Yu Di felt his breath catch when he heard that voice again. That was the biggest unlock he’s ever had in one go. It was also one of the few he’s had in the last few weeks since he’s been sick.

  “Baba, I can hear your heart beating fast,” Yu Lin said. She put her ear against his chest.

  “Is it really loud?” Yu Di asked.

  “A little.”

  “How about you go and play. Auntie Bai and I need to discuss something.”

  “Okay. You better be nice to auntie Bai.”

  “I will.”

  Yu Lin jumped off her father’s lap and ran to the other side where Bai Feng hid the buns.

  “Were you serious about saving my sect?” Bai Feng asked.

  “Yes, I’ll save our sect,” Yu Di said.

  Bai Feng bowed low to the ground again.

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. There is a price for everything. I can't use most of the trinkets I have as I don't have the cultivation, and those that I can use might kill me."

  "I apologize again for assuming."

  "No need. I'm about to put you through hellish training. You want a way to save the sect? Become stronger than our enemies.”

  “Anything for our sect.”

  Yu Di frowned. He wasn’t sure if he’d be as willing to do something like that for other people. Maybe his daughter, that’s about it.

  Yu Lin ran back over with two buns in her hands. She handed them to both her father and Bai Feng.

  “Here. Eat!”

  Yu Di took one while Bai Feng took the other.

  The little girl ran back to get more, despite her mouth being stuffed to the brim.

  “This training is going to be very grueling. Don’t die on me, Senior Bai.” Yu Di took a large bite from his bun.

  Bai Feng’s mouth twitched. She put her bun down.

  “This isn’t going to be like those impossible tasks we read in stories, is it?”

  “I’ll be honest with you.” Yu Di poured himself a cup of tea. The buns were good, but the thick red bean paste got stuck in his throat. “While you might be one of the most enlightened within this sect, the world of cultivation is wider and deeper than you know. What we’re going to do this week would normally take you decades of study. Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Seeing Bai Feng pause, Yu Di took another bite from his bun.

  “I’ve made up my mind,” Bai Feng said. “When I first joined this sect, I never thought I would reach the heavens. I was content with where I was. But for the safety of my sect and all its members, I will do whatever you tell me.”

  Yu Di nodded.

  “Then let’s prepare for tomorrow.” He took out a small orange pill from his spatial ring and passed it to Bai Feng. “Take this. It might help you survive the training. But I must tell you now, if you die, I’m fleeing this sect faster than the sun’s rays in the morning.”

  Bai Feng swallowed it with a little tea.

  “Baba, I want one too!” Yu Lin rushed over with her hand out.

  “No, little Lin,” Yu Di said. “That’s medicine. It’s not candy.”

  “Is auntie Bai sick?” Yu Lin put her hand on Bai Feng’s forehead.

  “No, she’s not sick. The medicine is to help her body be strong for the work she’ll have to do.”

  Yu Lin placed her hands on Bai Feng’s face and turned it this way and that.

  Yu Di pulled her back.

  “Don’t do that, little Lin. That’s impolite.” He’d have to teach her about personal space in the future.

  “Okay.” The little girl shot out like a firecracker back to the secret bun cave. How much was that little girl going to eat? Yet no matter how much she ate she didn’t seem to gain much weight.

  “I apologize for my daughter,” Yu Di said. “Prepare whatever you can in case you don’t make it.”

  Bai Feng nodded.

  “For the record, I think that you would be a great sect leader.” Yu Di finished off his bun and his tea. “Would you consider taking over the sect in the future?”

  “What about Sect Leader Gu?” Bai Feng asked. “I don’t think I could defeat him for the position.”

  Yu Di smirked.

  “After we’re done with my training, you will be able to beat him with your pinky.”

  Bai Feng’s eyes popped open wide.

  “If you survive.” Yu Di laughed. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t planning on training her until she collapsed, but he needed her to have that mindset. It was not only her survival after all.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Yu Lin came rushing back over.

  “Auntie Bai! Look what I found.” She held a small rat by the tail. “Can I keep it?”

  Yu Di yelped, moving away from his daughter.

  “No little Lin,” Bai Feng said calmly. “That’s vermin. It needs to die.”

  Yu Lin hugged the rat to her chest.

  “No! It hasn’t done anything.”

  “Fine, release it outside. Don’t keep it because it’s dirty. It can get you sick. Do you want to be sick again?”

  Yu Lin shook her head. She lifted the rat by its tail again and ran over to a small garden, giggling all the while.

  “I didn’t expect a powerful Immortal like you would be afraid of a rat,” Bai Feng said.

  “Not afraid,” Yu Di said. “Just irked by how small and wiggly it is. Holding something like that as it moves so erratically is just creepy.”

  Bai Feng smiled.

  “I’ll remember that.”

  The next day, Yu Di woke up to the sound of murmuring outside of Bai Feng’s home. It was dark, meaning still early in the morning. He took out a sword from his spatial ring before getting up.

  While he didn’t doubt that Bai Feng’s wards would keep most threats within the sect out, he could never be too careful. If a rat made it in, what was stopping other people?

  When he got to the door, there was a small gathering of people in gray tunics. They all sat around on the rock and grass, chatting quietly. Someone had brought tea.

  Wait, that was Bai Feng. She was serving them tea and buns.

  “Baba, what’s going on?” Yu Lin asked behind him.

  Yu Di yelped again. He almost cut Yu Lin with his sword on reflex. He put away his sword. There would be no way to explain to Fairy Wong that he cut their child in half because of a jump scare.

  “I don’t know, little Lin,” Yu Di said. “There’s a lot of people outside and Bai Feng is serving them food.”

  “Buns?” Yu Lin didn’t wait for a response before exploding outside to grab one.

  Yu Di might as well go as well. From the look at the horizon, the sun would be up soon anyway. The soft orange glows reached up to push the night away.

  “Brother Yu, it’s nice to see you up and about again.” One of the servants in a gray tunic walked over and handed him a bun. “You were sick for a while and we were worried.

  “Thank you for your concern.” Yu Di took a bite from the bun. “Are you all here for Senior Bai?”

  “No, we’re here for the Broom Buddha. We wanted to thank you for all the help you’ve given us before. It wasn’t until you got sick that we realized we were all struggling.”

  “It was my pleasure to help my fellow brothers and sisters of the sect,” Yu Di said. In truth, he never did it for them. He only didn’t stop because he wasn’t sure if he could unlock more of his curse if he kept helping them. “Is that all? I’m on important business for Senior Bai.”

  One of the women stood forward.

  “We were wondering if we could discuss something with you and Senior Bai. We were hoping that you would train us too. We’ve noticed that your cultivation has grown by leaps and bounds since joining and you’ve only been in the sect for a few short weeks. Otherwise, we fear that we won’t survive the harsh life and die here.”

  Yu Di could see that happening. Most of them barely had any cultivation at all. If they lived in the mortal villages, they would be god-like, but the toil of this dying sect was too much. Yu Di had only managed to avoid the punishments of Cui Ying and other Elders because of his relationship with Bai Feng and the favor of Gu Zi for whatever reason.

  It would take a bit of effort to teach them the basics, but he needed to help himself, his daughter, and Bai Feng first.

  “Baba!” Yu Lin ran at Yu Di, again with two buns in her hands.

  Yu Di would have nightmares about this in the future. He braced himself again, but this time Yu Lin stopped right in front of him.

  “Baba, did you see all the aunties and uncles came to see how you were doing? Isn’t that nice?”

  Yu Di smiled.

  “Yes, it is. They’re very kind and nice.”

  “So then does that mean you’ll help them too?” Yu Lin took a large chunk from a bun.

  “I’m not sure I can.” Yu Di forced a smile while looking up at the servant woman. “There’s only so much time in the day. We also need to do a lot of other things for ourselves.”

  “We are willing to help with that,” the servant woman said.

  “You would?”

  “It would be the least we could do if you can get Senior Bai to teach us. If we get stronger, then our tasks won’t be as hard. It would be beneficial to all of us.”

  “What’s stopping you from leaving us once you’ve gained the levels you desire? Or better yet, become outer sect disciples and no longer need to work. I don’t have the time or resources to waste.”

  “We would never do that.”

  Yu Di pulled out a Qi contract.

  “I have a better idea. If you all are as serious as you say you are, then you wouldn’t have any issues signing this contract with your Qi. Once you do, you are bound to serve out its terms or suffer from Qi destruction within your body. This means no more cultivation at best, death at worst.”

  Yu Di gave everyone a second to let that sink in. Cultivators, even as weak as these, always prized their cultivation above all else. Some of them looked uncertain.

  “To ensure that it is not a slave contract, you can have a look at it as well. Not only that, if I don’t hold up my end of the deal, I will also suffer the same fate as you.”

  The woman looked at her fellow servants. Their faces said it all. Desperation clouded their eyes. They already joined the ranks of the living dead working in this sect. An endless drudgery that Yu Di felt himself.

  Such a waste.

  This sect could be great, or at least average, if the sect leader gave any consideration to it at all. It reminded Yu Di of his first sect. His first sect leader pushed everyone to reach higher heights no matter the cost. He had no fear of reprisals. They either did it or died trying.

  In the end, Yu Di discovered his own secret talent of perception and extension. With it, he was able to create the cultivation manual to ascend with all his fellow disciples, off to a better life.

  At least until he got cursed.

  “Senior Yu, we defer to your expertise,” the servant woman said. “I will be the first to sign. I swear to be loyal to you and Senior Bai no matter what.”

  Without looking, the woman bit into her thumb and signed a blood print onto the contract.

  Bai Feng walked over with a tray of buns.

  “I assure everyone that this is legitimate.” She passed the tray to Yu Di before signing her own blood print. “I trust him. So should everyone here if they want to fix our sect and make it the best sect in the region.”

  The rest of the servants lined up and signed their blood print onto the contract.

  “Thank you all for your faith in us,” Bai Feng said. “Come back tonight during dinner time and we can start our first lesson.”

  The other servants nodded and shuffled back to their tasks for the day.

  “That was risky,” Yu Di said. “How do you know I wouldn’t sell you all to the highest bidder?”

  Bai Feng smirked. It was a rare sight on her middle aged face.

  “You already promised little Lin you’d help. She is the last person you would ever disappoint.”

  Yu Di grimaced. She was right. That meant that he now had a weakness others could exploit. Fatherhood was such a pain. If he had known, he wouldn’t have done it in the first place.

  Never mind. He took it back. Just watching Yu Lin munching on those buns like a small monster eating their own hands was worth it. He would never abandon her, at least as far as he could help it.

  So now he had to balance two things: training Bai Feng and his daughter and training all the other servants. How was he going to do that? He wasn’t a god.

  Hell, he wasn’t even a demigod anymore.

  Yu Di was just another scrub cultivator trying to cheat the heavens again. He did something he hadn’t done since leaving the village. He prayed that his mother and father were watching over him. If not for him, then for their cute little granddaughter.