As for that king of theirs that they were worried about, he was still in the courtyard of the idle gods, watching on as Jing Yi tried to get along with the ascended deities and the trueborn gods. That Lan Ling guy was still throwing him angry looks every now and then, clearly unhappy with what Qiu Ling had said before. But at the very least, he wasn’t trying to attack him any longer.

Unfortunately, the attitude that he had toward Qiu Ling also seemed to extend to Jing Yi. At the very least, so far, he hadn’t had even a single nice word to say to him.

Duan Ming, on the other hand, was trying his best to chat with Jing Yi, trying to get to know him a bit better. The two of them had started with talking about the human realm, the current cultivation sects, and how they were doing, and then gotten to some things that Duan Ming had heard from the ascended deities before. This was what they were currently still talking about.

“Ah, the human realm changes so fast. Just a few days here and if somebody new arrives, I already feel like I don’t recognize what the last one told me about it.” There was a wry smile on his lips, indicating that he really had a hard time getting used to this.

Jing Yi nodded. “I can imagine. It must be difficult with the difference in time. But I guess there won’t be that many ascended deities coming here, right? It takes quite a bit of time to cultivate to that point. Surely, there shouldn’t be that many?” He had completely left out of their talk just how long it had taken him since he vaguely knew that it wasn’t quite normal. He didn’t want to make anyone suspicious of his identity. The last thing he needed was somebody else figuring out that he was the Son of Heaven’s reincarnation and then just taking him for the lesser version of Jing He again. Since he wanted to escape precisely that, he wouldn’t give anyone the opportunity if he could avoid it.

Duan Ming nodded. “Yes, you’re right about that. Usually, when it comes to cultivating to godhood, there might be one a year but it is often longer. It is hard to say. I feel that from what I’ve heard, there are sometimes eras where it is more likely for people to ascend, and then there are those where nothing much happens and we won’t get a new one for several years or even decades. I’m not sure if it is due to some changes in the mortal realm or if there is some other kind of reason. Anyway, other than those people, there are other ways to ascend as well.”

Jing Yi raised his brows, not quite sure if he understood. “You mean other than cultivating to ascension? Well, practitioners should also be able to do so, right?” The difference between cultivators and practitioners couldn’t be said to be that big. Save for the missing spirit veins that practitioners would usually have, cultivation and practice were quite similar so he wasn’t sure if he would deem that a different way per se. The looks he got in return though … they made his face turn red. “What?”

Lan Ling couldn’t help but shoot back. “How did you make your way up here without even knowing that kind of thing? Of course, it’s possible.” He demonstratively held his sword, clearly indicating that there was a reason why he was pissed off this time.

Jing Yi smiled wryly. “Well, I really would’ve liked to learn a bit more about that but there were a lot of other things going on and in the end, I never got around to practicing my sword arts much. I think that the last time I even held one was probably in my youth.”

Duan Ming raised his brows. “Oh? I would’ve thought you were quite skilled. I remember that Leng Jin Yu was like that. He was a brilliant cultivator but also very good as a practitioner. I dare to say that he might’ve been better with his sword than with his spiritual attacks. Although I’ve never had the type of fight with him where I could accurately judge that.” Still, he had been pretty impressed with what he had seen.

Ascended deities were tough. At the very least, those who had reached immortality in the way that Leng Jin Yu had followed. But even among them, he felt that Leng Jin Yu was something special. He couldn’t put his hand on it but he just figured that his strength was a notch above the rest. That was something that was worth noting.

Jing Yi could only give an embarrassed smile. Compared to Leng Jin Yu who had cultivated for a long time and ascended because of the effort that he put in, he really felt like a fraud. But that was something that he wasn’t really willing to admit to. Unfortunately, some people wouldn’t just let him get away.

“What? Don’t tell me your cultivation also isn’t anything serious? How about having a fight, huh?” Lan Ling raised his brows, quite clearly trying to egg him on.

Jing Yi just looked at him, feeling a bit regretful that he had taken Qiu Ling along. If he had left him outside, he wouldn’t have gotten in this type of situation. “Even if you say that, I already know what the outcome will be. I’m not a good fighter. That isn’t really my strong suit.”

Lan Ling wanted to retort but one of the other ascended deities couldn’t help but jump in at that moment. “Oh? Then were you a refiner?”

Jing Yi once again felt put on the spot. A refiner … Well, he had learned a little. It was just that no matter what he had started in the mortal realm, it seemed that he had never learned anything to the point of mastery. In front of all these people who had genuinely made their way up by being the best of the best, he felt self-conscious. Even though Lan Ling was treating him this way because of what Qiu Ling had said before, he still felt that there was some truth to his words. Clearly, he didn’t really deserve to be among these people.

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