Qiu Ling couldn’t help but feel that he needed to make this clear to his beloved somehow. After all, his 'grandfather' would definitely have to vanish for lengthy amounts of time in the future since they couldn’t both be there at the same time.

Furthermore, what if there was some crisis in the Nine Heavens that required him to be there? Even if he sorted things out at the fastest speed possible, it might still take him half a day. He could hardly explain that away as easily as getting lost in the woods again, could he?

He glanced at Jing Yi who was looking at him with a hint of confusion. Even though he couldn’t expose who he really was so as to not jeopardize Jing He’s safety, he could use other realms as an excuse. Wasn’t there that cheap Master of his around? He could pretend to have gotten a message from him, telling him to go on some mission or something. Or maybe he could say that he knew somebody that had gotten in danger so he had to go and save them.

Jing Yi would accept that kind of explanation. So this was probably the best way out of this dilemma. But how to explain? This was just something that … was.

Qiu Ling scratched his head. "I guess this is something that is best experienced instead of explained. If you went over there for a while and then returned after a day and found out that a year had gone by here, I’m sure that you would know what kind of strange feeling that is."

He sighed when he thought of that. Previously, he had never really thought about this. After all, all his life had been spent either somewhere in the dragon realm or the Nine Heavens. The time flow over there had been normal for him and he had never thought about what was going on in the mortal realm. Even if he visited, it didn’t matter since nobody had been waiting for him.

So he also hadn’t considered this back when he went to the Nine Heavens because he had the urge to see Jing He. He had just gone and done as he liked, not realizing that almost a year would have gone by when he returned.

In a similar vein, fifteen years had already gone by in the mortal realm since Jing He’s soul descended here but it had only been two weeks in the Nine Heavens. That meant that he had to wait for a lot longer if he wanted to accompany Jing Yi instead of waiting for Jing He’s return in the Nine Heavens. But on the other hand, if he didn’t accompany him, he couldn’t make these experiences with him. That would also be a pity.

Anyway, he could hardly take Jing Yi to one of the immortal realms to let him experience this. Ah, this really was too difficult!

Jing Yi laughed when he saw his grandfather’s scrunched up expression. "It’s alright. Even though I don’t quite understand how this works with the dimensions and the different time, I do understand that there’s a difference between what is happening here and what is happening in other realms. That’s enough for me. You don’t have to explain more."

Qiu Ling looked at him, confused. "Really?" Could it really be that easy? He just had to say it was like that and his beloved would believe him? Wasn’t that … exact like back when he had been a child? Well, with the difference that he wasn’t lying this time and his beloved was old enough to see through some simple lies by now.

Jing Yi nodded. "Sure. You don’t have any reason to lie to me, have you?"

Qiu Ling looked at him and then nodded gravely. "Of course not. Why would I … ever lie to you?" He couldn’t help but gulp when he said so. If his beloved wanted to, he could probably give him a piece of his mind right now. After all, he had lied to him once already.

Jing Yi only laughed again and squeezed his grandfather’s hand to reassure him. "Don’t think about it anymore. Back then, you had your reasons to tell me such a lie. Right now, I’m sure that even though I can’t understand everything that you know, I at least understand enough that you are able to tell me a bit of the truth. Even if you can only say that something is a certain way and not explain to me why. I trust you."

Qiu Ling smiled happily at that. Even though he knew that this trust might be misplaced, it was still nice to hear that it was there. "It’s good that you feel like that. Anyway, if there’s something you want to know, you can always ask me. I will try my best to explain to you."

"I’ll remember that."

Qiu Ling looked at him for a moment longer before he motioned toward the village. "Alright, I guess it’s better if you go now. I shouldn’t keep you out here. A year isn’t long and there’s a lot you’ll have to try if you really want to become a cultivator. It’s better if you start early and decide on a place you would like to go with your fiance."

Jing Yi didn’t bother to argue again that Qiu Ling wasn’t his fiance. "Very well. Then I’d better get going. If something happens in the future, can I call you like back then?"

"Of course. Although … You might not need to. Your fiance seems like a very capable person. He might be able to get you out of trouble if something happens." Naturally, Qiu Ling wouldn’t let go of this opportunity to toot his own horn. Anyway, his beloved probably thought the same but was too shy to admit it.

Jing Yi just shook his head and got up, taking a long look at his grandfather. "It was really nice to see you again. I hope that we’ll be able to see each other more often again in the future."

"If that’s what you want … I can’t promise that I’ll always be able to come to see you immediately though. You see, there’s still quite a lot of things that I need to take care of. So if I’m in another realm, then it could be difficult to come over. It might take me some time."

"Alright. I know now. Goodbye then." Jing Yi took a deep breath and then turned away, returning to the village. Saying goodbye to his grandfather was surprisingly hard but there was nothing he could do. Anyway, they would see each other again in the future. He didn’t know when or how but they definitely would so it wasn’t like this was a farewell forever. It was just saying goodbye for a small amount of time. And in that time, he and Qiu Ling would certainly experience a lot. It would be nice telling his grandfather all about it when he finally managed to make some progress. His grandfather would certainly be very proud of him by then.