”The hell?” Alex looked in confusion. He looked left and right and saw people from different sects and cities who seemed to have come here.

Alex even noticed a few cultivators from the elite sects and clans in the crowd. However, they looked like they were one of the less important individuals in their given sect.

He had to line up to even get a chance to talk with the guards. So, he waited for his turn to come up as the crowd murmured on its own.

’Why are they here? Is there a celebration of some sort for my mother winning second place?’ Alex wondered. If that were true, he could only wonder how much rowdier the Demon Whisper sect was.

After all, the fatty Tian Ye had won the…

Alex’s thoughts wandered off as his eyes fell on the same fatty he was thinking about. That fatty too was in the crowd, waiting like everyone else.

”What?” Alex couldn’t help but blurt out under his breath. ‘Why is he here?’

This crowd was starting to make less sense to him now. ‘Is there not a celebration then?’

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he arrived at the gate with a few young individuals who seemed to be on guard duty.

They sighed when they saw him, which surprised him as he had never seen them before. ‘Is dealing with the crowd just that demanding?’ he wondered.

”Hello, I’m here to meet someone,” Alex said.

”Yeah, yeah. Get on with it,” the guard said with clear annoyance in his voice.

Alex was surprised, but he didn’t let the rudeness get to him. “I’m here to see my mother. I was hoping you could let her know,” he said.

”Oh,” the guard’s attitude changed at once. “Your mother?”

The guard took out his medal and got ready to communicate back with the sect. “Is she an elder? A helper? What’s her name?” the guard asked.

”Um, I don’t know her role in the sect, but my mother’s name is Hei Lin. She’s the one who won second place in the Talisman competition,” Alex said.

The guard’s hand that was bringing the medal up to his forehead stopped as he looked at Alex with what looked like shock on his face.

”What did you say?” he asked.

”Hei Lin, that’s my mother’s name,” Alex repeated.

The man stared at him with a completely serious face, and then… he burst out laughing.

”Hahaha! Nice one, young man. I nearly fell for it. Hey guys, we have a new excuse amongst the crowd,” the guard said, calling to the other ones.

”Oh, what is it?”

”A new one? So soon?”

People gathered around making Alex feel awkward. ‘What’s going on?’ he thought.

”This young brother says he’s sister Hei’s son,” the guard said.

”Son? Haha, that really is a new one. Brother, thanks for the laugh,” another guard said.

”Wait, does he want her to adopt him?” one of the confused guards asked.

”No, not adopt. He says he already is the son,” the guard reiterated.

”Now that’s a comedy,” the confused guard finally said.

Alex looked at them all for a few seconds and said, “Um, can you please call my mother first before you laugh yourself unconscious?”

”He’s already calling her his mother. Oh, this poor brother must have something hit his head in the last few days,” the guards laughed again.

”I really am her son. Can you guys please get serious?” Alex asked.

”Oh yeah? Then everyone that’s standing here should be her brothers and husbands, right?” the guards asked. “Go away, little brother. At least come up with a better excuse next time if you want to meet with sister Hei.”

Alex was flabbergasted. He had come all this way from the capital to see his mother, and right when he had arrived at the door, he was stopped?

His spiritual perception landed on the 5 guards and saw that their cultivation base was in the higher end of the True Lord realm. They were likely one of the better disciples of the sect.

”Little brother, please leave. We have more meeting requests and marriage requests to deal with. Everyone here wants to meet sister Hei. We need to continue rejecting them all,” the guard said.

”Can’t you just give her a message and see if she comes out or not? Brother, I really am her son,” Alex said.

The guard only shook his head. “Can’t do that. We are on strict orders not to disturb sister Hei while she is breaking through,” the guard said. “Please leave now.”

’Mother is breaking through?’ Alex thought for a moment and walked away. ‘Was that true, or were they trying to get rid of me?’

”I am from Hiding Sword Palace and have come on behalf of my master. I’m here to visit Maiden Hei Lin. I hope you can call her out please,” a man walked up to the guard after Alex moved away.

”Sorry, brother. Sister Hei is currently in closed cultivation, trying to break through. I’m afraid we cannot call her at the moment,” the guard said.

”I see, that’s a shame,” the man said and left.

’Ah, so it really is just a lie,’ Alex thought. Still, he couldn’t believe so many people had come for his mother just because she won 2nd place in the competition.

’I can’t believe they would go so far as to ask her hand in marriage,’ Alex thought. ‘What would father do if he found out?’

As his thoughts steered in that direction, Alex’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t thought about his father at all.

If his mother was here, then his father must have entered the game as well, even if it was just once.

Was he okay? Was he in the western continent? Or did he end up somewhere else?

Worry grew in Alex’s heart as he looked back towards the guard, and then to the crowd. With so many people wanting to see her, Alex became increasingly sure that he wasn’t going to meet her today at all.

He could sneak in, but he didn’t know what sort of defenses this place had, not to mention the saint realm that could see with a single scan of their senses.

’No, I will have to come back later for sure,’ he thought and left the area. People would continue to pour in and the guards would continue to make excuses.

Alex looked at the sky and saw that it had gotten darker. “I should find a place to stay soon,” he thought.

”Or I could just stay in the alchemy guild like I did last time.”

After thinking for a moment, he decided to not waste money on renting places when he could just stay in the guild.

So, Alex went back to the city, and by evening, he had entered the DawnSpring branch of Alchemy Guild.

Alex took out the bronze badge from his storage and hung it over his chest before going towards the mission board.

It was time to make some pills.