The next day came so slowly. Yu Di didn’t sleep at all. He tried to cultivate on his clean bedroll, but he couldn't do much. Cultivation didn't magically come. He had done this already and can do it faster, but it was the same even for a demigod like him. It would come a day at a time.

  Maybe during this festival Yu Di will break through to the second realm at least if he did enough good deeds. He only hoped that the good deeds were all he needed. He was still unsure of how his curse worked and without his daughter guiding him, his path was twice as hard.

  Yu Di wasn’t the only one who stayed up all night.

  Bai Feng also stayed up all night, making last minute preparations. Despite cooking most of the days leading up to today, she was still fussing over the many different supplies they were going to need in the mountains. The only hint they got from Sect Leader Gu was that this competition was going to take place over days, if not weeks.

  Yu Di had planned for that. If he’s given enough time, he might even be able to take out the other three sects with nothing but sheer grit.

  If only.

  “Good morning all,” Bai Feng called out.

  “Good morning Elder Bai,” many of the servants called back.

  “Sect Leader Gu has told us to gather in front of the gate.”

  There was a massive gate standing in front of the entrance to the valley right below the mountain ranges. It rose high up in the sky, painted a bright red. A forcefield shimmered within the entrance.

  The four sects all lined up in front with their respective sects. The ‘Forgotten Spirit Sect’ all wore blue as they stood near the other sects in red, black, and green. They looked like a rainbow if it was painted by a drunk god.

  “Welcome all,” the government representative said. He flew atop the same simple flying sword, but his navy blue uniform was no longer as crisp as the first time he showed up. He also had stubble growing from his face.

  Yu Di looked closely at the sword. Yeah, he was swaying a little. The representative must have had quite a bit to drink and partying, sponsored by the sect leaders. Typical corrupt government official.

  “Today marks the end of hostilities in this mountain region,” the representative said. “For far too long, your actions and wars have caused too many mortal deaths and general chaos for the surrounding region. Today, you will all compete in this festival to determine who will rule over all the sects.”

  The representative paused for a second, rubbing his temples. He hiccuped and shook his head.

  “Sorry, long night. Have all the sect leaders signed the Qi contract?”

  Another man dressed in a navy blue uniform standing below cupped his hands and bowed.

  “Yes sir. All four sect leaders have signed the contract agreeing that the victor of this festival will be the sole leader of all four sects.”

  “Okay then, ugh.” The representative held his head. “You know what? You explain it to them. I’m going to lie down.”

  As soon as the representative flew off the stage, his subordinate stepped up. He took out a jade tablet and waved it in the air. It projected words into the air right in front of the gate for all to see.

  “First off, as soon as the participants enter through this gate, they will be randomly teleported around the mountain ranges. To make this interesting and fair, the generous Emperor has provided supplies, hidden throughout the mountain. The only way to win is through might. Either capture all your opponents or kill them. A counter will display the remaining members for each sect at the end of the night.

  “Next, the stage will shrink as the battle goes on. A wall of blue flame will close in on a random spot. Participants will be killed if they touch that blue flame. Everything else will be fine.

  “Finally, every participant, including the various sect leaders, have a special scrying technique bestowed by our leader. So that means, every sect has the ability to watch what’s going on within the arena. Be sure that your actions are honorable as everyone will be watching.

  “Are you ready?” The subordinate took out a small copper bell. He hit it with a small hammer. The sound reverberated through all the participants and they glowed as the Qi activated the marks placed on them. “Go and earn glory for your sect!”

  All the colors of the drunken rainbow surged forward. The gate was large enough that they could enter without bumping into each other, but a few of the other sects decided to start their war before they got in. What started as an orderly entrance became a chaotic pushing and shoving match.

  Yu Di’s group closed ranks around Bai Feng and made their way slowly and carefully through the gate at the same time. They tried holding each other’s hands or shoulders, but the moment they walked through the forcefield, they were separated.

  “Everyone activate the orange dimple,” Yu Di sent to everyone holding a transmission jade. He pressed the orange button as well.

  A Qi pulse went out from his location and swept outward until it connected with another pulse from someone else.

  All ten jades reported and Yu Di instantly got an overview of the mountains they were and how far everyone else was. He made an effort to connect to all the jades and Fu Homei.

  “Meet up at Senior Cui's location as quickly and as safely as possible,” Yu Di said. “Remember, run if you meet with any resistance. There is no reason to fight them one on one, isn’t that right Senior Fu?”

  Fu Homei didn’t respond, but Yu Di could feel the derision in the silence. If she was his daughter, he’d teach her better manners. Then again, he wasn’t even teaching Yu Lin, so he wasn’t sure he could criticize her parents.

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  Yu Di made a dash toward Cui Ying’s location. He was running down a short mountain and so far have met no one yet. However, up above the sky was a different story.

  The sect leaders in their respective colors flew up into the sky on their flying devices. Very soon, they were all locked in a dome that prevented their attacks from striking the mountains and injuring their disciples indiscriminately.

  Yu Di laughed as the other sect leaders seemed to gang up on Gu Zi. Luckily the other three were at least a level if not more below his cultivation so he should be able to hold them off.

  Serves him right.

  Yu Di saw a gleaming purple item buried in the mountain not too far from him. However, he saw a man in a black tunic running toward the same object. As much as Yu Di wanted it, he knew that he would be no match for the man in black. So he ran the other way down the mountain, hoping that the item would be enough to keep him away.

  It wasn’t.

  The man in black didn’t care for the item and all and charged right at Yu Di.

  Yu Di wasn’t ready for a fight already, but if this man wanted one, he’d give him one. He reached into his storage ring for his trident and remembered he left it back in his pocket dimension.

  Remembering that stupid dragon angered him.

  Instead, he pulled out his backup trident. It was made of high carbon and high Qi steel, practically indestructible. Except it was inferior in two ways to his original trident.

  One, it didn’t have any other Qi artifacts or other abilities. It was a plain trident. Two, it was extremely heavy, expected to be wielded by someone at least in the second realm.

  The trident slammed into the ground, causing the ground to shake.

  The man in black paused when he felt it.

  Yu Di raised it up in a forward grip with both hands, cycled his Qi into the trident, and then recited the activation phrase for the trident. He lifted it above his head and threw it at the man in black.

  The trident sailed across the air. The man in black took out his sword, ready to deflect.

  But as soon as his sword connected with the trident, he was blown away. His sword broke into ten thousand pieces. He spat up blood as he crashed into the ground, the trident pinning him down.

  Yu Di grabbed the trident but it wouldn’t budge, no matter how much Qi he cycled into it or said the activation phrase. It was buried too deep and became too heavy after it absorbed the Qi from the man in black.

  Yu Di took off running down the mountain. It took him most of the day running away before he found a small cave to hide for a moment. He took out his transmission jade and pressed the orange button.

  Only seven of the jades pinged back their location. That meant that they lost at least three of their squad mates already.

  The others were still making their way toward Cui Ying’s location.

  “If you are in a safe place, report,” Yu Di sent out.

  “I’ve gathered quite a few of our fellow disciples,” Bai Feng sent back. “However, it feels like the other sects are targeting us over the others.”

  That was expected. Based on their collaborated attack on their sect earlier, the other three sects must want to take out the stronger enemy first.

  “Does anyone need help?” Yu Di asked.

  A jade in the west from his location pinged.

  Yu Di abandoned his cave and raced over there, running as fast as he could using his light body skill. He hadn’t used it in so long he had forgotten what it felt like to run like the wind, his mind able to avoid objects and obstacles without his active thought.

  A group of three in blue tunics were surrounded by eight others in green, red, and black tunics. Yu Di recognized only one of them, the outer sect disciple. The larger group had their weapons trained on the unarmed disciples.

  Yu Di’s instincts screamed at him to run. Not only were his fellow sect disciples outnumbered, they were outclassed too. The other sects had two people at a higher level than him.

  In his old life, he would have abandoned them. In fact, he would have watched until they exhausted each other before flying in with the finishing blow, taking all their items for himself. But he knew his daughter was watching this brutal fight.

  Yu Di couldn’t disappoint his daughter. He couldn’t abandon his squad mates. So what could he do?

  Time for some general mayhem.

  He focused on his storage ring and reached in with his mind. There was a specific item he was looking for that made a particular spectacle he needed.

  There.

  Yu Di plucked a yellow lizard statue from his storage ring. It had orange spots on it. He hadn’t seen or used this in ages and the best part was, it didn’t require any Qi from him to activate.

  He placed the lizard on the floor, snapped its tail and ran as far away from it as possible.

  Seconds later, the lizard grew so tall and large that it seemed to rival a small nearby mountain. Its stubby little legs lurched forward, making a loud roar.

  All the disciples turned to look at it.

  “Spirit beast!”

  With uncanny movements, the lizard waddled and slid over to them, bowling them all over.

  “Run toward me and bring the others if you can,” Yu Di sent to his squad mate.

  His squad mate pinged his location and ran toward him. The other two in blue ran with him while two stragglers ran behind them, their weapons forgotten.

  “Keep running past me,” Yu Di sent.

  His squad mate ran past him, only acknowledging him with a head nod.

  Yu Di took out his staff. As soon as the enemy disciples came into range, he smashed them in the chest, knocking them down. He ran to catch up with his squad mates.

  “This way. The lizard will finish the job.” Yu Di ran toward Cui Ying’s position. His sect disciples followed.

  Curse unlocked: .4% lifted.

  The lizard roared as it fought all the disciples.

  Yu Di only partially regretted releasing the lizard as it was at the first levels of the core formation stage. It would probably go on a rampage killing many disciples before it was done.

  “Be sure to not go near my current location,” Yu Di sent out. “Large lizard rampaging.”

  A strong Qi force blanketed the area, pushing Yu Di’s group down to the ground.

  Yu Di managed to break free, using a concentrated burst of Qi. Whoever used that technique was in the Core Formation stage, but they spread their technique too wide to hold him.

  A shriek came from the lizard’s location. The yellow lizard was pinned down and stabbed. But that wasn’t all. The other disciples in red and green were also being dispatched.

  A woman in a black tunic approached them, sword out, staring at Yu Di’s group.

  Yu Di got up and tried to run, but another Qi force slammed down onto him. This time, he couldn’t break free as he was the only target. His other disciples were still pressed to the ground.

  “It seems we have a smart one,” the woman in black said. “Too bad I’m going to have to cut you down.”