As soon as they flew half way toward Bai Feng’s home, Fu Homei’s charity disappeared. She dropped Yu Di onto the ground to walk back. Some of the other disciples and servants watched and snickered as he was dumped onto the ground.

  Luckily he had the balance to land on his face instead of his feet. It wasn’t hard when Fu Homei pushed him off her fan.

  Yu Di knew the relationship between them would take a little longer to repair. However, the Qi contract still held. She helped him in the end to achieve his goals. Hopefully he’d be able to use it during the festival to survive whatever was coming.

  The walk back was quick. Ever since the attack over a week ago, Yu Di had been cultivating as much Qi as he could. To his surprise, he still hadn’t reached the limit of his curse yet.

  Yu Di knew that he was at about 11% of his curse unlocked. Did that mean he would be able to reach at least to Core Formation?

  If that were true, his chances of surviving the festival went way up.

  But a nagging feeling in the back of his mind told him that it probably wasn’t enough. There were no actual numbers that he could see other than what his jade tablet showed him. So he’d have to prepare everything he had.

  Yu Di made a quick stop at the sect’s general store. This was the first time he ever stopped here other than to sweep the floor in front of the shop. An elder in a green tunic ran the shop, looking ever so bored. He stood in front of so many different types of jades, some swords, suits of armor, and more mundane things like paper and brushes.

  Yu Di had no income or resources, but he knew someone that did.

  “Greetings Elder,” Yu Di said with his hands cupped. “I am looking for something on behalf of my master, Elder Bai.”

  At the mention of the name, the Elder perked up.

  “You work for Elder Bai?”

  “Yes Elder. I came to see if you have some specific supplies for her.”

  “First off, my name is Elder Yen. You will do well to remember that. Second, your Elder owes me and this general store more spirit stones and money than she can count. She’ll get nothing from me unless she repays it all back.”

  “What?” Yu Di shrank from Elder Yens’ glare. “I mean, apologies to Elder Yen. I didn’t know that was the case when she sent me on this errand.”

  “I’ll show you.” Elder Yen pulled out a large jade tablet. He pushed his Qi into it and the entire tablet lit up with Bai Feng’s name at the top.

  Line after line of requests for flour, meats, and other things scrolled down. There was a mention of an entire duck and other things. All the way at the bottom was a total and it was in red.

  “As you can see, she owes the sect 254 gold and 46 spirit stones for all those lavish parties she throws.” Elder Yen tapped the tablet and showed a new name at the top. “You, my young friend, named Yu Di. You owe…”

  Elder Yen’s jaw dropped.

  “I apologize Elder Yen, you were saying I owed something?” Yu Di craned his neck to check the tablet, but he couldn’t see.

  “Nothing. You owe nothing. In fact, you have over four hundred spirit stones as credit to your account. A broke servant like you. How did you get so many?”

  Elder Yen tapped the tablet.

  “It looks like a few of the disciples from very rich families sent you these funds. There’s a note here. It says, ‘For saving their life.’ When did you save them?”

  “It must have been a week ago when the other sects attacked. I organized a rescue for a few disciples with the help of Elder Bai. Wait, does this mean that I do have credit to buy things?”

  Elder Yen looked up. Then he looked back down. He tapped a few things on that jade tablet and then smiled.

  “Of course you can buy anything you want. You have exactly one hundred spirit stones to spend on whatever you need for your master.”

  “But I had over four hundred you said.”

  Elder Yen put his tablet down and put on a wide smile.

  “Well first off, since your master, Elder Bai, owed so much, it would be in your best interest to pay that off, right?”

  Yu Di tried so hard not to roll his eyes. He was over a hundred. But the thought of spanking this child put a grin on his face.

  “I want to purchase sound transmission jades.”

  Elder Yen frowned.

  “Do you know how much those things cost?”

  Yu Di groaned inwardly. This was going to be one of those negotiations that he never liked to do, especially when he had no idea of any of the costs.

  “Esteemed Elder, I apologize for my ignorance, but I don’t know. I’m sure if I ask Elder Bai to accompany me next time, she might.”

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  Elder Yen’s frown turned into a snarl.

  “Using your master to intimidate an old man like me? Fine, fine, I’ll be blunt then. Each transmission jade is worth exactly thirteen spirit stones.”

  “Then that means eight transmission jades?”

  Elder Yen laughed.

  “If you think I’m going to give you one for free, you’re out of your mind. You can only afford seven.”

  Yu Di smiled and took out a small pouch.

  Elder Yen eyed the pouch and reached out for it.

  Yu Di held the pouch back.

  “I apologize to Elder Yen. But this pouch is not for you.”

  “What is it?” Elder Yen couldn’t take his eyes off the pouch. “I can sense such a powerful Qi inside.”

  “It’s something that I was given by Elder Bai. She told me that I can’t trade it for anything, but to give it to someone that I value and respect.”

  Elder Yen stood up straight and fixed his green tunic.

  “I believe as an Elder of our sect that I would fit that description.”

  Yu Di suppressed a laugh. Not only was this Elder trying so hard to impress a nobody like him, but the pouch only contained a Qi dense rock Yu Di picked up on his travels. At best it was a distraction, as once opened the Qi would release into the world. It wouldn't help in anyone's cultivation.

  Absolute trash.

  “Well, you are right,” Yu Di said. “You are a respectable member of the sect. However, I’m not sure I can part with something so precious without anything in return. Elder Bai would be very upset.”

  Elder Yen licked his lips before biting his lower lip.

  “Here, I’ll give you ten transmission jades.” He pulled out a pouch of smooth jades. They each had a unique etch on their face that resembled three buttons with different colors on them. He reached out with his open palm. “Now give me.”

  “These are nice, but I’m still missing one item on my list,” Yu Di said. He put the jades into his storage ring.

  Elder Yen’s eyes narrowed.

  “Don’t try to take a foot after being given an inch, boy.”

  “It’s not a major request. It’s about the festival. Someone as knowledgeable as you probably has more connections than a nobody like me. What I’m looking for is information about the participants.”

  Elder Yen crossed his arms.

  “I don’t know anything about the members of enemy sects.”

  “No, I was hoping you’d tell me more about the participants from our sect. I want to know who I am going into battle with.”

  Elder Yen smiled.

  “You must be a student of Sun Tzu. Know yourself and know your enemy. That I can arrange easily. I can even tell you what they had for breakfast. Now give it.”

  Yu Di pressed the small pouch onto Elder Yen’s hand, but didn’t let go.

  “Thank you Elder Yen. Since we’re becoming such good friends, let me give you a small warning that Elder Bai told me. Don’t open the pouch until the zenith of a full moon during winter. Otherwise it won’t be of any use to you.”

  Elder Yen closed his hands on the pouch and shoved it into his storage ring.

  “Thank you Junior Yu for your advice. As for the information you requested, I’ll send you a jade tablet on all the participants after lunch. I’ll make sure to deliver it to Elder Bai’s home.”

  Yu Di took a step back, cupped his hands, and bowed at the waist.

  “I’m happy doing business with you venerable Elder.”

  Elder Yen waved his hand in dismissal, looking down at his storage ring. Probably looking over the pouch.

  Yu Di really hoped that he could hold out until the full moon. Otherwise, he would have made another enemy before the festival.

  He took his time strolling through the sect toward Bai Feng’s home. He had a chance to see the four servants that replaced him as sect sweepers.

  One looked at him with disgust while the other three waved.

  The privilege of working for Bai Feng now was worth the effort. However short lived it was. The only hope he had now was to use the next two weeks to prepare as hard as he could so that he could survive.

  When Yu Di got back to Bai Feng’s home, there was a large commotion surrounding the small house. It appeared that everyone that was a part of the festival showed up at her door, minus a few of the unsavory ones.

  “Baba!” Yu Lin ran into Yu Di’s arms. “I heard mean auntie Fu dropped you from the sky while flying. Are you okay?”

  Yu Di hugged Yu Lin into his chest.

  “Yes, of course. Your Baba is not going to get hurt so easily. What’s going on here?”

  “I don’t know. Auntie Bai invited a lot of people here. She’s cooking something in the house.”

  “Of course she is. Let’s find her and figure out what’s going on.”

  “Junior Yu, it’s nice to see that you’re well,” Fu Homei said the moment he walked through the door.

  “It was because of your grace that I made it back unharmed.” Yu Di put his daughter down.

  Yu Lin ran from him to Bai Feng, already seeking the delicious treats the Elder was finishing.

  “Here is the manual.” Fu Homei took out the manual from her storage ring and passed it over to Yu Di.

  “I thought you would have kept it for yourself.”

  Fu Homei snickered.

  “I’m not Elder Li. Besides, I know who will help us get out of this festival alive.”

  Yu Di bowed as he accepted the manual.

  “I also didn’t forget that you promised me a better manual. If you can’t deliver, I’ll cut off your head myself.”

  Yu Di reached into his storage ring and pulled out a more advanced manual. It was a copy from a sect one level ahead of this one, which wasn’t much higher. However, it was perfect for Fu Homei as it would reinforce everything she had been doing so far and make her transition into the second realm easier.

  And his enemies called him a monster.

  Well, he was to them but a living god to his friends.

  “Practice this one for the next two weeks and I guarantee you will be the strongest cultivator within the festival.” Yu Di handed Fu Homei a pristine copy. “If you don’t understand some of the concepts, feel free to come to me at any time and I’ll explain them.”

  Fu Homei grabbed it and walked away.

  “I won’t.”

  One thing done, now it was time for his own studying. But first he had to check in with Bai Feng to make sure she knew what her responsibilities were as he fought for life and death in two weeks.

  “Elder Bai, your food smells delicious as always,” Yu Di said. “I hope you’re not preparing all this food for the festival in two weeks.”

  Bai Feng didn’t look at Yu Di. She focused on her cooking.

  Something was wrong. Yu Di could tell by how tense she was. It felt like she was a coiled tiger, ready to fight for her life.

  “What’s going on Elder Bai? Is there something wrong?” Yu Di asked.

  Bai Feng put down her spatula and looked Yu Di in the face.

  “I joined the Festival. I’ll be going in with you in two weeks.”