Over in the dragon realm, Bai Mu was accompanying Nie Huang in her cultivation. He had already reached the point where he could have ascended long ago but because of the issue with his father, he had never felt much of a longing for the Nine Heavens so he never took the last step. Anyway, his cultivation had been high enough that — apart from the demon hunters — he didn’t have to worry about too many people. Now, he was already in the immortal realms so it didn’t matter any longer. Ascension of whatnot … it was only a theoretical concept now.

When the transmission stone Qiang Yan had given him lit up, Bai Mu was startled. Even though Qiang Yan sometimes contacted him, it wasn’t that regularly. Clearly, there was still a sense of guilt about how things had turned out back then. Because of this, while they had slowly gotten closer, he was still surprised every time Qiang Yan reached out.

This time, he quickly glanced at Nie Huang and then silently got to his feet and walked outside so as to not disturb her. Taking out the stone and imbuing his spiritual energy, he smiled faintly at his father. “Hey.”

Qiang Yan smiled back, feeling relieved when he saw Bai Mu’s expression. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

Bai Mu shook his head in response. “No, not at all. Ah Huang is inside cultivating but it’s not like I need to accompany her.”

Qiang Yan nodded but didn’t know how to continue. His gaze roamed about before he finally sighed. “Actually …” He rubbed his head and cleared his throat but still wasn’t sure where to begin.

Bai Mu raised his brows at him. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to Qiang Yan being somewhat awkward at the beginning of each conversation but this was really taking it to new heights. “Did something happen?”

Qiang Yan faintly exhaled when Bai Mu took over. Well, this was at least something he could react to. “Have you heard about your cousin?”

Bai Mu’s brows climbed higher. His cousin … that should be the child of his father’s sister, Qiu Ling’s fiance whose reincarnation he saved from the secret realm of his parents back in the mortal realm. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely up to date on what was happening in his life. He only knew that he had returned from his trial a while ago but hadn’t even seen him yet. “I know he finished his trial but that is the last I heard. Something seems to have happened with Qiu Ling though. I saw that adviser Xiang Yong didn’t seem quite right when I ran into him yesterday.” He furrowed his brows, feeling like he might have missed something important.

Xiang Yong hadn’t said anything at the time they saw each other in the corridor but he hadn’t thought too much. As the king’s advisers, they naturally weren’t as leisurely as he was. Every day, there was some task to deal with so rushing about didn’t raise any questions. It was only now that he thought back that he felt his expression hadn’t been as usual.

Qiang Yan glanced in both directions and lowered his voice. “He disappeared. There is more to it but it’s not really convenient to talk about here. I’ll tell you when we see each other next time.”

Bai Mu nodded and didn’t ask further but his brows deeply furrowed. He might not have met his cousin just yet but he knew that this person was important o his father. Also, he did know Qiu Ling and owed him his current life with Nie Huang. Knowing how close he and Jing He had been … “Then Qiu Ling probably isn’t doing well?”

Qiang Yan shook his head. “No, not really. Although it’s alright considering the circumstances.” Yes, after finding Jing He, Qiu Ling was holding on pretty well. Since he didn’t care that Jing He was a fallen god now, the only problem in his eyes was the impending time of separation. If not for that, he’d probably just hang onto Jing He as he was now. He might even drag him back to the dragon realm and get married there, regardless of anybody else’s opinion.

Qiang Yan sighed and shook his head, not thinking about it further. “Speaking of Qiu Ling, he is going to move to the Nine Heavens until this matter has been dealt with. Specifically, he’ll be staying at the palace of Jing He’s father. My sister and I are going to join the two of them so … if you and Nie Huang would like to come as well, it’d be a good opportunity to get to know everyone. Although … my brother-in-law can be difficult to deal with and it will probably be worse with Jing He gone.”

Bai Mu stared at Qiang Yan in a daze, even his brows smoothing out as the surprise overtook the previous worry. His relationship with Qiang Yan so far could be described as alright but not too close. This was to a big degree because they hadn’t spent much time together yet. Sure, it was slowly warming up but it always felt as if that last big step was missing to truly bridge the gap that the years of not knowing one another had left. Now … it seemed that there was a chance.

Bai Mu gulped faintly, not sure how to react. To be honest, he wanted this. He really did. He had originally hated Qiang Yan because he thought he had abandoned his mother but after finding out the truth, all of that fizzled out. Now, he wished to make up for the regrets of the past. And this was an opportunity he likely wouldn’t get again.

This wasn’t simply spending some time in the Nine Heavens. It was being there when his father and his father’s family were having a difficult time. Being asked to do so and being allowed to be around and support them at such a time … that went to show that his father wanted their relationship to be closer just as much as he did.