The Choice

"See… my mother?" Pearl asked. "What do you mean?"

Alex explained the situation around what happened when he ate a beast core. He had been surprised to find nothing of the sort happened when a beast ate a core, and it was only him.

Even Bai Jingshen had been surprised to learn that the core could return the spirit of the beast that had long since died if Alex ate it.

"What do you say?" Bai Jingshen asked Pearl. "If he does eat it, you can meet your mother. However, at the same time, the only thing that remains of your mother will be gone as well as he will absorb the core."

"I cannot leave my Spiritual sea without the beast inside dying," Alex said. "So if we do this, it can only be done once."

"Will… will she recognize me?" Pearl asked.

"Of course," Alex said confidently. "Pearl, it's your mother. Have some faith in her."

Pearl nodded and thought for a bit.