Qiang Yan and Li Yin turned to look at the Heavenly Emperor. In general, they knew want to do. After all, it wasn't like this was the first time that a trueborn god's reincarnation ascended. But things had been complicated by Qiu Ling's arrival.
The Heavenly Emperor just looked at them fiercely. "What are you looking at me for? Shouldn't it be clear what to do?"
Li Yin nodded and stepped back, leaving the field to Qiang Yan.
The God of War sighed and then stepped forward, giving a sigh. "I'm sorry. This isn't anything personal but I can't let this happen to my nephew. He raised his hand and the Heavenly Guards behind him drew their weapons, inching closer.
Qiu Ling's face and those of his two advisers immediately changed. Qiu Ling pushed Jing Yi behind him and raised his own hands, willing to fight against whoever would try and make trouble. An Bai and Xiang Yong also turned around, covering two of the other directions. They weren't happy to have this fight considering what it might mean for the alliance of their races but this was the only thing they could do. The person behind them was their king's partner after all. And from what they knew, Qiu Ling had already bound his soul to him. To have him die … they were afraid that the consequences of that might be dire. After all, the soul-binding of the dragons was something not that simple.
Thinking of that, An Bai furrowed his white brows and glanced at the imperial couple. He hesitated for a moment but finally stepped out, and inclined his head toward the two of them, hoping that the Heavenly Guards wouldn't use the opportunity to attack. "Tianjun, please don't be hasty. I know that you just want to save your son's life. But please keep the bigger picture in mind. There's more to this than you can currently see. We would love to give you an explanation but I'm afraid that this here is not the right place for that."
Qiu Ling glanced at him, not quite sure what to make of this either but right now, after confessing everything to An Bai and Xiang Yong, he trusted them more than he ever had. If An Bai was doing this, then he was sure that he had a method to solve this. Thus, he turned to look at the Heavenly Emperor as well.
Unfortunately, Rong Su had always been just as difficult to deal with as Qiu Ling. Having one of the dragons tell him to keep the bigger picture in mind, he was immediately enraged. "What bigger picture? We're talking about my son here, the crown prince of the Nine Heavens, the Son of Heaven! How much bigger do you want this picture to be?!"
An Bai kept calm despite the Heavenly Emperor's rage. "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty saying that right now."
"Not at liberty? Are you sure you are not just trying to make us give up?"
An Bai shook his head. "I am not. Let me just say this: Does Tianjun really believe that the gods are the only ones that were struck by Tian's curse? Right now, we are in a situation where both very unfortunately stand against each other. I know that you want the crown prince back but we don't want to lose our king either. So I beg Tianjun to reconsider this. Don't do something that might have irrevocable consequences that you are unable to see yet."
With that, the ascension platform fell quiet. Not even the Heavenly Emperor was able to say anything about that. Everyone's gazes slid toward Qiu Ling, trying to ascertain whether this was true or not.
Qiu Ling finally held Jing Yi's hand behind his back and after a while, he finally nodded. "Tianjun certainly doesn't want us to discuss this here. I'm willing to strike some kind of compromise. But I cannot let Jing Yi die. We should probably have the discussion somewhere else."
This time, the gods didn't really know how to go forward. They had tried to work something out but at the end of the day, whatever they worked out would still result in Zhong Jing Yi's death. To them, it meant nothing. It wasn't anything that they cared about or would have any trouble accepting. But now, as it turned out, things weren't that simple on the other side. What were they supposed to do now?
Bai Fen turned to glance at her husband and then her brother and finally turned to Li Yin. "God of Justice, usually, you would restrict a prisoner's magical ability, wouldn't you? Maybe we could restrict Zhong Jing Yi's for now as well. Just as a reassurance to us that he won't try to flee. Then, we can go and discuss everything in the Court of Justice if you wouldn't mind." She looked from Li Yin to Qiu Ling and Jing Yi, trying to see if this was acceptable to them.
An Bai stepped slightly closer. "Your Majesty, I would suggest accepting this deal. The restriction on his abilities would not be forever. It is just a temporary measure and we could also disable it later on ourselves in case the gods refuse. But for now, we have to discuss this. That is the biggest chance to actually get the boy out of here without him getting injured. The Heavenly Empress is definitely the one most on our site right now."
Qiu Ling still hesitated for a moment but then nodded. In any case, restricting his ability wasn't something dangerous. He was only afraid that the Heavenly Emperor would try to play some tricks on him. If he was unable to see it beforehand, would he not put Jing Yi in danger?
An Bai could guess what was troubling his king. "Don't worry. I will be able to tell."
Qiu Ling nodded and then turned to look at the God of Justice. "Would that be an acceptable compromise for the time being?"
Li Yin hesitated but finally nodded. "If the Heavenly Emperor is not against this, then I have nothing to say."
All eyes turned to Rong Su. He really wasn't in favor of this but since both his wife and the God of Justice had already agreed and the dragon king also seemed to be quite sensible right now, he couldn't argue against it. Thus, he had to nod even though he was not actually involved in this. "Fine. Let's do that then for now." He still hoped to find a chance to solve this problem once and for all.