Yu Di gathered at the meeting place in front of the fortress along with all the other participants for the festival. Most of the other disciples gathered just behind the invisible force field that prevented any disciples to leave without reason.

  Despite his reservations for that blue diamond floating above the fortress, Yu Di was amazed at how long it has lasted. Not only were disciples siphoning its Qi, it also powered the forcefield for decades. It had to be on its last legs by now.

  Yu Di reached out and touched the forcefield, feeling the buzz as it resisted his touch. On the other side, Yu Lin reached out her hand and matched her father’s.

  “Don’t worry Yu Lin,” Yu Di said. “I’ll find a way to come back to you no matter what. Even if I have to do it as a ghost.”

  Yu Lin took her hand back.

  “No Baba, ghosts are scary.”

  Yu Di chuckled.

  “Fine, fine, I won’t come back as a ghost. Maybe a zombie?”

  Yu Lin frowned and shook her head.

  “Fine. I’ll come back as me.” Yu Di squeezed the forcefield, pushing out a little of his Qi against it. For a brief moment, he felt it give way. Maybe he didn’t need to run through the guarded inner sect disciple corridor to get out. If he was ever forced back here, he probably could just push out of the weakening barrier.

  “That’s enough, everyone,” Sect Leader Gu Zi said. “It’s time for us to depart and claim victory.”

  Yu Di walked over to his squad mates with Bai Feng at the head. They boarded a large carriage and were pulled by regular horses.

  Never had Yu Di thought that an Immortal Sect would travel by such a mundane way. He wracked his brain to think about when he joined his first sect. It was a weak sect, but even they had a spirit animal.

  There was something going on in this sect.

  It only took two days to get to the location of the festival. It was a highly contested mountain range that the four competing sects shared. Teams of disciples from each sect would scour the valleys and caves for any hidden treasures. Scores of spirit beasts inhabited the area, their spirit cores priceless for cultivators at their level.

  Yet their greatest enemy was each other.

  Whenever sect disciples met each other, they would fight for the discovered resource, sometimes to the death. Only the ‘Forgotten Spirit Sect’ didn’t do so as they relied heavily on their blue diamond. They would only come out whenever a major discovery was made.

  Yu Di tried hard not to laugh when Bai Feng told them this. This pitiable mountain range with barely anything on it might make a mortal governor rich, but for these cultivators it would be like drinking from a puddle instead of a well. How could these people call themselves Immortals?

  “We will rest here while we wait for the other sects to arrive,” Gu Zi said. “I will go around to each group to discuss their strategies and shore up any weaknesses you might have. That is all.”

  Bai Feng’s group converted their wagon into a long tent. It required a few extra large, thick cloths to create one big enough for all of them to rest.

  Fu Homei pulled out her own individual tent from her storage ring and laid inside by herself.

  “I hope she knows that we’re on her team,” one servant said.

  “Don’t worry, I trust that Senior Fu will be there when we need her,” Yu Di said. If she wasn’t, he’d have a way to enforce it.

  Gu Zi appeared afterwards. He conferred with Bai Feng first, away from the others before making it to Yu Di’s bedroll.

  Yu Di was going to try and meditate to further gain more levels, but he guessed that talking with the sect leader was a higher priority. He cupped his hands and bowed.

  “Can I help you Sect Leader Gu?”

  Gu Zi sat down next to him. He clapped his hands to be rid of the dirt.

  “You know, you can end this all right now if you help me.” He said it in a low whisper.

  “I’m not sure what you mean, Sect Leader.” Yu Di offered a cloth to wipe his hands.

  Gu Zi waved it away.

  “Tell me the answer to the stone stele. Let me break through the bottleneck and I can eliminate the other two sects in the blink of an eye. Then you can stay in the sect and play house with Bai Feng along with your child. You’d rule the entire place. I’d make sure Grand Elder Fu backs you and if you’re really adamant about it, marry his granddaughter to you.”

  “Is that what this is?” Yu Di asked, feeling unease at the thought. “You think I’m doing all this to take over your sect or marry those girls?”

  “There had to be a reason why you devolved into this pitiful state. I only guessed that it was of a lustful nature. You did bring your daughter into the sect.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “First off, I’ll explain it again. To break through your current bottleneck requires either a high level alchemy pill or a personal enlightenment on your path of cultivation. I can’t tell you to do something like lift a specific stone and you will have a breakthrough.”

  “Do you have a pill on you? You must be saving something for your daughter.”

  Yu Di rolled his eyes. He took off his storage ring and passed it to Gu Zi.

  “Look all you want. After running for my life, all I have left are trinkets and items of sentimental value. Even if you kill me now to take it, you wouldn’t break through.”

  Gu Zi gave the ring back. He eyed Yu Di all over, probably checking to see if he had any other storage rings.

  Yu Di did, but he already gave it to his daughter. He wasn’t going to tell him that.

  “Besides, at the rate my daughter is going, she won’t need anything other than her own mind to break through to the next realm.”

  Gu Zi gritted his teeth.

  “Fine, if you’re not going to tell me what I need to know, then I wish you luck on the battlefield. Know that all these other disciples are expendable. I need you alive at the end. I’m going to make sure of it.”

  “Wait, Sect Leader Gu, before you leave, I must know, who are you? I can’t remember Gu Zi in my first sect. I know it’s been over a hundred years.”

  Gu Zi laughed.

  “I’m forgotten to the end.” He got up and left.

  “Well, that was ominous,” Fu Homei said. She was sitting right behind Yu Di.

  “Senior Fu, I didn’t notice you back there,” Yu Di said.

  “You’re lucky it was just me. Otherwise if another disciple heard that conversation they might think you were some kind of monster and have hope going into this festival.”

  “Heh, I wish. What can I do for you, Senior Fu?”

  Fu Homei pulled out a Qi artifact from her storage ring. She handed it over to Yu Di.

  “My grandfather gave that to me, telling me to win or don’t come back. However, he wasn’t sure how much energy it still had left. So can you help me?”

  “Of course.” Yu Di turned the small bracelet around in his hand. He pushed a little of his Qi into it to see what it did. He was not an expert at Qi artifacts, but he knew enough. “This is a very unique find. I’m surprised your grandfather gave this to you.”

  “It makes me invisible, but only for a short amount of time,” Fu Homei said.

  “Yes, but only to those below the second realm. Which is perfect for our situation.” Yu Di passed the bracelet back to Fu Homei. “Was that how you got behind me so easily?”

  “I wanted to test it out on the strongest person I knew before bringing it into the battlefield.”

  “Well, luckily for you, it still has plenty of juice left in it. You can use it ten, maybe eleven times if you charge it up before we head in.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Are you ready for this competition?”

  Fu Homei shook her head.

  “I know that overall, our sect is the strongest, but the other sects aren’t that far behind. This must be nothing for a demigod like you. I’m sure you must have been in plenty of serious fights.”

  “No, only one. That’s the one that got me cursed,” Yu Di said. “I’m scared too. I have never been in a fair fight and now that I’m so weak, I fear it all the more. You don’t become a demigod by fighting all the time. That’s not what cultivation is about.”

  “Then what is this all about? Why are we about to throw our lives away for trinkets on this mountain range?”

  “The only thing I can think of is human greed and general laziness.” The first example of this in Yu Di’s mind was Gu Zi. “I can tell that you’ve worked very hard to get to where you are. You had some help, but you persevered. Yet some cultivators, they’d rather have someone hand them the answers. So when they’re given a chance to wipe out another sect to raid their resources and understanding, they will take it instead of learning on their own.”

  “You’re telling me that more enlightened cultivators don’t do that?” Fu Homei asked.

  Yu Di laughed.

  “No, they’re usually the worst. I was about to burn down an entire city, killing thousands, so that I could gain insight to break through. The Emperor steals from everyone in his empire to maintain his power. I have no doubt he would raze the entire country if it would allow him to break through into the god realm.”

  Fu Homei froze for a second.

  “You can’t slander the Emperor’s reputation like that. He has eyes and ears everywhere.”

  “I dare him to do something about it. I’ve met the guy. Very nice to your face, but very calculating.” Yu Di saw Bai Feng coming to them. “Overall, we most need to worry about Elder Bai. She’s too kind, even to her enemies.”

  “No I’m not,” Bai Feng said. “I finished talking with the other members and they seem ready to go. You two are the last I need to check on.”

  Fu Homei cupped her hands and bowed to Bai Feng.

  “You don’t have to worry about me Elder Bai. I’m ready to be the hammer our group needs.” Fu Homei got up, dusted herself, and left.

  Why were they all dusting themselves on Yu Di’s bed roll? They must know that he would have to sleep on it later, right?

  “Elder Bai, I’m good,” Yu Di said, hoping that she wouldn’t take the opportunity to sit down on his bedroll too.

  Bai Feng nodded and walked off. She shook her head and came back, sitting right on Yu Di’s bedroll.

  “Is something bothering you Elder Bai?” Yu Di asked.

  “Yes, actually. I’m afraid that people are going to die because of me. All these disciples followed me because I helped them in the past.”

  Yu Di patted Bai Feng on the back.

  “First, none of this is your fault. You didn’t agree to hold a contest to see who would run the four sects. Second, these people would die faster if they didn’t follow you. So don’t worry. The life of a cultivator is a life or death battle.”

  “Not mine. All I’ve ever done is cook buns and cultivate on occasion.”

  “That’s what true cultivation is all about. But for tomorrow, think of this as an exercise in defending yourself. All you have to do is defend yourself until our enemies die.”

  Bai Feng looked away.

  “I will try.”

  With that, she also got up, dusted herself off on Yu Di’s bedroll and walked away.

  Yu Di gave up and tossed the thing back into his storage ring before pulling out a fresh one. The next person to sit on his bedroll was going to get a swift kick in the butt.

  He laid down on the cool bedroll, wondering if he should bother trying to cultivate a little. He sighed.

  Forget it. There was no point. He might as well get as much rest as he could. He was too weak to get much done individually, so he was going to rely on his fellow squad mates. Maybe he could even survive.

  That had as much chance as him becoming the next Emperor.

  So in his head, as he was falling asleep, Yu Di plotted how to use the trinkets in his storage ring to claim victory. If all else failed, he still had his small sliver of demigod powers as well as his teleportation artifact.

  Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?