NOVPUB
Chapter 490: Her Mother’s Situation
Aldrian looked at Baek Jimin.
"Do you want to visit your mother?" he asked.
Baek Jimin sighed.
"To be honest, I do want to see her. After what you said about her back then, I started rethinking how she treated me and what she might have been thinking. I want to help ease her burden, if I can. I don’t want to become her weakness."
She paused, then added in a frustrated tone,
"However, I don’t know how she’ll react. She’s truly a stubborn person and rarely speaks to me or anyone else. I’m afraid she’ll get angry if I return while she takes care of her business. I don’t want to become a burden to her, so I don’t know what to do."
Aldrian smiled at her.
"Well, let’s visit her then. It’s much better than doing nothing and regretting it later. If your mother is facing a problem, try to help her and show her that you’re not a burden. You don’t have to worry, because I’m with you. You can also rest assured that I’ll help you if needed," he said.
Baek Jimin thought for a moment before nodding.
"Alright. Let’s visit her."
Not long after that, they left the restaurant. Aldrian immediately brought Baek Jimin toward the area of the Thorny Flower Garden Sect. He teleported them not far from the sect’s gate—the same one he had used the last time he visited.
He looked at the sect for a moment. It had been two years since he last visited this place. For a cultivator, that was not considered a long time, but to him, it felt as though many years had passed. Back then, he had come here as a cultivator at the Earl stage. Now, he had already reached the peak of the Duke stage. With everything he had gone through along the way, it was no surprise it felt like years had gone by.
Two women standing guard at the gate were stunned by the sudden appearance of two silhouettes not far from them. The sky had already darkened, and the sun had completely set, so they did not immediately recognize the features of the two figures. Their senses sharpened, and their wariness grew as they realized one of the two was a Duke stage cultivator—someone powerful enough to serve as an outer elder of the sect.
But they froze when they finally recognized one of the figures. It was a woman with white hair.
"Young miss?" one of them said as she finally saw Baek Jimin’s face clearly.
Baek Jimin’s expression had already turned calm and unreadable, completely different from how she normally looked when she was with Aldrian or his group.
"I’m back. I want to visit my mother. How is she?" Baek Jimin asked.
But then both she and Aldrian noticed something strange in the guards’ expressions. They looked anxious and avoided meeting Baek Jimin’s eyes. However, their unfocused gazes eventually landed on the figure standing behind her. The moment they recognized Aldrian, they froze again—and then their faces turned pale. Aldrian had already shifted into the appearance that everyone recognized, so the guards immediately knew who he was.
"What is wrong?" Baek Jimin asked. Seeing their reactions, she quickly thought something must have happened to her mother.
"What happened to Mother?" Her tone rose slightly.
The guards flinched. One of them suddenly dropped to her knees and prostrated before Baek Jimin.
"My apologies, young miss. We do not know what happened to her."
Hearing the guard’s answer, an overwhelming sense of unease gripped Baek Jimin. What had happened to her mother?
"Explain to me. What happened to her?" Baek Jimin asked, her voice now slightly shaky.
"Sect Master, she... she went missing."
Baek Jimin was stunned, but she didn’t lash out, allowing the guard to continue.
"Not long after you left the sect, the Sect Master launched a purge targeting many of the higher-ups. We don’t know the full details, but from the rumors we’ve heard, it seems that many of the sect’s elders had connections with the devils. One night, the sect was thrown into chaos as the Sect Master killed many elders, ranging from Duke to King stage."
"The sect became a battleground. Some of the elders at Emperor stage even fought her. We don’t know the details of the battle, because we were too afraid to get involved or even watch—anyone who got too close could have been killed by their crossfire, so we hid in the distance. But after that night, we never saw the Sect Master again. Grand Elder Kwon Mira declared herself the new Sect Master, asserting her authority and punishing anyone who questioned it."
"Everyone was forbidden from speaking about Sect Master Baek. Anyone still loyal to her faced punishment. Many have already been severely punished—or even killed—since Grand Elder Kwon Mira took the seat as Sect Master."
"I’m sorry, young miss. We couldn’t do anything when all of that happened," the guard said, bowing deeply, her companion following suit.
Hearing the story, Baek Jimin’s expression turned cold. Without hesitation, she strode toward the gate, ignoring the guards. A few others on patrol finally noticed her. They flinched, seeming to try and flee in the opposite direction, but Aldrian cast an illusion over them, causing them to fall unconscious instantly.
Baek Jimin halted her steps as she saw Aldrian approach the group of unconscious guards. He seemed to be checking something on them. Aldrian touched each guard’s forehead, delving into their memories. Once he was done, he looked at Baek Jimin.
"It seems these women are loyal to that woman, Kwon Mira. No wonder they tried to run," Aldrian said. "They also don’t know your mother’s true situation."
He then activated his Eyes of the Heaven to search for Kwon Mira inside the sect. He scanned every corner, even the most hidden areas—but she was nowhere to be found. He frowned and looked at Baek Jimin.
"Kwon Mira isn’t in the sect."
Baek Jimin frowned and looked toward the two guards, who had likely heard Aldrian’s words. Their expressions shifted to shock, and one of them quickly spoke up.
"We don’t know, young miss. We truly believed Grand Elder Kwon was still inside the sect, in seclusion. We had no idea she might’ve left—we don’t know anything about her movements."
"They’re not lying," Aldrian said to Baek Jimin through voice transmission.
Baek Jimin gritted her teeth and immediately pushed open the gate, stepping into the sect without hesitation. Aldrian followed silently behind her. The two guards could only stand there, watching their backs disappear into the inner grounds. Though they let out a quiet sigh of relief, the tension in their chests didn’t ease. With Aldrian’s appearance, they knew another storm was coming.
Some within the sect knew that Baek Jimin had left with a group of orthodox cultivators. When Aldrian’s name began to spread across the continent and his face appeared in information crystals, those who had seen him that day recognized him instantly. He was the same man who had left with Baek Jimin.
Now, seeing him arrive beside her again made it clear that their bond was far deeper than anyone had originally believed—for him to personally accompany her back here.
While the guards silently thought about them, Aldrian and Baek Jimin kept walking toward the sect master’s building. They didn’t care about courtesy or formalities, letting anyone watch them as they moved through the sect grounds.
Eventually, the commotion drew the attention of the elders. Some of them appeared and recognized Baek Jimin’s return. However, when they saw Aldrian, their faces turned pale.
Even so, no one stopped them. The elders simply allowed them to keep walking toward the sect master’s building.
At last, the building came into view, sitting at the edge of the cliff. In front of it stretched a vast, open space like a training ground.
As Aldrian and Baek Jimin stepped onto it, they were already surrounded from a distance. Elders stood in various positions, and many disciples watched them with different expressions.
Most of the elders displayed fear and anxiety, while the disciples showed a mix of anxiety and fear, though some wore expressions of hope. Three women emerged from the sect master’s building, their eyes filled with fury as they looked toward Baek Jimin.
Baek Jimin swept her gaze over the elders and then toward the women who had just emerged from the sect master’s building.
"Where is Grand Elder Kwon?" she shouted. Her voice rang out clearly across the training ground, loud enough for everyone to hear.
One of the women who had emerged finally spoke.
"Baek Jimin, you finally came back."
Baek Jimin glared at the woman, her expression turning fierce.
"Kwon Hana, where is your mother?! What happened to my mother?!" she demanded, her cultivation at the middle Earl stage beginning to leak out, spreading across the training ground. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
The woman named Kwon Hana bit her lips and glanced at Aldrian, who silently stood behind Baek Jimin. Her heart raced with anxiety and fear as she looked at him, but she hardened her resolve.
"It’s all or nothing," she thought.
"Activate now!" she shouted.
