Yu Di sat on the grass, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. Apparently, he wasn’t done meditating yet. He was only done with breaking through. He relished that feeling. That inexplicable floating feeling where everything was alright in the world.

  Euphoria.

  Oh, it’s been so long. Even before he was hunted like a dog, it had been at least a few decades since he last gained a level. And this…

  This was what he chased.

  No other feeling better in the world.

  Better yet, he felt the bounds of his curse. Now that he was at the peak level of the end stage of this realm, he could feel the curse buckling under his new level. If he could somehow break through the bottleneck to the next realm, then he could break the curse in one go.

  But that would take a miracle. From all his research and traveling around the world, he has never found one concrete proof that it was possible. There were myths and legends, but they were unreliable.

  Two small, warm, yet moist palms pushed against Yu Di’s face. It smelled like red bean paste. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know who it was.

  “Little Lin, what are you doing?” Yu Di asked.

  “I’m making sure you’re awake,” Yu Lin responded. “Auntie Bai said she made us dinner and she wanted us to go in and eat. There’s fish, duck, chicken, pork, and beef. Come come!”

  Little Lin said all this while continually squishing Yu Di’s cheeks. That moist feeling from her hands made him forget all about the euphoria.

  Yu Di opened his eyes to see Yu Lin really focused on squeezing his cheeks. It was like she was trying to make bread with his face.

  “Okay, I’m awake. Let’s go.” Yu Di got up and carried his daughter in his arms. More importantly, he stopped her assault on his cheeks. Nothing says icky as much as some grubby little four-year-old hands.

  Yu Lin dragged her father with both hands. Her strength was easily enough to lift him off the ground if he didn’t have an Immortal’s body.

  When did she get this strong?

  The smells coming from Bai Feng’s home made Yu Di salivate. It reminded him of the wedding banquets back in the village. When did he last eat?

  “Welcome back,” Bai Feng said. She sat at a long table close to the ground. Every dish Yu Lin mentioned sat waiting for Yu Di to devour them. Of course, all of that paled in comparison to something he hadn’t seen in so long:

  A large bucket of white rice, sitting by itself as if on a pedestal.

  “Where have you been all my life?” Yu Di said. He grabbed the ladle and began spooning large mounds of rice into a large bowl. He grabbed his chopsticks and picked up a piece of steamed fish. It tasted so fresh and tender, like it was just plucked from the sea. He hadn’t had such good tasting food for so long.

  Yu Lin chomped on a large chicken drumstick with one hand while the other she held a duck drumstick.

  Yu Di looked up from devouring the white fluffy rice.

  “Thank you so much. How long was I out there?” Yu Di grabbed a piece of roast pork with his chopsticks and stuck it in his mouth. The salty fat. The crunchy skin. All of this mixed with the white rice made his heart flutter as he swallowed.

  Could it be?

  This was better than the restaurant back in his home village.

  “You meditated for the better part of the day,” Bai Feng said. “I had to tell the head servant that I needed you for something so he wouldn’t bother you. I was glad that I had that much pull at least.”

  “Thank you, Senior Bai,” Yu Di said.

  “No need for all that senior nonsense inside here. We both know that you are a hidden master.”

  “What’s a hidden master?” Yu Lin asked, her mouth smeared with oil.

  “It means your father is someone powerful with skills and talents.” Bai Feng wiped Yu Lin's face with a cloth.

  “Really?” Yu Lin wiped her mouth with her sleeve and leaned in close to Yu Di’s face. “He doesn’t seem all that powerful unless it’s because he’s old. The other day he cried when I jumped on his back.”

  Yu Di swallowed.

  “I didn’t cry, you little brat. You hit me from above without warning. If it was anyone else, you would have killed them. Don’t do that again.”

  Yu Lin frowned and nodded.

  “Anyway, I want to apologize to you, Senior Bai,” Yu Di said. “You took care of me all day today and cooked us food.”

  “It looked like it was worth it.” Bai Feng poured out a cup of wine and passed it to Yu Di. “You went into a long trance. So what did you learn?”

  “I learned about the unifying theory of the universe and about chaos and order,” Yu Di said. The wistful memory forced him to put down his chopsticks and picture the concept in his mind.

  “That’s it? Was it that simple?”

  Yu Di shook his head.

  “No, I’m sorry. Whoever wrote the idea on that stone stele is a genius. They’re at such a high level it would require you to be a demigod or higher to understand its complexity. More importantly, it’s very personal. It’s not something that is universal to everyone.”

  Bai Feng took a shot of her wine.

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “Are you sure your sect leader was the one who wrote that?” Yu Di picked up his chopsticks to continue his terror on the food. He went back to the steamed fish. Shreds of ginger laced across its side while it swam in a pool of soy sauce.

  “That’s what he said. It’s been there before I joined the sect.” Bai Feng picked up her own chopsticks and only ate a few bites of white rice. She plunked the bowl of rice onto the table, spilling a few white grains. “Are you sure it’s not something that you can solve or explain to the sect leader?”

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  Yu Di shook his head. He wasn’t sure what was going on, as Bai Feng seemed upset. Her face had the same pout that Yu Lin got sometimes when she didn’t get her way. The only thing missing was the whining sound.

  “Auntie Bai, are you okay?” Yu Lin asked.

  Bai Feng looked up and attempted a smile.

  “No, I’m fine little Lin. You keep eating and enjoy the food.”

  “Okay. But if someone is bullying you, tell me and I can help you.”

  “Even if it’s your father?”

  Yu Lin stared at Yu Di.

  “Especially if it’s Baba. Mother said that Baba was irresponsible and how he didn’t take care of me.”

  Yu Di’s mouth gaped open. He wanted to contest that he didn’t know of her existence, but would that have mattered to him? In his quest to break this curse, he could only think of himself.

  Yu Di put down his chopsticks and took Yu Lin’s hand in his.

  “I’m sorry little Lin that you thought I didn’t care about you. I’m here now and I will never leave you.”

  “Okay.” Yu Lin pulled her greasy hand out of Yu Di’s grip and went back to devouring the two legs.

  Yu Di wiped his hands on the tablecloth.

  “Wow, this cloth is beautiful. Where did you get it?” The tablecloth had beautiful hand sewn pictures of lilies on them.

  “It was my mother’s,” Bai Feng said. “This is not good.”

  “What’s not good? The food is amazing. It’s almost like you’re celebrating something.”

  Bai Feng took another shot from her wine cup. She mumbled something.

  “What? I didn’t catch that.”

  Bai Feng looked up at Yu Di. Her face was flushed red.

  “I thought I was welcoming the next grand Elder of the ‘Forgotten Spirit Sect,’” she said. “ But now you’re telling me that there’s no actual solution to the stone stele? Was that just a joke made by the sect leader? Solve this riddle that only demigods can and then you can be a grand elder of this sect?”

  Yu Di saw the problem. Bai Feng hoped that if he could solve the puzzle, then all her troubles would go away. And she’d be friends with a Grand Elder. No one else would mess with her anymore, especially Elder Li.

  That would go double for him.

  “I’m sorry Senior Bai,” Yu Di said. “I’m sure you know this already, but this is a great lesson for Yu Lin. Cultivation is very personal and the insights one gets differ from person to person. While there are techniques we can all learn at different stages, to truly grasp the higher order ideas, we have to find it for ourselves. This is one of those examples.”

  “Just like how I like the duck more than the chicken,” Yu Lin said as she took a larger bite out of the darker meat. “But since there are more chickens, it’s easier to eat than ducks. Sometimes I eat what I can get.”

  “Exactly, little Lin.”

  “But what will happen to us now?” Bai Feng asked, taking another shot of the wine.

  “Well, you could help me and little Lin escape the sect,” Yu Di said.

  “No, I don’t want to leave,” Yu Lin shouted.

  “She can come with us. I doubt she is having much of a life here in the sect and I have enough money to cover all our needs in our home village. You can also see grandpa again.”

  Yu Lin looked up as if she remembered something. Maybe it was the grandpa back home or the village of kids. She was convinced.

  Now all Yu Di needed was Bai Feng to agree.

  “No, I can’t go,” Bai Feng said.

  “Why not?” Yu Di asked.

  “I can’t survive out there,” Bai Feng hiccuped. “My parents did everything for me. They even hired a servant to take care of me. She died many years ago. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

  “I’m sure we could find something for you to do. There’s plenty of mortal activities and other interesting things. I’m sure—”

  “I can’t leave my children.” Tears fell down Bai Feng’s face. “All those children that I taught, took care of, and ignored me. I can’t bear to know that they will suffer in this crumbling sect without me. I…”

  Bai Feng looked from Yu Di to his daughter.

  “You have a daughter. You understand, don’t you?”

  Yu Lin put down her drumsticks and cried too.

  “Baba, you have to help Auntie Bai.”

  “Oh Laozi. Now you got the little one crying too.” Yu Di took a shot from the wine cup himself before pouring more.

  Bai Feng wrapped her arms around Yu Lin, and they cried together. Yu Lin wiping her face on her purple tunic.

  Yu Di took a bite from the mixed vegetables as he watched the two. It was bitter. At that point, he knew two things. First, Bai Feng was right. After being with his daughter for just a year, he couldn’t imagine leaving her no matter what. What hurts the most was that fate would not give him much time to spend with his daughter.

  His jade tablet told him he had at most 18 years left to live. Will she remember him when he passes?

  Second, and this one annoyed more than hurt, he would now have to make Bai Feng an Elder so that he and his daughter could have a peaceful life within the sect. He couldn’t keep living in that prison cell anymore, nor deal with Elder Li and the politics of this crumbling sect.

  Yu Di took another shot of wine. This one went in too fast, hitting the back of his neck, making him cough. His hacking cough broke the other two from their crying.

  “Baba, are you okay?” Yu Lin patted her father on the back, mimicking what he’s done for her. Except she was hitting a lot harder.

  “Yes, yes, stop!” Yu Di said. He wasn’t sleeping on his back that night.

  Yu Di poured himself tea and gulped it down to soothe the burning in his throat.

  “Fine, we won’t leave. But that means the hard work starts for you tomorrow.” Yu Di pointed at Bai Feng with his chopsticks. He had a feeling that this was going to be one of his last good meals before the hard work. “I’m going to push you until you either break or you become an Elder.”

  Bai Feng sobbed.

  “What now?” Yu Di asked.

  “That’s what I was afraid of!” Bai Feng hiccuped once more before collapsing backwards onto the hard floor.

  “That goes the same for you little Lin. Whatever I teach to Bai Feng, you’ll have to learn, too.”

  “Yes Baba.” Yu Lin wiped her face with her sleeve and went back to her abandoned drum sticks.

  Yu Di chuckled as this reminded him of when he first joined a sect many years ago. That had been so long ago that he couldn’t remember much of the details. The problem with aging, he supposed. But the one thing he remembered was the friends he made and the feeling of being a part of something. He wondered how some of his seniors were doing.

  Yu Di took a sip from his wine. Was he doing the right thing? He watched as his daughter consumed more food than he’s ever seen her.

  Yes, this was correct. Better for his daughter to grow up as an Immortal and experience life to the fullest rather than be a boring dullard among the mortals and their rules, especially where women are concerned.

  It was just a bonus that he was helping Bai Feng with her problems as well.

  Yu Di downed the shot of wine and choked when he heard:

  Curse unlocked: 0.2% lifted.

  “Baba, are you okay?” Yu Lin shouted. She looked like she was about to jump over the table to him.

  Yu Di nodded, waving his daughter off before she bruised his back worse. She went back to eating.

  With a calming breath, Yu Di felt a slight crackle in his dantian. Combined with the earlier enlightenment, he felt more Qi coursing through his body.

  For the first time since Yu Di had been cursed, he felt like he could finally breathe.

  Maybe coming here wasn’t such a bad thing. Bai Feng was right about one thing. It was time to celebrate.

  Yu Di took another deep breath, absorbing the rich Qi in the air and the food.

  It was time to break this curse.

  “Baba, are you sure you’re okay?” Yu Lin asked. “You look very scary right now. Am I in trouble?”

  Yu Di felt his mouth stretch into the widest smile he’s ever had.

  “I’m fine little Lin. I’m better than fine.”

  “Okay.” Yu Lin shrugged.

  These two budding Immortals weren't the only ones putting in the hard work. The chase to break his curse began tomorrow.