Yu Di stepped in front of Yu Lin, performed a fist and palm salute, and bowed at the waist toward Elder Li.

  Now that he was closer, Elder Li looked like a young man in his thirties at most. He wore his green tunic tightly against his powerful physique. There was not a spec of dust anywhere. He had this immaculate beard with every strand meticulously curated to frame the most serious face Yu Di had ever seen. Not even his former Sifu could have made such a face at his angriest. His beard was so perfect it made Yu Di jealous.

  The time he must have spent to create such an image was staggering. Yu Di knew Immortals lived for a long time, but would any true Immortal waste that much time on appearance?

  “Who do we have here?” Elder Li asked.

  “Reporting to Elder Li, these are the new recruits we found.” Their guide bowed.

  “That’s it? We need more people than this.”

  “Reporting to Elder Li, most of the people in the surrounding villages are too weak to survive. These were the only people that were deemed worthy.”

  “Hmph.” Elder Li held his arms behind him and walked up to Yu Di. “Who was it that called me a bad man?”

  “Apologies Elder Li,” Yu Di said. “It was me.”

  “No, the voice was tiny and weak.” Elder Li put his hand on Yu Di to move him, but Yu Di pushed against the Elder.

  “I apologize, Elder Li. But the one behind me is my daughter and she doesn’t understand how this world works.”

  “Yes I do,” Yu Lin said. “Mother said that it’s not nice to bully others. She said that we should stand up and help others.”

  “Quiet Yu Lin. Your mother is not here.”

  “Grandpa said the same thing. So do a lot of uncles and aunties back in the village. Everyone knows this.”

  “Not now, Lin.”

  “But you said this yourself the other day when you saw one of my friends bullying another kid. You told me to stand up for him.”

  “Not now.”

  Elder Li smirked.

  “It seems we have a good father here. But even he knows the limits of bravery and heroism without backing.”

  Yu Di gritted his teeth. His daughter was sniffling behind him. He knew she was on the verge of tears. That was the worst feeling in the world.

  No, the worst feeling was knowing that little Lin was right.

  “Now, get out of my way so I can show your daughter some manners,” Elder Li said, his hand on Yu Di’s shoulder again. “If she wants to survive in this sect, she should know—”

  Yu Di rolled his shoulders, knocking Elder Li on to his ass. The surprise on his face made his immaculate beard do something it probably never did in its life: twist in on itself.

  “No, my daughter is right. You shouldn’t bully others because you can.”

  Their guide that led them disappeared. So did many of the onlookers. Only the new recruits stayed and Bai Feng, the woman in purple.

  “You dare injure an Elder?” A large wave of Qi rolled off Elder Li. It forced Yu Di to his knees.

  “Baba, are you okay?” Yu Lin was holding onto Yu Di’s arm.

  Yu Di gritted his teeth. He should have simply let it go, but there was no way he would allow anyone to threaten his daughter. Well, now he was going to pay the price.

  Bai Feng took two steps away from them.

  Yu Di laughed. Despite doing this to help that woman, she would not help either. Which was fine for Yu Di. He got himself into this. He’ll get himself out.

  Yu Di glared at Elder Li and forced himself up. This amount of Qi was nothing that his body hadn’t shrugged off in the past.

  Of course, he also had the Qi of a demigod.

  All he had now was his grit and an immortal body he’s abused over the last few years.

  Another wave of Qi pushed down on Yu Di. But this time, he didn’t get down on his knees. He was getting used to the power of this Elder.

  Not even at the Core Formation stage yet. How pitiful.

  “Is that all you got?” Yu Di asked. He stood up against the Qi.

  Elder Li scowled, making his already serious face look like a monster. If he wasn’t already using his full power, Yu Di suspected he was going to soon.

  That’s why Yu Di reached for an item on his belt. It neutralized most Qi from the third realm and lower. It was a waste to use it on this man, but he couldn’t last much longer against him.

  Yu Di might actually die.

  Elder Li’s head perked up, probably receiving a silent message from someone.

  “Hmph, you’re lucky today. I have business elsewhere.” Elder Li turned to Bai Feng. “Since you don’t want to join my faction, be useful at least. Show these newcomers around the sect, explain the rules, and then get them settled in the servant’s quarters.”

  “This disciple will follow the order.” Bai Feng cupped her hands toward Elder Li.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Elder Li glared at Yu Di once more before flying away on his flying sword.

  Yu Di recognized that look. It was the same one that all his enemies gave him to remember his face. That was good because Yu Di definitely remembered his face. He would repay Elder Li back, eventually.

  Yu Di collapsed onto the ground, laughing. Pay him back? He almost died there to some amateur who wasn’t even in the second realm.

  “Baba, are you okay? Did he hit your head or something?” Yu Lin touched her father’s head, looking for any wound.

  Yu Di smiled and hugged Yu Lin close. That was close. He had a few items on him to protect them, but they weren’t unlimited. He really needed to find a way out of this sect.

  Curse unlocked: 0.1% lifted.

  Yu Di heard it again. Where was that voice coming from?

  He put that aside as Bai Feng walked toward them. She didn’t look happy. Her glare was comparable to Elder Li. She wore a very plain looking dark purple tunic that had seen better days. There weren’t holes in it, but the fabric looked well worn.

  Yu Di gritted his teeth. He did not know about the political landscape of this sect so he wasn’t sure who was walking up to him. The only thing he knew was that she was a disciple and at least as strong as Elder Li. If it wasn’t one thing, then it’s another.

  Time to bow down and grovel again. This was something he had wished he taught Yu Lin before coming here, but then he never expected to join any sect, least of all this weak one.

  Yu Di cupped his hands toward Bai Feng.

  Bai Feng did the same thing. She had a large golden ring on her right thumb.

  “I apologize for—”

  “No, it should be me apologizing,” Bai Feng said. “You helped me out tremendously with Elder Li. I owe you and your daughter a debt.”

  “No, no, no, you don’t owe us anything,” Yu Di said. “My daughter doesn’t know how the world works and I have been spoiling her. I’ll teach her better manners in the future.”

  Bai Feng smiled and peeked around Yu Di at little Lin.

  “Hi. What’s your name?”

  Yu Lin grabbed Yu Di’s robe and leapfrogged her father’s back. She landed on the other side in front of Bai Feng.

  “Hello. I’m Yu Lin.”

  “Oh wow, she’s already this strong?” Bai Feng patted little Lin on the head. “And I love the name. Jade Forest, I assume? Your potential is as limitless as a forest.”

  Yu Lin beamed with a huge smile.

  “Well, I guess I’ll get you all started on this tour of our sect,” Bai Feng addressed the group.

  “Auntie Bai, I need to use the bathroom. Can we stop there first?” Yu Lin asked.

  Bai Feng laughed.

  “Of course. You five must have traveled a long distance. Let me get you a little food, drink, and new clothes first. Then we continue with the tour.”

  They made a quick detour to the bathroom on the east side of the fortress. There was a line of wooden stalls all along the wall. A few men and women in blue tunics stood in a line, waiting to get in.

  Once inside a stall, Yu Di took the chance to take out his jade tablet to look at it.

  Current Power: Realm 1, Stage 1, Level 0.5 (Qi condensation)

  Remaining Lifespan: 18 years, 5 months.

  Cursed Status: Cursed (0.4% lifted)

  Overall Power: Fourth Realm, End Stage, 9th level

  Yu Di took a deep breath and regretted it right away. The smell coming from the bathroom reminded him of time and place. He almost puked from that deep breath.

  He noticed that not only was his curse lifted, but he lost another two months of his life. Was it because he flared his Qi against Elder Li’s? He really needed to keep that under control before he no longer had any life left.

  Yu Di put away the tablet and quickly exited the bathroom stall, holding in his stomach. Luckily, he didn’t have time to eat breakfast yet that day. Otherwise, there would be roast pork added into the stew of human refuse.

  “Baba, are you okay?” Yu Lin asked. She had already finished using the bathroom and she was playing a game with Bai Feng. The sect disciple was flipping his daughter up into the air many feet up, way above the bathroom stalls.

  Fear gripped Yu Di for a moment as Yu Lin tumbled, and Bai Feng missed. But instead of slamming into the ground, Yu Lin did a roll on the ground and popped right back up.

  He had forgotten how she had a strong body now, enhanced with Qi. In fact, her body was stronger than his. But if the curse was lifting for whatever reason, then he could protect his daughter. Better yet, he could start cultivating again.

  That thought excited Yu Di, bringing a manic smile to his face.

  “I’m great, little Lin. Just be careful.”

  “Let’s continue the tour then,” Bai Feng said.

  They first walked to the kitchen and served some simple buns. They had a sweet red bean paste within.

  Yu Di was glad that Bai Feng was paying so much attention to Yu Lin. He couldn’t focus on the tour at all as his thoughts kept racing to the ramifications of his curse unlocking.

  Was his curse expiring like fruit, where it's breaking down? Or was there a time limit? Or was it something else where an action of some sort unlocked it?

  “Baba, look at that tall tower,” Yu Lin said.

  Yu Di looked up and saw the same look-out tower that dotted the other walls. He smiled and nodded. Honestly, for a sect of cultivators, this place seemed rather mundane. All they did was take over some poor bandit’s fortress and refurbished it with spirit stones. He’d seen this done many times before. It wasn’t anything special.

  It’s so common that one of his first memories of cultivator sects was just like this one: a refurbished bandit camp. He was as eager to see it as his daughter, but after so many years of stealing from the higher tier sects this place looked like a joke to him.

  Wait, maybe his curse had to do with being near these amateurs? Few of them are even in the Core Formation stage yet. Or maybe it’s because he hadn’t used his cultivation powers for over a year? He can’t remember when he last used it.

  It was definitely before Yu Lin’s mother left their daughter with him and that’s been over a year. And then, before that, he might have used it as a last burst to run away from some Immortals to reach his home village. So maybe it’s been three years?

  “Baba, look! There’s a large sand pit to play in. They even have toys.”

  The toys she mentioned were large stone structures that other cultivators were using for exercise. Some of them tossed large boulders into the air and juggled them as if they weighed nothing.

  “Yu Lin, you can’t do that just yet, so don’t try, do you understand?” Yu Di said.

  Yu Lin nodded.

  “But Auntie Bai said she would take me there to play next week.”

  Yu Di glanced at Bai Feng. She had a sheepish smile as if she was caught stealing.

  “Don’t worry Junior Yu,” Bai Feng said. “I’ll take care of her so she doesn’t get hurt. Besides, your daughter told me she hadn’t been able to use her full strength since she had been living with mortals. This would be good for her.”

  “Oh, my daughter should have told me this earlier,” Yu Di said. “I would have thrown her off higher roofs and made her carry heavier stones back in the village.”

  Yu Lin matched Bai Feng’s sheepish smile.

  “I’m sorry Baba. It was scary. I didn’t want to disappoint you or hurt grandpa.”

  Yu Di patted Yu Lin on the head.

  “It’s alright. I know our village wasn’t the best place to practice being an Immortal.”

  Yu Lin beamed, that hella cute smile and big large eyes, just like her mother.

  “You should also practice too, Baba, or else I’ll surpass you.”

  Yu Di nodded with a smile. That was exactly what he was planning to do. Of course, he had to figure out his curse first. When he did, he was going to show this mundane sect what a true Demigod can do.