Qiu Ling hadn’t thought too much when he originally said this. Anyway, he had only answered Jing He’s question. Who knew it would finally sound like this when the words were out?

He cleared his throat and then smiled faintly, trying to dispel the awkwardness. “Either way, there is more than enough time to consider this. I’m not in a hurry. Even though I’m older than you, a possibly eternal life also means that you don’t need to rush anything.”

Jing He hurriedly nodded, glad that the atmosphere was able to return to normal. “Of course, there is no rush.”

Qiu Ling gave a hum. Thinking for a moment, he felt that it was probably time to change the topic for real. “Anyway, you were talking about your coming-of-age ceremony. With all those preparations, that celebration can be considered a major milestone among the gods as well, I presume?”

Jing He nodded. “Yes, it can. In our family, that is even more the case but I believe it’s not much different among the common people.”

“Then what else is there? I mean, regarding the milestones in the lives of the gods. I am sure there should be several? What is it that you like to celebrate in the Nine Heavens?”

Jing He thought for a moment. “To be honest, there isn’t that much. Of course, there is the birth of a new child.” His cheeks still flushed faintly when the topic came up again and he forced himself to hurriedly continue before they could somehow dwell further on this. “Then the coming-of-age ceremony is a full two thousand years later. In the meantime, there aren’t many personal celebrations. Some families will do a smaller ceremony at one thousand years though. My family has never taken part in that though.”

Qiu Ling gave a hum. “Is there a reason?” Jing He hadn’t said so but considering how the Heavenly Emperor and Heavenly Empress doted on him, he couldn’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to throw him as many celebrations as they could. Thinking of that, it seemed there should be a reason.

Jing He hesitated. He didn’t want to admit the true reason but also didn’t dare to lie so, in the end, he could only keep it vague. “They believe it to be bad luck.”

“Ah, that makes sense. The dragons usually aren’t that superstitious so that hadn’t crossed my mind.”

Jing He nodded but didn’t want to think about it further. “After the coming-of-age ceremony, birthdays may be celebrated. But usually, there will only be notable celebrations each two thousand years on the day the respective god’s coming of age ceremony was originally held to commemorate that date and timespan.”

“That makes sense.” Qiu Ling brushed through his hair, thinking about the celebrations in his own life. Actually, he had missed out on most of them. He still knew how things were done generally though. “For the dragons, we actually seldom celebrate although that might be because of the constant fighting with the demons that has been going on for so long. Oftentimes, after a dragon comes of age, there will only be another celebration at five thousand years.”

Jing He nodded in a daze. Five thousand years … he wasn’t even half that old. Not to mention … “The dragons come of age at five hundred years already, don’t they?”

“Mn.” Qiu Ling gave a hum and leaned closer. “You don’t mind, do you? At the end of the day, we simply happen to be of different races. Of course, there will be differences like this.”

“Naturally, I don’t mind.” Jing He hastily shook his head. Anyway, in his mind, Qiu Ling’s age translated to more experiences, a clearer vision of life, and maturity overall. All of that … it made up a certain part of the dragon king’s charm.

Qiu Ling smiled. “That’s good. Well, I didn’t doubt it. It’s not like I didn’t ask before and I wouldn’t expect you to change your mind so easily.” He reached out and gently grasped Jing He’s chin. “Now, you were talking about the celebrations among your people. What about weddings? You haven’t told me anything about that.”

Jing He’s cheeks flushed again. Not even mentioning the topic, just the way Qiu Ling was currently looking at him was impactful for sure. He couldn’t even sort out his thoughts on what he had just asked under that gaze.

Qiu Ling continued to look at him for a moment while holding his chin but finally pulled back his hand. Anyway, the situation had been awkward not too long ago. He shouldn’t risk it going back to that state. “I would imagine they are quite grand in the Nine Heavens.

“In my realm, while weddings are considered to be important milestones as well, there often won’t be any big celebrations. It’s a bit of a pity. Of course, just because there is no such tradition, that doesn’t mean one can’t make a grand show of their feelings.”

Jing He carefully watched Qiu Ling’s expression when he explained this. To be honest, he wasn’t fully aware of how weddings were celebrated in the dragon realm. He had asked adviser An Bai in the past but the response he had gotten had been very vague. When he later asked his uncle whether he knew something, the response had been even more evasive. Thinking about it now, he couldn’t help but be curious. “Then … how do dragons get married?”

Qiu Ling looked at his beloved who was asking him such a question with such a guileless expression and couldn’t help but feel that he could count himself lucky that Jing He had at least come to him with this. Although …

His lips twitched when he thought of how Jing He had asked An Bai quite a few questions about the dragon realm in the past. He cleared his throat and finally couldn’t help but make sure. “You didn’t ask An Bai about this, did you?”

Jing He stared at Qiu Ling in a daze. Was it a problem that he had? “I …”

Qiu Ling raised his gaze to the sky, feeling that he really should have brought this up on his own before. “He didn’t tell you?”

Jing He shook his head. “No, he … he was rather vague, just saying that it is usually a celebration just kept among the couple.” This hadn’t told him anything and he would have liked to know more but considering that this kind of vague response was outside the usual for An Bai, he hadn’t dared to ask further.

Qiu Ling cleared his throat and made sure not to lean too close to Jing He. Otherwise, his next words would definitely be misunderstood. “He’s not wrong. Usually, a wedding in the dragon realm … it’s just a physical union of two people. When you become one and those traces are left on each other’s body, then after it has been witnessed, you will be considered married. So what a wedding among our people really requires is nothing but a night of passion.”