Qiu Ling rose into the air. He glanced at Jing Yi and hesitated for a moment longer. In the end, he took a deep breath and pushed any of those doubts away. Regardless of what happened, he had to do his utmost to avert this disaster.

He closed his eyes and changed into his other form. His magic surged and a faint light enveloped his body before a large dragon appeared. The ink-black scales glinted in the sun, the red markings on its scales adding an ominous flash to it as if fresh blood had just been spilled.

Qiu Ling twisted on the spot and opened his eyes, exposing one black and one crimson iris. He remained on the spot for a moment, once again glancing at Jing Yi who suddenly seemed very small in comparison.

His beloved really hadn’t looked. His eyes were still closed, his features twisted in fear. Qiu Ling felt a pang in his heart, his mind whispering that his beloved was afraid of him, that him changing into this form and exposing his dark secrets was the reason for this.

He forced himself to push the thought away, gritting his teeth and swishing his tail in an attempt to get rid of the nervous energy. He knew very well what Jing Yi was afraid of. It had nothing to do with him. And since his beloved was somebody who honored promises … it should be safe to go like this. If not, he would soon have to face the consequences.

Qiu Ling sighed, turned around and sped across the sea. He was still afraid, his heart beating madly but he could do it for this person. If his beloved wanted him to do it, then he could do everything. Even if it was taking on this accursed form. For his Jing He, everything was possible. As long as he could preserve his happiness, his gentle smile … whether he had to give up his pride, his own happiness or even his life, he could do it.

After all, wasn’t this what being a dragon was all about? Living for that one person that your heart recognized, that your soul was bound to? Others might find it a curse but he had seen it as a solace since the moment he met Jing He. The bliss he had been allowed to feel in the ten years with him, he would repay it without hesitation.

He slashed out with his tail, propelling himself forward faster. In the distance, the wave could already be seen again. By now, it had become even larger. Qiu Ling gave a light growl and sped up.

The larger and faster the wave was, the more difficult this would be. But on the other hand, this might also be in his favor. Wouldn’t the people panic when they saw this? Who would have the time to even take notice of him? Between the appearance of a dragon and a wave that might take their lives, the humans would focus on the latter. And even if a god or dragon appeared, they would also have to think twice what they should do. They might not pay too much attention to him.

Anyway, even if he was seen, nobody would know that it was him as long as he did not turn back in front of their eyes. After all, he wasn’t the only dragon in the mortal realm and nobody was alive that had seen his true form. There really was nothing to be afraid of.

Trying to boost his confidence with these thoughts, Qiu Ling rushed ahead, finally catching up to the wave. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the dense wall of water.

All of this was his fault. He had been too careless. He had to save the people on the other side of this sea and if that was impossible, then he’d have to save at least Madam Zhong. The question was how. He had never tried something like this.

Swat it down with his tail? But that might make the wave even faster. Try to weave through it and hope that a body inside would slow it down? But it had already grown so huge that that was unlikely to be enough.

Qiu Ling huffed and then rushed into the wave. He didn’t have time to think. He needed to solve this problem now and it was better to try something that did at least a little than to do nothing at all.

The water rushed past his scales, making Qiu Ling’s body tremble. He forced himself to continue though. He bent his tail and moved around, breaking in and out of the water, making droplets splash into the air and parts of the wave collapse.

His eyes gleamed and he already wanted to congratulate himself when he saw that it didn’t change much: The wave still moved forward, the other parts still picked up momentum, the people on the other side were still in danger.

Qiu Ling growled and gathered all of his spiritual energy. As much as he hated this form of his, he had to admit that it was much stronger than his other form. Not only was it faster to gather the energy, but he was also able to gather more. In fact, even the energy from his surroundings rushed toward him, slowing the wave down somewhat more. The damned thing still didn’t want to stop though. If things went on like this, it would still reach the coast.

Qiu Ling frowned and once again waved through the water. The movement with the magic combined had a bigger effect but, once again, it was not enough. And now, the coast could already be seen on the other side. He felt like he could even hear the screams of the people in those harbors that had just realized that their end was near.

Ah, he had been careless. Really, really careless. And they would have to pay the price.