Jing Yi had no idea what this person was going on about. He was sure that staying with Qiu Ling was the right decision. So he should do everything he could to make sure he would be able to do just that. "So that Tian lives in the High Heavens. What does that have to do with my soul?"
Xiang Yu looked back up and examined Jing Yi's face. How come he didn't understand? "The souls come from there."
"So …" He waited but Xiang Yu didn't explain. Jing Yi felt as if he was getting a headache. "Look, I don't know much about either these places or about souls. Just how does it help with the injury to my soul that it comes from the High Heavens?"
Xiang Yu sighed. "Souls are created there. Naturally, it's beneficial to them to rest there. You can just go to the High Heavens and nurture your soul."
"Oh." So it was that simple. "Then … where exactly are they? How would I get there?"
Xiang Yu stared at him. Mortals … were really stupid. How could he not know where the High Heavens were? That was the place where all life was born, the source of the river of forgetfulness, the eternal resting place of Tian's lover! How could anybody not know about this?
"It's … not something I can go just like that?"
Xiang Yu turned away and waved. The air in front of him rippled and finally ripped open, exposing a dark place.
Jing Yi instinctively recoiled. This was … the High Heavens? What an ominous place! "Is that really … a place where a soul can be healed?"
Xiang Yu nodded and stepped through the fissure, turning back to glance at Jing Yi.
"Can't we wait for Qiu Ling to accompany us?" He didn't feel like this was a good idea. At the end of the day, he didn't even know this person. In fact, he had even felt that he was dangerous before. Just because he didn't seem dangerous right now, he shouldn't trust him just like this.
Xiang Yu frowned. He didn't understand why Jing Yi hesitated but it was obvious that he wouldn't follow him. "Mn, then you wait there. Since I've already opened a door I might as well go and see Tian." With that, he turned around and walked away.
Jing Yi stared at his back that slowly disappeared in the distance and the ominous gate right in front of him. If that place could really heal his soul … He gulped and stepped forward, slowly reaching toward the fissure. His fingertips touched the border and as if sinking through an invisible material, he found himself on the other side.
Jing Yi turned around himself but there was nothing much to see. These so-called High Heavens were nothing but flat land shrouded in mist and endless darkness above it. The only bright thing here were the millions of stars above his head.
Jing Yi had no idea what they meant and why souls would come from this kind of place out of all the others out there but if this could really help to heal his soul, then he'd have to stay here for a while. He sighed and sat down, trying to find out if anything was indeed happening to his soul. Unfortunately, he wasn't a dragon and he didn't know how to even sense his soul. Wanting to check whether the cracks were being repaired was too ambitious.
In the end, he closed his eyes and started to cultivate. At the very least, this place had a special kind of energy that made it even easier to take in. Just a bit of time had passed and he could already feel his stage rise slightly. If he cultivated here for a month … he might reach the next stage.
Not that he intended to do that. He just wanted to heal his soul and then leave. He could only hope that that kind of thing wouldn't take long. With that thought, Jing Yi concentrated on his cultivation again. Even if he didn't want to stay long, this was still an opportunity he shouldn't take lightly. A bit of time should be alright and his soul should need time too. In the worst case, he'd just wait for Xiang Yu to get back and follow him out again. After all, this place didn't seem too bad in the end. It might truly be beneficial. So maybe … he could trust him.
The person in question wasn't hurrying back. In fact, he wasn't even hurrying forward. He quietly glided through the darkness below those cold stars, his gaze empty. This was the only place that welcomed the fallen gods. Unfortunately, it wasn't the real High Heavens but only an image of the thing Tian's lover had once loved the most: The night sky above the capital of the Nine Heavens.
After Xing fell, Tian changed his own home to make sure his lover would feel comfortable when he brought him here. He had probably hoped to comfort him, to let him forget about the pain and the suffering. Unfortunately, there were injuries that couldn't be healed that easily. And the injury to Xing's heart had been too severe to be forgotten just like that.
Xiang Yu finally arrived in front of something that looked remarkably like a city gate. He had never been to the capital of the Nine Heavens but with what he knew, he was sure that this was precisely what the one there looked like. From those stars to the gate and all the palaces inside, the High Heavens looked like the capital of the Nine Heavens and beyond that … was only everlasting darkness. Because that was all that Xing had seen out there: Darkness after darkness, shadow upon shadow. From the moment he became a fallen god, he had never seen any light again because even if they walked around at the brightest time of the day, their hearts would stay cold and in their minds would be night. That was the truth about life as a fallen god.