Qiu Ling seriously pondered the idea for a moment. A marital tie between races might seem like a rather archaic way of establishing good relations but … that didn’t mean that there wasn’t any merit. He himself couldn’t do it and there was no nobility in the dragon realm so his advisers and maybe some of the generals would be the only ones who could work.

Thinking of his advisers, Qiu Ling could only sigh though. He had only six of them. Among those, two were married to each other, leaving him with only four remotely possible candidates. And regarding those … well, it somehow didn’t seem likely. Qiang Wei and Yi Zan might not be into each other but constantly hung around each other which would make it difficult to develop a relationship with somebody else, An Bai was basically married to his research, and Xiang Yong … well, Xiang Yong was the one who did most of the work as his adviser so he’d rather not share his time with a new partner. Well, it seemed this really wasn’t possible.

Qiu Ling sighed, feeling a bit reluctant. This would have made things so much easier. He could have had that couple be in charge of the situation, gather information, develop a few proposals, and then just allocate the manpower to make it possible after he checked that it was alright. This way, the ideas they developed would lead deeper and it would seem like the change was coming more from the inside than if he made any decisions. That would likely be more easily accepted on both sides.

But, well, if it wasn’t possible, then it wasn’t. He wouldn’t force such an issue. Especially not when personal feelings were involved. That simply wouldn’t be right. No, he had to slowly think it through and find a way in.

Qiu Ling’s fingers tapped on the desk and he narrowed his eyes. A romantic relationship was off the table but personal relationships were still the easiest way to approach something like this. He certainly couldn’t just invite the spirit beast king to have a cup of tea with him. No, considering their past relationship, he would probably just freak him out that way. But maybe something else would do. Or maybe …

Qiu Ling’s eyes narrowed even further and he thought of the person he had met in the mortal realm before. Back in the day, his father and Jinde had apparently been good friends with the spirit beast territory’s guardian Wu Ya. From when he had met him, it seemed that Wu Ya still cherished those feelings as well. If he asked him for help, he would certainly do it.

Of course, the last time they met, Wu Ya had stayed at the Ye Zhong Order because he had somehow become interested in Hong Bao of all people. He had no idea how that had turned out for him so far but the result might influence how willing he was to leave the mortal realm. And, well, they definitely couldn’t let him bring Hong Bao along. For one, she had been exiled from the Nine Heavens so he didn’t think the gods would just let her back in. And two, that woman was a magnet for trouble. To have her participate in something even tangentially was basically begging for that thing to go wrong. He definitely wouldn’t risk that when it was about the relationship of his race and the spirit beasts.

Qiu Ling pursed his lips, feeling unsure about his next steps. From the time the demon-hunting sects were solved to now, it could at most be said that the relationship between them had slightly thawed and could be described as ‘awkward at best’ for the time being. This was because even though they had tried their best by regularly staying in contact now and listening more closely to their concerns, the time frame was just too short compared to the thousands of years of almost ignoring each other.

If he wanted to break this status quo, he needed either a lot of time or a big move. The former was naturally possible but … he was a bit reluctant to just let things unfold that way. Since he had decided to seriously lead the dragon realm in the future, he wouldn’t do anything half-heartedly. If there was a way to speed things up, he would do it.

Qiu Ling hummed and got to his feet, pacing up and down next to the desk. Whether it was in the dragon realm or the spirit beast territory, the common people often only saw the results of what was going on. They didn’t know all the inside matters. So in regard to the relationship, they might actually feel that they were simply separated from the dragons because of the distance and not because of anyone’s attitude. The problem if you could call it that was really their king. And, well, anyone close enough to him to have shared his concerns over the years. These were the people he had to win over again.

Qiu Ling paused in his steps and sat down again, feeling that he was getting closer to the solution even though he didn’t have a concrete idea. To win these people over, he had to find out what could move them. For this, it would be best to speak to somebody from the spirit beast tribe. He hardly knew any of them which was one of the manifestations of their current issues. Really, there only seemed to be Wu Ya. Well, he … and that little refiner from the mortal realm.

Qiu Ling raised his brows and then pulled out a transmission stone, contacting Xiang Yong. He didn’t know where exactly Wu Ya was right now but he knew where Zheng Yin was and how he could reach him. Since this was the case, he should take advantage of that. So, why not invite him over to have a talk?