<h4>Chapter 938 - 938 – Liam''s Problem </h4>


    "So, what do you guys n to do next?" Gravis asked Ste and Liam.


    Ste went over to Gravis and leaned her head on his shoulder. Gravis smiled warmly at Ste and stroked her head.


    "I will go wherever you go," she said peacefully. "You are my home, and I will follow you to the ends of the earth. No matter what you decide to do, I will forever be by your side."


    Gravis’ heart warmed as he heard her, and he kissed Ste lovingly. "I don’t know what I have done to deserve someone as wonderful as you," he said.


    Ste’s eyes became blurry as she felt the deep love Gravis held for her. "That’s what I’m asking myself every day," she said quietly.


    .


    "Urgh, get a room," Liam gagged from the side. "That’s my sister. I really don’t need to see that!"


    Gravis chuckled and looked at Liam. "So, what’s your n?"


    This question made Liam shut up as he took a deep breath.


    Ste and Gravis both looked at him with concern. Judging by Liam’s actions, he was probably making an important decision right now.


    Some secondster, Liam closed his eyes and released a deep breath.


    Then, he opened his eyes and looked at Ste with conviction.


    "I can’t alwaysg behind you," Liam said.


    "What do you mean?" Ste asked. She felt like Liam was about to say something that she wouldn’t like.


    "You both know the Law of Empathy, and Gravis knows far too many level four Laws," Liam said. "Just by being with Gravis, your Battle-Strength is destined to reach legendary powers. Fighting three levels above yourself will no longer be impossible."


    "I’m far outssed in that category," Liam said as he took another deep breath.


    "As long as I remain with you, I will alwaysg behind. I’m bound to watch on as you reach impossible heights of power, leaving me behind."


    Liam’s eyes becamepassionate as he looked at Ste. "Eventually, your power will grow so vast that you will leave me behind."


    "Liam," Ste said with a worried voice as she went over to hug him. "You know exactly that I would never leave you behind. You and Gravis are the most important people in my life. I would never want to lose you."


    Liam took another deep breath, but he didn’t return Ste’s embrace. Instead, his fists curled in frustration. "I know that," Liam said. "However, Gravis won’t stop. If I don’t be far more powerful, you would have to choose between us, and I will never want you to do that. Such a choice would be far too cruel!"


    Liam gently pushed Ste away from him and looked into her eyes with conviction.


    "Happiness is our main priority, but strength immediatelyes after that," Liam said slowly. "I want to be part of your life, but I also want to be powerful."


    "You have always been the Holy Maiden of the Nine Elements Sect, but what have I been? I didn’t even manage to be a Holy Son Candidate. I was only a mere Core Disciple my entire life."


    "The gulf between us is toorge, and it will only grow wider with time if things remain as they are."


    "I can’t always chase after your footsteps. I don’t have the talent to reach the heights of Battle-Strength that you will reach."


    Ste’s insides shook as she listened to Liam. She had expected that Liam was feeling like this, but she couldn’t have been sure since Liam had never truly shared these feelings with her.


    Was this truly how Liam felt?


    Had he always felt inferior to her?


    Had he always feared that Ste would leave him behind and that he wouldn’t be able to keep up anymore?


    "Liam, you know exactly that I would never leave you behind," Ste said with sad eyes. "You have been with me for my entire life, and I don’t want to lose you, ever."


    "I know," Liam said with a nod. "And that’s why I can’t stop you. I know that you love me, but exactly that is the reason why I can’t put you before such a cruel choice."


    Liam’s eyes steeled. "I might not reach your levels of Battle-Strength, but I can, at least, reach a level of Battle-Strength that allows me to jump two levels. Then, I only need to increase my Realm. As long as I don’t try to push my Battle-Strength too much, my Realm can still keep up with yours. In fact, my Realm might even progress faster."


    "As long as my longevity isn’t lower than yours, we will still be in the same world. Life will continue as it always has."


    "However," Liam said with a steely voice, "first, I need to reach that level. For that, I need to go through hell and temper myself. I can’t be distracted by you anymore if I want to grow powerful."


    "In the Nine Elements Sect, I was always afraid that something would happen to you. I was always scared that you would have died while I was in Law Comprehension."


    "My Realm and Battle-Strength have stagnated during that time because of my worry for you, while your Battle-Strength increased due to the mandatory tournaments. I had nearly no tempering, while you had plenty."


    "I don’t want you to leave me behind, which is why I need to push my everything into Cultivation!"


    Ste and Liam looked at each other while Gravis kept himself out.


    After some seconds, Liam released a deep breath as he shot aplex nce at Gravis. "I was against your rtionship with Gravis, but I can’t deny that this rtionship hase with more positive than negative things," Liam said slowly.


    For the first time, Liam was not speaking to Gravis with a distant tone.


    "The most positive oue is not all the resources he has granted me, but the fact that I don’t need to worry about your safety anymore, Ste," Liam said as he turned to Ste again.


    "I might not be the biggest fan of Gravis, but I know that he truly loves you and that he will never allow anyone to hurt you."


    "If Gravis can’t stop someone from hurting you, I most certainly can’t do any better. You don’t need my help anymore."


    Liam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Because of that, I will leave you two and will join the Purist Sect."


    Gravis nodded. Love and Cultivation were always opposed to each other. It was incredibly difficult to have both of them at once. The only way one could have both was when both parties grew in power at a simr rate. In Gravis’ mind, Liam was making the correct decision.


    Ste also knew this, but it was still difficult for her to ept. Liam and Ste had always been together ever since they were born. They had only been apart from each other when they wereprehending Laws.


    Ste had to sigh.


    She knew that Liam’s power couldn’t reach her own. Yet, Liam still felt like it was his duty to protect her. Ste couldn’t imagine how frustrating it must have been for Liam, knowing that he was too weak to protect the most important person in his life.


    It must have been hard for Liam.


    "I understand," Ste said.


    "Thank you," Liam said quietly as he embraced Ste. "In order for us to stay together, I must leave you now. I don’t know when I will return, but it will probably be many, many years."


    Ste nodded. "I know," she said.


    "I’m sorry," Liam said quietly.


    "It’s fine," Ste said. "I understand where you’reing from."


    While Liam and Ste were talking with each other, Gravis left.


    He didn’t want to intrude on theirst moments together.


    Gravis knew that he was important to Ste, but he also knew that Liam was just as important to her.


    He wouldn’t interrupt them because of some idiotic feeling like jealousy.


    While Liam and Ste said their goodbyes, Gravis talked with Mortis. Gravis wanted to n which Laws they should each focus on.


    Gravis was also giving Mortis a heads-up that he might be assaulted by a ton of loving feelings for thousands of years.


    Surprisingly, Mortis had no problems with that.


    In fact, the opposite was true.


    Mortis didn’t want to feel stuff like happiness and love since he believed that these feelings would only make him weaker. Mortis believed that he had to cut off all emotions to reach supreme power. After all, every connection meant one more weakness that an enemy could exploit.


    So, Mortis actually saw the assault of these loving feelings as a form of tempering.


    Whenever Mortis felt these feelings, he would try to dissociate and iste himself from them.


    With enough "emotional tempering", Mortis would be able to fully control these feelings. Then, they would no longer have any value, and Mortis could finally reach the perfect mindset for Cultivation he always wanted.


    Gravis didn’t know what he should think about that.


    Such a mindset was dangerous.


    However, Gravis also felt like he wouldn’t need to feel guilty for feeling these feelings anymore. After all, Mortis had no problem with them.


    ’Well, he is he, and I am I. If that’s the path he wants to follow, he can follow it. It doesn’t matter if I think that his path is a dead-end or not. It’s his path, his choice, and his freedom.’


    A weekter, Liam left, and Ste returned to Gravis with a lowered head.


    Gravis quickly embraced her and stroked her hair lovingly.


    It was difficult for Ste to say goodbye to the person that had been with her for her entire life, but she wasn’t weak-willed. She knew that this was the correct decision.


    "Have you finished the Major Law of Cold?" Gravis asked.


    Ste looked at Gravis, surprised that he asked such a question in such a situation.


    "Not entirely. I’m still missing a bit."


    Gravis smirked. "Then, let’s go."


    BOOOM!


    Gravis pulled Ste along in his embrace as he shot towards the sky with his full speed.


    The wind hit Ste’s face as she looked at the sky, which was slowly turning from blue to ck.


    In some seconds, the wind vanished since there was no more air around them.


    Now, Ste and Gravis floated in the nothingness of space.


    Below them was the higher world, filled with life, while above them was the vast nothingness of space.


    Gravis let Ste go and looked at her slightly from above, with a happy smile on his face.


    Ste had been in space for a long time. The sight of space and the world was no longer something special to her.


    However, when she looked at Gravis as the stars illuminated his back, she was stunned for a second.


    When she had been in space, it was simply another ce for Cultivation for her.


    Yet, with Gravis, it felt different.


    It was like an endless, isted ce where only the two of them existed.


    The feeling waspletely different from before.


    Gravis also looked at Ste as the stars shone on her face. He was just as stunned by her beauty.


    Gravis slowly came closer.


    Pack!


    Then, he lightly shoved Ste.


    "You’re it!"


    Whoop!


    Then, Gravis used his Law of Shadow’s Subtlety to hide as he flew away.


    Ste was taken aback for a second.


    She was it?


    After some seconds, a face appeared on one of the stars.


    It was the face of a shadow rabbit.


    Obviously, this was Gravis ying tricks.


    "Mortal woman, you can never catch this supreme lord of hide and seek," the rabbit said with a high voice. "Give up and serve this lordship for the remainder of your natural life!"


    Ste looked with surprise at the face of the rabbit.


    Then, she had tough.


    The voice just didn’t fit the words it spoke.


    "Oh?" she uttered with a cocky smirk.


    After that, Ste charged at the star as she also activated her Laws to track Gravis.


    In a star-filled sky, one man and one woman were ying hide and seek like two happy kids.


    This day, space was filled with happyughter as the two of them yed happily.


    All the worries were forgotten.


    Only two lovers remained.