Chapter 209: The Good Arranger, Finally Be...

"Bian Zhuang..."

After severing the connection of his divine sense with Ao Yi, Li Changshou repeatedly uttered this unfamiliar name.

He never imagined that the young qi refiner who had stepped forward at the edge of the world to confess his feelings to Ke Le'er...

Had actually followed her all the way to the Dragon Palace.

Normally, as merely the young master of a "temporary emotional tribulation enlightenment venue chain," Bian Zhuang could be easily dismissed with a flick of Ao Yi's finger.

But the issue now was that Bian Zhuang had obtained an invitation to Ao Yi's wedding.

Anyone with an invitation attending Ao Yi's wedding at the Dragon Palace was considered a distinguished guest of the dragons;

With their pride barely held together by sheer self-delusion, the Dragon Clan would never resort to asking guests to leave.

At that moment, Bian Zhuang was stationed at the gates of the East Sea Dragon Palace, standing there day and night, waiting for his dream lover, Ke Le'er, to appear...

Thanks to Bian Zhuang's unwavering devotion, the name Ke Le'er quickly became well-known among the Dragon Clan and Sea Clan.

This left Ao Yi extremely troubled, to the point where he didn't dare approach the gates of the East Sea Dragon Palace, fearing Bian Zhuang might recognize him;

Had Jiang Si'er not held him back, Ao Yi would have already arranged for someone to knock Bian Zhuang unconscious and imprison him somewhere for over a decade, dealing with him after the wedding was over.

"Big Brother Teach Master, what should we do now?"

What to do...

Well, what else could be done? For now, just leave it alone.

From what could be seen, Bian Zhuang was merely a minor figure with an obvious background, unlikely to affect Ao Yi's wedding.

Li Changshou comforted Ao Yi a few times, telling his second disciple not to worry too much.

Truth be told, the difference between Ao Yi in male and female attire was quite significant.

Incidentally, Li Changshou gave Ao Yi a few more instructions, reminding him once again that during his wedding, powerful enemies might strike against the Dragon Clan, and they should prepare accordingly.

In reality, even without Li Changshou's reminders, the Dragon Clan had already taken precautions.

But to be thorough, Li Changshou patiently repeated the warnings to Ao Yi several times.

"As for this Bian Zhuang, we'll deal with him later."

Li Changshou sighed lightly, dusted off his sleeves, and officially began arranging the "major event" twelve years in the future!

At present, he was the intersection point of several forces: the Heavenly Court, Human Teachings, and the Dragon Clan;

Ao Yi's wedding, the Western scheming, Human Teachings making a later move, and the Heavenly Court waiting like a mantis.

There was a lot Li Changshou needed to do, and the next eleven years and nine months would be exceptionally busy.

He went to the underground chamber, took out a sheepskin scroll, and began listing all his tasks by priority, one by one...

The most critical matter was naturally to enhance the individual strength of the Bean Soldiers, and the sooner this was completed, the better.

In addition, forming a Dragon-Character Paper Daoist legion and equipping them with sufficient poisonous pills were also vital tasks.

These two matters would occupy most of his energy.

As a core member of the Heavenly Court's wedding congratulations team, Yue Lao and Dongmu Gong would visit the Sea God Temple every so often to discuss specifics with Li Changshou.

On Ao Yi's side, issues big and small arose roughly every three months.

And as per Li Changshou's instructions, Ao Yi would consult him via divine sense exchange on every detail, no matter how trivial.

Zhao Gongming, that big-hearted fellow, truly lived up to his reputation...

He frequently dropped by the Sea God Temple for tea, and before leaving, he'd remind Li Changshou not to forget to call him for action when the time came.

In fact, Zhao Gongming was so worried about missing anything due to closed-door cultivation that he didn't return to Mount Emei for these twelve years, instead wandering between several famous Jie Jiao immortal islands.

For Ao Yi's wedding, the qi refiners from Jin'ao Island would also attend to offer congratulations, which could be factored into their combat strength...

But Li Changshou had even more to handle.

The Western Teachings kept playing their "divide and conquer" schemes, sending marginal Dragon Clan members to cause trouble at the Sea God Cult every few days, which left Li Changshou utterly speechless.

In response, he could only turn their plans against them, carefully calculating to encourage the Western Teachings to boldly attack the Dragon Clan...

Beyond the Dragon Palace ascending to the heavens, Li Changshou also had to keep an eye on the "second springs" of two elderly immortals.

The vicious little grandmaster's return to the mountain lasted a total of six months, during which she met with Wangqing Shangren sixty-two times.

The two met every three days, and their encounters followed a monotonous routine.

Strolls, chats, flute playing, and a few lame jokes...

The mountain scenery was always the same, but to them, each other grew increasingly fascinating.

After half a year like this, the little grandmaster directly "whisked away" Wangqing Shangren from Duxian Sect, giving Li Changshou quite a scare.

Wangqing Shangren was a key observation target for his Golden Immortal Tribulation, which was the main reason Li Changshou had stepped in to help them!

Fortunately, Jiang Lin'er was just going to temporarily bid farewell to her friends in the cultivation world, planning to settle in Duxian Sect for long-term practice;

It was Wangqing Shangren who took the initiative to accompany her, fearing she might run into trouble...

Jiang Lin'er was straightforward and upright, able to look down at her toes and reach up to touch her conscience, so she wasn't afraid of Wangqing Shangren meeting her rowdy friends.

She readily agreed, and the next day, she took Wangqing Shangren to a certain great thousand world beyond the Five Divisions Continent...

That trip lasted three years.

Three years later, Wangqing Shangren and Jiang Lin'er returned hand in hand, their relationship having clearly deepened.

Though they weren't yet at the stage of holding hands in public, their eyes met with tender affection—one had let go of some of his stuffiness, the other had shed a bit of her pride.

When it came to elderly immortals pursuing romance, it was always so laborious.

Li Changshou had originally thought that after three years, Wangqing Shangren and Jiang Lin'er might bring back a little Fu Gui'er...

What was worth celebrating was that they had rediscovered their feelings for each other from back then.

Now facing the Golden Immortal Tribulation, Wangqing Shangren didn't want Jiang Lin'er to be a burden, so she often encouraged him to focus on cultivation and spend more time in seclusion;

As a result, his visits changed from once every three days to... five times every half-month.

Seeing the little grandmaster and Wangqing Shangren's relationship steadily warming up, Li Changshou temporarily withdrew the small portion of his focus he had invested there...

And went all out to arrange for the Dragon Clan!

This busyness lasted a full nine years, with time passing swiftly and leaving no trace, slipping away unnoticed.

Li Changshou's preparations in all aspects were nearing completion, and the three tactical systems were fully in place.

This Dragon Clan calamity was on a completely different scale from the last disaster that befell Duxian Sect.

This time, it involved the schemes of great teachings and the struggles of great clans.

Positioned at the vortex's center, Li Changshou sought to influence the shifting winds and clouds, relying on clever maneuvers to borrow strength, arranging, calculating, and leveraging forces to the fullest...

He knew full well that whether he could firmly hold onto the great tree of Taqing Shengren depended on whether he could successfully arrange for the Dragon Clan.

With less than three years until Ao Yi's wedding.

Li Changshou dispatched a Paper Daoist in the form of a young man to secretly take up residence in the East Sea Dragon Palace, serving as Ao Yi's "temporary military advisor" and directly intervening in the Dragon Clan's layouts.

At this stage, the South Sea Sea God Cult and the Dragon Palace maintained a facade of discord, so Li Changshou couldn't appear in his elderly immortal form, and this matter was kept confidential within the Dragon Clan.

That night, the East Sea Dragon King summoned his two sons—Ao Jia and Ao Yi—along with several Dragon Clan ministers, to host a banquet in honor of the South Sea Sea God's Paper Daoist.

Even though it was just an incarnation, the Dragon Palace treated it with the highest regard.

During the banquet, Li Changshou's seat was arranged right below the Dragon King's, ahead of the two dragon princes.

The old Dragon King sent a clear signal to Li Changshou—

The Dragon Clan needed Human Teachings as their backer.

In response, Li Changshou promised that after Ao Yi's wedding, the South Sea Sea God Cult would add thirty positions for True Dragon Guardians, providing the Dragon Clan with more merit income.

Though this gift was modest, it greatly pleased the Dragon King and the numerous Dragon Clan experts.

Following Li Changshou's suggestions, the Dragon Clan not only stationed heavy troops in the East Sea Dragon Palace but also deployed forces in the West, South, and North Sea Dragon Palaces for defense.

Of course, on the day of Ao Yi's wedding, the Dragon Clan's elite would still converge at the East Sea Dragon Palace.

After arriving at the Dragon Palace, Li Changshou had secretly advised them not to create too much karma of killing before the wedding;

However, to maintain their rule over the four seas, the Dragon Clan still carried out a "kill the chicken to scare the monkeys" strategy.

In the three years leading up to Ao Yi's wedding, the Dragon Clan launched a large-scale suppression of the Sea Clan rebels.

For a time, the four seas ran red with blood, and countless lives were lost...

When there were still two years until Ao Yi's wedding;

Li Changshou handed over the preliminary modified version of the Scattering Beans into Soldiers divine ability, along with two hundred thousand immortal beans, to Dongmu Gong, who arranged for the forty thousand heavenly soldiers to cultivate this technique.

These two hundred thousand immortal beans were not the advanced "poison beans," but the regular ones cultivated by Li Changshou;

The Bean Immortals they summoned had a stable combat power at the early Yuanxian stage.

Although Poison Bean Soldiers were more lethal, they would damage the Heavenly Court's dignity, so they weren't suitable for the heavenly soldiers.

When receiving the storage treasure containing the twenty immortal beans, Dongmu Gong was full of emotion, bowing repeatedly to Li Changshou before hurrying back to the Heavenly Court to report to the Jade Emperor.

Even before officially obtaining his divine position, Li Changshou had already worn himself out for the Heavenly Court.

A true conscientious wild god.

That year, Li Changshou transported three million poisonous immortal beans created by Elder Lin Yun, along with sixty Dragon-Character Paper Daoists, to the East Sea, hiding them in a secluded spot not far from the East Sea Dragon Palace.

This was already the bulk of his assets, without affecting the "Xiaoqiong Peak" defense system.

For this counter-encirclement tactic, the spiritual trees dedicated to the Paper Daoist creation divine ability on Xiaoqiong Peak had all... slimmed down considerably.

Old skin growing loose, but no regrets, for her, the trees withered away!

Li Changshou's Paper Daoist legion definitely wouldn't be deployed on the front lines.

Why charge head-on when you can ambush? Why use divine abilities when poison will do?

When the East Sea Dragon Palace is besieged by powerful enemies, at the most critical moment of the battle, when both sides have suffered significant casualties;

Li Changshou's Paper Daoist and Bean Immortal combat group will join forces with the Heavenly Court's 240,000 troops for a pincer attack!

With Huanglong Zhenren and Zhao Gongming striking from the rear to take down the enemy experts, the Dragon Clan's crisis can be resolved.

Li Changshou's thinking remained as clear as ever—

Use the Western Teachings' hand to hurt the Dragon Clan, but not break them; then gradually guide the Dragon Clan to struggle against the Western Teachings and lure them to the Heavenly Court.

Half a year before Ao Yi's wedding.

The conflicts in the four seas calmed slightly, with the Dragon Clan armies returning to their respective Dragon Palaces, but the Sea Clan rebels not only didn't decrease—they became even more active.

Li Changshou received secret intelligence from Wenjing Daoist that the deep-sea demon clans were stirring;

Soon after, large numbers of demon clans and sea clans from the three thousand worlds beyond the Five Divisions Continent gathered and lurked in secret.

To subdue the Dragon Clan, the Western Teachings had played their two long-hoarded trump cards.

For the Western Teachings, these were just moderately weighted cards; even if lost, the impact wouldn't be too great.

Li Changshou also began making targeted tactical adjustments, influencing the Dragon Clan's decisions to minimize their pressure during the impending war.

Because Li Changshou had tirelessly worked for the Dragon Clan over the years—running around and contributing effort—they, especially the higher-ups and Ao Yi, were quite grateful to the "South Sea Sea God," with Ao Yi growing even more dependent on his Big Brother Teach Master.

They were planning to give the South Sea Sea God a grand gift at Ao Yi's wedding;

To make it clear to all the guests from the Three Realms that...

The South Sea Sea God and their Dragon Clan were true brothers, bonded by blood thicker than water!

In the following half-year, the four seas fell completely quiet, while the East Sea Dragon Palace was decorated with lights and colors, with waves of guests arriving continuously from the four seas, the Five Divisions Continent, and the three thousand worlds.

The vast East Sea Dragon Palace became incredibly crowded.

The Dragon Clan's wealth and extravagance were on full display at this time.

Three months before the wedding began, the Dragon Palace hosted banquets every day without pause, and every distinguished guest with an invitation received a "spiritual treasure" as a return gift.

Li Changshou was speechless for months on end.

Even with undercurrents surging outside, the place was full of revelry and indulgence.

In the blink of an eye, there were only two days left until Ao Yi's wedding...

After completing his final checks, Li Changshou's mind shifted between several lead Paper Daoists, analyzing every possible scenario, and finally felt at ease.

This time, he had no choice but to disappoint Ao Yi.

The Duxian Sect disciple Li Changshou wouldn't attend the wedding in the East Sea; only the South Sea Sea God would go...

This remained a regret in Ao Yi's heart.

But Ao Yi also understood that for his wedding to proceed smoothly, his Big Brother Teach Master had already done so much...

"Well, that's all arranged. I've done everything I can."

Li Changshou stretched lazily, a hint of weariness in his eyes, but he quickly perked up.

Once this is over, I'll take a few days to rest and relax. Balance between work and rest is key—keeping the mind too tense makes it easy to have epiphanies.

This battle at the East Sea Dragon Palace won't be small, and his true body isn't even at the Golden Immortal realm, so he wouldn't be much help there.

Relatively speaking, staying securely in the rear and fully controlling the battlefield would allow him to exert greater influence...

Someone tampered with the Taqing Great Dao, stirring layers of insights in his dao heart.

"The Dragon Clan's wedding faces calamity; head east from Duxian for thirty thousand li, and wait for you."

Li Changshou couldn't help but twitch his mouth.

Was the Grand Mage... just connecting to the network from Doushuai Palace?