Dong Tianyu was very clear that neither his old man nor himself was cut out for leadership roles; otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen the mysterious path over the technological one.
After all, just like what the Daoist had first posted on WB after the pre-apocalyptic catastrophe, "Love it, believe it, if not, get lost; don't hinder my cultivation."
Cultivation mainly requires one to be at peace with oneself; in other words, as long as you're happy, there's no need to care too much about what others think.
Although the Daoist path involves the concept of performing good deeds, no matter which book you look at, virtue can indeed help to quickly increase one's cultivation level, but it's not an essential component of cultivation. The most important thing is still to rely on oneself.