Yu Di gathered Qi into his rock technique. It would turn him temporarily into a rock. Like Sun Wukong but backwards. Now the challenge came whether that would survive a bump by a sandworm.

  With his Demigod Qi, this technique would make him unbreakable. But using his muddled Qi that he had scraped together in the last few minutes was dangerous.

  Yet being captured by whoever was riding over on sandworms would be worse. The items in his storage ring could easily empower the invaders to take down Miryana.

  Yu Di took a couple of deep breaths to enlarge his lungs. The other problem with this technique was that he wouldn’t be able to breathe once turned into rock. Then again, he wouldn’t be able to hear, see, or feel anything either as a rock. He’d have to guess how long he’d have to stay for Vimala to succeed.

  Meanwhile, Vimala unrolled a long, coarse rope around her waist. She made a large loop with the rope.

  “Where did you get that from?” Yu Di asked.

  “I wrangle camels all day,” Vimala said. “Do you think I do it by hand?”

  This would not go catastrophically wrong for Yu Di at all.

  Yu Di saw the right opportunity. The sandworm was far enough away that gave him just enough space to jump in front. He popped off the rock with all the grip he could handle while wearing shoes without bottoms.

  As he flew down to meet the sand and the worm, Yu Di realized he had time to switch out his shoes from his storage ring. Hell, he had access to his storage ring again. He could have switched his entire outfit. Better yet, he probably had something in his ring that could stop the sandworm dead in its tracks without risking himself.

  Too late now.

  Yu Di hit the sand, creating a splash. He released his Qi and activated his technique. He held his breath.

  Darkness consumed him.

  Yu Di was wrong. He could feel while inside the rock technique.

  The large sandworm smacked into him as it hit the rock. That or it tried to bite down on him with the circular rows of jagged teeth. He could only imagine which it was and prayed that Vimala could wrangle the worm before he’d have to release his technique.

  At least he had a peaceful moment. In the absolute dark and silence, he thought for a moment about why he did what he did and how he kept ending up in these situations. Was it a poor upbringing? Was it greed, as Vimala said? Or maybe he could blame how great it felt whenever he cultivated to a new level.

  Every cultivator felt it. Every cultivator chased that feeling like it was the only feeling in the world. Except other cultivators had something else in their lives that made their lives worth living.

  Vimala had her city.

  Bai Feng wanted companionship.

  Even the bastard Gu Zi desired to reach the next level to explore the greater world out there.

  Ying Fusu was a merchant.

  All Yu Di had was a blind obsession to level up and go higher and higher at all costs. He had nothing else. He had his daughter now, but that was no excuse. Yet she taught him a little more about what it meant to have something outside of cultivation.

  Yu Di felt lightheaded. He had released much of his breath already and couldn’t hold the technique any longer. Might as well find out whether he was inside the worm’s stomach or still standing on his own.

  Yu Di pushed his Qi against the rock. He would have to be like Sun Wukong and break open his rock egg. The biggest difference being that Yu Di lost a lot of his Qi while doing this, while Sun Wukong absorbed the Qi from heaven and earth while bursting out of his rock.

  The sun beat down on him instantly. He stood next to the large rock outcrop from earlier. The sandworm and Vimala were nowhere to be found.

  “Yu Di, over here!” Vimala yelled from a distance.

  Yu Di climbed the rock outcrop. He couldn’t believe what he saw.

  Vimala rode atop the worm, somehow with the rope around its head. The worm had bent its head upward as Vimala sat on its midsection. But it was moving away from him at a quick speed.

  “I can’t really control it,” Vimala shouted. She tugged and pulled until the sandworm turned toward the rock outcrop. Now the worm slithered toward Yu Di at great speed. “I don’t think I can stop it. You’re going to have to jump on.”

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  Yu Di didn’t have time to argue. The sandworm was coming fast. This would have been a lot easier if he could fly again. As soon as he got back to Miryana, he was going to cultivate until his Qi reserves were full. Then he was going to fly on his own again. No more of this riding on a worm thing.

  The sandworm flew right by.

  Yu Di jumped and he missed. He face-planted right into the hot, burning, stinging sand.

  “I’ll come back,” Vimala yelled behind her.

  Yu Di got up, dusted himself off, and saw the other sandworms in view. It would only take them minutes to catch him there.

  “No Vimala,” he called. “Go back to the city and find Ying Fusu.”

  Vimala glanced back, her green eyes piercing through the sandstorm she created behind her. She gripped the rope tightly, already twisting it to steer the sandworm back to Yu Di.

  “No, save yourself,” Yu Di said.

  Curse unlocked: .2% lifted.

  Vimala nodded once before turning the sandworm away from the rock outcrop.

  Yu Di climbed the rock outcrop and dusted the remaining sand as best as he could. His ripped tunic and pants looked like he’d fought the sandworm barehanded. And his shoes were completely gone now. He still had a minute or two before they caught up with him.

  Yu Di reached into his storage ring and pulled out a new set of clothes. He peeled his tunic off himself as it stuck to him from the sweat and grime of the last few days. He wet a spare cloth he had with the last of his water to clean off the extra grimy parts. After peeling off the nasty clothes and cleaning what he could, Yu Di wore the new set of clothes.

  If he was going to meet these invaders, he would meet them as a Demigod. At least that’s what he hoped it would look like to them. The Emperor gifted these clothes himself. Made from the finest silks and other precious materials, only the princes themselves had the privilege of wearing it.

  It made Yu Di think of the silk scarf Ying Fusu wore. He didn’t have time to see it himself, but it also had the same quality as his clothes. But he only had a scarf of the material. At best, Ying Fusu did something that pleased the Emperor. The Emperor gave Yu Di multiple sets after he helped him with a major issue.

  Whatever the case, it was time to put on a show. Yu Di tried to remember what Elder Li looked like when he first joined the ‘Forgotten Spirit Sect.’ That man had the most immaculate beard Yu Di had ever seen and he wore his clothes like a prince.

  Yu Di put his arms behind him, facing the incoming group of armed and dangerous men riding on an armored sandworm. He had a slight frown, as if the sight was beneath him. To give himself a small boost, Yu Di used a little bit of his remaining Qi to make his robes flow behind him as if a wind blew by.

  If only he had his trident. He’d look way more intimidating, like a warlord of the sea.

  The four sandworms stopped in front of Yu Di. Their leader stepped onto the rock outcrop, his hand on the hilt of his curved sword. The man cupped his hands.

  “Greetings, I am—”

  “I don’t care who you are unless you’re the leader of the invading force,” Yu Di said. “Take me to your Shah. I will speak only with him.”

  The man unsheathed his sword. “You insolent bastard think you can just—”

  Yu Di kicked him in the chest before he could get his sword all the way out of his scabbard. The man fell a few feet back onto the sand.

  All the other men howled.

  Yu Di reached into his storage ring. He saved up many firecrackers from all the years past. He was hoping to use them to play with Yu Lin, but this called for drastic measures. In place of actual power, he was going to call upon alchemy.

  Yu Di lit a handful of firecrackers and threw them into the air. “You fools don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

  The snaps and pops silenced them.

  Yu Di remembered the last time he had been here. Fireworks were dangerous since the Emperor banned their export outside of the empire. Hopefully, they’ll think it’s his cultivation powers and let him live.

  Some men on the worms laughed.

  “You think that’s powerful?” a man said. He took out a large black stick. He lit the end and threw it at Yu Di.

  This one was big enough to take off Yu Di’s head.

  Yu Di jumped off the rock outcrop as quickly as he could. The loud bang sounded right behind him, showering him with the black paper they wrapped their firecracker. Again, Yu Di ate sand.

  The explosiveness of that black powder could have killed him. Not even his Demigod body would survive that without using all his Qi to shield him.

  Where did these bastards get black powder, anyway?

  “We can keep lobbing large fire sticks at each other all day or you can come out peacefully,” the man said.

  Yu Di took a deep breath and took stock of what he had. He doubted they had more fireworks than he did, but he couldn’t fight all of them at once. Not to mention, they had sandworms. There was also nothing left in his dantian to fight with. He could use other artifacts in his storage ring, but most of them were useless after losing all their Qi.

  Wait, he still had the bell he used during the festival. That didn’t require any Qi. But Yu Di wasn’t sure how long it had been since he last heard the two bells he rang. He could only guess it’s been a few days since then. There was no way…

  A loud crack sounded above Yu Di’s head. That was followed by a long string of pops that hit a crescendo of bangs and body-shaking pressure.

  Yu Di crawled away from the rock outcrop as fast as he could. He felt the worms on the move despite the fireworks going off behind him. He could not outrun them.

  Time for a new plan.

  Yu Di reached into his storage ring and pulled out the same type of barrier he used on Vimala earlier. It wouldn’t stop the sandworm, but it masked the direction he crawled on the sand. If they couldn’t feel where he was going, then the worms couldn’t follow.

  Yu Di placed them all around before crawling away.

  Thanks to all the fireworks behind him, the smoke clouds obscured him from his pursuers. He could hear them going farther and farther away from him.

  Yu Di could do this. With every few feet, he set up another barrier. He didn’t know where he was headed, but he’d figure that out as soon as he got far enough away from them.

  An apricot pit hit Yu Di from behind.

  Yu Di rubbed his head before turning around to see who it was. That’s when he realized his folly.

  The sandworms didn’t move away. They stopped. All of his pursuers sat atop their individual worms, looking down at Yu Di. One of them gnawed on an apricot and threw the seeds at him.

  “Okay, I surrender,” Yu Di said, raising his hands.