Jing Yi fell into deep contemplation after getting his mother's advice. For a while, he just sat there in the preparation room and pondered, then he went over to the counter and leaned next to Qiu Ling. He wanted to say something but didn't know what. In the end, how had Qiu Ling fallen in love with him? He still didn't understand. Could all of this really be fate?
Qiu Ling turned toward him and smiled. "You've finished already? Did you manage to catch up a bit on the things that happened in the last years?"
Jing Yi shook his head. "It's so much. How could some hours be enough for that?"
Qiu Ling sidled a little closer. "You know I was being serious when I said that we could stay some weeks or even some months if that is what you like."
"But the Grand—"
Suddenly, a hand gently pressed onto his lips. "Sh! No need to bring that up. Nobody can force you to do anything."
Jing Yi blushed, then he gripped Qiu Ling wrist and pulled his hand down. "This isn't about someone forcing me to do anything. I want to become a cultivator. Isn't this journey supposed to help me?"
Qiu Ling nodded. "What's the problem with that?"
Jing Yi sighed. "You're a practitioner so you might not understand. But just how you practitioners have to go outside and use your sword skills sometimes to get better we cultivators also need some fortuitous encounters.
"Like what?"
Jing Yi shook his head. "It's nice of you to ask but what difference would it make to talk about it? You're a practitioner, not a cultivator."
"Still. Maybe I can help you figure something out if you tell me a bit about cultivation." He saw Jing Yi's doubtful gaze and pressed his lips together. "I have lived quite a bit longer than you. Maybe I have encountered something that could be helpful."
"Alright." Jing Yi noticed the hurt in Qiu Ling's eyes and for the first time he reached out himself and patted his arm, instantly elevating Qiu Ling's mood. "I'll tell you what I know. It's not much, though. People with my aptitude aren't taught in the sect, after all." He sighed again, then he examined the handsome face in front of him. Qiu Ling really was serious about helping him. There was no doubt about that.
In the end, what did he have to lose when he told him? Nothing. In the worst case, he would just have used a lot of the precious time he could have had with his mother to talk with Qiu Ling without getting anywhere. But his mother would probably understand. In fact, he felt like she would welcome it. He didn't understand why but his mother somehow seemed to like Qiu Ling.
"You don't know anything about spirit veins, do you?", asked Jing Yi instead of a direct explanation.
Qiu Ling shook his head. "Just tell me slowly. We have a lot of time." He grabbed Jing Yi's hand and this time Jing Yi just let it be. He didn't feel bad about it anymore so there was no need to reject it. And with a bit of time, he would figure out if marriage was really something they should consider.
"Well, as I said before you can have a different number of spirit veins and there are different types of them, too. For example, you could have a fire spirit vein or a water spirit vein or even a mutated one like an ice spirit vein. To cultivate means to somehow use these spirit veins to draw in the corresponding energy.
So, if you have a heavenly water spirit vein, then you would draw in water energy. If you have paired spirit veins of water and air, then you take in the energy of water and air and so forth. The energy you've taken in would then condense inside your body, forming something that is called the dantian. After it is formed you can store energy inside."
Qiu Ling frowned.
"I know it's hard to understand if you don't have spirit veins at all."
"No, I …" Qiu Ling pondered. He hadn't shown his magic inside the human realm at all. Well, he had done it once when he thought about sleeping with Jing Yi and used his magic to close the door. No, actually, he had also used his magic to call that cloud down that they had used to get to the capital. But disregarding these two times he really hadn't shown his magic!
Actually, now that he thought about it, shouldn't his beloved know that he knew magic? He looked at Jing Yi appraisingly but his beloved's gaze actually only showed doubt. He really hadn't noticed. Qiu Ling didn't know if he should be happy or sad about it. Shouldn't his love notice something this important about him?
It wasn't that strange for Jing Yi to not have noticed. After all, he had been occupied with trying to get Qiu Ling off of him when he used his magic to close the door. And in regards to the cloud … Well, Jing Yi hadn't seen much magic in his life but he had seen one magical artifact. He had just somehow assumed that the cloud had to be something like that. After all, he had never heard of a hero calling down clouds.
What he had heard was that you couldn't really be a cultivator and a practitioner at the same time. Him learning a bit of the sword arts from Shao Hai and Xiao Dong had only been because he still hadn't been able to take in spiritual energy when the two arrived at the sect. Thus, he had wanted to achieve at least something.
Anyway, Qiu Ling didn't dwell on the fact that Jing Yi hadn't noticed for long. He was far more interested in his other observation: What Jing Yi had described just now sounded exactly like the way a dragon would use magic.
It was probably not a good idea to expose it, though. Wouldn't someone from the sect try to test for his spirit veins if they found out he was able to use magic? He didn't even want to know what else they might find. It was alright with his master but the other people … No, it was better if they never found out. But, of course, he also wouldn't leave Jing Yi to himself.
"Come with me." He grabbed Jing Yi's hand and just pulled him out of the teahouse without even asking for his opinion while his thoughts already raced. He had to find a suitable place to test his idea. It had to be somewhere without people and it would be best if there was enough of one element around.
Mn, his beloved held all spirit veins so it would be alright regardless of what he chose. In that case … Qiu Ling took a cautious look at Jing Yi's face. He had to help him cultivate but nobody had said that he couldn't use this opportunity to further their relationship.
"I'll take you to a place that might help."
"Ah? Uh … Alright." Jing Yi didn't know how to respond. He hadn't expected Qiu Ling to actually have an idea. But now … It seemed like he really had. "Ah, wait!" Before Qiu Ling could hurry any further, Jing Yi pulled his hand to make him stop. "Let me tell my mother first. Then we can go."
Qiu Ling smiled. "Sure!" He watched how Jing Yi turned around and ran inside again and a warm current coursed through his heart. Bringing that up … It seemed his beloved didn't see him as an outsider any longer. He was really, really happy seeing this. It meant they indeed had a chance to make this mortal lifetime of Jing He's a memory they both would be fond of.