Qiu Ling was taken back to the room that Zhangsun Xun Yi had chosen for him. There was nothing he could do. Even though he would have liked to stay behind and watch his beloved for a while longer, this person was still supposed to be his Master. At least for the time being, until he had secured his beloved’s heart again and made sure that no Grandmaster and no other disciples would make a move on him, he had to treat this guy well.

Thus Qiu Ling obediently sat down when Zhangsun Xun Yi motioned at the meditation platform. He gave him an unwilling glance but still closed his eyes and pretended to meditate. In fact, his thoughts were circling around the things that had happened in the last two days. He had managed to make sure that his beloved wouldn’t need to touch those dirty clothes with his bare hands and thus made his life a lot better.

Qiu Ling had been very happy at first but then, finally, he remembered what his mother-in-law had said. It couldn’t be that that had been a trial, could it? Well, he wasn’t too sure but he could only hope that he hadn’t messed up again. Anyway, he had let him do quite a lot of tasks that weren’t too good so it shouldn’t count as him interfering too much, should it? This was only one of the tasks his beloved had been ordered to do and he still did in the end. He had just made it a little easier for him.

Anyway, with this, his beloved’s trial should have proceeded a lot. Now, he only had to wait for him to grow up a little more before he could appear in front of him and make him fall in love again. Ah, he could hardly wait! What would his beloved say when he finally saw him again? He would probably be moved to tears! Mn, just imagining it …

Next to the meditation platform, Zhangsun Xun Yi furrowed his brows. Since his disciple had just disappeared the last time he left him alone, he had stayed behind in the room this time to supervise his meditation. Seeing that his disciple immediately sat down and closed his eyes, he had been sure that this time nothing would go wrong. But how come he suddenly felt that things weren’t as easy when he saw his disciple’s expression? That kind of smile … Was he really meditating? It sure didn’t look like it.

"Qiu Ling?" Zhangsun Xun Yi stared at this disciple of his but didn’t get a response.

Qiu Ling was completely immersed in imagining the beautiful reunion he’d have with his beloved. Ah, it only was a pity that his beloved was currently residing in a mortal body. He really, really missed his beautiful immortal face. Ah, just the gaze from those dark eyes or the gentle smile of those lips … He was a happy man just thinking of it.

How long had Jing He said this trial would take? One mortal lifetime? In that case … Ten years had already passed. So considering how old mortals could get, there should only be another fifty years or so left, shouldn’t there? That wasn’t even two whole months in the Nine Heavens. He could probably wait for that long. In the worst case, he could take a short trip to the Nine Heavens to take another look and make sure that his Jing He was alright.

Mn, it should be expected of a perfect lover like him to go and make sure that his beloved was alright. Jing He would certainly be happy if he knew that he hadn’t just accompanied him in the mortal realm but also made sure that nothing could happen in the Nine Heavens. Just leaving Qiang Wei and Yi Zan there clearly wasn’t enough. Who knew if those two guys did their job properly? No, he couldn’t just rely on other people! Important things had to be done by himself!

"Qiu Ling!"

Zhangsun Xun Yi’s loud voice startled Qiu Ling out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes and looked at his Master in confusion. "What?"

Zhangsun Xun Yi frowned and motioned at the meditation platform again. "This place is supposed to be used for meditation. Only a calm mind will be able to let you display your full skills in battle. You shouldn’t do whatever you were doing right now. Focus your thoughts."

Qiu Ling blinked his eyes. Hadn’t his thoughts been extremely focused? He had only thought of his beloved! He shook his head and closed his eyes again. If that Grandmaster wanted him to focus even more, then he would do that. He should just ignore Yi Zan and Qiang Wei in all those others and only focus on his beloved.

Ah, now that he thought of it, it had already been ten years since they first met. Actually, it had been ten years in the mortal realm since they met and it had also been ten years in the Nine Heavens since they met. So this was something like a double anniversary.

Maybe he should get him his beloved a present? But then who should he give it to? His beloved’s mortal reincarnation? Or his beloved’s true self in the Nine Heavens? But his beloved’s true self couldn’t receive it in person right now. So should he just put it next to him? But by the time his beloved woke up, his mortal self would be much older already. Ah, no, his mortal self wouldn’t even be there anymore. His trial would have ended already and there would only be his immortal self. Mn, this really was a tricky situation!

Next to him, Zhangsun Xun Yi’s brows twitched. His disciple obviously wasn’t meditating at all. He could feel the fluctuations of his mind. The energy his disciple displayed was chaotic, not suitable for meditating or fighting at all. It seemed he had still been too rash with his decision to take him in.

Well, it didn’t matter. Calming one’s mind could still be taught. Understanding sword energy was something else entirely. This kind of thing depended completely on a person’s own perception and comprehension. So in the end, it was still better to have a disciple that was able to comprehend sword energy but still needed to be taught to calm his mind to have a fruitful meditation than the other way around. As for how to teach him how to calm his mind … He might have an idea already.