The Progress

Time progressed swiftly and a year soon passed. There was nothing special that happened over the past year as Ye Jiao spent her time training with Mu Xin and her mother. She also spared some of her time to put more bugs on the road, effectively blocking the annoying siblings from coming to bother her. But the peace didn't last for long.

"Senior Mu, you're going to fully form your core soon?" Ye Jiao was surprised when she heard that Mu Xin wanted to form her core.

Mu Xin nodded her head. Over the past year, the two of them have gotten used with each other and spent their time training a lot. Both of them have progressed a lot in their training as in terms of basic combat, they could spar for hours now.

Forming one's core didn't only mean that they gathered Eon Energy to their abdomen. After reaching the necessary amount of Eon Energy, they had to compress it and form the core. The process to compress it alone might take hours or even days depending on their capabilities and core's size.

The size of their core would differ from one person to another. It usually depended on their talent, in which higher talent has larger core because if that was not the case, they would have been able to form their core much earlier.

"Congratulation, Senior Mu," Ye Jiao said happily. She was genuinely glad that Mu Xin could form her core at the age of 12, despite the fact that the two of them had spent a long time to train their bodies and practice control.

Mu Xin nodded her head. "When I start to form my core, I won't be able to have any practice with you because I don't know how long it will take to form my core."

Their speed to form their core varied and no longer depended on their talent, but rather perseverance. It was known that forming one's core would give their body a lot of pressure and sometimes, pain. There was no one who could say for sure what kind of core they would form until it was formed.

Most children would require their parent's help to form their core because the control of Eon Energy in their body would be much harder. Some children might attempt it themselves if they had higher confidence and control, but not many dared to try this. Even though they knew that forming it themselves would result in much better core, for safety measure, they would ask for help.

Some children might even die because they couldn't withstand the pressure.

Unless they were absolutely confident in their ability, no one dared to form their core themselves. Unfortunately or fortunately, those at blue color talent or higher were tasked to form their core by themselves and only granted help if they needed it during the process.

"Senior Mu will form it yourself?"

"Yes, my father will supervise me in case there's any mishap," Mu Xin replied. "But I'll have to do it myself."

The girl patted her stomach lightly, feeling rather nervous. She could sense that her abdomen was already full of Eon Energy, so it was already the time to condense it into a core. Still, she was afraid of the process because it might not be so easy.

Ye Jiao hugged Mu Xin's from the back. Her small height made her head only reached Mu Xin's chest and her hand touched the latter's hand. "Don't worry. I'm sure you can do it, Senior Mu."

Mu Xin smiled back. Over the past year, Ye Jiao found out that Mu Xin was not as cold as she appeared on the outside. Despite the cold aura that this girl emitted most of the time, Mu Xin was a rather sweet and capable girl. If not for the fact that her mind was completely filled with training and training again, many people would surely want to be her friend.

"Do you know Summer Festival will be held in two days?" Mu Xin recalled the festival.

Ye Jiao nodded her head. "I know, but I'm not allowed to go out."

In order to see the festival before, she had to sneak out of the residence and watched from the wall. She didn't dare to go out since she worried that she might get lost, so watching from the wall was the only option she could pick.

"Let's go there. I'll ask Jun Ge to pick you up, and we're going to have some fun," Mu Xin suggested. "After all, I might not be able to practice with you anymore in the future."

"Why?" Ye Jiao tilted her head. It should be only a few days break, right?

Mu Xin sat down on the wooden floor. "My father says that once I form my core, I'll have to focus on learning how to use it or in other words, gaining experience. Every child who has just formed their core or reached rank 1 will make a group to learn how to hunt rank 1 beasts."

"It means, we can't train together anymore?" Ye Jiao's eyes widened. Even though she knew that their training wouldn't last forever because they termed her as someone unable to absorb Eon Energy, it was still too quick. For the past year, she enjoyed the time she spent with Mu Xin very much.

Mu Xin sighed. She didn't want this too, but it was not like she could stay to just practice the basic with Ye Jiao forever. The path she wanted to take was different than the other girl.

"Maybe."

"I'll miss you," Ye Jiao muttered.

Mu Xin stood up. She patted Ye Jiao's head tenderly. "That's why, we should spend the festival day together. I'm sure that it's going to be fun with you."

"What do they usually do during summer festival?" Ye Jiao asked curiously.

"It's usually also called Fifth Month Festival. I'm not entirely sure the reason for the festival, but there are a lot of dumplings they make." Mu Xin's mouth watered as she recalled the dumplings she ate last year. They were all very delicious.

"Dumplings?" Ye Jiao's eyes lit up. She really wanted to taste them.

Mu Xin nodded her head. "How is it? Will you come? I'll pay for the food."

Free food? Who would want to reject such generous offer? Ye Jiao immediately nodded her head repeatedly. She didn't want to miss the opportunity to eat a lot.

"Now, it's time to practice again," Mu Xin picked up her wooden sword. She smiled brightly. "This time, let's practice basic swordsmanship. I'm sure you can use the sword well now?"

Ye Jiao could only smile wryly. She could barely do any movement correctly because of her small body and posture. If it just swung the sword, she could do it, but sparing was out of the question. However, there was no way she could refuse Mu Xin's request.

"Ok."

"I won't go easy on you. This will be the last memorable practice for you," Mu Xin showed a smile, a smile that was filled with mischievousness.

Ye Jiao gulped. "Please be kind to me."

"Not a chance!"