Jing He wasn’t sure what to do. Losing magic was acceptable. Some of it wasn’t regularly used anyway and much of it could be made up for. For example, the dragons were naturally gifted with air and water magic. In Qiu Ling’s case, because of his mixed blood, he was likely able to use fire and earth magic as well. He wasn’t entirely sure about the latter but the former was definitely true. He had seen him use his fire magic, after all.

But this was not to say that he should easily give up on those abilities either. For example, he might not use his air magic much and if he ever were to need to get around, it wouldn’t be a problem for Qiu Ling to take him along. But even if they were married, his husband couldn’t be at his side all the time and they also intended to have children.

What if, one day, he was alone with their children and needed his magic to save them from a dangerous situation? Air magic was the one that allowed you to move out of a dangerous place fast and earth magic was the one that would allow you to defend yourself and those with you the best if fleeing wasn’t possible. Knowing this, could he give up on either?

The longer he thought about it, the more Jing He felt that this was an impossible decision to make. So much could go wrong in the future. Without knowing what awaited him, how could he give up anything? Who knew what the consequences would be?

He pondered this question for several days, imagining all kinds of scenarios. Tian came to see him once during this time but he could only shake his head to indicate that he hadn’t gotten any further yet. The Supreme Sovereign didn’t urge him either. He simply told him to take his time to think things through and then left again.

Jing He remained alone again, feeling lost. It didn’t seem like this was a decision he could or even should make alone. Yes, since it was one that would have an influence on their life together, he shouldn’t do this on his own. He should tell Qiu Ling about it and ask for his opinion.

As soon as this thought came up, Jing He couldn’t sit quietly any longer. He paced through his palace, unable to contain his happiness. He hadn’t seen Qiu Ling in several weeks. That one night he spent in his arms almost didn’t seem to have happened as if it were nothing more but a figment of his imagination, a sweet dream he had thought up one night.

These days, he had been so focused on the decision he had to make that he hadn’t even taken a look or retrieved the letters Qiu Ling had promised he would write him. His heart ached, thinking of how Qiu Ling had to be feeling. Wouldn’t he be worried? Wouldn’t he wish for another sign of how he was doing?

He knew that Tian had said not to go there if he didn’t have to but … this seemed like it should be done. And … he also wanted to do this. He wanted to see him. He wanted to hear his voice and receive some reassurance that he was doing well. He wanted to be pulled into that familiar embrace and held tightly while that warm palm stroked his back. He wanted to take a deep breath to calm down, taking in Qiu Ling’s scent as he listened to his heartbeat. He just … wanted to be with him.

Jing He raised a hand but finally stopped before conjuring up a portal. He … indeed wanted to do this but he should make sure that he didn’t do anything wrong. Qiu Ling was currently in his father’s palace and there was no saying where exactly he was at this moment, with whom, or what he was doing. He should at least check that first before he went over there.

Making up his mind, he waved his hand, conjuring up a water mirror instead of a portal. It didn’t show anything at first and he instead looked at it blankly. A water mirror … that was an easy spell to do, just that the trueborn gods would usually only use it to look at their own reflection while only Tian or the fallen gods would use it to spy on others because they wouldn’t be noticed.

If he gave up this strand of his magic … then even this couldn’t be done any longer. As someone who cared about his appearance and who felt that he should do so, this thought was difficult to bear. Of course, there were worse possibilities and if he had to give up something, then he’d rather it be this. Not to mention that there should be workarounds for this.

In the end, Jing He sighed lightly and then waved again, making an image of the Heavenly Emperor’s palace show up on the water mirror. As it turned out, it was good that he hadn’t simply opened a portal to where Qiu Ling was.

This time around, his fiance wasn’t alone. Instead, he sat at the desk he had added to the Heavenly Emperor’s study. In front of him was a document but Jing He was looking at everything from opposite Qiu Ling so he couldn’t read what it said. He did notice that his father sat just a few steps away though, his gaze shifting from the document he was holding to the person at the other table. He didn’t look happy at all.

Jing He’s eyelids drooped. He shouldn’t have hoped that anything would change for the better but seeing his father still so reluctant to get along with Qiu Ling, he felt sad. If only this part of Qiu Ling’s plan could have worked. Then all of this would be so easy. Unfortunately, life rarely was like that.