NOVEL NEXT Chapter 277: Reopening old wounds
"Just what are you?" Xia Qingyue finally broke the silence.
Sainthood.
His self-created evolutionary path.
Comprehending the Spatial Law at the realm of transformation.
Any one of these alone would have been enough to shock her. Combined together, they formed something that simply should not exist.
It was impossible for her not to be shaken.
She understood better than most just how terrifying the Spatial Law was.
She herself had spent several months in closed seclusion, isolating her mind completely, risking stagnation just to barely grasp it. Even then, that was only the beginning. Once one reached Minor Succession, every further step became exponentially harder, as if the law itself resisted deeper understanding.
Progress slowed to a crawl.
Yet Grey had crossed that threshold far too easily.
Not as a third ranker.
Not as a saint who had fully stabilized their path.
But at the transformation stage.
At the second rank.
"I'm special." Grey nodded seriously.
It was something he had only recently come to truly realize.
At this point, could he even be considered an ordinary evolver anymore?
The answer was obvious.
No.
The evolutionary path he walked was far superior to the mainstream paths of Blue Star. Whether in flexibility, potential, or ceiling, it had already begun to leave them behind.
"That doesn't answer anything!" Xia Qingyue shot him an annoyed glare.
This junior.
He truly had a talent for provoking people.
And yet, despite her irritation, she found that she could not bring herself to hate him.
Annoying as he was, his talent was something she had never seen before. That alone stirred a deep curiosity within her.
If this junior were unleashed into the vast starry sky, just how far would he soar?
Would he overturn existing orders?
Would he… unify the starry sky itself?
The thought lingered for a brief moment before she shook it away.
"Fine." Xia Qingyue let out a sigh. "If you don't want to say it, then don't."
She had never been the type to pry into another's secrets. They were not close enough for that, and forcing answers would only sour things further.
"Well, I did come back to the east to find you, Senior Xia Qingyue." Grey said with a wide, toothy grin.
"…"
The moment she saw that expression, Xia Qingyue understood immediately.
"Hmph." She snorted softly. "I know. You're here to ask something of me."
"How can that be?" Grey shook his head in disbelief, his expression sincere to the point of being almost convincing. "I merely felt that leaving without parting words would be discourteous. A beautiful lady like you deserves at least that much. Would I truly be a good person if I turned away without even offering a farewell? So I came right back to say farewell and also to apologize for leaving for Mandate Province without saying another word."
"…"
Xia Qingyue stared at him in silence, her brows twitching almost imperceptibly.
"Stop speaking as if we are some sort of lovers."
"Lovers?" Grey's eyes widened, as though genuinely startled by the word. "Senior Xia Qingyue, you jest too much. We are clearly of different generations. You are an ancient being who has surpassed a hundred thousand years, while I am merely a junior. How could such a thing be possible?"
He paused, then continued with a tone filled with earnest admiration. "Besides, a peerless existence like you must have countless suitors scattered across the starry sky, all waiting for a single nod from you to pledge their lives."
Grey seemed to fall into thought, his eyes lowering slightly as if considering something profound. When he looked back up, his expression had shifted into something dangerously sincere.
"Still, becoming lovers is not entirely impossible," he said slowly. "If Senior Xia Qingyue were to love me deeply, then I would naturally return that affection. We can become secret lovers that meet once every 1,000 years under the vast expanse."
"It might be scandalous. The world might gossip. But I, Grey Lockhart, am not afraid of such things."
Dark lines appeared on Xia Qingyue's expression when she heard his words.
This guy… he has gotten more daring than before, hasn't he?
Boom!
Spiritual energy erupted from Xia Qingyue, forming crescent shaped arcs as they shot toward Grey without warning.
Grey merely chuckled.
Nexus Convergence manifested instantly, swallowing the incoming spiritual energy whole before detonating it in a muted explosion. The violent force dispersed into smoke and residual fluctuations that quickly faded.
As the smoke cleared, Xia Qingyue stood in the air not far from him.
For a fleeting moment, there was a trace of sadness on her serene face.
It vanished almost as soon as it appeared.
She stared at Grey, her expression turning solemn.
"Grey."
Her voice was calm, yet it carried a weight that pressed down on the surrounding silence.
"Do not say such things again."
Her gaze remained steady, but something subtle passed through her eyes, restrained and fleeting, as though she had deliberately suppressed it. "You speak lightly," she continued. "Perhaps because you have not yet learned how deeply words can cut once they are given weight."
She turned her eyes away slightly, as if her thoughts had drifted somewhere she had no intention of revealing.
"Affection is not harmless," she said quietly. "It leaves marks, even when spoken without intent."
When she looked back at him, her eyes were deep and distant, reflecting something long since buried but never erased.
"There are things words cannot protect."
A brief pause followed.
The faintest trace of a smile appeared on her lips, thin and fragile, before disappearing entirely.
"So do not speak to me like that again," she said softly.
It was clear.
His words had struck a place she did not wish to revisit.
Grey's playful expression faded the moment he heard her.
Did he truly touch upon her deepest wound?
As an existence so powerful, so revered, had she been betrayed by those closest to her?
Had he just made it harder for her?
Grey's lips twitched.
"I apologize," he said after a moment, letting out a slow breath. "If my words went too far. I only meant them lightly. Of course, I wouldn't understand what you've been through."
"It's fine." Xia Qingyue shook her head gently.
Then she looked at him again, a faint, controlled smile returning.
"You came to request something from me, didn't you?" she said. "Ask. Let me hear it."
Grey remained silent, studying the woman before him.
For the first time, Grey saw her clearly.
Xia Qingyue was once powerful.
Revered.
Feared.
Yet beneath all of that, there was something undeniably pitiful.
People approached her for her strength, her knowledge, her authority. Even Grey had only seen her as nothing more than a walking library of techniques and information.
But beyond that.
There was a broken being.
One who had been betrayed by those she trusted.
One who continued to stand up from all that regardless.