While Qiu Ling's message was being related to Jin Ling, the preparations to rescue their crown prince from the clutches of the evil demon king also started in the Nine Heavens.
The Heavenly Emperor just waved at Qiang Yan. "Do what you must. Just bring me my son back. If that mortal reincarnation of his dies, I don't mind. He has already done what he has to, after all. But nothing can happen to his soul."
"Don't worry, brother-in-law." Qiang Yan nodded and stormed out of the palace, grabbing the next best Heavenly Guard he could get his hands on. "Go to the God of War's palace and beat the war drums. All men are to gather immediately. We're going to war with the demons."
"Yes." The Heavenly Guard bowed and hurried away.
Qiang Yan didn't linger either and hurried toward Jing He's palace. He didn't have time to lose. His men had to prepare and he had to inform the dragons of this matter. After all, although saving Jing He was important the person over there was only a mortal reincarnation. It was different with Qiu Ling though. He was the real dragon king and he had been for a long time. If the dragons lost him, chaos would ensue and that might very well be an opportunity for the demons to wage another bloody war. Something like that couldn't be allowed.
Jing He, on the other hand … If the demons didn't try to do anything to his soul, it wouldn't be too bad. Everything else could be salvaged. Even if … Qiang Yan closed his eyes and gulped, thinking of the gentle smile of his nephew and the way he seemed at least a little more lively around Qiu Ling.
Falling in love had been hard for Jing He. Or maybe it wasn't to fall in love but to be able to stand by his feelings and declare them to the person in question. Those feelings were even more important to him because of that and after finding out about Jing He stealing the soul-engraving dagger it was a no-brainer why he had used it. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't experience any kind of love with another man. He was … saving himself for the dragon king.
Qiang Yan rubbed his brow while running over to Jing He's palace and cursed. That child. Why couldn't he take the trial less seriously? If the demon king touched him and took something from him that he deemed to be Qiu Ling's, would he even be able to go on living? Probably not.
His father was too pragmatic in regard to the trials and too opposed to the idea of Jing He and Qiu Ling being together that he could understand. But as someone who had watched Jing He slowly open up and fall in love with that man, Qiang Yan knew that this was the most important for Jing He. Maybe … the dragon king was even more important to him than his own family.
Qiang Yan sighed. There was nothing he could do at that front even though he would have loved nothing more than to storm over there himself, kick the door in and bash that demon king's head in right after. How dare he kidnap his nephew!
Unfortunately, that wasn't possible so he would have to settle for the next best thing: Make sure the dragons were warned so they could send help to their king! Then, he would take his own men and join them. He'd really like to see how that Jin Ling wanted to beat both their armies!
Qiang Yan ignored the two Heavenly Guards in front of Jing He's door and jumped right in, startling the two dragons next to Jing He's bed.
Qiang Wei and Yi Zan crouched down and their claws shot out, ready to attack whoever dared to disturb the crown prince. Seeing Qiang Yan, they both froze.
Yi Zan managed to regain his composure first. "God of War? Did something happen?"
Qiang Yan nodded. "Jing He's mortal reincarnation was kidnapped by the demon king. As far as we know, Longjun followed them. He should be in the demon realm by now. I thought the dragons should know about this."
Yi Zan and Qiang Wei exchanged a glance, both seeing alarm in the other's eyes. Their king was crazy about the crown prince and the demon king was likely the person he hated the most. Now that the crown prince's reincarnation was in that man's hands … Their king wasn't likely to react logically anymore. He would just storm over and kill his way through the demon realm, not caring for his own well-being.
Yi Zan furrowed his brows and turned back to Qiang Yan. "His Majesty informed you himself?"
"No. One of our people coincidentally noticed. I'll leave informing the dragon race's people to you. I have to go and lead the army to the demon realm now. We can't let too much time pass in case …"
"Naturally." Yi Zan bowed.
As soon as Qiang Yan stepped out of the palace, the two dragons turned to look at each other and then glanced at the quiet body of the crown prince.
"Do you think … His Majesty will be able to take it?"
"I don't know but we have to be vigilant. This matter likely isn't simple. Even though that Jin Ling didn't bother to lead any big wars like his predecessors, he has still been ruling the demon realm for almost as long as His Majesty has been on the dragon realm's throne. And I've never heard about any challenge coming even close to dethroning him either. We can't take him lightly."
"That's for sure. In that case … I'll contact Fu Min? He'll be able to gather more information the fastest."
Yi Zan nodded. "Then I'll try to reach Xiang Yong."
"Mn."
The two of them turned away from each other, both taking out a transmission stone each and imbuing their spiritual energy to relay the message they had just received.