The group followed Bai Feng around a few other places in the sect. It was mostly open space within the walls of the former bandit fortress. The one place that caught Yu Di’s attention was the Pool of Reflection. It was a small man-made pond filled with dense Qi infused water.

  Yu Lin paused and stared at the dark purple water.

  “It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Yu Di said.

  “It’s a secret space for inner sect disciples,” Bai Feng said. “So this might be the only time you get to see this pool until you join the inner sect like me.”

  Yu Di nodded. He cared little for the pond. He had an item that would make it look like turbid sewage water. At least now he knew the power ranking within the sect. If Bai Feng was an inner sect disciple, then that meant that they were just a bit above the Foundation Establishment level and just a bit into Core Formation.

  If his daughter practiced for another year, she could easily be an inner sect disciple at this rate. This sect was truly mundane. No wonder it was in decline.

  Yu Lin reached out with her hand toward the water.

  Bai Feng pulled her back.

  “Don’t touch that. Your foundation is still too low. If you touch it now, it might kill you.”

  “But Auntie Bai, I think I can absorb it,” Yu Lin said. She showed her large, round eyes at Bai Feng.

  Yu Di pulled Yu Lin into a hug and laughed.

  “Oh, little children don’t understand what they’re talking about.”

  Bai Feng smiled and nodded.

  Yu Di relaxed. Good thing these cultivators were so weak. Otherwise, they might have detected the special techniques he’s been training Yu Lin with. No four-year-old should be able to do what she can do. If Yu Di had to guess, his daughter could easily match any of the outer disciples in this sect and possibly some of the inner sect.

  “Well, the last place we’re going is the servants’ quarters,” Bai Feng said. She pointed at a man wearing a tan tunic. “That’s Cui Ying, the head servant and he will tell you what you need to do.”

  When they heard that, the other three following cheered. They looked half dead from all the walking and traveling. They scrambled ahead of Yu Di and his daughter to greet the head servant.

  Bai Feng stooped and gave Yu Lin a small piece of candy. It looked like a prune.

  “You be a good girl now, okay? Listen to your father.”

  Yu Lin nodded before shoving the entire sweet into her mouth and making large exaggerated bites. It was like she was afraid that someone might take it from her.

  Bai Feng stood up and met Yu Di’s eyes.

  “And hopefully one day soon you will tell me your little secret with how you trained such a little monster.” Bai Feng smiled and flew away on her flying sword.

  So not everyone in this sect were ignorant fools. That only meant that Yu Di had to be more careful, especially concerning his daughter. The politics of any sect, their greed for power, or cultivation methods might endanger his daughter. He was wholly unprepared to suddenly be kidnapped into this sect and now he’s here.

  As a servant no less.

  Time to get that part over with and see what kind of hell these sects need servants for. Hopefully, he’ll be able to pardon his daughter on account of how young she was.

  Yu Di cupped his hands and bowed to the head servant in the tan tunic.

  “Greetings head servant Cui Ying.”

  “What’s your name?” Cui Ying eyed his daughter.

  “Yu Di. And that’s my daughter, Yu Lin.”

  Cui Ying frowned.

  “It’s you two.”

  “I’m sorry. Is there an issue with having a daughter? If so, I’d be happy to pack my bags and leave the sect.”

  Cui Ying sucked his teeth.

  “You’re not getting out that easily. We at the ‘Forgotten Spirit Sect’ require anyone we can recruit for so many things. You think the sect would be as spotless without the use of servants?”

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  “Of course not.”

  “Normally I wouldn’t be so harsh on newcomers, especially one with children, but you angered someone you really shouldn’t.”

  “Elder Li?”

  Cui Ying nodded.

  "He told me to assign you the worst jobs in the sect. Just remember that should you one day become an Elder that it’s not me who is doing this to you. So please don’t come looking for me for revenge.”

  “I should look for Elder Li, is what you’re saying.”

  Cui Ying didn't take the bait.

  “You two are assigned as sweepers. You will sweep the floor of the entire sect. Normally, this would require a team of sweepers, but since there are two of you, I have been ordered to shift the other sweepers to other tasks.”

  “My daughter is four and can’t hold a broom.” Yu Di lifted little Lin in his arms, hoping to highlight how tiny she was.

  Again ignoring the comment, Cui Ying continued, “If you don’t finish your tasks, you will not get any food or cultivation resources. If you don’t complete your task for multiple days, you will be punished.”

  “How am I going to finish sweeping this enormous fortress by myself?”

  “That is not something I can help you with. As you know, there are too few servants in the sect to do everything. Maybe if you can give the person you offended something, he might give you a better assignment.”

  “Understood.” Yu Di already knew what that meant. He was being punished for standing up for someone. The worst part was that this also affected little Lin. He could do without a few meals, but his daughter already doesn’t eat much.

  This would not do.

  “Look, I have nothing against you,” Cui Ying said. “Like you, I was forced into this sect with no skill in cultivation. I do what I must to survive and be as comfortable as possible. You should learn to do the same.”

  Yu Di nodded.

  Cui Ying pressed a wooden badge into Yu Di’s hand. “That badge tells you where you can sleep. As for your little one, she’ll have to sleep with you of course.” He turned and went back into the servants’ quarters.

  The wooden badge in Yu Di’s hand glowed, binding it to him. It told him he had a small room in the farthest recesses of the servants’ quarters.

  “Let’s settle in, Yu Lin.”

  Father and daughter walked into the extensive building. There was a lot of bustling about and dozens of servants milling around in their gray tunics. The place didn’t have any windows so everything was lit with candles and lanterns.

  It wasn’t long before they walked by literal jail cells that were converted into bedrooms. Metal cages adorned most of the entrances. There was no real privacy among the servants, except for whatever darkness they could hide in away from the lanterns. Some of them took large pieces of cloth to create makeshift walls.

  How was Yu Di going to live here? This was how they treated criminals, not people. Was that how his new masters thought of the servants?

  If that wasn’t enough to convince Yu Di to escape from the place, their living quarters sealed it. Not only were they assigned a space far away from everyone else, despite the many open cells they passed by, it was closest to the toilets. The same ones they used earlier.

  There was one bed that barely fit Yu Di. Where was his daughter going to sleep? There were no lanterns around, and all the candles had burned down into nubs. It took a lot of effort before Yu Di found a small candle hidden inside one cabinet before they had any light.

  Maybe he shouldn’t have bothered.

  The walls looked like they could tell ghost stories and the floors were filthy with rats and insects of various kinds.

  “Baba, why do they treat us like this?” Yu Lin asked.

  “It’s because they can,” Yu Di said.

  “When can we go home?”

  Yu Di looked down at his daughter’s face in the eerie glow of the candlelight.

  “I don’t know, Little Lin. I’m hoping soon.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her that despite being invited into the sect, there were powerful barriers all around the sect that prevented people from leaving. The sect leader really didn’t want people to escape.

  Yet he had something else he needed his daughter to understand.

  “Little Lin, come here.” Yu Di opened his arms. Yu Lin jumped into his arms and he lifted her. Oof, that was a lot easier when she was smaller, or was it because her body had gotten denser because of cultivating?

  Yu Lin put her little head on Yu Di’s shoulder.

  “I know this place is scary and the people aren’t nice.” Yu Di found a “clean” place to sit. “We aren’t home anymore with your grandpa and where everyone knows and loves you. People here don’t care about how cute you are. So that means you can’t say what you want.”

  Yu Lin pushed up from resting her head to look directly at Yu Di. Her little face scrunched up and eyes turned into slits.

  “Baba, you and mother taught me that if someone is cruel, then we should stand up to them.”

  Yu Di smiled. What he didn’t teach her was that the luxury of doing so required power. That was something he would have to rectify quickly before his righteous daughter got them into trouble.

  “Yes, you’re right.” Yu Di pulled Little Lin close to his chest, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder again. “But to stand up, we need power to do that. Without it, all we would do is throw away our lives for nothing.”

  Yu Lin pushed off Yu Di’s chest and did a small back flip onto the ground. The candle flames twisted her normally sweet smile, making her seem like a maniac.

  “Then all I need is power to make people do the right thing.”

  “Yes, that is one way to think about it.”

  Except that was not what Yu Di was hoping for at all. He knew that’s not how it works. No matter how strong his daughter could get, there would be someone stronger than her.

  “Little Lin, there’s something else—”

  “Sorry Baba, I’m sleepy.” Yu Lin climbed back into Yu Di’s arms. She scrunched up her arms to her chest like a turtle and leaned her head against his chest.

  Yu Di took a deep breath, but not too deep. The acrid smell reminded him of how close the toilets were. This was not how he wanted to live the rest of his life, toiling away in some no name sect in the farthest corner of the empire.

  If Yu Lin wasn’t sleeping on his chest, he would have laughed at how stupid the situation was. Putting aside how he achieved the level of a demigod and could turn this sect upside down, he was now a servant and apparently one of the more hated. He just got here.

  His servant must be laughing his ass off back at his home.