Jing Yi didn’t dare to comment on that and just breached the topic he was interested in. "Do you remember what you told me before we went to the Grandmaster’s place that day?"

Qiu Ling cracked his eyes open. Naturally, every moment he spent with his beloved was etched into his mind. It just seemed … the topic they had discussed then was a bit dangerous?

He averted his gaze. "Not really? Maybe it was about the duel? That was the same day, after all. Ah, my love, it couldn’t be that you’re still worried I might have —"

A finger landed on his lips and he was met with a slightly sterner gaze.

"Didn’t you say you’d answer all of my questions at any given time?"

"Uh … Of course! So if you want to know if I’m —"

"That’s great then!" Jing Yi smiled, shutting up Qiu Ling again.

A certain dragon king felt rather helpless. He always grew weak-willed in front of his beloved and now with that gaze … He pursed his lips and tried to look pitiful but Jing Yi just continued to stare at him. After more than a year he knew exactly how to handle Qiu Ling.

In the end, Qiu Ling could only sigh. "Alright. What do you want to know?"

"You’re really a dragon, right?"

"Mn."

"Then … What about them? I mean … I’ve heard of dragons but I don’t really know anything about them. What are they like?"

Qiu Ling blinked. This was all his beloved wanted to know? Why had he gotten anxious because of this? Well, he didn’t really know how to answer this question though. Regardless, he would still try for the sake of his future marital bliss.

In a rare show of seriousness, Qiu Ling actually sat up and leaned against the back of the bed next to Jing Yi. "What are they like? It’s not so easy to say. You probably also wouldn’t know how to describe to me what humans are like if I asked you."

"That’s probably true."

"It’s the same for me. Well, comparing both our races the most obvious difference would probably be that we dragons are immortal by nature. We do need longer to mature though. Think of Xiao Dong. He still isn’t an adult so from a mortal perspective he isn’t growing anymore and still looks very much like a child while you and that Shao Hai have both grown up."

"Xiao Dong is a dragon, too?"

Qiu Ling coughed. "Uh … Yes. You’d be surprised if you knew how many you’ve actually seen."

"So is there no way to distinguish a dragon from a human?" Jing Yi leaned against Qiu Ling and reached out, gently sliding his hand into Qiu Ling’s.

"For a normal human definitely not. A cultivator might be able to tell from the energy inside the body but most of the time they’d have to touch you for that. It’s not easy."

"I see." Jing Yi realized once more just how little he knew about Qiu Ling’s race. Speaking of that … "So what you told me about … concerning your family … That is related to the dragons, too?"

"Yes." Qiu Ling sighed. It seemed, in the end, he’d really have to tell Jing He’s mortal reincarnation everything. It probably was his fault for thinking he could keep it to a minimum. A human life was still rather long even if it couldn’t compare to that of a dragon or a god.

"Then your mother …"

"The one she fell in love with was the demon king. There aren’t just dragons out there. In fact, the guy that was lurking around here the last time was a demon and … well, that Grandmaster is at least partly of demonic descent."

Jing Yi had no idea how to continue. This was … more than unexpected.

Qiu Ling smiled when he saw him like this. "That is why I didn’t want to tell you in the beginning. It’s something that is hard to understand if you’re mortal."

"Mortal." Jing Yi leaned his head back against the wall and looked at the canopy of the bed. "I’m mortal. If you’re a dragon, then …"

Qiu Ling nodded. "I know. Which is why you have to hurry up with your cultivation. If you continue like this, you’ll stop aging soon and then you can someday ascend as a deity and we’ll be together in the immortal realms." Again.

"You’re making it sound rather easy. Cultivation only gets harder the further you go and my aptitude …" Jing Yi shook his head. "If I had known, I would have taken that Amethyst Lightning Pill back then. With heavenly spirit veins, we wouldn’t have this problem. I could probably ascend in a few hundred years."

Qiu Ling froze. A few hundred years? This was obviously much too long! Ugh, did it really take that long for a cultivator to ascend? No. He couldn’t accept that. He had to find something to speed that progress up. He’d have to send Fu Min to find out something. Mn, he’d give the message to Qiang Wei later.

"I’m sorry." Jing Yi frowned and bit his lower lip. "I was just thinking about myself back then and didn’t consider what it meant to you. Now we’re in this kind of situation."

"Ah, don’t worry, my love. It sounds worse than it actually is. You’ll see it won’t take long for you to reach the next level. Furthermore … After we go back to the sect they’ll admit you to the inner sect, won’t they? Then they’ll do more for you and your speed will accelerate. So there’s no need to be depressed." Qiu Ling leaned over and pecked Jing Yi’s cheek, making him smile a little.

"I hope you’re right." He couldn’t help but worry though.

The bit he knew about Qiu Ling’s past was depressing and considering what his fiance had told him the person who had managed to make him let go of most of that pain had died. Had he also been a human? And had he been unable to ascend and thus left Qiu Ling to himself?

He really wanted to ask but he didn’t dare to. In the end, thinking of that person might be worse than everything else. After all, gaining hope and then losing it was worse than being in despair from beginning to end.