He took a deep breath and finally decided that it would probably be better to be honest. The more he tried to get out of this, or maybe even tried to lie, the worse things would get in the end. If he admitted to the truth, then at the very least, it would come from him and not from one of the others. If he was exposed after pretending to be better than he was, he would just look even worse.

Thinking of that, he gave the other ascended deity an apologetic look. “I wouldn’t call myself a refiner. Just like I wouldn’t call myself a practitioner or maybe even a cultivator. The truth is that I have dabbled in everything just a little. My cultivation was usually just … well, a lot of it is just theory.”

Whether it was the ascended deities or the trueborn gods, they all looked at him uncomprehendingly.

“What do you mean? Theory?” Clearly, one couldn’t ascend by just having theoretical knowledge.

Jing Yi didn’t quite know how to say this so he had a hard time finding the right words and didn’t start speaking for at least half a minute.

That time was more than enough for Lan Ling to make up something in his head. “It couldn’t be that instead of actually cultivating here, you got your status through some other kind of means, could it?” There were ascended deities like that. They were precisely the kind that Duan Ming had mentioned before.

Usually, they would either be taken directly into a palace based on what it was that had gotten them their status or they would settle down somewhere else if the reason they had made it here was another person as it might be the case with Jing Yi. At the very least, that was what everyone thought with a look at Qiu Ling.

Jing Yi didn’t have any knowledge of that kind of ascension but he did perceive the gazes toward Qiu Ling. It really made him feel like sighing all over again. “No, I did genuinely cultivate. It is just that I never used that cultivation to have a fight. I do have to admit that I barely know how to defend myself.

“You don’t know this but I did not have a Master in my sect from beginning to end. So most of what I know about cultivation is just from my original understanding of how to sense and take in spiritual energy. I just went ahead with that and then I learned a few things from Qiu Ling. But that is all. I don’t have any kind of cultivation technique like those cultivators with a Master do. I never learned any of that and I didn’t get that much experience outside of the sect either.”

This wasn’t wrong. While he had gained experience through the things that had happened to him thanks to the trial, they weren’t the kind of mission that other people had. So he felt that it was alright to say something like this.

Unfortunately, his words didn’t really make anyone feel less strange. The trueborn gods didn’t know the exact situation in the mortal realms since most of them would ever set foot there but the ascended deities around them were quite clear on what exactly Jing Yi’s words entailed.

“You … made your way to ascension without a Master just based on your own understanding of spiritual energy? And your sect never bothered to assign you to somebody even after you made progress?”

Jing Yi felt embarrassed when it was put this way but nodded. “I guess they didn’t really put me in their eye. My aptitude wasn’t really good. You see, I have full spirit veins.” Yes, over the years, he had forgotten just how bad that was. Naturally, the Yun Zou Sect had had never cared about him.

The others still exchanged a glance. With that kind of aptitude, it really was normal for a sect not to attach much importance to you in the beginning. But if you made your way up the ranks, that would naturally change. How could the sect not care even after a disciple with this kind of aptitude would reach the third stage? After all, just aptitude alone wasn’t what made a cultivator. Your comprehension ability and willingness to put in the effort were just as important.

So since Jing Yi likely had all of that, why hadn’t the Yun Zou Sect helped more? In fact, if they hadn’t really helped him, why had he still managed to ascend? Didn’t that just speak volumes about how good he really was? That made them feel that the Yun Zou Sect was really blind.

With this corner of the idle gods’ courtyard having turned quiet, it really felt as if they could hear the sound of the grass growing.

Jing Yi’s gaze darted around and he finally cleared his throat. “Well, anyway, since I just arrived here, I hope you’ll be willing to help me a little. May I ask, this courtyard, do people actually live in it?” He glanced around, not quite sure what to think. This corner was actually next to something that looked like the entrance to a building but he wasn’t sure what it was.

Duan Ming nodded, lost in thought, only to be startled out of it when he suddenly perceived a piercing gaze. Needless to say, Qiu Ling wasn’t happy with the way things were going. This line of thought … wouldn’t it lead to his lover not staying with him any longer? He’d rather not see that happen.

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