Xiao Dong sheathed his sword and hurried over to the two of them, grabbing Shao Hai by the shoulder and pulling him away. "What are you even saying? You barely managed to get through the simple manual yourself and you want to teach him?! Aren’t you afraid you’ll teach him something wrong?"

Shao Hai slapped his hand away and furrowed his brows. "What are you even saying? I might not have been fast and there might still be some things I’m not very good at but I have managed to get through the manual! So how could it be wrong? And furthermore, I’m just helping him out a bit. He could take a look at the manual himself. And if there’s something he doesn’t understand, then we can still go and ask the seniors!"

Xiao Dong gritted his teeth. He couldn’t let this happen! Obviously, his king was very angry at the prospect of somebody else teaching his beloved. He could feel his glare from the distance. No, he had to do something. He definitely couldn’t give Shao Hai any opportunity to spend even more time with the king’s beloved! "Still, wouldn’t it be better if he learned from somebody who knew how to do it?"

Shao Hai straightened up and raised his chin. "Like who? You?"

Xiao Dong shuddered. "Of course not! I was thinking of … a senior! A senior who really knows about this."

Shao Hai had wanted to argue but, unfortunately, he had to admit that Xiao Dong wasn’t completely wrong. Obviously, he wasn’t very good with the sword himself. Well, he wasn’t bad either but he wasn’t good enough to teach his Xiao Yi. In fact, between him and Xiao Dong, Xiao Dong was better. So if he wanted to really give Jing Yi a chance to become a hero like he wanted to, then it would be best if he held back and let somebody else teach him.

He grumbled but still looked at Xiao Dong for help. "Then which senior do you think would be good at teaching him?"

Xiao Dong perked up when he saw that Shao Hai was actually willing to agree. "I … I think I have somebody in mind. Let me go and ask if he would want to help." He didn’t wait for an answer and just madly dashed away, circling around the building. He made sure that nobody was around and then leaped up onto the roof, scrambling over to his king’s side.

Qiu Ling was currently lying flat on his stomach and peering over the edge of the roof, observing Jing Yi’s interaction with that stupid brat. He wasn’t happy at all. He did understand that his beloved had to finish his trial and he hadn’t done anything in the last five years to help him either. Well, other than that matter with the gloves but that couldn’t be really called helping him, could it? After all, he had only put something down and then his beloved had decided to pick it up. That wasn’t really helping, was it? That was … just a coincidence. Right, a coincidence.

Anyway, he didn’t like what he saw right now. He hadn’t liked much of what he saw in the last five years either but, oh, well, he had held back from making his dissatisfaction known all for the sake of his beloved. But this right now was wrong on another level. How dare this guy suggest something like that! It couldn’t be tolerated at all!

Behind him, Xiao Dong knelt down and lightly cleared his throat.

Qiu Ling didn’t bother to turn around. Whatever this person wanted, it couldn’t be more important than his beloved.

"Your Majesty?" Xiao Dong once again tried to gain his attention.

This time, Qiu Ling at least furrowed his brows to show his displeasure. Why was this person bothering him while he was trying to observe what was happening down there?!

"Your Majesty?" Xiao Dong inched closer and tilted his head to look into Qiu Ling’s face. How come His Majesty still hadn’t heard him? Was he speaking too quietly? Should he speak up then? But what if Shao Hai and Jing Yi heard them? That wouldn’t be good, would it?

Qiu Ling turned around and scowled at the person in front of him. "What?!"

Xiao Dong tensed and sat up straight but still didn’t leave. "Uh … Your Majesty has probably heard what happened down there just now? I was thinking that maybe you could teach Jing Yi instead?"

Qiu Ling’s expression darkened even further. "What teaching him? Does my beloved need to pick up a sword?! What about me then? If he is in danger, then naturally I will go and save him!"

Xiao Dong flinched. "That’s … Of course. If he was in danger, then naturally, Your Majesty would save him." But hadn’t Jing Yi wanted to learn just now? He wouldn’t be able to make him give up on that, would he? After all, he had already seen how difficult it had been for Shao Hai to make Jing Yi give up on helping those senior martial brothers and sisters in the first years. Making him give up on learning how to use the sword might be even more difficult. He really had no idea how he should go about this.

Qiu Ling harrumphed when the person in front of him didn’t go to set things right. Ah, he really couldn’t depend on the people from the dragon race. He’d have to find a way to save his beloved from having to touch a weapon himself. Mn, maybe this would be the right moment to finally make his first appearance in front of him?

He glanced over the roof of the building again and couldn’t help but grin to himself. Ah, his beloved had already grown up quite a bit. By now, he should be old enough to fall in love and not feel that he was an old man, shouldn’t he? In that case, now might really be the right time. So what should he do? Just jump down? Or would that seem too deliberate? Well, not that it wasn’t deliberate. Of course, it was. He really wanted to impress his beloved, after all.

Seeing that his king had already turned away, Xiao Dong couldn’t help but grow anxious. Ah, he wanted to leave him with a good impression! What should he do?! He inched closer and raised his brows. "Your Majesty, is there something I can help with?"

Qiu Ling looked over but he wasn’t pleased at all. "What helping? Have you helped me at all up until now? You think there’s something you can help with now?"

Xiao Dong flinched again but he couldn’t help but acknowledge that his king was right. Yes, he really hadn’t helped him much. "Well, maybe I can try?"

"Hmph." Qiu Ling turned back to the front and watched his beloved. He really wanted to go and see him now. He was a little afraid that this might not be the best moment to appear though. Wasn’t there a better opportunity? He paused and turned back to the person next to him. "Well, there might be one thing you can do."

Xiao Dong perked up and broke out in a smile. "Just tell me, Your Majesty! I’ll be sure to fulfill your wishes!"

Qiu Ling smiled. "Yes? Then you better find an opportunity for me to appear in front of my beloved. Don’t forget! It has to be a special occasion. Something that my beloved will never forget in all of his life!"

Xiao Dong looked at him in a daze. A special occasion he would never forget in all of his life? That sounded like a really important task. Well, he would be able to do this! Xiao Dong got up and stood straight, trying to make the best impression he could in front of his king. "Worry not, Your Majesty, I’ll be sure to fulfill this task!"

Qiu Ling smiled. "I do hope so." Because if not, then he would have to think of something and he really couldn’t come up with anything right now.