Thinking of that, Duan Ming immediately came up with a plan. “Well, I think you’ve seen most of it now. As for everything else, I’m sure that after you’ve stayed here for a bit, you’ll get more familiar with it on your own. Now, how about getting a room for yourself? Usually, the heavenly officials take care of that. We should be able to find something for you and then get the paperwork done afterward though.”

Jing Yi immediately nodded but Qiu Ling sidled up to him, giving him a look. “You really think —”

Jing Yi raised his brows. “What’s the matter? I do need a place to stay here, don’t I?” His gaze turned a little sharp when he said so. In any case, while he didn’t mind staying with Qiu Ling, if he really wanted to get rid of always being just Jing He’s shadow, then he needed to have a life of his own. And that started with just being like everyone else and staying in this place if that was what the ascended deities did.

Qiu Ling wasn’t happy but he figured that he could still stay with Jing Yi even if they did this. Thus, he finally just kept quiet about it and followed along.

Duan Ming brought them to the door to a room. This one was actually not that far away from the place where he and Lan Ling lived and where Leng Jin Yu had originally had his room as well. Back then, Leng Jin Yu had left rather suddenly but the room had never been given to anyone else. While there were a lot of ascended deities and trueborn gods were regularly joining the courtyard as well, there was still no need to give a room to somebody else that soon. And since Leng Jin Yu had been sent on a mission that was supposed to not last that long, the room had been left as is. Now, it always felt strange to pass by the door.

Duan Ming pressed down on that feeling and just focused on the door of the room that he had thought of. “The person that lived here has managed to make their way into the palace that they wanted to so it has been freed up recently. You can move in directly.” He opened the door and Jing Yi was greeted by the sight of a neatly organized chamber. There weren’t any personal possessions left behind but the room itself was really nice. Not necessarily to the standard of the palace that he and Qiu Ling had been given by the people of the Court of Justice but this was definitely good enough. Much better than that bamboo hut in the Yun Zou Sect even though that had already been quite nice in his eyes.

Jing Yi went to take a look around, making Duan Ming and Lan Ling smile faintly.

Lan Ling actually couldn’t help but feel a little indignant on Jing Yi’s behalf. “Haish, that Yun Zou Sect really must’ve treated him badly if he thinks of this as a good room.”

Duan Ming gave him a veiled look, deciding not to say anything about that. In any case, whether it was him or Lan Ling, the two of them had grown up in a really good environment. Naturally, they couldn’t compare to somebody with a bad aptitude that wasn’t valued by his sect. But this also meant that while Jing Yi might overestimate this type of room, they were underestimating it. To a lot of people, this would count as quite good. After all, quite a few of the children of the high-ranking titled gods would also be sent here. How could anyone dare to not give them good accommodations?

Jing Yi returned after making one round and cupped his fists in front of Duan Ming and Lan Ling. “Thank you very much.”

Duan Ming smiled and patted his shoulder. “Don’t thank us yet. In any case, we’ll have to tell the people of the Court of Justice that you’re going to stay here. After that is done, then you can thank us. But even then, it wasn’t that much of an effort. And we are all in the same boat here.

“Speaking of which, which palace do you want to get into?” If Jing Yi had neither really cultivated nor practiced sword arts, then it was likely that he didn’t have any designs on the Palace of War. But maybe there was something else that he was having his eye on.

Jing Yi felt a little put on the spot with that question. To be honest, he hadn’t thought of that. The question hadn’t even crossed his mind. “To be honest, I’m not sure yet. I don’t know that much about the Nine Heavens and the palaces of the capital city. I think I would indeed like to find some kind of task for myself but I also don’t want to rush into things. I first want to know what exactly would be necessary if I went there.” Inwardly, he couldn’t help but remember the tour that Qiu Ling had given him through the capital city and the image of the Palace of Fate sprang up in his mind.

The place where his original fate had been written … He really wondered if he would be able to take a glimpse at what fate would have had in store for him if not for Qiu Ling getting involved. But if he went there just because of that, he would once again just be rushing after Jing He’s shadow. That wasn’t what he wanted.

No, he wanted something completely new, something that didn’t have to do with Jing He. He wanted to prove that he was a valuable person all by himself. So staying as far away as he could from Jing He, Jing He’s family, and whatever had to do with the trial was the right choice to make.

Right now, he didn’t really know what kind of palace would be best for that but he was sure that he could find out. He just needed some time.

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