Qiu Ling rushed over to his Master's peak without really paying attention to anything around him. In his thoughts, he could only see Jing He's face, the beautiful dark eyes looking at him sadly. Right now, he dreaded the moment they would see each other again. At that time, what would Jing He say? 'Why did you decide in his favor? Why didn't you choose me? Don't you love me?'
If that was his reaction … No, he wouldn't say that. Jing He would never say that. Qiu Ling couldn't help but curse inwardly when he thought so. Yes, Jing He definitely wouldn't say so. But just because he didn't say so, didn't mean that he wouldn't think it. Knowing his beloved, that would be exactly what Jing He worried about but he would keep his thoughts to himself, quietly suffering the doubt and the feeling of rejection. If it came to that, he might have a hard time regaining his trust. He couldn't let that happen.
Qiu Ling stopped in front of the gate to Zhangsun Xun Yi's palace and sighed. Should he go in? But if he asked his Master and he told him some advice for Jing Yi and Jing Yi really cultivated faster and then managed to ascend, then wouldn't the problem get even bigger?
It certainly wasn't the right thing to do. But he needed some time. He needed to figure out a way how to deal with this. Unfortunately, there was nobody that could help him. Both Jinde and his father had made clear that this was his problem. And if he went to ask the Heavenly Empress or the Heavenly Emperor, then the answer was obvious. They had never seen Jing Yi, never interacted with him. To them, this was just Jing He's trial, nobody whose feelings needed to be taken into consideration.
To them, he was somebody that was born just to fulfill a task and because of that, he would be abandoned just as easily. Naturally, they would want Jing He back. Ah, it wasn't that he himself didn't want Jing He back it was just … How could he do that to Jing Yi?
Qiu Ling leaned against the gate and stared up into the sky. It would be great if there was somebody who could help him. This time, he felt that he wasn't able to solve this alone. Unfortunately, there was nobody. He didn't have a single person in his life that he could talk to this about. Ah, it was quite sad.
Qiu Ling shook his head at himself and finally went inside, going straight for Zhangsun Xun Yi's study. When he entered … He found the room to be empty.
Qiu Ling blinked and looked around as if his Master might suddenly jump out of the corner. Huh. How curious! His Master actually wasn't here. Was this some kind of sign? First, he couldn't find his father, then, he couldn't find his Master either. Did this mean he wasn't supposed to help Jing Yi with his cultivation? Ah, but Jing Yi had already stopped aging anyway so whether he got help or not wouldn't change anything. No, it was just a question of how fast or how slow he would cultivate.
Qiu Ling shook his head and focused his senses, trying to find out just where in the sect Zhangsun Xun Yi had gone. He finally found his presence on the Sect Master's peak. Ah, it seemed his Master had gone over to discuss some things. Well, he shouldn't mind if he went and disturbed them for a moment.
Qiu Ling left the palace and flew over, casually trying to sense where his father was. He came up with a blank though. Just what had happened? Could it be that he had followed Jinde after all? Ah, no, maybe he still hadn't returned from gathering those ingredients for the pill? But that couldn't be either. There hadn't been too many left on the list and his father wasn't weak even though he wasn't as strong anymore as he had been in his past life.
Qiu Ling stopped halfway and furrowed his brows. Thinking of his father … He wondered if he had really been that strong. His mother being able to kill him, that wasn't an easy feat. Was it just because she had caught him off-guard? Was it because he had been separated from Jinde too long? Apparently, that kind of thing could sap a dragon's strength.
Maybe he just hadn't noticed that much of it because he had been young and not yet strong enough himself. Naturally, he had felt that his father was very strong. And that had also always been the impression he got from him back when they were still living in the palace. Honestly, there had to be a reason why his father was hailed as the strongest warrior of the dragon race. That shouldn't have deteriorated this fast. Well, never mind. It wouldn't change anything anyway.
Qiu Ling shook his head and continued to the Sect Master's peak, landing next to Zhangsun Xun Yi. His Master was currently looking at an array he had never seen before. Qiu Ling raised his brows. "What's that?"
"That man's husband …"
Qiu Ling raised his brows. That man should refer to Jinde so his husband was obviously his father. "What's with him?"
"He is currently creating a new realm for that person. The Sect Master can't know that he is the one doing that so I'm staying here to cover it up."
Qiu Ling nodded. "Oh, so it's like that. So did they finish the array?" He looked at the one in front of him but it seemed completely normal. There was nothing special about it at all. Actually, this thing was really ugly. Couldn't his father do better?
Zhangsun Xun Yi glanced at his so-called disciple and raised his brows. "He did create an array. He has to tie the realm to the sect after all."
Qiu Ling pursed his lips. So he had created an array himself? How strange. Well, it was still good though. That meant he could go in and have a look. "Then I'll be right back." Before his Master could say anything else, Qiu Ling slipped over, stepped into the array and was transported to the realm. He couldn't help but gape when he saw the place though. This … How the fuck had he returned to his palace in the dragon realm?!