Yu Di went inside Bai Feng’s home and took out a drum from his storage ring. It was just big enough to hold in his arms. It was also a Qi instrument, made from spirit wood and the hide of a spirit beast. One strike would energize intended targets while also weakening enemies.

  If any of the people in this sect recognized this item, they would kill him for it in a heartbeat. It made that large floating diamond in the sky look like a beggar’s bowl.

  “Okay, I got the drum,” Yu Di told everyone. “Elder Bai, would you mind being the judge for this? I don’t want Senior Fu to think we cheated in any way.”

  “Of course.” Bai Feng unsheathed her sword and drew a long line on the ground. She imbued her strike with Qi, causing the line to glow. “Should any group be pulled past this line, they lose.”

  Yu Lin jumped down from the rock to stare at the line.

  “Baba, it’s glowing.” She reached out to touch it.

  “No, little Lin, that will hurt,” Yu Di said. He set himself up on the vacated rock with his drum in his lap.

  The moment Yu Lin saw that, she ran up to him and tried to hit the drum.

  “Little Lin, this is my drum,” Yu Di said. “I need it to lead the aunties and uncles against Senior Fu.”

  “I want to help.” Yu Lin reached out again to grab the drum.

  “Fine, you can help by pulling the rope at the back. How about that?” Yu Di pointed to a female servant standing at the back. “Are you okay with my daughter helping my team, Senior Fu?”

  Fu Homei narrowed her eyes at Yu Lin for a moment, probably checking her cultivation level. That showed that she was at least meticulous about knowing her opponents, despite underestimating Yu Di.

  “Fine, whatever,” Fu Homei said. “She’s only in the second stage. She won’t pose much of a threat.”

  Yu Di led his daughter to the very end of the rope. He gave her just enough to hold onto.

  “Now, remember to keep your legs in a wide stance and pull when you hear the drum beat.”

  “Okay Baba.” Yu Lin’s smile was so wide, it was infectious. The other servants smiled when they saw her.

  “Let’s go already. I don’t have all day,” Fu Homei said.

  Yu Di sat back down, drum ready in his lap, and nodded toward Bai Feng. He poured his Qi into the drum, making sure to only pour as much as his current level could afford. As long as he wasn’t using his powers beyond his current level. He couldn't risk activating his curse.

  But estimating how much was the challenging part.

  “Begin!” Bai Feng yelled.

  Fu Homei tugged hard against the rope. She glowed with a yellow Qi aura all throughout her body, with a heavy focus on her feet and hands.

  Yu Di expected as much. She was trying to pull the other side in one go to end this as quickly as possible. Little did she know, he cheated. At the back of his side, after he put Yu Lin onto the rope, he also made the rope extra heavy and extra sticky for his team members.

  It was a Qi technique that would only last a brief second after the initial pull from Fu Homei. That prevented her from overpowering the group in one go.

  Now came the hard part.

  Yu Di slammed his palm on the drum, activating the technique. A silver aura engulfed his team with each strike. The technique empowered them all with his level of cultivation. In a way, every single one of them leveled up to stage two in one beat.

  "Pull!" the two servants in the front yelled.

  Yu Di matched his beat to the servants' call.

  Fu Homei tugged again, this time using her full strength. Her Qi flared and her entire body was engulfed in a dark yellow Qi.

  But it was futile.

  No matter how hard she tugged and pulled against the group, every drum beat pulled her closer and closer to the line.

  That’s when Fu Homei did something that Yu Di never thought anyone could accomplish: she leveled up during a competition.

  Fu Homei hit the third level of Core Foundation, making her just a level weaker than Bai Feng.

  Yu Di used his spirit technique to see the Qi flow within Fu Homei’s body. She was now using the technique in the manual he gave her. Coupled with her desperate attempt to not lose face or this match, she managed to break through.

  This little girl was either a genius or her grandfather held her back.

  With this increase in level, Fu Homei managed to equalize the strain on the rope. With her next breath, she pulled the opposing team toward her by an inch.

  Yu Di focused on his drum beating. He knew that he lost. The only way for him to win would be to flare his own Qi to a higher level, sharing that strength with the team. But that would not be worth his life span.

  Inch by inch, his team came closer and closer to the line.

  Yu Di exchanged a glance with Bai Feng. She frowned.

  Only a miracle would save them now.

  Yu Lin’s Qi suddenly flared, a bright green at the end of a tail of silver Qi.

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  Yu Di looked to his daughter, hoping that she didn’t accidentally burn her life essence.

  Well, today was a good day for cultivating. Yu Lin managed to push her Qi to a higher level, using one of the cultivation mantras from Yu Di’s manual. He knew that she would eventually understand it, but not this soon.

  Yu Lin’s cultivation reached the end stage of Foundation Establishment. Another level and she’d be ready to form her own core. At this rate, it might take her another year at most.

  Yu Di only hoped he would be alive to see a five year old Core Formation cultivator. Not even the best sects in the empire could accomplish that. The only one who could was the Emperor, but he had unlimited resources at his disposal.

  Yu Di couldn’t help smiling. His daughter was as strong as a prince of the Empire with none of the advantages. No one could harm her now.

  A sharp tug from Fu Homei pulled Yu Di’s team past the line, ending the competition. They all collapsed on top of each other as they let go.

  Only Yu Lin bounced up right after, running up to Yu Di.

  “Baba, look! I feel stronger than before.”

  “Yes, yes little Lin. Now sit on this rock and reinforce your understanding.” Yu Di got off the rock to allow his daughter to sit.

  “I won,” Fu Homei said.

  “Yes, you did. But you too should sit on the rock and reinforce your improvement.”

  Fu Homei scrunched up her face.

  “How did you know I gained a level? You’re below me.”

  Yu Di smiled.

  “I know many more things than you can think of. Now go and sit. We can discuss your departure from our group afterwards.”

  When Fu Homei didn’t move, Yu Di added, “Or do you want me to ask Elder Bai to order you to do so?”

  Fu Homei shook her head and sat down next to Yu Lin. She closed her eyes.

  Two girls reinforced their cultivation. Sadly, both of them would not be joining them in this festival. That meant that Yu Di would have to reinforce their group in a different way.

  Maybe he would have to use a few more of his Qi items in his storage. It would be a waste in this fight among children, but at his current level dying from a stray strike was a huge possibility.

  As his sifu once told him, “A blind punch can kill a master.”

  “Everyone, go clean up, cool off, and meet back here in a few hours,” Yu Di told the team. “We have a lot of work to do, especially if we want to survive the festival.”

  Yu Di used those few hours to plan everything he could. Without the aid of Fu Homei, he was down a general. The two outer sect disciples would be at most a lieutenant for his needs. Did that mean he’d have to use himself as a general?

  Yu Di flexed his hands, concentrating as much Qi as he could there. There was a time when even half that Qi could destroy mountains. Now, it could barely destroy the table he sat at.

  The kitchen was a flurry of activity. Bai Feng cooked as many buns and simple rations as she could. She ran all over her home, grabbing every item she could from her many storage areas.

  "Are you okay, Elder Bai?" Yu Di asked.

  "No," Bai Fen said. "With junior Fu leaving us, we won't survive.”

  "This is where you have to dig deep and lead. Save as many as you can."

  "How can I lead when I know that every action I make can get someone killed?" Bai Feng teared up.

  It was the first time Yu Di saw her tear up. He wished he could help her, but he needed her more as his daughter's protector than anything else. He had come to like Bai Feng, but as a father he couldn't afford to be kind.

  “Baba?” Yu Lin entered Bai Feng’s home. “I’m hungry! Auntie Bai!”

  Yu Lin charged toward the kitchen where Bai Feng cooked.

  Bai Feng wiped away her tears and smiled.

  Hearing his daughter, Yu Di realized he was hungry too. He placed his brush down and massaged his eyes. Not only had he been working by the dwindling sunlight, he also used his eye technique earlier.

  Yu Di got up and followed his daughter into the kitchen. There he met Fu Homei.

  “I thought you would have gone home by now,” Yu Di said.

  Fu Homei held a large chicken leg that had a gigantic bite on it.

  “I couldn’t leave after you showed me something I can’t explain. I had a suspicion earlier when you gave me that cultivation manual.” Fu Homei took another large chunk from the chicken, chewing it like a savage that had learned how to use fire to cook for the first time in her life. “You were the one that wrote that manual, aren’t you? I thought Elder Bai gave you that manual and you copied it.”

  Yu Di contemplated for a moment on whether to tell her the truth or not. It couldn’t hurt, especially since he still had the Qi contract over her.

  “Yes, that manual is from me, not Elder Bai. In fact, her cultivation’s progress is also due to me giving her a cultivation manual as well.”

  Fu Homei narrowed her eyes and chewed very deliberately, almost as if each bite was meant for Yu Di’s neck.

  “Junior Yu is a hidden master,” Bai Feng said.

  “Baba, what’s a hidden master?” Yu Lin had a smaller chicken drumstick in her hand.

  “It means that I know a lot more than whatever this pitiful sect has to offer,” Yu Di said.

  “I knew there was something weird going on with you,” Fu Homei said. “What I don’t get is, why are you here in my sect?”

  Yu Di might as well tell her the whole thing.

  “First, you have to swear on your cultivation that you would never tell anyone my secret. Otherwise—”

  “You’ll kill me on the spot?” Fu Homei said.

  Yu Di looked down at his daughter.

  “No, I was going to say that I would not tell you my secret. Killing other people is wrong. Isn’t that right Yu Lin?”

  His daughter nodded, taking another huge bite from her dwindling drumstick. She stared at the adults like she was watching a live opera.

  “Fine, I swear on my cultivation and my entire family’s bloodline that I won’t tell anyone outside of this group deliberately or indirectly.” Fu Homei glowed a light yellow, binding the Qi in her dantian with her pledge.

  “Very well. I was a demigod…”

  “…And that’s how I ended up here, in this pitiful sect. One thing I didn’t tell even Elder Bai yet is that Sect Leader Gu knows me somehow. He remembers me from before when I first joined an Immortal Sect. That worries me. It seems like he wants something from me, but I don’t know what.”

  Fu Homei had stopped eating sometime in the middle of the story. She kept looking between Yu Di and Bai Feng to confirm.

  “Baba, why don’t you ask uncle Gu?” Yu Lin said. She was on her second chicken. Somehow, Bai Feng had snuck an entire chicken into her hands at one point. “Uncle Gu is a nice man. He will help you.”

  “Little Lin, sometimes people pretend to be nice,” Yu Di said. “You can’t trust everyone. You have to verify to make sure they’re not lying to you.”

  “Your story is like one of those tall tales told by the storytellers in the cities,” Fu Homei said. “I’m not sure I can believe you. You might be someone from another sect trying to take advantage of us.”

  Yu Di laughed. He laughed really long and hard.

  “The only thing of value I can see in this entire sect is that worthless blue diamond floating above the fortress. The drum I used earlier is worth a thousand times that.”

  Fu Homei tilted her head, looking Yu Di up and down.

  “Don’t you dare tell anyone about it either,” Yu Di said. “Otherwise I will have to make sure you can’t speak again.”

  “But you said killing was wrong, didn’t he, little Lin?” Fu Homei gave Yu Lin a large potato.

  Yu Lin looked up, holding the potato.

  Yu Di smiled.

  “Of course. But there is a phrase, ‘death is not the worst thing in life.’ I have a feeling the festival is going to test our limits, which is why I told you this secret. I’m planning on making your life difficult in particular, if you decide to stay with us that is.”

  Fu Homei made an imperceptible gulp.