Chapter 835 - Two Thousand?!

Needless to say, it didn't work immediately. Jing Yi managed to form a small heap of soil just like Qiu Ling had shown him but when he stepped on it, it was too loose. Jing Yi lost his balance and fell forward, finally colliding with a firm chest.

"Are you alright?"

Jing Yi looked up, his heart thumping. "I …" He looked down, his cheeks inexplicably heating up. Ah, when something happened, Qiu Ling would always be there for him, wouldn't he? He looked up again, giving his lover a brilliant smile. "I'll always be alright as long as you're with me."

Qiu Ling stared at him in a daze, not quite comprehending what was going on. The one who would normally say such things was him, wasn't it? How come his beloved was suddenly so direct? He really wasn't used to this. It actually made him speechless.

Jing Yi laughed when he saw Qiu Ling's expression and then reached up, interlacing his fingers behind his neck. "What's this? Shouldn't you tell me that I'm right?"

Qiu Ling nodded, still a little stunned. "I … I'll at least try."

"I think you've done a wonderful job at that up until now. I don't question at all that you'll be able to do it."

Qiu Ling nodded, not knowing what to say. This was just too unexpected. Even if he was a few thousand years older, he also wouldn't be able to get used to it this fast.

Jing Yi looked at him a moment longer and finally stepped back, turning around to continue practicing.

Qiu Ling also stepped back but his thoughts couldn't help but linger on what had just happened. It made him feel strange. First, asking him to teach him how to fight, now, doing something like this. It showed that despite sharing the same soul, Jing Yi wasn't Jing He. They were still two different people. He didn't know if he should be happy about this or unhappy. Anyway, it still wasn't easy to get used to.

The two of them continued in that manner with Jing Yi practicing to use his spiritual energy to form a small hill of soil and try to tighten it enough to be able to stand on top of it while Qiu Ling watched and rushed over to catch him in case it didn't work out.

Slowly, there was a bit of progress in the way Jing Yi formed the hill but he still hadn't managed to make it dense enough. By now, he felt slightly frustrated, feeling that he wasn't able to get it right at all.

Qiu Ling finally reached out and grabbed his hand when he wanted to try again. "Let's stop here for today. You've already been practicing for hours. It won't get better if you continue now. You'll just deplete your spiritual energy and tire yourself out. Let's go back inside and rest a while. You can try again tomorrow."

Jing Yi hesitated for a moment, looking at the small heaps of soil that were scattered around him. He really would've liked to make some more progress. He wanted to show Qiu Ling that he was good at this. Unfortunately, even though he had somehow managed to advance his level several times in only a few years, that didn't make him a genius cultivator it seemed. Maybe he lacked the comprehension ability?

Qiu Ling looked at him and finally rubbed his head. "You're already doing very well. It takes a lot of time to learn this kind of thing if it's not in your nature to fly."

Jing Yi nodded but still couldn't help but bite his lip. "Then … What about Jing He? How long did he need to learn this kind of thing?"

Qiu Ling slightly tensed but then shook his head. "I don't know. I wouldn't know. We didn't know each other when he was that young. I only met him after he had come of age. I guess he already knew this kind of thing by then."

Jing Yi nodded. That was probably to be expected. "Then … He must've been pretty good though, right? After all, I've come of age a few years ago already and I can't do it yet."

Qiu Ling blinked his eyes, not quite understanding what Jing Yi meant. "That's … You're human."

Jing Yi, in turn, also didn't know what Qiu Ling meant. "I know. What does that have to do with each other?"

Qiu Ling casually waved to get rid of the small hills and then pulled Jing Yi back into the palace with him. "Well, gods and humans are different. Never mind that gods are born with a strong ability for magic, they also live much longer. They don't come of age at the same time that humans do. When I met him, he was much older than you are now."

"Older?" Jing Yi couldn't help but stop in his tracks and look up at Qiu Ling in a daze. He still remembered the time in Qiu Ling's inner self. What he had seen there had been the first time Qiu Ling and Jing He met. And he clearly remembered the way Jing He had looked on that day. There was no way he had been much older than twenty. In fact, if it wasn't for his calm demeanor, he might've even thought that he was slightly younger. It was just that his bearing gave off a mature feeling.

Qiu Ling nodded his head though. "He was. Well, the gods mature a lot slower. Back then, he should have been about two thousand years? That's the time they come of age."

Jing Yi couldn't say anything. He just stared. Two thousand?! How could that beautiful person be already that old? That was completely impossible!

Qiu Ling raised his brows. "What is it?"

"That's …" Jing Yi shook his head and then looked up at Qiu Ling who also looked like he was in his mid- or maybe his late twenties. "What did you say how old you were?"

Qiu Ling went rigid and then motioned at the door. "Didn't we want to go inside?"

Jing Yi watched his lover turn around and pull him back into the study. Well, it seemed that he had his answer. Jing He looking like that after two thousand years was probably very normal. Even Qiu Ling looked very young despite being much older than that, apparently. Well, it seemed he would have to shed his human understanding of matters.