With the difference in time between the mortal and immortal realm, Jing Yi and Xiao Dong had quite a bit of time on their hands after coming to the Yun Zou Sect. After the shock of what they had figured out on their first day, Jing Yi didn’t go out again immediately and instead stayed in the bamboo hut the next day, continuing to think about the matter.

If there really was a second shot at life for him as well, then giving up his soul suddenly didn’t sound so daunting anymore. If this was indeed true, things would be the same for him as they had been for Jing He. He would just … sleep for a while. And when the other him died, he would wake up and continue his life pretty much where he had left off.

“Maybe I should make some preparations.”

Xiao Dong looked up from where he was rifling through the old manuals of the Yun Zou Sect in a bored manner. He immediately put the book down and straightened up. “Preparations? For what? If I can help …”

Jing Yi shook his head. “I don’t think you can. This is … well, it’s about what you said yesterday. I’ve been thinking about it since that moment and I’ve come to realize that maybe I saw things wrong the whole time.

“I always thought that …” He hesitated how to say things and shook his head. “I mean, Jing He and I, we can only ever exist apart from each other, never at the same time. And I thought that I was just something thrown in the middle of his life. A short episode that he would try to learn from and maybe benefit while I would just cease to exist. Thinking about it always made me angry and I didn’t want Jing He to have a good time.”

Xiao Dong gave a hesitant nod. Looking at Jing Yi’s expression while he said these things, he wasn’t completely sure if it was really a thing of the past. He sure didn’t look that way.

Jing Yi’s expression changed after a moment though, his brows furrowing tightly. “If what you said yesterday is right though, then my life isn’t just a short intermezzo in the middle. It’s more like each of us has two chances at life with the other person’s part being a continuation of our own.

“Jing He … will pick up where I left off but so will I after he gets into that kind of situation. Since that’s the case, I am the one who ultimately profits off everything that either of us does.”

Xiao Dong stared at him, not sure how to answer. If he was indeed right, then yes, that seemed to be the case. But … “You know, I can’t guarantee that I’m right. I’m not sure if anyone can, really. There never was a case like this before from what I’m aware of.”

He might not hear everything but as somebody who had grown up in the palace and was related to one of Qiu Ling’s advisers, he sure heard more than others. And so far, there hadn’t really been results from any investigations as far as he had heard. So, most likely, there really was no other case like this. Not to mention that the requirements were pretty specific.

After all, you’d need to manage to not get killed after ascension which was … almost impossible in the first place. After that, you needed to preserve your body as an ascended deity by giving up your soul instead of being killed. And, in the end, you still needed somebody to protect said body until your trueborn god-self died in some kind of way.

Achieving one or maybe even two of these things might be possible. But all three? He really doubted it. So no, there likely wasn’t another case like this around, and thus, they would never have any kind of proof that this would work out until it maybe, hopefully, did.

Xiao Dong furrowed his brows. He had never been as close to Jing Yi as Shao Hai had been but he still liked him. Not to mention that he was his king’s lover. So, of course, he didn’t want anything to happen to him. But this was something that he just couldn’t guarantee.

Jing Yi shook his head with a smile when he saw Xiao Dong’s expression. “Xiao Dong, don’t sweat it. I know you can’t and I know that even if this is possible, I still need Qiu Ling’s help. But just knowing that there is a possibility of this working makes me feel …” He paused and took a deep breath, trying to think of which word could actually fit all the different emotions that had been entangling his heart since yesterday. In the end, he couldn’t come up with anything and shrugged his shoulders. “Better, I guess, for lack of a more fitting word. It’s making me feel better.”

Xiao Dong nodded, even though he wasn’t sure if he could actually understand. If it was him, he’d probably want to have proof. “Well, I’m happy if I could help.”

Jing Yi nodded. “Yes, you did. It’s … given me a kind of purpose, a direction. Something that I was lacking before. You know, after meeting Qiu Ling in the mortal realm and also finding out about my life as Jing He, I’ve always been running toward ascension. Then when I finally made it, I was told I’d have to die. Now, I finally can’t push it off for much longer but there is suddenly a possibility in the far future.

“That’s … well, it’s something new and something that’s good. I’m happy about it and you were able to give me that. Even if it doesn’t work out and I actually stay dead after this, it’s alright. Anyway, I’ll be dead. It’s not like I’d know.” He chuckled and shook his head at himself. “Right now, I just like having that hope. It finally makes me feel that my whole existence wasn’t completely worthless.”

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