Nexus Ascension: My Comprehension Defies the Heaven-Chapter 382: Two hours of closeness

"By the way, Grey," Lia suddenly shot wide awake as she remembered something.

She looked up at Grey and spoke. "Who was it that descended onto Blue Star?"

"I know for sure that you don’t have a master," she added with a suspicious look.

"The Aether evolutionary path was created by you. I know better than anyone that you were someone with no compatibility to any known path."

"Indeed. That was just a gimmick by me to convince Blue Star," Grey smiled. "I still vividly remember you coming to my rescue when one of my so-called classmates came to make trouble with me during the time you deduced about me creating a path."

"Perhaps I might have already fallen for you at that time." Lia held onto Grey’s arms with a wide, affectionate smile.

"The way you deduced that i have created was also interesting . Your words were logically and thats what I liked about you. Your intuition was top-notch."

"But I failed to listen to my sharp intuition back then and ended up in a situation where you became a traitor."

"Well, if I hadn’t become the traitor, I would have never found out about the law of machinery and the hidden movements of the abyss."

"Nor would I have found Little Hong, or seen you awaken as a god," Grey said while softly caressing Lia’s hair, letting his fingers linger gently in the dark-purple strands.

"By the way, did you awaken any more memories of your past life?" Grey asked curiously.

"Yes," Lia nodded. "I did awaken memories related to my past life. I have some vague understanding of the god world now."

"What kind of place is it?" Grey inquired.

"It exists beyond the endless reality," Lia said. "It exists beyond the multiverse of higher worlds, and it acts as one of the gates towards the ascendant domain."

"The ascendant domain?" Grey was surprised. "It has been mentioned thrice by now."

"Do you know about it, Brother Grey?" Lia asked, tilting her head.

"I do." Grey nodded.

He began recounting the events involving Tian Yuan and the abyssal god.

"You met the abyssal god?" Lia was tongue-tied.

"I’m afraid so."

"You... why are you always jumping into danger?" Lia glared at Grey, her eyes filled with a mixture of reprimand and deep concern.

"I had no other choice," Grey said with twitching lips. "Devouring planes is one of the major ways to increase my soul integrity, after all."

"Still." Lia pursed her lips tightly. "I should do better so I can stand beside you and properly protect you."

"Protect me?" Grey smiled brightly, a rare, genuine warmth in his eyes. "You just being close to me is already enough. Leave the rest to me."

"Sweet talker," Lia murmured, rolling her eyes playfully. Just as quickly, she leaned up and captured Grey’s lips in another deep, lingering kiss.

It had only been two hours since they had properly confirmed their feelings for one another, but they had both quickly become addicted to the intoxicating sensation of being this close.

"This is very unhealthy, Lia," Grey coughed lightly and said, though he made no move to push her away.

"Who was the one that randomly kissed me while we were hugging for two hours?" Lia glared playfully at Grey. "If you can do it, I can too."

Just then, a small figure abruptly descended into the secret realm.

The being was a small humanoid, and the instant she appeared, she stared blankly at Lia, and then at Grey.

"You guys are a bit too much," Little Hong said with a completely deadpan face.

"I decided not to ruin the reunion by jumping in right away, but it’s been two hours and you guys haven’t stopped?"

"Little Hong." Grey’s lips twitched.

Little Hong’s transformation was huge. Within a short time frame, his daughter, under Lia’s guidance, had managed to become much like a normal child, albeit one with extremely high intelligence. From speaking only a few words to properly showing emotions, the changes were remarkably clear.

Lia and Grey parted slightly awkwardly, glancing at each other for a split second with flushed cheeks before shifting their attention back to the child. They both realized that if they stayed near each other like this, tearing themselves apart might become incredibly hard in the future.

Sighing softly, Grey held his hands out.

"Come here, Little Hong."

"..." Little Hong stared at Grey with her signature deadpan expression.

"I’m too old for this," Little Hong said plainly.

However, just as she said that, her figure flickered, and she rushed forward to bury herself in Grey’s embrace.

"Welcome back, Grey."

Both before and now, Little Hong held the exact same sentiment towards Grey. He was her father, and even after gaining common sense and worldly knowledge, that fact remained absolute.

"I knew my little daughter missed me," Grey said with a warm, wry chuckle, gently patting her back.

It wasn’t just Lia; he realized he had been neglecting Little Hong as well.

The small yet heartfelt reunion filled Grey’s heart with a profound sense of motivation. In this world, he was no longer alone. He held people close to him that he needed to protect. Of course, Lia barely needed his protection anymore.

She was just as much of a cheat as he was. He had left for only a few months, and she was already at the fourth rank. It was incredible.

And he was immensely proud of her for doing so. She was a talented being and also an awakened god. There was truly no one else more suited for Grey.

Then there was his daughter, who was a literal axe that might as well have split the chaos to create the world.

All in all, everyone around him was equally as unique as he was.

"Oh, by the way, I have a surprise for you both," Grey smiled and spoke. "Come out, fragment."

The instant he spoke, the fragment shot out from Grey’s body, materializing in the air.

"This is the so-called master that acted in my place to spread the Aether path," Grey turned and introduced the fragment to Lia. "It is a fragment of the former heavenly dao." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Good day." The fragment looked at her with a blank expression. "I have heard good things about you from Grey."

"Looks like you finally got to spend some quality time with Grey. I was almost bored to death after not being able to sense or see anything during those two hours."

Lia coughed awkwardly upon hearing this, a fresh wave of red dusting her cheeks.

Little Hong looked at the fragment with squinted eyes.

"It’s brother," Little Hong said with a look of genuine surprise.

Little Hong had her suspicions before, but now they were confirmed.

"But it’s only a fragment," Little Hong said with a slight frown.

Hearing this, Grey smiled understandingly and began to explain the true source of a lesser heaven to them.

"So it’s like that." They both nodded in understanding as they stared at the fragment.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something important, Lia spoke up.

"Did you hear about what happened with the others, Grey?"

"I did," Grey said, a knowing smile forming on his face.