Qiang Yan looked at his son worriedly. He wanted to know more but he didn't dare to ask. Even if Bai Mu hadn't been imprisoned for long, he had still been separated from Nie Huang and lost out on several years with her. In the end, if not for Qiu Ling and Leng Jin Yu helping him in return for his promise to help out Jinde, these ten years would have been a good amount of a human's lifespan.
This kind of thing … it couldn't be made up for. Reminding him of that really wouldn't be a good move. Not until the matter with Nie Huang had been sorted out and she acquired spirit veins to cultivate and become immortal herself. Only then, when they had gained more time with each other, would it be acceptable to talk about the time they had lost.
Thus he could only nod thoughtfully and focus on something else. "How do they know who is a demon and who isn't though? The demons' dark energy is only something that they might give off when using their spiritual energy in a specific way. And they don't have to. If I'm not wrong, they can just use their spiritual energy as is and even us gods wouldn't be able to tell them apart from a dragon or a person with beast blood. Actually, they might even be mistaken for a god if they're smart."
Bai Mu glanced at his father and couldn't help but be in a daze. The demons were actually that similar to the other races?
Qiang Yan couldn't help but smile at his confused expression. "Well, you've never been in the immortal realms, have you? Well, at least not deep inside them. The ones you've encountered there were probably those lower demons. The ones that are higher-ranked mostly look like the humans or the gods."
Bai Mu nodded and couldn't help but take a closer look at his father. Actually, there also wasn't a way to tell a god apart from a cultivator. The spiritual energy around their body was dense but that was the same for a high-leveled cultivator. Their hair and eye color also wasn't anything strange. So indeed, how would you tell them apart? "What about the dragons? When I went to the dragon realm …" Bai Mu furrowed his brows, thinking of that person that had come to the teahouse. Thanks to his blood and the high level he had cultivated to, he had been able to see through his cover immediately. "Actually, even the person that escorted me and Nie Huang from the human realm didn't look much like us. Their hair and eye color … It was obvious at a glance."
Qiang Yan nodded. "That's true. Among the races, the humans and the gods look the most similar. The dragons …" He grimaced but there was no way to phrase it differently. The facts wouldn't change. "They do look a lot like the demons. They don't like to hear it but they do have the same ancestors. In fact, it isn't completely wrong to say that the dragons are part of the demon race. They just have changed so much over the years that it isn't too obvious anymore. You shouldn't bring it up in front of any dragon though."
Bai Mu gave a humorless laugh. He could imagine that that wouldn't go over very well. "Don't worry, I've learned a lot about these kinds of things in the human realm already."
Qiang Yan's expression was subtle. He could imagine what his son was speaking of. "I heard …" He looked away and wondered if he should really say something but in the end, he was also curious about his son's life. He turned back and gave an apologetic smile. "You don't have to talk about it but when I finally found out about you and your mother, I was told that you encountered some troubles, like being expelled out of some sect because of your blood. Is that true?"
Bai Mu nodded without the slightest hesitation. He didn't see any problem with admitting to it. His blood wasn't that of a normal human and this was something that had happened. Anyway, it was also nice to see that his father was curious about him. "That did happen. Actually, it wasn't that much because of my blood.
"My origin was just … something that gave them a chance. But they wanted to get rid of me anyway. It's been a long time since then though so I don't mind as much anymore."
Qiang Yan's gaze couldn't help but become subtle. He had wanted to shift the topic into another direction so as to not remind his son of what had happened with Nie Huang but in the end, he had only managed to remind him of another unpleasant memory. It seemed his skills in making that kind of conversation weren't very good. Well, at the very least, this was something that hadn't happened as recently and it might not be affecting him anymore. It was different from the matter with the Chun Feng Sect.
Bai Mu glanced at his father and smiled. "If there's something you want to know, just ask. I don't mind talking about it."
Qiang Yan couldn't really hide his embarrassment. "I don't even know where to start. You've gone through all these things and they're even long past for you and I … I've only found out about everything a few days ago. It is strange thinking about it."
Bai Mu nodded. "In a way, I can understand what you mean. It's also a bit hard to accept that my father is still alive." He gave a wry smile when he looked over at Qiang Yan again. "Well, you live in another body now but you still have your memories from that time so …"
Qiang Yan didn't know what to say to that. Yes, for Bai Mu, the situation probably wasn't any less strange than for him. These trials really had a way to screw the lives of the gods up. Who knew if Tian had intended this when he thought them up?