong World. They didn’t understand things like circuit boards and chips, but they used Nine Provinces-style puppet techniques to control metal and pulled an all-nighter to make these.”
“Also, the chest compartments can open so people can sit inside and pilot them.”
“No wonder our elders are brilliant—so quick-witted.”
One disciple stroked the metal puppet enviously: “So cool… I really want to try piloting one.”
“Enough about that. Have you decided whether you’re staying or going to Great Zhou?”
“Of course I’m going. My wife and I grew up together. We were childhood sweethearts. I was with her even when she was still just a block of wood. It’s infuriating that people don’t understand our love.”
“Exactly. So what if we marry puppets? At least we love each other. Can those mocking us say for sure their marriages are based on love and not just some age-appropriate arrangement?”
Jiang Li and Yu Yin slipped past them and entered the sect.
The whole place radiated an ambiguous atmosphere—disciples exchanged affectionate glances with their puppets, clearly deeply in love. Their teamwork was flawless—cultivator and spiritual treasure in perfect harmony.
Suddenly, Jiang Li thought of something.
Ever since the Desolate Heaven Halberd gained sentience, he hadn’t had a proper conversation with it.
Was he neglecting his own weapon too much?