The two of them stopped in the middle of the courtyard and Jing Yi took a look around. There wasn't much to see other than a few plants and a big lake so he didn't pay any more attention and instead turned to face Qiu Ling, ready to start his training.
Qiu Ling smiled and grabbed his hands. "Do you remember what I told you the last time?"
Jing Yi pondered and nodded slowly. "You said that I just had to learn how to control the air. That I had to make it into something that I could stand on and then make it move. But I barely managed to even do the first step."
Qiu Ling nodded. He remembered as much. At first, Jing Yi hadn't even understood what he meant. But, well, that wasn't that important. They had time. So even if his beloved didn't understand for now, they could just try and then try again. It wouldn't be a problem. "I guess the most important is just to practice it. After a while, you'll get better. Do you want me to show you once again before you try yourself?"
Jing Yi nodded. "I think it might help."
Qiu Ling let go of his hands and then waved them, making the air currents around them change direction and move toward them. They swirled around his hand as if that was how they had been supposed to move in the first place.
Jing Yi stared at Qiu Ling's hands, trying to sense the spiritual energy. Surprisingly, he felt that it was much easier now than it had been before. Could it be that this was the effect of having cultivated longer? Because his level was now higher, he could do these things that were easy for most people with much less difficulty than before? If that was the case, then it might really not be too hard to learn how to fly.
"Alright, let me try it." He also raised his hand and then tried to move the air. He first felt for the spiritual energy of the right element and then did what he normally did to take it in but stopped before it reached him.
Qiu Ling watched and nodded. "Not bad. Try to move more of it. It's easier to control that way I guess. Well, when you stand on it at least."
Jing Yi looked up and smiled, doing as he was told. The current gathered around his hand, making it feel as if he would even be able to touch it. Naturally, he knew that that was not the case. It was still just air, wasn't it? But then again, this was probably what he was going for. Having as much of this energy at one place as he could and thus making the element dense enough for it to carry a whole person.
Qiu Ling continued to observe and nodded again. Jing Yi was doing very well. If he practiced a while longer, it shouldn't be a problem to learn how to fly. "Try to hold onto it as tightly as possible. It's not very important right now but when you're in the air and relying on only this to stay there, then you can't have any lapse of attention. If it isn't thick enough, you'd fall down and that wouldn't end well."
Jing Yi nodded and tried to gather some more energy but it finally exceeded the amount he was able to control. The element broke free and rushed outward, some of it even tearing his sleeve.
Qiu Ling waved and the air current stayed away from Jing Yi, not hurting him in the least. "Are you alright?" He took Jing Yi's arm and checked if his skin was scraped. Thankfully though, nothing had happened. Qiu Ling heaved a sigh of relief and then pulled him into his arms, resting his chin on his shoulder. "Maybe we shouldn't do this with air for the time being."
Jing Yi looked up. Originally, he wanted to protest but seeing Qiu Ling's expression, he reconsidered. Qiu Ling was probably still reeling from what had happened before. He shouldn't push it. "Is there another way?"
Qiu Ling stayed silent for a moment, just continuing to hug him before he finally nodded. "Yes. In the end, it doesn't matter which element you use. You can use all of them to train. I guess it might even be a little easier with some others."
Jing Yi nodded. "If you say so, then it has to be that way. So what do we try?"
Qiu Ling pondered and looked around, trying to decide. Other than air, the most useful would probably be water, earth, wood or metal. Needless to say, fire wasn't an option. Looking at the courtyard, they didn't have much metal around so that would be more difficult. Wood would be alright but it would be easier to use in a forest. So earth or water were probably the elements that would be the easiest to make use of in this situation. Both weren't too hard to control but water was probably slightly more difficult.
Qiu Ling took another look at Jing Yi and then motioned at the ground. "Try it with earth first. It's hard on its own so stepping on it won't be too difficult but you can get a feeling for how dense it has to be."
Jing Yi nodded and also looked at the ground. "Can you show me?" He felt that he did understand how it worked but he would still like to see an example. That always made it easier to envision for him.
Qiu Ling nodded and moved his hand, making the ground in front of their feet rupture and then pile up, building a small hill. "Like this. If the soil is loose, you will sink in. If it is dense enough, you won't have any trouble to stand on it. So try to find the right amount first."
Jing Yi nodded and then concentrated on the spot next to it, once again using his spiritual energy to move it.