Chapter 259: The Celebration Ends

At this moment, the voice of the narrator rang out: “Li Nezha is a citizen of Great Zhou. According to the principle of personal jurisdiction, Great Zhou has jurisdiction. The incident in which Li Nezha injured the Dragon King’s third son occurred in the offshore area, which also falls under Great Zhou’s territorial jurisdiction. Hence, by both principles, Great Zhou holds jurisdiction.”
“According to the litigation law, Chentang Pass holds jurisdiction, but considering Li Nezha’s identity, recusal is required. The case must be transferred to another city.”
“The Dragon King’s third son is a foreign national. For criminal cases involving foreign parties, jurisdiction must be escalated to the next level, which means the ‘Prefecture’ holds jurisdiction.”
After a round of interrogation, the prefect held court and ruled: “The Dragon King’s third son intentionally harmed children. Li Nezha only attacked to protect the child, which constitutes justifiable defense, and does not count as intentional harm.”
The Eastern Sea Dragon King was dissatisfied and continued, “Then I want to sue Li Nezha for intentionally harming a protected species!”
The prefect replied calmly, “According to the laws of Great Zhou, the crime of intentionally harming protected species is meant to protect animals without sentience. The Dragon Clan is an intelligent race, and does not meet the criteria for this law.”
“Moreover, Li Nezha was only eleven years old at the time of the incident, not meeting the criminal responsibility age of twelve, and therefore does not bear criminal liability.”
The prefect made the ruling: “In conclusion, Li Nezha is not guilty. However, since he did injure someone, he must make civil compensation. If there are objections, an appeal can be filed within ten days.”
The Eastern Sea Dragon King was still dissatisfied and filed an appeal, escalating the case all the way to the highest level of jurisdiction—Ji Zhi.
Ji Zhi announced the final verdict: “Lawsuit dismissed, original judgment upheld.”
The Eastern Sea Dragon King slumped in defeat, but still accepted the final ruling.
The performance ended, and Jiang Li stood frozen, his thoughts a bit jumbled.
“Well? Not bad, right?” Ji Zhi proudly showed off to Jiang Li. He had made a few edits to the story of Nezha Disturbs the Sea to better suit Great Zhou’s national conditions.
“You’re something else.”
“I remember you also told the story of Chen Xiang splitting the mountain to save his mother. I’m thinking of adapting it into ‘Chen Xiang Breaks Into Jail.’ What do you think?”
Ji Zhi thought it out quite well. Based on Chen Xiang’s story, they could introduce the law that “immortals must not fall in love with mortals,” and then lead into a grand debate on “bad laws being unjust laws.”
It would definitely be a hit.
Jiang Li gripped Ji Zhi’s shoulder tightly. “For the sake of helping you seize the throne, I beg you—please, just let me keep a shred of my childhood.”
It was the first time Ji Zhi had seen Jiang Li like this, so he had no choice but to abandon the idea of modifying Chen Xiang’s story.
After Li Nezha Disturbs the Sea, it was the Corpse-Driving Sect’s turn to perform.
Jiang Li saw a banner rise in the crowd and thought the Corpse-Driving Sect must be quite popular and was being welcomed. Who would’ve thought the banner read:
Corpse-Driving Sect—No Middlemen, No Markups. The Best Destination for the Deceased. Those wishing to sell the dead, please contact us. Bulk orders welcome.
“The Corpse-Driving Sect is at it again.”
Commander Liu saw it too and quickly had the guards take the banner down.
The Corpse-Driving Sect’s performance was a skit, as boring as Duochi Kingdom’s, and rather than a skit, it was more like an extended advertisement for the Corpse-Driving Sect.
On stage, a son clutched his dying father, crying loudly: “Father, don’t die!”
The father trembled, raising his arm to grasp his son’s hand: “Child, when people die, it’s like a lamp going out. Nothing to be sad about. I’m a Soul Formation Stage Cultivator. You can sell me to the Corpse-Driving Sect—they offer high prices…”
The father’s breath ceased.
The son, honoring his father’s last wish, tearfully sent him to the Corpse-Driving Sect.
The Corpse-Driving Sect was shocked: “Your father clearly isn’t dead—why did you bring him to us?”
“His breath stopping was just a false death. Your father can still be saved.”
The Sect dispatched a coroner and brought the father back to life. The son gratefully thanked them, but also had questions: “Aren’t you most fond of corpses? Why didn’t you just pretend not to notice and take my father, but instead revived him?”
“Why do we drive corpses? Our Corpse-Driving Sect believes that while the dead cannot return to life, death doesn’t mean their light is extinguished. We hope to use our hands to restore the glory of the deceased in life, making their journey from life to death one of honor.”
“It’s precisely because of this principle that we must strictly distinguish the living from the dead, and firmly ensure that the living are living, and the dead are dead!”
The son was deeply moved and presented a silk banner: Corpse-Driving Sect’s Miraculous Hands Revive the Dying.
The performance ended amidst polite applause.
Jiang Li thought for a moment and said to the Corpse-Driving Sect Master, “If you perform like this again next time, I’m charging you advertising fees.”
This time, the Hehuan Sect behaved. They just did a fashion show in relatively conservative clothing—various outfits that highlighted feminine charm, modeled for the audience.
At least they dressed more modestly than the Baize Dynasty or the Gu Clan.
Jiang Li suspected the Hehuan Sect was pivoting to selling clothes.
The Dharmakaya Sect, Beast-Taming Sect, and Baize Dynasty all centered their performances on the theme of harmony between humans and demon races.
“Why is the Dharmakaya Sect involved in this theme?” someone in the audience asked. The Beast-Taming Sect and Baize Dynasty made sense, but what did this have to do with the Dharmakaya Sect?
“No idea. Maybe the Dharmakaya Sect borrows demon beast forms for insights into the Dharma Body, so they have good relations with demon races?” someone guessed.
Penglai Immortal Island, Great Wei Dynasty, Mengjiang Dynasty, and other major powers all performed in turn. From morning until night, every show was finally completed.
None of the performances were repetitive or similar. Each had its own unique charm and drew the eye—Mingzhong watched and couldn’t help exclaiming that thought in the Nine Provinces was truly open.
The audience of cultivators didn’t feel tired at all. They were thoroughly entertained and applauded nonstop.
They felt that traveling all this way to the Human Sovereign Hall to attend the celebration was more than worth it.
They even got to see someone undergo the Immortal Ascension Tribulation live. Though it didn’t boost their cultivation, it greatly benefited their mental state.
And improving one’s mental state is an important part of cultivation.
None of the major powers could behave themselves. All of them, to varying degrees, pulled some kind of stunt. Jiang Li was mentally exhausted from watching it all. Commander Liu, the one coordinating everything behind the scenes, was mentally exhausted from directing it.
The two of them had the same thought: fighting a battle against Outer World Demons might actually be easier.
“Next time, let’s have a rehearsal. If nothing else, we should at least get a preview of what these lunatics plan to perform so we can be mentally prepared.”
Commander Liu nodded, agreeing with the Hall Master. Ten years ago, only the Hehuan Sect caused trouble. Ten years later, now everybody’s getting in on it.
Cultivation progress may be stagnant, but their ability to stir up chaos is advancing by leaps and bounds.
Another round of this, and even Tribulation-Stage cultivators won’t be able to take it.
In the end, the celebration was a huge success. Everyone left happy and satisfied.
The celebration came to a perfect close.
But for the people, this was just the beginning.
After all, there were ten days of vacation. If they didn’t go out and enjoy themselves, it’d be a disgrace to Jiang the Human Sovereign’s 300th ascension anniversary.
Jiang Li felt that the cultivators’ joy was built on his own suffering. As the Human Sovereign, he had sacrificed far too much.
Jiang Li wanted to take a walk—anywhere was fine, as long as it wasn’t the Human Sovereign Hall.
The dormant system issued a new mission.
【Special Mission: “Find the Fragments of the Stairway to Immortality”】