"Grandfather …" Jing Yi bit his lower lip and looked at him with a worried expression.

For a moment, Qiu Ling had no idea what this might be about and couldn’t help but worry as well. If he was using his true appearance, he would definitely grab his hands or maybe even pull him into his arms to calm him down. Unfortunately, as a grandfather-figure, he had to hold himself back a little. After all, he couldn’t risk his beloved getting behind things.

So in the end, he only showed a panicked expression. "What’s the matter?"

Seeing how worried his grandfather was for him, Jing Yi felt even worse. They had only just made up a few hours ago so maybe now wasn’t a good moment to bring it up? He hesitated but finally sighed. Anyway, they had already made up. And this question shouldn’t be hard for his grandfather to answer. There was no need for him to treat him like an outsider.

He took a deep breath and sat up straight. "Well, as I said before, I’ve entered the Yun Zou Sect and want to become a cultivator. This journey Qiu Ling and I are on is supposed to help me with that."

Qiu Ling nodded while he inwardly sweat-dropped. His beloved wouldn’t bring this up before he got any information, right? What was he supposed to give as an excuse then for why he couldn’t help immediately?! He couldn’t think of anything at the moment so he could only wing it. "What’s the problem with that?"

Jing Yi sighed. "Even though I’ve tried taking in spiritual energy like senior martial brother Qiguan told me, it hasn’t worked out yet. I can’t even do that. And I would have asked Qiu Ling but he’s a practitioner so … he might not understand and wouldn’t be able to help me. I don’t really want to put him in that situation. Another one of my friends told me that going outside and having some fortuitous encounters could help but I never asked what kind of places they were. Do you know anything about that? Or can you tell me more about taking in spiritual energy? I mean you’re a Daoist Master, right? Doesn’t that mean you’re … a cultivator?"

Qiu Ling hesitated. 'Daoist Master' was what the common people called both practitioners and cultivators so he had never made clear what exactly he was to Jing Yi. He could just say he was a practitioner but promise that he would go and inquire about cultivation for him. But who knew how long Fu Min would need? And if his beloved learned everything in that time, this good opportunity would have been wasted. Furthermore … what if his beloved found out how to cultivate and noticed some discrepancies between what he said and what he had observed over the years? That was entirely possible! He couldn’t risk that.

He furrowed his brows, pondering deeply. Seeing that, Jing Yi hurriedly shook his head. "If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to! I was just casually asking."

Qiu Ling looked up, his expression blank. "Ah?" He finally noticed that he hadn’t answered his question yet while he probably looked as if he didn’t want to and regretted. "That’s not it! It’s just that …" His mind churned and he finally remembered a detail he had thankfully let slip before. "Do you remember how I told you once that I was affiliated with the dragon race?"

Jing Yi blinked his eyes, confused as to what that had to do with cultivation. He still nodded his head. "Yes, you mentioned that to my parents after we met those bandits, right? And then told me later about it when we were in the capital."

"Mn. Precisely. You see, because of that, I have cultivated differently from others so I’m not entirely sure if I would be able to help you. But … since it’s you, I’ll naturally give it a try." He gave a doting smile and Jing Yi couldn’t help but requite it.

So it had been like that. He had truly thought too much. He shouldn’t be so rash in the future or he would cause misunderstandings. "Thank you, grandfather. I appreciate this very much. You know, becoming a cultivator is my dream."

"Mn. Then why don’t you tell me a bit about what you know about cultivation?"

"Alright. I can do that but it’s not much. People with my aptitude aren’t taught in our sect, unfortunately. It all relies on luck." He sighed and then pondered what he had found out in these five years. "You probably know about spirit veins, don’t you?"

Qiu Ling nodded. "Mn, but it can’t hurt to make sure we’re on the same page there so just start with that." After all, he had listened in on the disciples in the sect but that didn’t mean that he was an expert. And if everything was laid out in front of him, he would have more time to think things through in the meantime. Maybe then he would be able to come up with a plan.

"Well, a person can have a different number of spirit veins and there are different types of them as well. For example, you could have a fire spirit vein or a water spirit vein or even a mutated one like an ice spirit vein. To cultivate means to somehow use these spirit veins to draw in the corresponding energy.

"So, if you have a heavenly water spirit vein, then you would draw in water energy. If you have paired spirit veins of water and air, then you have to take in the energy of water and air and so forth. The energy you’ve taken in would then condense inside your body, forming something that is called the dantian. After it is formed you can store energy inside."

Qiu Ling frowned. Dragons were creatures of the air or water so that was the energy they naturally took in. It seemed this wasn’t different. Well, for a dragon that wanted to make progress with their magic, it was a viable option to go to a place that was high in that energy. Maybe that would work for Jing Yi as well? He glanced at him, making Jing Yi stop talking.

"Did you … already think of something?" Jing Yi’s heart thumped. He could hardly believe it. Could he really have such luck?

"Well, of course, I’m not quite sure if it can help but you could give it a try: Taking in energy should be easier at a place where the energy is denser. So if you have that water vein, then you should go to a place with water."

Jing Yi blinked his eyes. "That easy?"

Qiu Ling nodded. "That easy. Just tell your fiance to take you there." At that, he smiled happily. Ah, to be able to call himself his beloved’s fiance … Today was a great day!