Yu Di had this fear in the back of his brain. It was something he had never felt before. Even when facing off all his enemies and the crazy demonic cultivators he never felt like this.

  Helpless.

  That’s what it was. In this life, he’s done so much and reached so high only to feel powerless. What could he do?

  His daughter was sluggish where she used to be full of unending energy. He had never seen her like this except when she was sleeping.

  Bai Feng patted him on the shoulder and gave him a cup of warm tea.

  “It will be okay. All children get sick at one point or another.”

  “Yes, but cultivators? That’s never happened,” Yu Di took the cup of tea and drank it in one gulp. “I can’t remember any cultivators, especially at the peak of the Qi condensation level, getting sick. Something might be really wrong with Yu Lin.”

  Bai Feng smiled.

  “While cultivating one’s body makes you stronger, you’re not invincible. You should know that. And despite calling ourselves Immortals, we’re still very much mortal.”

  Yu Di understood that. He just really wanted his daughter to not be sick anymore. And if it was some cultivator sickness, he was prepared to scour all of heaven and earth to look for a cure. He didn’t care if he had to give up the rest of his life to see his daughter well.

  Cui Ying took out a roll of silver needles from his chest pocket. He stuck a few of them onto Yu Lin’s tiny body, arms, and head.

  Yu Di couldn’t remember a time when she looked so vulnerable. His little girl wasn’t running around, screaming for joy, or jumping on his back. She laid really still.

  “I’m going to make some medicine for her and hopefully with her own body’s Qi, she can push out the cold Qi and get better,” Cui Ying said.

  “And if she doesn’t?” Yu Di asked.

  “As far as I can tell, she should be fine in a few days. If her condition worsens, we can consider a cultivation healing method. But that should only be used in an emergency as she’s so young. I don’t know what might happen to her if we do.”

  Yu Di made a fist and palm salute.

  “Thank you Head Servant Cui Ying for your care.”

  “You should thank Senior Bai and Sect Leader Gu. They’re the ones that dragged me from my bed to help your daughter.” Cui Ying removed the needles and put away the roll. “If she gets worse, then please don’t hesitate to find me. I would rather not be in trouble with either of them.”

  Cui Ying left Bai Feng’s home.

  “Baba?” Yu Lin called out weakly.

  “I’m here little Lin,” Yu Di said.

  “I’m cold.”

  Yu Di cradled Yu Lin in her arms and wrapped a blanket around her.

  “It’s okay. Just go to sleep. Do you want any water?”

  Yu Lin shook her head before going back to sleep.

  Bai Feng brought a cup of water over as well as a cup of tea for Yu Di.

  “How is she?”

  “She seems fine, just really hot.”

  “She should be fine. I’ve had a few kids get sick in the past. You might want to lean against the wall and get some sleep in case she wakes up in the middle of the night needing something from you.”

  Yu Di downed the cup of tea and nodded in thanks. He followed her instructions. He closed his eyes and Bai Feng blew out the candle near him.

  “Tell me if you need anything,” Bai Feng whispered as she walked away.

  “Thank you.”

  Yu Di held his daughter on his lap, but she eventually shifted to lay her head on his shoulders. This was going to be a long night.

  How could he have been so stupid? How could he have gotten his daughter sick? A phantom memory of his notebook flashed in his mind.

  It was his desire to break the curse all over again. That drove him so hard that he forgot about everything else. Every day he ran with her on his shoulders.

  He couldn’t do that anymore. He couldn’t endanger anyone else, least of all his own daughter. Starting tomorrow, he would take care of his daughter first.

  Yu Di gritted his teeth.

  The months of his lifespan that he lost on this silly chase were months that he couldn’t get back to spend with Yu Lin. He wasn’t sure if this would work as the curse had been slow to unlock.

  These were the thoughts that plagued him throughout the night. His daughter barely stirred, content to sleep on his shoulder.

  When the sun shone through the windows, Yu Di had a new thought. He had already spent so much of his time and effort in trying to break the curse. It would be a shame if he stopped now.

  However, he couldn’t bring his daughter around with him anymore. He’d have to leave her with Bai Feng. That way, they could learn together and reach higher heights of cultivation. Besides, he noticed that Yu Lin was close to breaking into the next stage of Foundation Establishment and Bai Feng was close to the next level within Core Foundation.

  All he needed to do was give them a little push and no longer would his daughter be sick again. She would finally walk the path to true Immortality.

  Yu Lin coughed into his chest.

  “Little Lin, drink some water.” Yu Di passed the cup of water to his daughter’s lips.

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  Yu Lin sipped the water.

  “No, drink more,” Yu Di said. He tipped the cup more toward her mouth.

  Yu Lin gulped down two or three mouthfuls before shaking her head.

  Well, it would have to wait until she was better.

  Someone knocked at the door.

  “Bai Feng, please let me in,” Sect Leader Gu Zi called out.

  Bai Feng flashed over to the door and opened it.

  “Good morning Sect Leader Gu. Please come in.”

  Gu Zi walked into the humble home. His long wrinkled face instantly locked onto Yu Di. His predatory gaze made Yu Di feel uncomfortable. It felt like his father’s gaze from back when he was still living with him.

  Yu Di hadn’t felt that in over a hundred years. He would have laughed if he wasn’t holding Yu Lin.

  “Sect Leader Gu. I’d greet you properly, but my arms are occupied at the moment holding my daughter.”

  Gu Zi waved him off. He stood over the father-daughter pair in his expensive silk green tunic, looking down at them.

  “How is she?”

  “Thank you for your concern, Sect Leader Gu, but Head Servant Cui said she will be fine in a few days.”

  Gu Zi bent down to peer at Yu Lin’s face. She was snoring quietly.

  “How could you get her sick like that?” Gu Zi stood up. “She’s such a cute little girl, so helpful. You have been running around helping so many other people, but you didn’t help your own daughter. It’s like you abandoned her.”

  Yu Di wanted to deny that, but he didn’t want to stop him. The last thing he needed was to extend this lecture.

  “Yes, you’re right, Sect Leader Gu,” Yu Di said.

  Gu Zi sucked his teeth and shook his head.

  “If you’re going to treat your daughter like that, you might as well give her to me. I’ll do a better job taking care of her than her father.”

  “Oh I couldn’t impose on you Sect Leader Gu,” Yu Di said. He clutched Yu Lin tighter to his chest. “Senior Bai has told me that children get sick all the time. And I’m sure after this lesson, I will never get her sick again. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “See that you do. It would be a shame if our sect lost such a talent. Some of us don’t get second chances in life. I’m glad you have one now.”

  “Of course. I would never abandon my daughter.”

  Sect Leader Gu sighed.

  “You remind me of a disciple I knew so long ago. He helped everyone in the sect to ascend to new heights of cultivation, but he didn’t help one person. He abandoned him and left him to suffer in this lower plane alone because of his obsession with cultivating.”

  Yu Di furrowed his brow. He wasn’t sure where Gu Zi was going with this, but he would never do that to his daughter.

  “Sect Leader Gu, I promise that I will jump into the woks of boiling oil for my daughter. I would never leave her behind.”

  “Hmph, you left someone behind,” Gu Zi mumbled.

  “Sorry Sect Leader Gu, I didn’t hear you.” Yu Di heard him perfectly with his Immortal ears. There was something going on with the sect leader, but the last thing he wanted to do was entangle himself with his problems. He had plenty of his own.

  “Oh nothing. Just thinking about the sad situation. Just be sure that you don’t. I’ll come check in on your daughter in a few days.” Gu Zi turned and left.

  When Yu Di saw that he had flown away far enough to not hear him, he waved Bai Feng over.

  “That was weird right?” he whispered.

  Bai Feng nodded.

  “I think this is the first time I’ve seen Sect Leader Gu interested in any of the disciples, especially one so young.”

  “You don’t think he’s a little…”

  Bai Feng shook her head.

  “I’ve taught many children in the past in the sect. He’s never once come to talk or deal with any of them or their parents. As far as we were concerned, we didn’t exist.”

  Yu Di felt better after hearing that. He knew of some sect leaders that preyed on the disciples of the sect. Humans and their desires didn’t simply transcend with immortality, they tended to magnify and enhance to a scary degree.

  After living for so long and having so much power, most Immortals tended to find most things mundane. So their interests twist and become more extreme. In the end, who can stop them?

  A little later in the morning, another knock came on the door. By this time, Yu Di had nodded off for a while, going in and out of sleep as he held Yu Lin in his arms.

  Bai Feng opened the door to be greeted by an army in green tunics. They didn’t wear the same immaculate tunic as the sect leader, but Yu Di recognized the one at the head right away: Elder Li.

  “We Elders would like to speak with you,” Elder Li said.

  Bai Feng cupped her hands and bowed.

  “Greetings Elders. Might we talk outside? Yu Di’s daughter is sick and sleeping.”

  “Of course.”

  Bai Feng glanced over at Yu Di for a second before leaving her home.

  Yu Di shook his head awake and drank the water beside him. He focused on the conversation outside with his demigod ears by cycling his Qi around them.

  “The outer sect Elders have gathered here because we heard that you want to be an Elder,” Elder Li said.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Bai Feng said.

  “As a group, we reject your request. We don’t feel you are qualified to be one.”

  “But respectfully Elder, haven’t my past deeds for the sect and my cultivation level merit my promotion?”

  “Hmph, you know as well as I do that those mean nothing when you don’t have a faction supporting you.” Yu Di could already picture Elder Li’s haughty face and his immaculate beard. He must spend hours on it every day to get it just right.

  “I don’t need a faction as I’ve told you many times.”

  “Then why pursue being an Elder? You have no wants as an inner sect disciple.”

  “I have people to protect.”

  “What? That father and daughter inside? They’re not going to last much longer in the sect anyway. Why throw away your life for them?”

  “They’re not the only ones and I don’t have to explain anything to you. If you all don’t agree to allow me to be an Elder, then I’ll challenge you all to a ‘Battle of Worth.’”

  There was a collective gasp.

  “You think you can take us all on at the same time?” Elder Li asked.

  “I don’t want to, but I will if it means I can become an Elder,” Bai Feng said.

  “And if you lose?”

  “She and her secret lover and child can leave our sect and stop defiling our reputation!” another Elder yelled.

  Many of the other Elders yelled in agreement.

  Yu Lin coughed again, right into Yu Di’s ear.

  "If you wish to dig your own grave, then so be it," Elder Li said.

  “I appreciate your concern, Elder Li.” Bai Feng came back into her home, her face resolute for a brief second before drooping back down.

  A score of flying items and devices took to the sky as the Elders all left. Many of them made buzzing noises as they pushed their Qi into it.

  “Senior Bai, you look like you saw a ghost. Dare I ask what that was about?” Yu Di said.

  “Since they won’t vote to let me become an Elder, I will have to fight them.” Bai Feng sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. Her hands were shaking as she lifted the small cup to her mouth.

  “Not all at once, I hope?”

  Bai Feng shook her head.

  “It’s one at a time until there are no challengers.”

  “Oh, just like those wedding duels I’ve heard about in other sects. I hope you don’t have to marry the winner of the duel.”

  Bai Feng shook her head again.

  “If I lose, I will have to leave the sect.”

  Yu Di steeled his face. He didn’t want to show her how happy he would be if that happened. No more dealing with sniveling children like Elder Li or imagining the intent of Sect Leader Gu. Maybe finally they can leave this place.

  But he knew that this was Bai Feng’s home. This was where she taught so many other disciples and watched them grow up. She might not have been their mother, but as the saying goes, “Being a teacher for a day is being their parent for life.”

  “It will be okay, Senior Bai,” Yu Di said. “I will make sure you don’t lose. When is the fight?”

  “In a month,” Bai Feng said.

  “That doesn’t give us much time, so let’s get to work.”