At the top of another mountain, Jing Yi and Qiu Ling finally finished their awkward break. Qiu Ling put everything back into his spatial ring and then turned to Jing Yi, giving him a smile. “Alright, I guess that’s all. So do you want to set off now?”

Jing Yi nodded and got closer, almost naturally holding onto Qiu Ling so that they could leave. Anyway, he was already used to it.

Qiu Ling pulled him into his arms, pushed off the ground and rose into the air, turning in a circle to see if he could already spot a suitable place close by. If he couldn’t find one at all, he would go to the glowing sea but if he could get around that, he would gladly do so as well. He really didn’t want to remember what had happened there the last time.

In the end, Qiu Ling picked one direction at random and flew forward, always keeping an eye out for some kind of large body of water. Soon enough, he actually did find one. It wasn’t as big as the glowing sea but it could be called a sea nonetheless.

He gulped but still slowly descended. Anyway, as long as he didn’t enter it, nothing would happen. He just had to stand at the side and use his magic for a bit so that his beloved could feel the spiritual energy. Then, he could just grab him again and rush off again. It wouldn’t be a problem.

They reached the ground and Qiu Ling gave Jing Yi half a smile, trying to mask how worried he felt.

Jing Yi looked at him, wondering if he should say something. Obviously, Qiu Ling was a little different from usual. Did this still have to do with what had happened before? Was it this place that made him nervous? Then should he propose that they left and went somewhere else? But he did have to learn how to use spiritual energy if he wanted to become a cultivator.

He furrowed his brows, torn between wanting to achieve his dream and helping out Qiu Ling. In the end, he sighed and grabbed Qiu Ling’s arm. “Qiu Ling, maybe we should go somewhere else after all.”

“You don’t like it here? Do you want me to look for another place?”

“No, I mean … You’re not feeling too well, do you?”

Qiu Ling looked at him in a daze. Was it actually this obvious? That wasn’t good, was it? He forced himself to smile and shook his head. “It’s alright. Don’t you want to learn how to cultivate?”

Jing Yi nodded. “I do. I don’t want you to suffer because of that though. Don’t you want to tell me what the matter is? Is it that you don’t feel well around water? Then maybe you want to stand back at least while I give it a try? Or would that make it even worse?”

Qiu Ling looked from Jing Yi to the sea and then sighed. “It’s not that. It’s really just that I remembered something before. It doesn’t have to do with this place. So you can just forget about it. Come on, I promised that I’d help you so I’ll do that.” He pulled Jing Yi to the edge of the water, part of him wanting to prove that he really was alright. If he didn’t … Even if Jing Yi couldn’t figure anything out, what about when he woke up again in the Nine Heavens? Jing He would remember everything. And he knew enough about the immortal races to slowly figure things out. He wasn’t as naive as Jing Yi in regard to these things.

Jing Yi watched Qiu Ling’s expression for a moment before he finally turned to the sea as well. He still wasn’t quite convinced after Qiu Ling had been so out of sorts before but what could he do? If Qiu Ling didn’t want to talk about it, then he had to accept that. He first had to become better before he could ask him again. For now, he just had to accept what he said.

Qiu Ling motioned at the sea very much like he had pointed at the air at the top of the mountain. “You should be able to sense the spiritual energy of the water quite clearly at this place. I’ll try to do the same as before and use my spiritual energy to move the water. Maybe you’ll be able to figure out something with that.”

Jing Yi nodded and then closed his eyes, focusing on the place before him. The sooner he managed to do this, the sooner they could leave. That was probably the best way to help Qiu Ling out.

Jing Yi indeed didn’t have much trouble sensing the spiritual energy in front of him even though he needed a moment longer than he had when he tried the last time on the mountain. The energy did indeed feel different from that of the air. When he focused really hard, he could even feel the spiritual energy in the water and that of the air above at the same time, the difference small but noticeable.

Next to him, Qiu Ling used his spiritual energy just as he had said and started to move the water. It splashed onto the hem of their robes and their shoes, drenching their feet. Qiu Ling furrowed his brows and then pushed it in the other direction, making sure that it didn’t reach them anymore.

When the wave came back, he pushed out once again, still making sure that he didn’t do too much though. After all, he still needed to let his beloved get used to this slowly. Only when he was sure that Jing Yi had had enough time did he use more strength in pushing back the waves to let him see the difference.

Jing Yi focused, trying to sense every change with the spiritual energy and blanking out everything else. The longer he did so, the clearer the picture he felt in his mind got.

Jing Yi furrowed his brows when he felt as if he could actually see the waves and then opened his eyes to check if things were indeed as such in reality. When he did, his face paled.

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