Chapter 316: Is This Melon Guaranteed to Ripen?

Utterly insane!

The dragon clan is simply utterly insane!

In the clouds, in front of a group of elder dragons, Li Changshou couldn't help but cover his face with his hand, while Long Ji, following behind him, struggled to suppress her laughter, and Ao Yi's handsome young face had turned completely red.

What was going on?

Well, what else could it be...

It all started when Li Changshou had given an impassioned speech in the Donghai Dragon Palace, calculating every step and pressing forward relentlessly, ultimately seizing the dragon clan's core territory—the Donghai Dragon Palace.

The Donghai Dragon King led the oath of allegiance to the Heavenly Court, staking the dragon clan's destiny on it.

Some of the dragon clan's reasonable demands were also written into that decree by Li Changshou, and he had already summoned Dongmu Gong, who was escorted back to Heaven by dragon experts to present to His Majesty the Jade Emperor for review.

For the other three dragon palaces, Li Changshou didn't have ninety-eight percent certainty, so to play it safe, he didn't go directly to persuade them, avoiding any chance of alerting the Western Cult and disrupting their own plans.

Although the Donghai Dragon King was the current leader of the dragon clan, the four sea dragon palaces maintained a certain degree of independence.

After much thought, Li Changshou decided to use the Donghai Dragon Palace as the foundation and then bring the Southern Sea and Northern Sea dragon palaces onto the Heavenly Court's ship.

As for the Western Sea...

It was a bit tricky, so for now, they would just observe, and on the slogan front, they would make a token effort—aiming to secure three and striving for four.

Then, according to his plan, Li Changshou brought Long Ji to the southern part of Jambudvipa to begin inspecting the various waterways.

Li Changshou had anticipated that the dragon clan would send elders to follow along.

But he had completely underestimated the dragons' enthusiasm.

Not only did the dragon clan send over a dozen elders, but Ao Yi was also dispatched by the Dragon King to follow Li Changshou's orders. Moreover, the Dragon King had even summoned three ancient elders who guarded the sea eyes to provide frenzied protection for the Sea God's... paper effigy.

After arriving in the southern continent, as soon as Li Changshou inspected a small waterway, those three ancient elders began darting around busily.

First, one old dragon rushed over, pulling Li Changshou to fly to a nearby mountain, pointing at a sparkling little stream and saying with a laugh:

"Sea God, please look. I have named this place Qianlong River. It could be enfeoffed with a river god!"

Then, another old dragon hurried over, dragging Li Changshou to a nearby human village, pointing at a small pond by the village entrance and asking with a smile:

"Sea God, what do you think would be a good name for this great marsh?"

No sooner had those words been spoken than an old dragon shouted from afar:

"Come quickly and see! There's an extremely deep abyss here! This place should be enfeoffed with a river god!"

Li Changshou: ...

That was a well!

It was just a well that the villagers had dug themselves, sir!

"Gentlemen..."

Li Changshou tried his best to stay calm and explained gently: "We need to follow the rules. I understand everyone's enthusiasm, but... we still have to maintain some standards."

Those few old dragons immediately looked embarrassed and chuckled awkwardly.

"We got a bit carried away, indeed. Please don't blame us, Sea God."

Li Changshou smiled and said: "The southern part of Jambudvipa is where human qi gathers. Inspecting the waterways and stationing water gods there can enhance human qi, protect the safety of mortals, and also help local river gods accumulate merit.

This is a good thing and a proper matter, not just for the benefit of the dragon clan, so I ask everyone to understand and support it more."

"Understand! We understand!"

"Of course we're supporting it!"

"In that case," one of the ancient dragon elders turned and shouted, "You young dragons go back! We're enough to protect the Sea God!

What are you all running around for? Do you think you're good-looking? What if you scare these lovely mortals?"

The group of elderly dragon heads bowed in unison, not daring to say a word, and quickly rode the clouds away.

Though it might sound a bit improper, but...

It was just too embarrassing for the dragons!

One ancient old dragon leaned close to Li Changshou, let out a hearty laugh, and muttered:

"Sea God, from today, us three brothers will be your guards here in the southern continent.

I'm Ao Ao, their second brother, this one's Ao Fei, the sixth, and this one's Ao Pi, the eighth!

If you can't remember our names, just call us Two, Six, and Eight!"

Li Changshou cupped his hands in salute and respectfully addressed them as seniors three times.

With so many old dragons no longer crowding around, Li Changshou finally felt a bit more at ease.

Ao Ao took out a flying treasure, transforming it into a small boat.

Li Changshou, along with Ao Yi and Long Ji, boarded the boat, and then began their long journey of inspecting the waterways in the southern continent.

The southern part of Jambudvipa was vast, with countless rivers and lakes.

Inspecting a single river was no simple task—it wasn't just flying over it, glancing at a treasure map, nodding, and saying, "The river is still here," before turning away.

Such a perfunctory approach wouldn't earn Heavenly Dao's recognition.

According to the rules Li Changshou had set, to inspect a river, one first had to trace its source, find its origin, record all its tributaries, the paths it took, and its mouth where it met the sea.

Beyond that, he would sketch the river's general shape, along with the nearby terrain, and mark in detail the depth of each section, the rapid currents, the silted areas, and the spots prone to accidents.

Additionally, he had to calculate the river's hydrological changes throughout the four seasons and its course changes over the past thousand years.

When Li Changshou had reported this matter to the Jade Emperor, he knew it would be a massive and tedious undertaking, possibly not finished in twelve years.

But it had to be done, and once completed, Li Changshou estimated he would gain quite a bit of merit.

This wasn't deliberate scheming.

Putting in effort and receiving Heavenly Dao's reward was perfectly reasonable, entirely different from the nature of exploiting for personal gain.

And so, Li Changshou set out from the Donghai coast, accompanied by the three ancient dragon experts, following the map of Dayu controlling the waters, holding a spiritual treasure immortal brush to begin inspecting the waterways of the southern continent.

Seeing how meticulously Li Changshou worked, those three dragon elders relaxed a bit, neither urging nor disturbing him, each hiding their forms and focusing on their guard duties.

But for Li Changshou's two companions, this process was a bit...

Rather dull.

The boat drifted through the clouds, slowly following the river.

Long Ji, dressed in a loose robe, sat at the stern, leaning forward with her legs together, her delicate hands supporting her face as she gazed absentmindedly at Li Changshou's back, where he was sketching in the boat's thatched shelter...

Ao Yi, sitting nearby in meditation, stroked his chin and occasionally glanced at Long Ji, a slight doubt rising in his heart.

'Could she be like a sister-in-law?'

'No, how could Brother Teacher be interested in such a young girl? Especially with Sister Ling'e back in the mountains—though this girl is clever, she's not as outstanding as Sister Ling'e.'

'That's right, she's the daughter of the Jade Emperor. Maybe the Jade Emperor intends to arrange a match, and Brother Teacher just can't refuse?'

Ao Yi pondered for a moment, and in that short time, he had already imagined a whole dramatic play like "Heavenly Palace Romance: My Immortal Wife at Twelve or Thirteen"!

Just then, Li Changshou's voice came.

"Ao Yi?"

"Brother!" Ao Yi quickly stood up.

Without turning around, Li Changshou continued dipping his brush and painting calmly: "Don't overthink things. Her Highness Long Ji is just learning some strategies from me."

Ao Yi couldn't help but purse his lips and blink, his handsome face full of awkwardness.

Mind reading?

Brother Teacher really does have mind reading, right?

Li Changshou added: "Go back to the Donghai Dragon Palace and ask the Dragon King to lend you a small troop under your command.

I've already arranged for 100,000 Heavenly Court water troops to train near the Southern Sea, Donghai, and Beihai dragon palaces.

I'm tied up here drawing the waterways, so you supervise that matter.

Make sure there's no conflict between the dragon palace and the heavenly soldiers, and keep an eye on those heavenly soldiers and generals so they don't accept bribes from the dragon clan and damage the Heavenly Court's dignity."

"Don't worry, brother!"

Ao Yi clasped his fists in agreement and immediately turned to leave.

One of the dragon elders appeared to escort Ao Yi back to the Donghai Dragon Palace.

Li Changshou paused his brush, thought for a moment, then turned and smiled: "Oh, right, that Bian Zhuang will also bring a few heavenly generals to the dragon palace for a banquet, so remember to arrange for someone to host them.

If you still have some grudges against him, you can give him a light punishment to let him know his limits and temper his arrogance."

Ao Yi muttered: "Brother, how should I punish him?"

"Do I need to teach you that?" Li Changshou said helplessly. "Just get Bian Zhuang drunk, then surround him with a few ugly fish spirits or shrimp monsters. When he wakes up, have them all call him 'darling'—something like that.

Of course, that's just an example.

Bian Zhuang is now the deputy commander of the Tianhe Water Army and a favorite in front of His Majesty the Jade Emperor, so don't go too far."

Ao Yi's eyes lit up at once, and he said firmly: "I won't let you down, brother!"

With that, he turned, rolled up his sleeves, and was ready to get to work!

After Ao Yi left, Long Ji blinked, thought for a moment, and finally snapped out of it, covering her lips with a light laugh.

She took out her recording jade talisman and wrote in it:

The Sea God is not only steady and meticulous but also has a fun side.

And he's a bit naughty, deliberately setting a trap for his own deputy commander with those strange sea beauties to...

"Long Ji," Li Changshou's voice floated over again, "Don't bother recording minor things.

If others find out, they'll think I'm intentionally making things hard for Bian Zhuang, and his future would be in jeopardy."

Long Ji instinctively sat up straight, a shiver running through her, her eyes full of surprise.

How did the Sea God know what I was writing in the jade talisman?

This jade talisman was a treasure given by my mother...

"Yes, I'll erase it right away."

Long Ji quickly responded and wiped the words from the jade talisman.

Li Changshou continued painting the waterways, his smile fading as most of his focus shifted elsewhere, dealing with any potential disturbances from the Western Cult.

The matter of recruiting the dragons required a balance of urgency and patience.

For the next eleven-plus years, he only needed to make time to meet the Southern Sea Dragon King and the Northern Sea Dragon King; everything else could be left for the dragon clan to figure out on their own.

That said, the Western Cult's actions were indeed quite slow...

After being on edge for half a month, Li Changshou finally detected signs of the enemy.

Several suspicious figures began appearing at various Sea God temples, but the Bear Village divine envoys had already evacuated the temples.

Over the past half month, Li Changshou revised his strategy from "full hiding" to "active luring," having the elite divine envoys leave their underground safe houses and operate in the Sea God temples.

In the original plan, notices were to be posted everywhere, stating that the Sea God's divine envoys were going to enhance their divine power.

Li Changshou intensified efforts, leaving countless clues in various places, all pointing directly to the Sea God temples, drawing the Western Cult's assassins toward Anshui City.

The renovated Sea God temple could easily accommodate over 1,400 divine envoys.

Every time Li Changshou's immortal sense swept over his own Sea God temple during this half month, he couldn't help but imagine some classic narration voice from his previous life:

Spring has arrived, and it's the season when the shaman people become active again.

In Anshui City by the Southern Sea, waves of powerful shouts echo.

Look, the shamans are emerging from their homes, gathering in the spacious square and backyard of the Sea God temple, flexing their proud, strong muscles, lifting anything they can except the houses and foundations, showcasing their strength.

Strength is the best remedy for the shaman people when facing the unknown.

These divine envoys don't just rely on strength to attract mates; they each have their own special skills.

For example, "rapid recitations," "spitting tunes," "storytelling," "making up tales"—they gather in groups of two or three, honing their skills as Sea God divine envoys and comparing how many cities they've preached in...

In short, over the past half month, the divine envoys on vacation have been quite relaxed.

The reason Li Changshou revised the strategy was simple—reinforcements from the underworld had arrived!

Right now, among those divine envoys, dozens of true shamans were mixed in—ancient pure-blood war shamans!

Such shamans were irreplaceable if lost, rarely active in the underworld.

But this time, Li Changshou had managed to bring back nearly fifty of them!

It all started that day when Li Changshou took a few shamans to the underworld, smoothly reaching outside Fengdu City and meeting the two old friends, Ox-Head and Horse-Face.

As soon as they saw Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Xiong Laosan and the other shamans burst into tears.

Once the emotions settled, Li Changshou began to gravely explain what had happened.

What kind of temperament did Ox-Head and Horse-Face have?

Upon hearing that the shamans serving the Sea God were being targeted by the great Western Cult, and that the Western Cult couldn't handle the Sea God so they were taking it out on the shamans' descendants!

The two soul-reapers were furious on the spot, ripping off their headgear and stomping their feet, cursing up a storm. Without another word, they hoisted a few shamans and vanished swiftly.

In less than half a day,

Ox-Head and Horse-Face returned carrying Xiong Laosan and the others, along with dozens of angry, burly fellows.

They followed Li Changshou back to the Sea God temple, blending in with the divine envoys, ready to strike back at any moment.

As for why the underworld shamans weren't afraid of the Western Cult with its saints...

Their ancestors were Pangu—what's there to fear?

The shamans had clashed with heaven above and earth below, taking on countless great powers since ancient times. They hunted their way to becoming the overlords of the great earth, and today, facing the Western Cult, they weren't afraid at all.

Incidentally, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, on behalf of the great shaman priest, expressed deep gratitude to the Sea God for caring about the shamans' safety.

If Li Changshou hadn't stopped them, they probably would have brought back a bunch of local specialties...

That's roughly the situation.

Li Changshou wouldn't just sit back and watch. On one side, he quietly prepared his paper effigy army—this battle couldn't rely entirely on the shamans.

On the other side, he incorporated the area around Anshui City for thousands of miles into his paper effigy surveillance system, with several paper effigies simultaneously deploying immortal sense, integrating information and projecting it into his mind.

The Western Cult's people had nowhere to hide; as soon as they showed up, they were spotted.

This time, the experts sent by the Western Cult were few and far between, with no one on the level of Wen Jing or Jin Chan Zi. Most were of demon clan origin, along with some remnants of deep-sea great demons.

Clearly, the Western Cult thought dealing with the shamans would be easy.

From the moment the Western Cult's people arrived at the Southern Sea coast, in just three days, hundreds of great demons had gathered hundreds of miles outside Anshui City.

A few great demons skilled in stealth had already disguised themselves as mortals and sneaked near the Sea God temple to scout intelligence.

After careful consideration, Li Changshou decided to set the battlefield outside the city to avoid massive civilian casualties in Anshui City.

So, he secretly discussed with Ox-Head and Horse-Face and settled on a strategy of striking first.

On the fourth day, at dusk, the great demons outside the city began to gather, likely preparing a night attack.

Li Changshou decided to act preemptively. He first sent a message to Ox-Head and Horse-Face, transforming a Golden Immortal realm paper effigy to match the build of the Bear Village divine envoys.

Then, he called a few divine envoys—five or six burly men—and swaggered out of the Sea God temple gates, wandering casually through the lively market outside.

After strolling for a bit, Li Changshou stopped in front of a melon vendor disguised as a demon.

He bent down, picked up a large melon, and gently knocked it with his fingers.

The demon melon vendor reacted quickly, laughing: "Sir, are you thirsty? Take it and eat. May the Sea God protect you."

Li Changshou: ...

The blessing was wrong!

Li Changshou snorted coldly: "Is this melon guaranteed ripe?"

"Huh?"

"I'm just asking you—is this melon guaranteed, not, guaranteed, ripe!"

The demon melon vendor was still a bit confused.