Jing Yi noticed their gazes but felt that it might be better to just pretend that he had no idea what was going on. As long as he treated this as a matter of course, maybe nobody would ask further questions.

He just gave a faint smile and then cleared his throat again. “Anyway, now that I’ve introduced you, actually, I’m only going to be in the mortal realm for a short while before returning to the immortal realms.”

Before he could speak any further and tell them about the invitation, Yue Lin put his hand up. “Wait. Are you telling me that you’re living in the immortal realms?” He wasn’t as blind as Niu Hai. While he might not notice everything, he had definitely been able to realize that Qiu Ling had been a special person.

He still wouldn’t have pictured him as an immortal or the king of the dragon race, but he was able to get over the shock much faster considering that his relationship with Qiu Ling had been pretty decent.

But this new information was something that he couldn’t help but grapple with. Anyway, ascending wasn’t easy and from what he knew, only somebody who had managed to ascend would be able to step into the immortal realms.

Could it be that this was different if you were engaged to the dragon king? Well, it would figure. Anyway, as the king of one of the immortal realms, he should be able to make some exceptions for the person he loved, right?

Jing Yi suddenly felt that this wouldn’t be as easy as he had thought. There had been so much going on in his life that he really had a lot to explain. But either way, he had wanted to use this opportunity to catch up with his friends. Since he was here, this was a prime opportunity to do so.

“Actually, I ascended a while ago. It’s not been that much time in the immortal realms, just a few weeks. But I guess that means that here in the mortal realm, it’s been a few years since the time is running differently. I’m sorry that I didn’t let you know before. It was … somewhat sudden.”

At that, Yue Lin and Niu Hai once again just stared. This situation was getting stranger and stranger. Just what was going on in Jing Yi’s life? So much had happened but they had never heard about any of it. It really seemed odd.

Either way, Yue Lin just rubbed his forehead, smudging some of the ink that had landed there in his hours of work. “Oh, so you ascended. You weren’t in the sect at that time, weren’t you? Because I can’t remember anything like that happening in recent years.”

Usually, it was pretty obvious when a person ascended. After all, it came with a tremendous change in power that was usually perceivable by others. Not to mention that those who ascended would enter the immortal realms for the first time which was said to be accompanied by some kind of … well, sign like a bright light maybe or something like that. Actually, he had never seen it for himself but it should be something like that. He didn’t believe that you could quietly ascend.

Jing Yi suddenly realized that while the people in the Yun Zou Sect mostly knew that he had been to the Hei Dian Sect before, the same wasn’t true the other way around. And now, he suddenly couldn’t help but wonder how they would deal with it. After all, he had come to this place as a spy, not as a genuine disciple. As the actual disciples of the sect, shouldn’t they be angry about that?

He rubbed his cheek and suddenly wished that Qiu Ling was here. His fiance had never had a problem with just dishing the truth straight out. At this moment, that really was an ability Jing Yi would’ve loved to have. Well, it couldn’t be changed. For now, he was on his own. And anyway, this was mostly his own mess so it was best for him to deal with it on his own as well.

He pondered for a moment how to say it and finally figured that no matter how he phrased it, it wouldn’t make a difference. Thus, he just gave the same wry smile as before and explained the matter from the beginning. “No, I indeed wasn’t at the sect. You don’t know this, but I was originally a disciple of the Yun Zou Sect.”

Contrary to his expectation, Niu Hai immediately nodded fervently. “I remember! You were forced to leave by your fiance’s Master! They didn’t want to let you be together.”

Jing Yi looked at him, needing a moment to realize that this was indeed the explanation for why they needed to go to the demonic sects that Qiu Ling had come up with back then. Now, it seemed even more difficult to explain this.

To his surprise, Yue Lin helped him out though. Or at the very least, he straight up dismantled that flimsy excuse, setting the record straight. “You really think that the dragon king needs to be a disciple of either the righteous or the demonic sects? Or that anyone on either side would be willing to tell him what to do? I’ll tell you, I’m pretty sure that not even our Grandmaster would you willing to risk that.” Saying so, he turned back to Jing Yi. “So, what is actually going on?”

Jing Yi’s smile turned even worse but he forced himself to give the actual explanation. “To be honest, I was sent over to the Hei Dian Sect as a spy and Qiu Ling tagged along. It’s just that over time, I really started to get to know the people here and there wasn’t much to report back either so I left soon after, going back to the Yun Zou Sect. I hope you won’t mind.”

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