The golden blaze thoroughly illuminated the surroundings.
The fire spring dimmed before it.
Even the sun overhead seemed to pale in the face of such a golden fury.
The Dragon Blood War Bear stood frozen in place.
Its beast blood trembled.
Its fire-attribute talent was completely suppressed at this moment.
The flames that had been burning on its claws were forcibly extinguished.
It simply stared at the ethereal bird of flames, with no thought of attacking, no thought of fleeing.
At this moment… there was only endless terror!
It was as if a lowly beast were kneeling before an ancient sovereign!
The sovereign of beasts.
The sovereign of… all fire!
It watched the bird of flames sweep down its wing.
In an instant, endless golden flames came crashing down upon it.
They tore through its head, ignited its body, and killed it in the blink of an eye.
The massive corpse crashed heavily to the ground.
Yet the golden fury continued to burn its body.
Flesh, bone—everything it had left—gradually turned to ash within the flames.
A creature that had once been a high-tier beast couldn’t even withstand a single strike from the bird of flames!
As the golden flames on the ground died out, the area around the fire spring fell completely silent.
All that remained was a patch of ash.
Only the quiet crackle of burning fire could be heard.
The Dragon Blood War Bear was dead.
And at that moment, the surrounding golden flames seemed to weaken again.
The ethereal fire bird grew increasingly transparent.
It was fading away.
But for the bird of flames, this wasn’t over yet.
It moved.
It raised its wings once more.
Not to incinerate.
But to lift something up.
It lifted Lu Mo, its movements gentle and careful.
Afraid that even a single careless motion might hurt the girl.
The girl lay in its embrace, her body soft, her head hanging low, her hair covering her eyes.
Blood dripped slowly down her cheeks and through her strands of hair.
The bird of flames could feel her body temperature dropping, her life force waning bit by bit.
The wound on her chest showed signs of stirring back to life, worsening.
It carried the girl forward.
It walked toward the fire spring.
And sensing its approach, the fire spring itself began to flicker unsteadily.
The bird of flames looked ahead, golden flames spreading ever forward.
The entire fire spring began to heat up rapidly, boiling violently.
The ground beneath them cracked, and the mist was split apart.
Threads of flame were forced out from beneath the fractured earth.
Finally, before the bird of flames, they coalesced into a trembling, mist-like, translucent flame.
The Illusory Mist Flame.
The bird of flames extended its wing.
Golden flames interwove with the Illusory Mist Flame.
Threads of fire converged toward the girl’s wounded chest, merging into the pale blue flame within.
Some of the Illusory Mist Flame was devoured by the bird of flames, absorbed into its own body.
The remaining portion of flame enveloped the girl and the bird, shielding them both, as if forming an egg around them.
In the end, both flames grew fainter and fainter.
Before the little fat bird sank into slumber, it took one last look at Lu Mo.
If only it could grow stronger, enough to protect her.
If only it could grow bigger, enough to shield her from the wind and rain.
If only it could, like a human, hold her in its arms…
It fell asleep.
Together with Lu Mo.
The area around the fire spring fell completely still.
All that remained was the golden egg lying there, emitting a slow yet powerful heartbeat.
“Thump—”
“Thump—”
Lu Mo woke in tranquility.
She didn’t know how much time had passed.
She still remembered what had happened before her mind went blank.
“Before this, I…”
She had stood in front of Feili, crushing the defensive barrier, trying to block the Dragon Blood War Bear’s desperate final strike.
But Lu Mo didn’t hesitate. In that moment, she had crushed the barrier crystal in her hand.
It was the protective charm the man had left her. Once used, it would be gone forever.
She had blocked the attack, but she was still too weak. The residual force of the war bear’s technique had injured her, and she had blacked out from the pain.
“It’s been a long time since I slept so peacefully.”
In the first two simulated reincarnations, the Dragon Blood War Bear probably wouldn’t have survived her second sword strike.
Ah… her performance in the third simulated reincarnation felt a little embarrassing.
Lu Mo thought to herself.
She looked around and felt as though she was lying within a soft veil of light.
Where was this?
Soon, she felt a warmth spreading across her chest.
She could clearly sense that the flame in her chest was different from before.
The pale blue and gold intertwined flame now carried a faint translucent quality.
Without a doubt, this was the trait of the Illusory Mist Flame.
Now, what burned within her was the strange flame after its third fusion!
She had merely slept, and the fusion had succeeded?
Lu Mo was stunned.
Even this counted as flame fusion?
But she knew that the Illusory Mist Flame wouldn’t have just jumped out on its own and crawled into her body.
There was only one possibility behind all of this—
“It’s Feili…”
Lu Mo got up, wanting to find the little fat bird.
She touched the edge of the light veil, and it shattered at her touch.
She stood up, looked around, and only then realized she had just been inside an egg.
It was a huge egg, probably as tall as the Dragon Blood War Bear.
Something seemed to still be gestating within it.
After Lu Mo stepped out, the cracked shell quickly repaired itself.
The massive egg now emitted a sound like a heartbeat.
“Feili… is evolving?”
Lu Mo spoke.
Without a doubt, the presence inside the egg was Feili’s. There was no mistake.
She looked at the egg, then a smile spread across her face.
The little fat bird was safe. That was such a relief.
A breeze blew past.
And then, Lu Mo suddenly shuddered.
“Huh?”
She looked down and realized that she was currently… completely naked.
Her face flushed red. She quickly found a set of clothes in her spatial ring and changed.
She looked at the egg again.
It hasn’t finished evolving yet…
In that case, she would just stay here and keep it company.
During these days, not a single beast dared to intrude.
Perhaps because the surrounding beasts didn’t know the Dragon Blood War Bear was already dead.
For the following period, Lu Mo lived right beside the egg.
Though the Illusory Mist Flame had dissipated, the area around the egg wasn’t cold at all.
The fire spring… no, it shouldn’t be called a fire spring anymore.
The little lake had water again. Without the gathered fire attribute power and without the scalding mist, it was now just an ordinary lake.
During the day, Lu Mo could wash up and clean herself by the lake.
She still had plenty of dried rations in her spatial ring.
Since she had a small appetite, the food would last her a long time.
Sometimes, she would go hunting nearby.
From wild rabbits to wolves and tigers.
After hunting, she would quickly return to the side of the egg.
She’d roast meat, watch the egg, and wait quietly.
She kept waiting.
Staying by the little fat bird’s side the whole time.
She knew that this evolution might take a long time.
She could easily leave and come back later.
But she didn’t want to do that.
She worried that the little fat bird might wake up and find her gone.
She worried that it would search the entire forest for her, anxious and helpless.
She just…
didn’t want the little fat bird to end up like she had, all those years ago.
Nearly five years had passed.
She always thought she no longer cared about the man’s departure back then.
She could stop being trapped in the past and start a new life with the little fat bird.
But sometimes, she would still hear the sound of rain, feel a certain dampness.
She thought it was an illusion.
But one day, it suddenly dawned on her—where that rain and moisture truly came from.
They came from five years ago.
From her birthday.
From the rainy night the man walked out the door.
She never opened the door either.
But the rain and the moisture had stayed with her, all the way until now.
She didn’t know what she truly felt about the man’s departure back then.
But deep in her heart, there was always a little rebellion against it.
She didn’t want to become someone like him.
She didn’t want to suddenly disappear one day without a word.
So, she sat here.
Sitting before the egg.
She wouldn’t just leave.
She wouldn’t just vanish without saying goodbye.
And so, she waited.
From day to night.
From the start of the week to the end.
From the beginning of the month to the end.
From the frozen earth to the warmth of spring.
Another morning came.
Lu Mo yawned and woke up from her tent.
When she looked up, she froze.
Because she saw a crack in the eggshell.
Had the little fat bird finished evolving?
Was it alright?
A smile crept onto Lu Mo’s face.
She began searching for traces of the little fat bird.
Her gaze swept across the surrounding trees, but she found no sign of any bird perching.
She stepped inside the eggshell, only to find it empty.
She checked the bundle of food stored outside the tent, but found no signs of it having been touched.
“Huh?”
Lu Mo was puzzled.
And at that moment, she began to worry about the little fat bird.
Could it have failed its evolution and vanished from the world?
Could it have just evolved and been snatched up as prey by some powerful beast?
Could it have…
“Ahem—”
Just then, she heard someone let out a soft cough.
She spun around and saw a figure she had never seen before, standing atop her tent, smiling at her.
It was a girl.
She looked about ten years old, not much younger than Lu Mo herself.
Her long, light red hair had a slight wave to it, and nestled among her strands was a pale gold feather hairpin.
Beneath her hair, her face was fair and soft, with a touch of baby fat.
The girl was smiling at her, the corners of her lips turned up, her eyes clear like two rubies, sparkling with a unique light under the sun.
That expression was utterly proud, and utterly delighted.
Lu Mo had seen it before on a familiar figure.
The girl wore a red dress, her delicate feet bare, standing perfectly steady on the tent’s impossibly thin support pole.
Lu Mo looked at the girl, and she smiled too.
That presence, that expression—she could never mistake it.
Fierce and beautiful, like a phoenix flower about to burst into flame.
The girl spoke, wearing a look of mischief accomplished.
“Wanna guess who I am?”
“Do I even need to guess?”
“How could I ever not recognize you?”
“Feili.”
“Hehehe~”
The girl laughed joyfully and leaped down from the very top of the tent.
Before her long hair could even settle, she was already running and hopping over to Lu Mo, reaching out both arms to suddenly wrap them around her.
Now, she could embrace the girl before her.
“Sorry to keep you waiting… Mom Lu Mo.”
She said softly.