162 A phase

[Trial Reward: 3000 pure Minor Dao Crystals that could be used by any Dao Soul].

Han Li frowned at the sight but then chuckled. "Mom, this is quite a nice Reward!"

Even though he would have gotten this by himself after cultivating for just a year or so, it was still quite a decent reward. Especially considering that completing one more of the seven Transformations would only require him to have one thousand Dao Crystals. He could use the rest of his time and effort to completely make all of the Magic Powers in the Lust Dao into his Talents.

Leaning on him, his Mom looked at the scarlet globe of fire floating in the air with curiosity; they were safe now; after all, she had nothing to worry about anymore. From now on, it was her and her son's fun tour and simple games. Just that she also didn't want to lose free things.

"I see, but what is the trial about? Do we need to have sex or something to win?" She asked. It was the Lust Demon, after all; it couldn't be anything good. Her son shrugged and walked closer to the fire. She clung to his arm and followed.

Reaching the fire, Han Li shook his arm away from hers and, as the red light cast his face in its hue, gently touched it. His mother wasn't worried since she knew his skin was like hard leather, even to fire, but was still a bit startled. Yet, his hand simply passed through the flame as if it were an illusion, and then he took it back. His expression was different now, a deep frown was there.

"This fire is a Magic Power," he explained. "Just that its activation is delayed till this very moment and it only activated now, sort of like a trap set to activate when someone stepped on it."

In his past life, it was an Illusion Magic Power of thousands of lustful and erotic women that he had triggered in his first trial. He just had to last till it vanished to gain the first Trial's reward, which was a Magic Resource.

"What Magic Power?" Yue Li asked, curious as she stretched her hand towards the fire in an attempt to touch it. Yet, her son slapped her hand away. She looked at him with a wronged gaze.

"The Magic Power I don't know, I am not as good as the Sacred Demon yet. But I can understand its effect. It makes the whole body painful, extremely painful to the point it is almost near the level of pain Ruo must have experienced when her spine was forcefully replaced."

"That painful?" Yue Li swallowed. "Does touching it give you that pain?"

"Yes, I just experienced that pain shortly. If you touch it, you will feel it too, but you don't have to do something so idiotic," He calmly pulled her behind him while thinking to himself: 'No wonder it was rumored that it would be easier to pass the first trials with a partner. This test of the heart really would be a piece of cake if two people shared the pain.'

They just had to endure that pain till the 'firewood' that must have been used for the fire ran out. Han Li calmly ordered, "I have Heart Qi to help me maintain my mindset. Pain can't actually affect me much. Stay behind me, and don't do something stupid while I endure it."

She shook her head. "No, I also want to try it. It's not dangerous anyway!"

Han Li stretched one of his hands into the fire, and pain started to inundate his senses. It was similar to having blades skin you, needles pierce, and the spine getting chewed inside out while organs are spilling. He knew it because he had experienced all of that before. His hand soon got stuck inside the fire. It was either endure till the end or fail.

Feeling his vision grow blurry in pain, he calmly said, "If I need you to do something, I'll tell you. How can I call myself filial if I let you take on such pain when it is nothing to me?"

Yue Li felt his free hand clamp onto her wrists like iron pliers. She couldn't move an inch of her arm. She didn't really know how painful it was, but she could guess it must be quite painful. Her face grew immensely complicated. A second later, she said, "I am a mother, Xiao Li. Far more than I am your woman, I am your Mother. I am not some maiden who always wants to be protected from harm's way; maybe your other women might want to be, but not me; I don't want that. I don't want you to prove to me your heroism for me to love you, and I am a woman who knows the pain of pregnancy; do not underestimate me."

Han Li didn't bother with her and focused on the pain. It was becoming too much not to relieve himself with a slight groan, but he held back; he wanted to improve his limits of tolerance to pain. It felt as if insects were roaming in his brain now. But he could feel that the flame was thinning slightly.

"Yes, I agree you look handsome, and I agree I am not the optimal mom," Yue Li grew urgent. "But if you don't let me experience even such harmless pain, what am I worth? Always a flower for my son to guard? Please, Xiao Li, I even died once; I know pain more than you do…"

Smiling, Han Li asked, his gaze shaking, face pale, but his figure upright. "Do you really want to feel it? It would leave behind a very realistic feel for weeks to come. It will hurt. And I might not soothe you for it since it is your choice. I might even have sex with you when it is obviously painful for you."

Yue Li nodded. Filled with conviction. Who was the brat trying to bluff away?

"I want to feel the pain. I don't want you to take everything alone, at least not anything I can help in…"

Her son let her hand go, and she was free. Moving in front of him, she leaned her back against his chest and, closing her eyes, moved her hand for the painful fire. She didn't hesitate.

Her hand was stuck in between it, and the pain arrived. Cold; she felt cold. Darkness inundated her senses, but with a painful growl, she endured for some seconds, and just right after, the fire was extinguished; it had used up whatever was the fuel.

She breathed heavily, her whole body cold and damp with sweat. Shaking all over, she glanced at her son, who was looking at her with a clear and admiring gaze. "Seven seconds, not many people can last as much as that without losing consciousness. Beautiful job. Want a kiss for an extra reward?" He asked, and taking her in a princess carry, when she was obviously too tired even to speak, he kissed her.

The kiss felt painful. So very painful. Uh bastard, don't kiss me now…

She thought so until a warm source of stamina started to enter her. It was like a fountain as it completely and thoroughly washed away her migraine. With his organs completely refined to become akin to the Sacred Demon, he had an extreme amount of stamina that he had yet to have a proper use for.

Her head suddenly cleared; she looked at him and returned the kiss; her body still felt sore, but not too much. She still had the phantom feeling of pain, but the kiss calmed her down.

"Regret the choice?" He asked, teasing.

Breathing heavily on his face, she shook her head. "I would have regretted otherwise. Not too bad, but not half as good as you… You took how many seconds of that pain?"

"It lasted a minute in total; you took seven seconds, and I took the rest."

She nodded, a slightly awed expression on her face. "Yet you didn't even make a sound; I can't believe it; I am in awe."

"Fell in love all over again?" Han Li laughed.

She shook her head. She really might have fallen in love again and in a new way. Usually, even though she loved him to an extreme level, she had never felt that to be a romantic interest; of course, even during their times having sex, she had seen it as her son and herself indulging in each other's familial love for each other. Even though she knew he saw her as half his wife and half a mother, deep down, she had always seen him as her son and son alone. Of course, she had no doubt about what they were doing and how her son saw her in a romantic way. She knew it clearly. She felt proud of that.

Of course, she wouldn't go as far as to say she had never felt attracted to his looks in a romantic way; she adored it very much, yet she saw that as a privilege of being his mother. Her love was just the more extreme way of maternal love than actual romantic love, in her own humble opinion. For a mother, at least for herself, whatever her son did was fine.

His adoring her in that way was one of her life's greatest blessings.

But this new feeling she suddenly felt was another kind of feeling that she had never felt before; it was not the usual intimacy she felt for him. This made her slightly giddy when in his embrace. Like a girl startled by her crush.

For the first time, she didn't know why so suddenly, but she felt a burgeoning admiration for him that was distinct from her maternal instincts for him. It was hard to stop feeling this. She felt that he was great.

He was such a great thing!

But at the same time that this feeling arose, she also felt a slight detachment from her son and herself. He was drifting apart from her understanding. She cupped his cheeks, her hands warm. "Xiao Li, I will surpass you one day and make you say I am great."

Han Li was a bit startled at the suddenness. Did her mind get a shock?

"What again?" he asked with a chuckle.

"You are quite good, so great. In fact, Momma is awed. Son. Now let's go to the next floor," She blushed as she said that, feeling a sort of shame in admitting it. Why? She wondered.

Hadn't she always been honest with him?

What was now to feel ashamed of? Han Li smiled. "You really seem to have fallen all over again, and this time, in a quagmire full of confusing love for your own son that you can't even believe the level of obsessive feelings you feel. Don't worry, I know how it feels."

She took a deep breath and couldn't help but sense that feeling of extreme love rising again. Smiling, Han Li looked at the doorway. it had shifted from the earlier darkness to another room, and inside it was a small sack. He knew it must contain his reward from the first Trial. "Mom, you look hot now. I almost want to fool around, but we probably might get a chance to do that and earn something, so let's go to the next trials."

Yue Li felt the immense sensation of satisfaction wash over her at his words praising her and couldn't help but click her tongue. "Damn you, son," she lamented honestly, "your charm is too deadly; my mind seems to have been corrupted with you… I can't think of anything else other than you."

Han Li couldn't help but feel proud. "You will get used to it, and it will return to normal soon. It's a phase."