The two of them headed to the hut. Ye Ai Xia’s steps were slow and it became even slower to the point that she stopped a few steps away from the hut.

“Mom?” Ye Jiao looked at her mother worriedly. “Is there anything wrong? Can Ye Jiao do something?”

“No,” Ye Ai Xia raised her hand and messed up the girl’s hair. She could feel the turmoil inside her body was getting stronger. There would be nothing that she could anymore.

Turning her head to the ground, she spotted a beautiful white flower not far from them. Her hand was stretched out and plucked the flower before putting it on Ye Jiao’s ear. The little girl’s eyes widened as she looked at her mother with confusion.

“Mom?”

“The lily flower looks good on you,” Ye Ai Xia said slowly. She took out the embroidery necklace that she brought with her. It belonged to Ye Xiao, but now that he had gone, she would just give it to her daughter. Slowly, she put it around her neck and patted it lightly. “This is for you. Take care of it well.”

“This,” Ye Jiao caressed the center of the necklace. The embroidery was flower shaped, but it had changed its shape due to the time. The thread had turned soft over the time as the color started to fade. “Mom, this is dad’s, right?”

“Yes, it was his. So, you have to take care of it well, ok?”

“Jiao’er understands,” Ye Jiao nodded her head firmly. Her small hand was holding the necklace tightly.

She propped her body and continued to walk towards the hut. Her limbs felt heavy, but she continued until she reached the small hut. The floor was made of mud, so she could partially drag her body inside.

Ye Ai Xia leaned on the wall as she caressed Ye Jiao’s face. “Why did you start crying?”

“Huh?” Ye Jiao touched her face as she realized that she was crying. She didn’t understand why, but she felt that she would lose something precious from her right now. Her eyes stared back at her mother. “Mom will leave me…”

Ye Ai Xia’s eyes widened. She smiled wryly. The Heavens were kind to her that they gave her a talented and caring daughter. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be here to see her daughter’s growth.

“Jiao’er, Mom is sorry. Mother won’t be able to accompany you again,” Ye Ai Xia smiled with sadness. Her strength had started to leave her body as the result of forcing herself to break into rank 4 even when she had no qualification. “Listen to me, well.”

“No! Mom, don’t leave Jiao’er!” Ye Jiao clutched her mother’s clothes tightly. Her eyes turned red as she stared at her mother with a despairing expression. She didn’t want to lose her mother.

Ye Ai Xia patted the girl’s head. “Don’t be so sad. Mom is just going to your father’s place ahead of you. You can only stay here for a short time. This might be a safe place, but you can’t stay here forever. Once you form your core…you should leave.”

“But Mom…”

“Sshh,” Ye Ai Xia stroked the girl’s cheek. “It’ll be fine. Any other places are safer than the capital city. Mom believes that… you will be able to become a great figure in the future.”

Ye Jiao cried hard as she listened to her mother’s words. She would train hard, but she didn’t want to lose her mother. “Mom, don’t leave me… please…”

Ye Ai Xia smiled wryly as her eyes watered. She also didn’t want to leave her daughter alone. This girl was only eight and a half years old. The world was simply too big and dangerous. She didn’t want to leave her daughter alone to face the cruelty and harshness of this world.

Alas, it was impossible.

It was her decision to pick this path. There might be a better future for her if she accepted Wei Shang’s proposal, but she doubted it. This is her path and she had to face the consequences of her own action.

Her strength has almost left her body as she put her hand on top of Ye Jiao’s hand. “Mother will watch over you… in Heaven….”

After she said that, Ye Ai Xia’s breathing turned extremely faint. She had reached her limit a long time ago because of her attempt to fight right after her breakthrough. Now, she couldn’t do anything to prolong her life anymore.

A smile never disappeared from her face as she looked at her daughter with a tender gaze. She really wanted to see her daughter’s growth and protect her, but she couldn’t. Ye Jiao would have to face them all alone without anyone to protect her.

‘I’m sorry, Jiao’er. I can never become a proper mother for you.’

‘I hope, you can find genuine friends who will care for you and accompany you on your path.’

‘It won’t be easy, but I hope that you can have a much better end than me.’

Slowly, Ye Ai Xia couldn’t feel anything anymore.

Ye Jiao looked at her mother with a tear stained face. Her eyes were red as tears continue to flow out just like a river. The moment her mother breathed her last, she screamed loudly to vent out her sadness.

“Mooooooooommmmmmm!!!”

In the forest filled with beasts, the scream of a young girl rang loudly. Beating the sound of the beasts, Ye Jiao continued to cry and scream loudly, bawling her eyes out. The pain of losing both of her parents hit her hard.

Ye Xiao was her idol, a figure she hoped to pursue because he was invincible in her eyes. No one could defeat her father. He gave her a sense of comfort and safety.

Ye Ai Xia was a motherly figure to her, an excellent woman that she hoped to be her real mother. And she did, but the joy she felt was short lived. Her mother left her as soon as Ye Jiao found out the truth, taking away the warmth and comfort she always gave her in the past.

In this world, she only had two people who cared for her more than anything in the world, and she lost the two of them in a single day.

“Mom, don’t... leave me...” Ye Jiao sobbed between her tears. She didn’t want to cry anymore, but her tears couldn’t stop as they poured out just like a waterfall.

Please… don’t….

No matter how many times she screamed and begged inside her mind, she knew that it could never bring her mother back. But she just couldn’t stop herself. The pain slowly ate up her body, giving her endless torment both mentally and physically.

With raging emotion, her body shook. The Eon Energy that she accumulated in her body moved violently. The Eon Energy pill in her abdomen started to rotate at much higher speed, releasing a large amount of Eon Energy at once.

Ye Jiao's cry stopped. The pain in her body jolted her away from her sadness, throwing her straight to the middle of a stormy sea of violent energy.

Pain permeated every part of her body. With great struggle, Ye Jiao moved away from her mother’s body. She had lost control of the Eon Energy Pill in her body. Considering that it was worth a rank 3 Eon Energy Master, her body might shatter because of the burden.

She had to find a safe place to control the energy. It was filling up her abdomen with Eon Energy at the rate which her body couldn’t handle. With no other choice, Ye Jiao moved from her position and headed out of the hut.

Her vision became exceptionally sharp, yet her head was ringing with pain. There was no beast nearby for the time being, so Ye Jiao dragged her body to a nearby tree and sat down.

Her back was facing the tree as she controlled Eon Energy inside her body, determined to make sure that she could absorb it all.

In a few minutes, her abdomen felt full.

Ye Jiao’s heart sank, for she understood perfectly that it meant she was ready to form her core, stepping onto the first path for becoming Eon Energy Master.

‘The pill is still spewing up too much energy.’

She had allocated some of them to her body’s parts, but she couldn’t drag them out. Pulling out Eon Energy from her body out of her will proved to be hard.

'I have to form my core now...’

Ye Jiao’s back was filled with sweat as she weighed her choice. Her body might explode if she couldn’t control the energy, but forming a core without the supervision of adults would be the same as courting death. Should something go wrong, it would be the end.

‘I don’t have a choice, do I?’ The first step to becoming an Eon Energy Master was the hardest of them all. If she failed, she might die.

Gritting her teeth, Ye Jiao refocused her attention to her body and pulled the fragments of Eon Energy in her body to her abdomen. Her full abdomen was forced to receive much more energy than what it could handle.

Under extreme pressure, the Eon Energy inside her abdomen started to condense together, forming the first part of the core alongside with enough pain to nearly cause her to pass out.

‘Persevere!’

Ye Jiao yelled in her mind as she pushed through again, forming the second part of her core. At the same time, she could feel the pain spreading to every fiber of her body.

And when she formed the third part, the pain became unbearable.

Her body swayed as it slammed into the tree behind her. Tears poured out of her eyes once again, staining her soft cheeks.

‘I can’t do this anymore...’

‘It’s so painful...’

‘Mom... Dad... Help me....’