Chapter 212: Smile Without Speaking

Pulling out scissors...

Is that considered drawing a weapon?

The moment Yue Lao produced his golden scissors, several dragon elders and dragon guards rushed forward to shield Ao Yi.

Numerous immortal senses focused on this scene also locked onto the golden scissors in Yue Lao's hand.

Not only were the onlookers baffled, but even Li Changshou felt momentarily dazed by Yue Lao's baffling actions.

What on earth was happening?

Was the Dragon Palace enveloped in a toxin called "fuming with rage," or was this Bian Zhuang fellow simply born to be beaten and inherently troublesome?

One person draws a sword at the sight, another pulls out scissors directly...

Regardless, Li Changshou couldn't allow Yue Lao to act improperly.

With Yu Di Majesty supervising nearby, this involved not only the dignity of Heaven but also Yue Lao's merit-based livelihood!

As Li Changshou quickly pressed down on Yue Lao's hand, he transmitted a low whisper:

"Yue Lao, this is the Dragon Palace!

What are we here for?"

Yue Lao snapped to attention, but the scissors in his hand were already gleaming brightly, impossible to retract.

His eyes showed a hint of plea as he blinked forcefully at the Sea God before him.

How should they handle this?

Li Changshou was also stumped.

Should he have Yue Lao recite lines on the spot, like "Look at these scissors, so bright and sharp"?

That would still be improper.

In an instant, Li Changshou's mind raced through ideas;

Within a single breath, he devised a plan and transmitted instructions to Yue Lao on how to cover it up.

Yue Lao raised the scissors and smoothly brought them to his own wrist...

He opened the scissors with a few snips, cutting two pieces of red cloth from the sleeve of his wedding robe, cloth imbued with dense, pure merit power.

Glancing sideways at Bian Zhuang, Yue Lao turned to Ao Yi with a smiling face and said warmly:

"Before the ceremony begins, I, on behalf of Yu Di Majesty of Heaven, present this first gift to the happy couple!"

Ao Yi and the dragon experts nearby breathed a sigh of relief.

From Yue Lao's earlier demeanor, they had thought he might stab someone with the scissors...

Then, Yue Lao used merit power to form four large characters on the two pieces of red cloth—"Xin Lang" and "Xin Niang";

He handed these merit-infused red cloths to Ao Yi.

Following Li Changshou's instructions, Yue Lao said with a smile:

"Ao Yi Your Highness, you may wear these on yourself and Jiang Si'er Your Highness.

When doing so, the two of you should face each other, speak each other's names, and place the cloth over each other's heart, outside your wedding attire.

This will bring good fortune, symbolizing a sweet and harmonious life of mutual respect.

Other gifts will be presented later, according to dragon customs!"

So it was just a gift—everyone thought there might be trouble...

Nearly half the guests in the hall withdrew their immortal senses, finding it dull.

"Thank you, Yue Lao! Thank you, Yue Lao!"

Ao Yi accepted the two pieces of red cloth, and Yue Lao's wedding robe sleeve shimmered with immortal light, restoring itself.

Li Changshou added from the side: "Brother Yi, why not put it on Jiang Si'er Your Highness right now?"

"Good, good!

Brother, please accompany Yue Lao and the other heavenly guests. I'll go find Si Si right away!"

Overjoyed, Ao Yi glanced secretly at the dazed Bian Zhuang, clutched the red cloths, and hurried to the hall where Jiang Si'er was.

A dragon elder stepped forward to take Ao Yi's place, smiling as he invited the nine heavenly visitors to enter the main hall and take their seats.

The heavenly soldiers and generals who had accompanied them were received by dragon experts and led to side halls for the feast...

According to dragon wedding customs, guests with invitations need not bring gifts and won't be asked for contributions upon entry.

Asking for contributions to attend a banquet?

That would be an insult, as if looking down on the dragons or implying they can't properly host guests!

However, gifts are still a form of blessing. If guests bring any, they can present them to the couple in person before the wedding starts or after the couple enters.

The main procedures of a dragon wedding are similar to those of mortal human weddings in NanZhanBuZhou, but more elaborate and intricate.

In the heat of the moment, Li Changshou had come up with this solution, saving Yue Lao's career...

He had done right by his old friend.

Li Changshou glanced discreetly at the heavenly general disguised as Yu Di's incarnation, pondering various possibilities in his mind...

Could Heaven be so short on soldiers that even Yu Di Majesty had to personally play a minor role?

That seemed unlikely.

Even if Heaven's reputation was fading, they should still have a few JinXian experts... right?

The incarnation Yu Di was portraying was merely a TianXian-level heavenly general. Logically, His Majesty was probably just here to join the fun or add some extra strength for contingencies.

How should he respond?

The seats for the nine heavenly visitors were arranged next to the Qi Lian cultivators from Jin'ao Island.

As Yue Lao entered, many figures in the main hall rose to bow in respect, though most dragon experts remained seated.

DongHai Dragon King simply sat on his throne, nodding with a smile at Yue Lao before continuing to feign drunkenness with his eyes closed.

What surprised Li Changshou was the behavior of the Jie Jiao cultivators from Jin'ao Island.

Remembering that Heaven was established by the three Daoist sages, the Jie Jiao immortals stood to greet Yue Lao as he approached;

Qin Wan, one of the Ten Heavenly Lords, even came over for a brief chat.

Yue Lao, drawing on his professional expertise, maintained a gentle smile, effortlessly and flawlessly exchanging pleasantries with whoever approached.

Li Changshou's paper effigy naturally joined Yue Lao and the others at their seats.

No sooner had he sat down than Li Changshou transmitted a question to Yue Lao about what had just happened;

Yue Lao looked a bit embarrassed, sighed softly, and explained via transmission.

Bian Zhuang's clay figure had been incessantly harassing Ao Yi's clay figure for over a decade, leaving Yue Lao tormented as he kept cutting the red strings. Seeing the real person, he couldn't hold back...

A red string that persisted for twelve years...

Li Changshou couldn't help but chuckle inwardly—this Bian Zhuang had truly stirred up a minor mess.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Changshou sat there lost in thought.

He was considering the matter of Yu Di's incarnation arriving.

From Yue Lao and the others' reactions, none of them realized that Yu Di's incarnation was sitting right there.

This incarnation seemed to have replaced a typically active heavenly general, chatting and drinking with the others without any slip-ups.

If not for Xuan Du Da Fa Shi's reminder, Li Changshou wouldn't have noticed either.

How to deal with Yu Di?

After thinking it through, the best approach was to pretend not to know Yu Di was here, focus on his own duties, remind Yue Lao not to embarrass Heaven, and respond to changes with constancy.

Meanwhile,

In the warm chamber, Da Fa Shi began asking about Yue Lao's sudden scissors incident.

Da Fa Shi had clearly seen Yue Lao's brief agitation, only to be held back by Li Changshou on the spot.

Li Changshou didn't dare hide anything and explained in full detail how he and Ao Yi had gone to the eastern edge of the East Sea, disguised as women to thwart the Western schemes.

Da Fa Shi burst into laughter, repeatedly saying, "As expected of you."

"Changshou, how is your mind crafted?

It's always full of these bizarre yet brilliant ideas?"

Just as Da Fa Shi finished speaking, Li Changshou was pondering how to subtly attribute the praise to his leader...

An anomaly suddenly struck the Crystal Palace!

A vast and overwhelming pressure descended without warning!

The experts present all changed color, thinking some supreme being had arrived;

Inside and outside the Crystal Palace, hundreds of thousands of creatures looked up toward the sea surface.

This was...

Heavenly might!

In an instant, four beams of golden light shot into the East Sea and vanished into the Dragon Palace!

The largest beam went straight into Yue Lao's head, causing immortal light to surge around him and his cultivation to rise slightly!

Two other substantial beams flew to another hall, entering Jiang Si'er and Ao Yi.

Ao Yi and Jiang Si'er, who had just tied the "Xin Lang" and "Xin Niang" cloths on each other, were caught off guard.

"Where did this heavenly merit come from?"

Jiang Si'er whispered in surprise, while Ao Yi looked down at the small red cloth on his chest, his eyes full of disbelief.

In the main hall of the Dragon Palace, all eyes—from the dragons to the guests—fixed on Yue Lao.

As Yue Lao was about to say it had nothing to do with him, he heard Li Changshou's transmission...

"Stay calm. No matter what they ask, just smile and say nothing—let them speculate."

Though puzzled, Yue Lao knew this was advice from a key future figure in Heaven and followed it immediately.

The old man smiled, narrowed his eyes, and casually helped himself to food and wine.

Soon, several dragon elders came to toast him, subtly inquiring about the source of the heavenly merit;

Yue Lao smiled and said nothing.

The elders quickly understood that the merit must be a gift from Heaven, and they expressed their gratitude to Yue Lao, instantly boosting the dragons' goodwill toward Heaven.

Ao Yi hurried back and toasted Yue Lao in thanks, asking where the merit had come from.

Yue Lao continued to smile and say nothing.

Ao Yi immediately realized this was likely arranged by his "teacher brother," and he cast grateful looks at both Yue Lao and Li Changshou's paper effigy.

Before long, Qin Wan brought two other Ten Heavenly Lords over to chat with Yue Lao and ask about the heavenly merit...

Yue Lao kept on... smiling and saying nothing.

In the main hall, the heavyweights discussed nothing but "why heavenly merit had descended."

At Yue Lao's table, the unknown Yu Di incarnation raised his cup to toast Yue Lao and transmitted:

"Yue Lao, this must have been arranged by the Sea God, right?"

Yue Lao still smiled and said nothing.

This Majesty quickly grasped something, lowered his head in thought for a moment, and smiled faintly.

"ritual" merit.

Then, a sea elder muttered in confusion: "Weren't there four beams of merit that fell? Where did the fourth one go?"

A dragon elder laughed: "That one went to the newlyweds' chamber."

The immortals half-understood but could make sense of it.

The warm chamber was protected by dragon formations, impenetrable even to ordinary JinXian;

Even experts like the dragon elders or Wu Yun Da Xian couldn't probe it with their immortal senses and found nothing unusual.

They assumed the merit had flown to the newlyweds' bed...

Naturally, the fourth beam of merit went to Li Changshou.

At that moment, Li Changshou was explaining to Da Fa Shi how the merit had likely come about;

Da Fa Shi, who had just laughed over the Bian Zhuang incident, was now praising him again, growing fonder of this future junior brother.

This amount of merit...

Well, it wasn't insignificant—in terms of quantity, it equaled a decade's worth of incense merit from the South Sea Sea God Temple.

Without small steps, one can't cover long distances; merit accumulates bit by bit, paving the way for a merit golden body...

Compared to this merit, Li Changshou truly hoped nothing would go wrong next.

Li Changshou kept switching his crystal mirrors, checking Ao Yi and Jiang Si'er, glancing at Yu Di's incarnation at Yue Lao's table, and scanning the dragon garrison areas nearby...

Overall, everything was proceeding as he had planned.

"Changshou, shall we head to the South Sea?"

Da Fa Shi said: "I just calculated that blood fiend energy is gathering in the South Sea—there might be a fierce battle."

Li Changshou thought carefully and replied: "Da Fa Shi, let's leave the South Sea to the dragons. I believe the best choice is for us to observe quietly from here."

"Very well," Da Fa Shi nodded gently and leaned back comfortably in his chair. "Just call out if we need to act."

"Thank you, Da Fa Shi."

Li Changshou responded and fixed his gaze on the crystal mirror.

Unfortunately, they couldn't see the South Sea.

Though Da Fa Shi's divine abilities were powerful, they weren't limitless and could only monitor the waters near the East Sea Dragon Palace.

At that moment, Wen Jing Dao Ren was hidden in a bay at the South Sea seabed, surrounded by a dark mass of shadows.

She wore a blood-red skirt, her long hair swaying in the sea water, her alluring figure emitting a soft glow.

But the tens of thousands of creatures in the dark clouds behind her knelt motionless, not daring to look up at this queen.

Suddenly, golden light flashed in the sea, creating a long "void bubble" where space split open, and a beast enveloped in golden light emerged from the rift.

It was a three-foot-long fierce insect, its body shining with gold, with six blade-like thin wings on its back.

Based on its form, it appeared to be... a Jin Chan.

An abnormal, mutated one.

The six-winged Jin Chan flew straight to within ten zhang of Wen Jing Dao Ren, its wing blades radiating a sharp aura that nearly cut her face.

Wen Jing Dao Ren snorted but ignored it.

The Jin Chan then transformed into a handsome, mild-mannered young Daoist, who nodded slightly at Wen Jing Dao Ren and said calmly:

"Daoist friend, how are preparations on your side?"

Wen Jing Dao Ren replied: "The troops are all assembled."

The Jin Chan nodded and said: "As per the two deputy leaders' arrangements, I will join you in the attack shortly."

"Hmph, coming to hold me back!"

Wen Jing Dao Ren snapped irritably, but the Jin Chan Daoist just smiled faintly and stood silently in the sea, saying no more.

It was clear their relationship wasn't amicable.