Chapter 684: Order
Emperor Shun said earnestly, “Human Sovereign Jiang, I often observe the ways of the world and the demeanors of the powerful while traveling the River of Time. Among all the powerful figures I have seen, you are the strongest and also the most unique.”
“Powerful individuals have one characteristic: they consider themselves supreme. What they say is truth, what they do is correct. They establish a set of rules for others to follow, yet they themselves, claiming ‘these are the rules I made, so I don’t need to follow them,’ exempt themselves.”
“And there are others who directly state that this world is one of the survival of the fittest, that their actions conform to natural law, treating rules and regulations as if they don’t exist.”
Jiang Li’s expression turned strange. Emperor Shun’s words reminded him of the First Emperor and the Idle One; both of them had said similar things.
He wondered how the First Emperor and the Idle One were doing now.
“The order I speak of is not just any order.”
“For example, the Immortal Realm has Heavenly Decrees. The entire purpose of the Heavenly Decrees is to maintain the Immortal Emperor’s rule. The Immortal Emperor himself naturally wouldn’t violate them, but what about everyone else? Many people superficially obey the Heavenly Decrees, but in their hearts, they are unwilling to comply.”
“I have secretly conducted statistics. Immortal Emperor, only twenty percent of the immortals in the Immortal Realm agree with your Heavenly Decrees, while the cultivators of the Immortal Realm are basically all opposed to your Heavenly Decrees.”
“Too great a disparity between appearance and reality also cannot constitute order.”
“Order has two characteristics. First, it is something that the majority of people agree with and recognize.”
“Second, everyone follows it.”
“This sounds simple, but putting it into practice is as difficult as ascending to heaven.”
“The first point is already very difficult because the majority are the weak, and why would the powerful care about the power of the weak? The rules established by the powerful are all to protect their own interests.”
“The second point is even more difficult than the first.”
“After all, in technological worlds, the regulations they establish may seem quite perfect, but in reality, does everyone truly follow them?”
“Take the Observer World as an example. Their technology is extremely advanced, and the laws they’ve established are so perfect they don’t need further revision. But the fact is, the Observer World still has people who violate the law.”
“Who are they? They are the councilors, the privileged class.”
“Human Sovereign Jiang, do you remember that councilor’s son you encountered who was holding a protest?”
“He held protests multiple times without filing for approval beforehand. According to the laws of the Observer World, he should have been arrested.”
“And as you saw, the councilor’s son was completely unharmed; the government had no intention of dealing with him.”
“The councilor’s son has Nascent Soul stage cultivation, and reaching the Nascent Soul stage requires money. A councilor’s income is not enough to allow his son to become a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“The councilor’s son became a Nascent Soul cultivator thanks to a gift from the CEO of the Meteor Group.”
“According to local law, councilors are not allowed to accept such large gifts.”
“Everyone knows there is a problem with the councilor’s son’s cultivation level, but why haven’t the councilor’s political opponents brought it up and used it as evidence to topple their rival?”
“Because all the councilors have dirty secrets.”
“The councilor and the CEO of the Meteor Group are friends. Was it truly a case of feeling like old friends at first sight? No, their friendship is based on interests.”
“I dare guarantee that the councilor’s son is very likely to be the next councilor because the connections are already in place.”
“Councilors are said to be elected by the citizens, but in reality, there are far too many shady dealings involved.”
“The citizens don’t know any of the councilor candidates. What do they base their vote on?”
“Seeking connections, pulling in personal favors—this is human nature, and it is also the difficulty of demanding that everyone act according to regulations.”
“Do the three Rulers know about these things? They do. They consider it a fundamental flaw of human nature, part of the content to be observed, and not something that needs correction.”
“When I founded Great Zhou, I once said that the life of the law lies not in its enactment, but in its execution.”
“Enforcing the law is difficult because there will always be people who consider themselves privileged, above the constraints. This has been true throughout history, in any world.”
“In the cultivation world, order is established for the sake of specific individuals, making it difficult to satisfy the majority.”
“That’s why I say, Human Sovereign Jiang, you are the most unique.”
“As the strongest, the pinnacle of the Nine Provinces, everything you do is not for your own consideration, but for the sake of all living beings under heaven.”
“The order you establish can gain the agreement of the majority, because the majority are ordinary mortals.”
“At first, the high-level cultivators did not understand your methods. Later, under your influence, they gradually changed, becoming what they are now.”
“My founding of Great Zhou was a similar process. I used the law to pull cultivators and mortals onto the same line, demanding they all obey the law. The cultivators disagreed. I forcibly implemented the law, punishing those cultivators who did not comply according to the law.”
“Gradually, the cultivators were forced to try obeying the law. Then they discovered that with the law in place, instead of burning, killing, plundering, and living day-to-day, they could get rewards for their efforts. The safety of cultivators was guaranteed, resources were guaranteed, and they could slowly grow stronger.”
“The success of Great Zhou proved that cultivators can also obey the law. And the moment Great Zhou fully met the standards of ‘order’ was when you, Human Sovereign Jiang, ascended to the throne and chose to respect and support Great Zhou.”
“Of course, the success of Great Zhou also had the help of the Confucius Sage.”
Emperor Shun looked toward the Confucius Sage and clasped his hands in thanks, leaving the Confucius Sage utterly bewildered.
“Me?” The Confucius Sage didn’t know how this matter was connected to him.
“Maintaining order relies not only on law, but also on morality.”
“If you had not preached across the myriad heavens, spreading Confucian teachings and giving people the concept of morality, Great Zhou’s implementation of the law would have encountered many more obstacles.”
“Before you attained the Dao, you once sought guidance from the Dao Ancestor, correct?”
The Confucius Sage nodded. This matter was not a secret; all Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortals knew about it.
“Correct. I sought advice from the Dao Ancestor on how to become a Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal. The Dao Ancestor said I could take the rule of survival of the fittest as the object of study, spread Confucian teachings across the myriad heavens and worlds, so that all living beings would no longer be solely about survival of the fittest and the strong being supreme. I would let all beings know that beyond power, there is also morality.”
“Afterwards, I preached across the myriad heavens and worlds, comprehending the myriad phenomena of all living beings, and finally attained enlightenment, proving the Primordial Chaos and Limitlessness position.”
Emperor Shun revealed the story behind this matter: “Actually, it was I who asked the Dao Ancestor to have you preach.”
“Originally, the Dao Ancestor wanted you to comprehend the rule of mass-energy conversion. I went back to the past and said it would be better to have you preach instead.”
“The Dao Ancestor agreed with my view.”
The Confucius Sage frowned. “Since you knew the second method to resolve the rule of destruction, why didn’t you inform the Dao Ancestor and me?”
The Confucius Sage and the Buddha had contested for nine thousand years. His heart was tormented every moment without respite. He knew the Divine Vault Sovereign and the Buddha were right, yet he still refused to admit defeat.
If he had known about the second method earlier, he and the Buddha would never have fought in the first place.
Emperor Shun shook his head and pointed at the Divine Vault Sovereign.
“If the Dao Ancestor and you had known about the second method, the Heavenly Dao would absolutely not have let the two of you live. Death and the dissipation of your Dao would have been inevitable. The Dao Ancestor wouldn’t even have had a chance for reincarnation.”
“Now I dare to speak of the second method because Jiang Li is here, and we don’t need to worry about the Heavenly Dao attacking us.”