Yu Di planted his trident into the ground, using the spirit gems to power his net. He turned around to face the pile of disciples and servants.

  “If any of you can move, I’d do it now. Or else you will die here.” Yu Di took out a Qi elixir and downed the entire bottle in one gulp. It was a waste, but the moment he felt the Qi in his body swell, it felt almost like leveling up.

  No this wasn’t a waste.

  This was dangerous.

  Yu Di would have to worry about that later. Unlike the Qi from his secret pocket realm, this didn’t force his body to absorb Qi and make it run rampant. It only reinforced the Qi currently in his body.Current Power: Realm 2, Stage 1, Level 2 (Manipulation)

  Remaining Lifespan: 1 years, 6 months.

  Current Status: Cursed (22.7% lifted)

  Overall Power: Fourth Realm, End Stage, Peak level (Demigod)

  None of the disciples moved, but a few servants got up. Yu Lin was already on her fourth person, carrying them like sacks of rice.

  “Okay, you three, move whoever can’t move and is still alive. Leave the bodies.” Yu Di walked over to Bai Feng. “Senior Bai, are you okay?”

  Bai Feng stared at the floor. She didn’t drink the elixir. Her entire body was drenched in sweat. Her hands shook. She was no good to him like this.

  Yu Di took out a Qi elixir. He tilted her head and forced it down. Then he took out a replenishing pill and shoved that in her mouth. That would help her body naturally heal.

  A dagger broke through and sliced his left arm.

  Crap, the net was failing.

  Yu Di pulled the trident out from the ground and continued twirling it. He needed to buy them time to move, but he knew the hard truth.

  The defenses at the front must have been overrun as enemy disciples poured in through the gate. The weapons stopped flying at him, but that meant Yu Di would now have to deal with melee fights.

  “Okay, we have to leave now. We can’t defend this space.” Yu Di backed up slowly until he reached Bai Feng. He grabbed the woman under the arm and lifted her. “Everyone else, I’m sorry.”

  “Baba, we can still save them,” Yu Lin grabbed another disciple, but she couldn’t lift them as she did the first few. She was only a four-year-old.

  “No, leave them. We can’t save them if we die here.”

  “No, Baba. We can’t leave these aunties and uncles.” Yu Lin pulled away from her father.

  Yu Di’s heart dropped. The last thing he ever wanted was to watch his daughter die in front of his eyes.

  “No Yu Lin. Come now!” It was the first time he ever yelled at his daughter.

  Yu Lin froze for a second. She turned her face away and frowned.

  “I’m sorry little Lin. Come.” Yu Di pulled his daughter away with him and carried Bai Feng in his other arm. It was the most awkward thing in the world and he would have dropped her but that was something he couldn’t do.

  For better or worse, Bai Feng had become his friend and he couldn’t watch her die either.

  Curse unlocked: 1% lifted.

  Yu Di shook his head. If there was only a way to stop that voice from echoing in his head. This was not the time.

  They reached the long building just as the enemy cultivators broke through their first line. Now they were fighting in melee duels with Yu Di's sect mates.

  Yu Di would not call these feckless children Immortals. None of the upper sects would have done such a despicable thing as invading a sect like this.

  Yu Di had to shift his entire weight to get Bai Feng into the building. He dropped her down by the door.

  “Yu Lin, protect auntie Bai.” Yu Di stooped down to his daughter. “I’m going to try and save as many people as I can. Make sure she is safe, can you do that?”

  Yu Lin had tears running down her face as she sobbed. She hugged her father.

  “Baba, I’m sorry. Don’t go.”

  Yu Di leaned into the hug, putting his face into hers, giving her a kiss on the head. The small warmth coming from her was almost enough to overwhelm him.

  “I’m sorry too. But I have to go now if you want me to help those aunties and uncles outside. Be a good girl and stay here, okay?”

  Yu Lin nodded.

  Yu Di pointed at an Elder wearing a green tunic. He stood behind a few other disciples, his left leg ending in a stump where his ankles used to be.

  “Elder, can you set up defenses and protect my daughter?” Yu Di asked him.

  The Elder’s eyes widened.

  “What? I’m injured. I can’t.”

  Yu Di sighed. He didn’t have time for this. None of the people outside did either.

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

  “Fine, you.” Yu Di pointed at a servant in a gray tunic. She was bandaging another servant’s arm. “Can you organize these people enough to defend this small building?”

  The servant looked between the Elder and Yu Di.

  “I…”

  “You can do it. I’m going out to get more people. If I come back and my daughter is hurt, I’ll take it out on you, got it?”

  Yu Di didn’t wait for a response before leaving. He gave her his scariest look he could muster. The gash on his arm probably helped. He might not have the same Qi aura as he once did as a demigod, but he had his father-aura flaring. A trick he picked up from Yu Lin's grandfather. Hopefully it was enough to scare them into protecting his daughter.

  Yu Di ran to the center of the fortress with the pile of people. The servants in gray tunics were running away while the disciples in blue fought against the invading force. None of them had any real cohesion, fighting by themselves or in small groups.

  They would be overwhelmed soon.

  “You three, follow me,” Yu Di pointed at the group of servants.

  They looked at him and then followed.

  “Pick up as many injured as you can and tell others to help you. Move them to the long welcoming hall over there. Got it?”

  The three nodded and set off as far away from the fighting as possible to do as directed.

  Yu Di knew that these people would follow his instructions as people tended to follow any directions in chaos, as long as the person ordering it had conviction. The next part was going to be harder.

  He took out his trident and rushed at a small group of three disciples fighting the enemy. They were evenly matched, but this was not a duel. From the side, Yu Di pinned one of the enemy in the leg as the disciple struck him down.

  “Why did you do that?” the disciple demanded.

  “Look around. People are dying. Your friends are dying. Help me finish the other two off so we can save people. This is not an honorable duel, but war.”

  The disciple looked around. His scowl melted off his face. He nodded.

  Curse unlocked: .5% lifted.

  With the help of the disciple, Yu Di made quick work of the next two fighters. He hated doing this. Watching as these children dying on the ground made his heart ache thinking of them as children like Yu Lin. How was he ever capable of destroying a city for the Goddess’ secret?

  Yu Di gathered the other survivors into a group of four.

  “You three, help me with the next batch,” Yu Di said.

  “Why should we listen to a servant?” one disciple asked.

  Yu Di didn’t have time for this. He flared his Qi to the limits of what he was currently at. Even though it was only level five, it was more than the disciple who asked the question.

  “You can either listen to me, save your fellow disciples and friends, or I can strike you down right here.” Yu Di’s trident had blood dripping down its tines. He hated the smell and the sticky feel, but this was war.

  “Fine,” the disciple said.

  “Good. We don’t need all of you. You two go back to defend the welcome hall.”

  Yu Di spent the next hour slowly gathering the remaining disciples in a large group, winning the fights or running away from extremely strong opponents. He managed to gather a strong force of outer sect disciples in blue and made their way to the welcome hall.

  When Yu Di got back inside, he almost collapsed right after entering.

  “Baba. Are you okay?” Yu Lin ran to him.

  Yu Di smiled and nodded. He wiped the blood from his face. His breath was coming in ragged.

  “Where is Senior Bai?”

  Yu Lin pointed at a corner in the back.

  The woman was a purple blur as she went up and down to each disciple and servant, either bandaging their wounds or feeding them buns.

  “Do you want a bun?” Yu Lin asked.

  Yu Di’s stomach rumbled. He didn’t realize how hungry and tired he was. He nodded.

  Yu Lin took one out from her storage ring and passed it to him.

  Yu Di took a large bite and chewed as fast as he could before swallowing. Right now, he was lucky that he hadn’t sustained any major injuries as most of his fights were helping others. But the weary exhaustion from sitting down really caught up with him.

  “Here, drink Baba.” Yu Lin gave him a large water skin.

  Yu Di downed a good amount, but refrained from gulping the water. Stomach cramps right now would be his death. He closed his eyes for a moment, pulling in as much Qi from the air as he could. With so many cultivators dying, the air was filled with Qi. But it was a rancid type that could potentially corrupt novices.

  Yu Di used a technique to purify it in his body at a very fast rate, in order to soothe his muscles and heal the cuts. The mental fatigue was not something it could help with. He needed to fix whatever he could before going out to save more people.

  “Baba. Wake up!” Yu Lin yelled.

  Yu Di’s eyes snapped open wide.

  “What? What happened little Lin?”

  Yu Lin had tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

  “I thought you were going to sleep forever like some of the aunties and uncles.”

  That broke Yu Di’s heart. Learning about death at such a young age was already a tragedy. Watching it happen in front of you as a four-year-old should never have happened.

  “Come here.” Yu Di opened his arms as his daughter rushed in. “I’m not going to sleep forever anytime soon. I’m going to go and save some more aunties and uncles. Is that okay?”

  Yu Lin wiped her face with her arms before nodding.

  “Please come back. I don’t want you to leave me like mama.”

  Yu Di smiled.

  “I already told you this. I’m never leaving you little Lin. I’ll come back to you no matter what.” He patted her head before kissing her forehead. “Go help Senior Bai.”

  “Okay.” Yu Lin ran off toward Bai Feng near the back of the building.

  Since he had a minute, Yu Di took out his jade tablet. He wanted to know what he was working with and maybe he’d risen a level or two from all the fighting.

  Current Power: Realm 1, Stage 1, Level 6 (Qi condensation)

  Remaining Lifespan: 13 years, 7 months.

  Current Status: Cursed (9.8% lifted)

  Overall Power: Fourth Realm, End Stage, Peak level

  Yeah, this could be something Yu Di can work with. He could feel the slightly denser Qi flowing through his meridians. He could push himself just a little more to save a few more people if he could.

  Yu Di walked out of the welcome hall.

  “Everyone, we’re saved,” someone behind him said. “The large diamond is activating.”

  Yu Di turned around to see the diamond rising slightly higher into the sky. It glowed a dark blue and then turned bright.

  “Grand Elder Fu An activated the diamond. He’s going to kill all the invaders.”

  A bright light shot out from the diamond, bathing the entire sect. A second later, it went away and only small beams of light targeted all of the enemies. They quickly retreated, running as fast as they could back through the broken gate.

  “The light’s going to burn a hole through their body. Serves them right for attacking our sect!” the disciple yelled.

  Yu Di looked down to see a thin beam of light targeting him. It was dead center on his chest.

  “Really?”