Leng Jin Yu held back a sigh. Could it be that he wasn’t able to connect to young people the same way anymore? Anyway, it was too late now. He could only accept this answer for the time being and then bring it up later on. And who knew? Maybe the dragon king would already wake up after Zhong Jing Yi spent a few days at his side. If he noticed his presence even subconsciously, that might be enough after all. He’d have to see about that first.

Having decided on that, he merely nodded. "It’s alright. You’re worried about your friend. I’m sure senior martial brother Qiu would be happy if he knew how much you cared about him."

Jing Yi smiled in response. Certainly. Qiu Ling had done so much to gain his affection, after all. If he found out that after their separation, he had realized that he liked him just as much, he would be overjoyed for sure.

Jing Yi bid farewell from Leng Jin Yu and returned to Qiu Ling’s room. He sighed deeply when he saw that there was still no change to his posture. Well, what had he expected? There hadn’t been any sign of him waking up for the past few months. Why would that suddenly change after he came back? It wasn’t like Qiu Ling would really magically know he was here and do him the favor to wake up.

It would be nice though.

Jing Yi sighed again and then just continued to sit at the edge of his bed, looking at him. He really wished that there was something he could do. But from what Yu Jin had just said, this had to do with cultivation. In that case, he certainly wouldn’t be of any help.

It really was a pity. If he had understood correctly, then only a person that was close to Qiu Ling could help him. He felt that, even though they hadn’t known each other for long, he was such a person to him. So if he was of a higher level, he might have really been able to help.

Thinking of that, Jing Yi bit his lower lip, pondering the issue further. He didn’t know what kind of level he would need to reach to be able to help. He also didn’t know how long he would need to reach any of them. Judging from what Grandmaster Zhangsun had said, he should be able to reach the second one at least a year after they had left the sect. But was he even at the first level already?

Jing Yi rubbed his forehead, not sure what to think. He had learned to sense energy and was probably also able to take it in even though he had only tried it a few times so far. Was that the first level already? He didn’t know. He also couldn’t ask anybody if he didn’t want to go and bother senior martial brother Yu again. Anyway, even if he found out: What would it help? The first level certainly wasn’t high enough to help Qiu Ling. Maybe the second one would be but he didn’t know for sure.

Should he cultivate more for the time being and hope that he reached it soon? If it could allow him to help Qiu Ling, that would be for the best. But if he tried and didn’t manage to do so or even if he did but the second level wasn’t high enough to help, then what would become of Qiu Ling? He would have wasted valuable time that could have been used to find another option to save Qiu Ling.

Jing Yi brushed through his hair with his fingers and groaned, annoyed at himself. Why was he so useless? He couldn’t figure anything out. Just how was Qiu Ling supposed to get through this?

He put his head in his hands and just stared at the rim of Qiu Ling’s sleeve. Not even senior martial brother Yu could help. What was he supposed to do? They’d likely need an expert to do anything about this. Somebody who was more experienced than both of them like …

Jing Yi sat up straight and then shot to his feet again, rushing out of the room and back to where Leng Jin Yu was staying. Once again, he hurriedly knocked on the door. This time around, he didn’t wait for him to say anything though and just burst out with what he had thought of. "senior martial brother Yu, do you think we could ask Grandmaster Zhangsun to come over? I mean Qiu Ling is his disciple after all. And the Grandmaster should be very knowledgeable, right? Maybe he would know of a way to save Qiu Ling."

Inside the room, Leng Jin Yu smiled. It seemed that the Son of Heaven’s reincarnation hadn’t given up that easily after all. No, instead, he had just taken a bit of time to find another approach. It seemed that he was just not believing in himself enough to want to give helping a try. Well, in that case, he would help him out.

He made it a point to sigh deeply before he got up and walked to the door, opening it and stepping out to Jing Yi before motioning over to a table with a few seats in the courtyard. Sitting down with him there, he breached the news to him. "I’m afraid that even the Grandmaster won’t be able to help him. And even if he could: How do you want to call him over? I can’t leave in case anything worse happens to senior martial brother Qiu since I’d be the only one who has even a chance of helping him. As for you … How long would you need to get back to the Yun Zou Sect?"

Jing Yi lowered his head. That was true. So that couldn’t be done either. And he had thought he had come up with a bright idea. Most likely, senior martial brother Yu had thought of that long ago.

Unfortunately, at that moment, Jing Yi didn’t think of the paper cranes the people in the inner sect used to send messages. Otherwise, he might have at least managed to inform the Grandmaster. But just as Leng Jin Yu had said: It wouldn’t have helped anyway. Zhangsun Xun Yi too would only have been able to find out that Qiu Ling’s condition was likely tied to the appearance of an inner demon. But he couldn’t have done anything to help him.

Jing Yi bit on his lower lip. "senior martial brother … if … nothing is done and Qiu Ling doesn’t manage to overcome this, then … what will happen to him?"

Leng Jin Yu gave another audible sigh. "He’ll stay like this. In the end, he will die."

Jing Yi closed his eyes, his eyes tearing up. "So it’s certain that he’ll die."

Leng Jin Yu gave him a sympathetic look before making sure to restore his expression to the usual neutral one. "Not necessarily. There is still the possibility of him overcoming the inner demon on his own. It’s hard to say how likely that is though. Considering that he managed to become Grandmaster Zhangsun’s disciple his mental strength should be good. That speaks in his favor. But I don’t know him well enough to guess what this inner demon is. If it could harm him enough to trap him in this condition, then it might be too much for him to handle."

Jing Yi bit his lip. What senior martial brother Yu said didn’t sound good for Qiu Ling. It seemed quite likely that Qiu Ling wouldn’t make it. "Is there really nothing we can do? Not even anything we can try? It doesn’t matter if you’re not sure if it’ll work or not. Just … let’s try anything we can, yes? I … I don’t want to lose him." He lowered his head, barely holding back his emotions. Yes, he did not want to lose him. This person … he was willing to try anything to keep him alive.