Mother's Support

'Maybe this breathing exercise is wrong?' he wondered, pulling himself up from the floor after regaining some strength. 

He forced himself to walk to the table, drank a cup of water to steady himself, and then sat on a chair near his mother's bed. 

'I'll just wait for her to wake up and ask' he sighed.

'I need someone knowledgeable about this before I can start training.'

He had thought that with a stronger body, it would be smooth sailing from here.

But he realized this was just the first step, and the next one was so hard it almost felt like the world itself was rejecting his attempt to cultivate. 

As he waited for his mother to wake up, exhaustion finally took its toll.

His eyelids grew heavy, and his vision darkened until he finally fell asleep.

A couple of hours later.

The sun's warmth grew stronger, peeking through the gap in the wooden window gaps, as it reached its peak in the sky. 

The room was filled with a soft, amber glow that danced on the dust motes suspended in the air.

Fang Xuan stirred, the light piercing his closed eyes.

Blinking a few times, he rubbed his face, his vision slowly cleared, and he looked around to check on her mother when he broke in cold sweet . 

"Mother!" he cried out in a panic, his heart racing. 

Liu Ming had completely turned into a black metallic object, every part of her body now had the same texture as the egg shape object. 

Standing up, his legs trembled as he reached out to touch her. 

'No... No, this can't be happening. She was okay yesterday. I'm sure she was okay ...' he murmured in disbelief as he touched her head.

Even the strands of her hair had turned to metal. 

He felt like he was losing his mind; anyone would feel the same after seeing their love ones in this situation. 

"Mother… " He began to sob, his eyes blurring with tears. 

'This couldn't be real, it had to be a nightmare. ' He had hoped that his mother's condition was just an illusion.

But now, staring at her unresponsive metal body, he knew that wasn't the case.

Then something else happened that made his heart sink even further. 

Her body began to vibrate, emitting a low, unsettling hum that grew louder with each passing second. 

He watched in horror as she started to crumble into a cloud of dust right before his eyes, swirling in the sunlit room.

"NO!!!!"

In a desperate attempt to hold onto something, anything, he reached out to grab the dust. 

"Mother!!!" he cried out, his voice cracking with despair.

But instead of the dust slipping away and disappearing, it began to gather around him, enveloping him in its cold embrace.

The metallic substance swirled and gathered, shaping into a jet black robed that hugged his body tightly.

It had a shiny, metallic appearance that shifted like sand.

He staggered back, trying to peel it off, but the material stuck to him as if it belonged there, a cruel reminder of what had just occurred.

The room fell silent, except for his heavy breathing and the gentle rustle of wind outside. 

He stared at the robed, feeling its weight on his shoulders. It was as if he wore a piece of his mother's essence—a clear sign of his failure to protect her. 

"WHY? WHY ARE YOU PUNISHING ME? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE ALL OF THIS ?" he roared, feeling like someone was playing a cruel joke on him.

The harsh reality became unbearable. His mind rebelled, finding solace in madness. 

"HAHAHAHA" 

He began to laugh—a hollow, joyless sound filling the empty room. 

The laughter intensified until it was all he could manage. 

Yet, tears streamed down his face, mingling with his mother's remains still clinging to his skin. 

Laughing and crying at the same time, he felt a jumble of emotions within him.