Chapter 440 - Chapter 440: Chapter 439: Human Emperor Candidate

Chapter 440: Chapter 439: Human Emperor Candidate

“The fact that some individuals have become candidates for the Human Emperor doesn’t surprise me.”

As Jiang Li reached out to the Nine Provinces Earth Veins, he could feel every blade of grass and every tree of the Nine Provinces.

“Qin Luan, Yuan Wuxing, Seven Kills Daoist Li Fugui, Li Nian’er, Ji Kongkong, Yu Youxian, Wu Zhi…”

“I did say that Qin Luan and Yuan Wuxing had the potential to become Human Emperor candidates. Seems I wasn’t wrong.” Jiang Li felt a certain connection with this master-disciple duo, often meeting them.

Jiang Li saw Qin Luan, Yuan Wuxing, Song Ying, Little White Fox, and Aguna gaining fortunate occurrences in a certain secret realm, their luck was as good as always.

“How did Li Fugui end up with two people by his side, a little princess from the South Jiao Dragon Tribe and a little princess from the Mermaid Tribe?” Jiang Li sensed the situation around Li Fugui and found it amusing.

This little princess of the South Jiao Dragon tribe truly is tenacious.

“Li Nian’er, the daughter of Li Er, affiliate of Body-incorporating Sect, it’s normal for her to become a Human Emperor candidate.”

“This Ji Kongkong…” Jiang Li shook his head with a laugh. He saw Ji Kongkong burst into a joyous smile upon realizing she had become a Human Emperor candidate, showing no signs of her previous disillusionment with worldly affairs.

“Such a youthful pretender.”

“Yu Youxian, as I recall, is Bai Hongtu’s disciple, a Daoist affiliate. Since Bai Hongtu adopted a laissez-faire approach to her education, Yu Youxian hasn’t been influenced by him, her thinking should still be normal.”

“Looking at her surroundings, she’s still a live streamer in the Ming Zhong World.”

Jiang Li saw that Yu Youxian was interacting with her viewers, carrying on Bai Hongtu’s style of being talkative, countless people were gifting her items.

Since the Ming Zhong World formally announced the existence of the Nine Provinces World and told people about the concept of cultivating to immortality, the pursuit of cultivation instantly became a craze in the Ming Zhong Continent, one might even call it madness.

The Ming Zhong World’s technology is advanced, and the standard of material life is absurdly high. The people of the Ming Zhong World, after experiencing everything that can be experienced, seek freshness and thrill.

Cultivation perfectly fits these criteria.

Ming Zhong realized that despite preparing quite a lot for the announcement of the Nine Provinces World, he had still underestimated people’s madness.

Fortunately, Yu Youxian was there, advocating for a rational approach to cultivation, thereby just barely halting this craze.

Before the existence of the Nine Provinces Continent was announced, Yu Youxian was merely a somewhat famous live streamer.

After the Nine Provinces Continent was announced, because Yu Youxian was backed by the Ming Zhong government, looked like a fairy and was a cultivator with extraordinarily high talent, she became the most popular live streamer due to people’s pursuit, without any doubt.

“Does Wu Zhi, this kid, no longer want to manage the Buddhist Sect, and seeks to become the Human Emperor instead?”

Jiang Li was surprised.

They had first met on the Flying Boat. When Wu Zhi saw him then, his eyes were filled with admiration. Back then, Jiang Li already knew that the young Buddhist disciple aspired to become Human Emperor.

Later when Wu Zhi became the head of the Buddhist Sect, upon their second meeting, he had concealed the admiration in his eyes deep within. Jiang Li thought he had decided to manage the Buddhist Sect and let go of the ambition to become Human Emperor.

However, this kid still wanted to become Human Emperor.

Jiang Li noticed that Mount Sumeru was in chaos, and the Stupa of Brahma and the Arhat Bodhisattvas were all advising Wu Zhi not to become Human Emperor as the Buddhist Sect couldn’t be without him.

After ten years of coexistence, bowled over by Wu Zhi’s Buddha-nature, everyone in the Buddhist Sect had recognized him as the Buddhist leader.

Now, if the Buddhist leader wanted to become Human Emperor, what was the Buddhist Sect to do?

Even Wu Zhi himself felt helpless. He didn’t have confidence in becoming Human Emperor himself, yet everyone behaved as if he had already ascended to the throne.

“Why didn’t Wang Bian, the Confucian Master, become a candidate for Human Emperor?”

Jiang Li remembered that he and Wang Bian had originally met on the Flying Boat too.

…

“Master, I… did not become a candidate for Human Emperor.” Wang Bian felt dejected, having been hit hard. The imprint on his forehead flickered a moment and then extinguished.

This implied that he was only one step away from becoming a Human Emperor candidate.

Wang Bian couldn’t wrap his head around it. In terms of talent, anyone who could become a Confucian Master was at the apex; in breadth of heart, he loved the Nine Provinces wholeheartedly and treated humans and demons impartially, possessing a conviction in educating all creatures.

Dong Zhong sighed. Seeing Wang Bian reminded him of himself five hundred years ago.

Five hundred years ago, he was likewise one step away from becoming a Human Emperor candidate.

Dong Zhong comforted Wang Bian by patting his head, speaking in a deep voice, “It’s not your problem, but the issue of the whole Confucian Sect.”

“What do you mean?” Wang Bian was surprised.

“Do you know how many people from Confucian Sect in history have been selected as Human Emperor candidates?”

Wang Bian shook his head blankly. Although he knew from the annals of the seventy-two Human Emperors, no one from the Confucian Sect had ever made it, he’d never checked to see who exactly had been in contention for the position in the past.

“None.”

“What?” Wang Bian thought he had misheard.

Dong Zhong confirmed, “None. Not one person from Confucian Sect has been selected as a Human Emperor candidate.”

Five hundred years ago, when Dong Zhong learned he had not been chosen as a Human Emperor candidate, he had been downcast for quite some time.

No one could explain why he hadn’t been selected as a candidate for Human Emperor.

In order to find the answer, he had flipped through old books, sought patterns and eventually found the problem in the detail of the nearly thousand Emperor candidates, which had been overlooked by everyone else.

The reason was the Confucian Sect itself.

“Although our Confucian Sect always abides by Confucian saints’ words, the foundation comes from our ancestor Dong Zhongshu.”

“When ancestor Dong Zhongshu founded the Confucian Sect, he wanted it to become the state religion of the Great Han Dynasty, and thus proposed that the Confucian Sect was a school meant to assist the king. His teachings are full of hints pointing out this fact.”

“Our Confucian Sect pursues the education of all creatures, and you have served as the State Preceptor, but have you ever wondered why you aspire to be the State Preceptor rather than the king?”

Wang Bian was stunned.

“Yes, Confucian disciples can’t become leaders. That’s why I was not chosen by the Earth Veins, and the same rule applies to you.”

…

“So, that’s the reason.” Jiang Li noticed the conversation between the master and disciple, Dong Zhongshu.

Bai Hongtu had considered that Dong Zhongshu was not selected because he was a hypocrite who didn’t have the ambition to help the common people. However, he was unaware of the real reason.

Jiang Li thought he’d find an opportunity to correct Bai Hongtu’s misunderstanding.

“Indeed, since establishing connection with other worlds, people from those worlds could also become Human Emperor candidates.”

Jiang Li sensed that there were quite a few people from other worlds among the Human Emperor candidates.

“Both Bu Jing and Bu Dong are too old and did not meet to the cultivation level requirement respectively, how regretful.”

“Yu Feng, this lad is managing rather well. He didn’t lose his steadiness. It’s impressive for someone who has died tens of thousands of times.”

Jiang Li saw that upon realizing he had become a Human Emperor candidate, Yu Feng gave a calm smile, then continued being affectionate with his elder sister practitioner, Wu Lian.

“Xiaoqing also became a candidate for the Human Emperor, worthy of someone I taught, her heart is with the people. Xia Chao is also a candidate.”

Speaking of Xiaoqing, Jiang Li suddenly remembered that in the time it took for Xiaoqing to transform from a small green worm into a green dragon, only one year had passed.

Even though Xiaoqing appeared mature and possessed maturity of mind, her actual age was just over one year.

A one-year-old at the Body Integration Realm.

“No Luo Ying or Luo Zhu siblings? Oh right, they haven’t reached the Nascent Soul Stage yet.”

One prerequisite for becoming a Human Emperor candidate is that one’s cultivation must reach the Nascent Soul Stage.

It’s alright if they have not reached it now. Once they reached the Nascent Soul Stage, the Earth Veins will automatically add the siblings onto the list of Human Emperor candidates.

Jiang Li still had high hopes for these two siblings.