The barrier was technically still part of the camp’s perimeter. It was just opposite Yu Di’s goal of getting back to Yu Lin. So if he ran back into the barrier, used the dense Qi within the walls to set up an impenetrable defense, then Fatima would have to let him go.

  That was the goal.

  His body collapsed right after the assault of cinnamon. Yu Di had to force it to stay on the flying board instead of jumping off it to Fatima’s technique. That was when he heard tendons and muscles snapping. Luckily he couldn’t feel it as the technique prevented that, but once he stopped it, Yu Di was going to be in a world of hurt.

  “How are you resisting me?” Fatima screamed. She flew faster on her carpet, mere feet behind Yu Di.

  “It’s because I don’t care for women,” Yu Di shouted back. “Or for men either. Don’t send them.”

  “So, children then?” Fatima cackled from behind.

  “No, you’re sick.”

  The barrier was right in front of Yu Di. That was when the flying board ran out of Qi. The spirit stones must have been drained from pushing it so hard.

  Yu Di flew headfirst into the barrier. As he suspected, it allowed him through with no issue. The moment he tasted the dense water Qi, he absorbed as much as he could to set up his defense.

  Fatima came flying in on her carpet and dismissed it once she reached Yu Di. She grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. “You are not eluding me that easily.”

  “I think I am,” Yu Di said. He activated a new technique he developed from within the barrier.

  The water Qi within the barrier solidified. It felt like walking through slush. That was for anyone who wasn’t Yu Di.

  Fatima felt the encroaching push against her. She flared her Qi, pushing against it, but the harder she pushed, the harder the barrier tried to squish her.

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  “I simply made this barrier my domain,” Yu Di said. “You idiots thought you could pour in Qi from all different people to maintain the barrier. That just meant that the barrier had no master.”

  “But this is my technique!” Fatima pushed harder and harder against the barrier. She had to let go of Yu Di to maintain her focus.

  “I commend you on developing such an ingenious wall, but the barrier has changed from your original technique into something more magical. If I hadn’t entered here, you and your Shah would still be in control. But your master is right. I am a Demigod. I hold many more secrets and understanding of this world than you could ever imagine. This is just a simple trick for me.”

  Fatima gritted her teeth, unable to speak as the pressure doubled every second she pushed against the barrier. Her light brown eyes furious, baring daggers at Yu Di. She couldn’t move even an inch, frozen within the barrier.

  Yu Di walked up to the frozen Fatima. “There’s something I’ve been dying to see ever since I saw you.” He gently uncovered her mask, revealing the rest of her beautiful face.

  Fatima had a small mouth and a button nose. She scowled and it showed off her dimples.

  Yu Di relaxed the hold of the barrier on her just a little so she could speak.

  “I’m going to kill you for that,” Fatima said. “Only His Holiness may see my face.”

  Yu Di gently put the mask back on. “I apologize. I couldn’t help myself after you bombarded me with that technique of yours. Be happy I’m not doing worse.”

  Fatima’s hand shot out. Her fingers wrapped around Yu Di’s neck. Before she could squeeze him to death, Yu Di locked her back in place.

  No matter how hard he tried, Yu Di couldn’t get those fingers off him.

  Fatima’s smile reached her eyes. “You are not the only one who has power here. Let me go or I will end you.”

  It was Yu Di’s fault for being so foolish. The small bit of freedom he gave her was enough to allow her to regain some control over the barrier. He locked it back down, but the hand was not going anywhere.

  “We’re at an impasse,” Yu Di said. “The moment I release you, you’ll kill me. I have regained absolute control over the barrier so you can’t move anymore.”

  Fatima went back to gritting her teeth. Yu Di made that mistake only once.

  “So I’ll tell you what we’ll do.” Yu Di placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to give you a choice. Let me go or I start disrobing you.”

  Fatima trembled against the force of the Qi. Her Qi flared to a higher state, but it didn’t matter. In the immediate area within this barrier, Yu Di might as well be a god. He was a terrible god that couldn’t save himself, but a god nonetheless.

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  “It’s your fault for affecting my mind so,” Yu Di said. “I don’t think I can continue living without your body. But I’ll make an exception if you let me go.”

  Fatima’s fingers loosened a bit. But just as quickly, they tightened over Yu Di’s neck.

  Yu Di pushed as hard as he could against Fatima, hoping the crushing Qi would be enough to stop her from killing him.

  Fatima let go.

  Yu Di flew hard and fast from Fatima back toward the city of Miryana. He couldn’t stop himself as another force pushed him harder until he broke through the other side of the barrier.

  The sun hit his face, and the air cleared of the dense water Qi from the barrier. It was so dry and unbearable. But Yu Di was free.

  He hit the sand with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs.

  “I will kill you for this!” Fatima yelled from within the barrier.

  Now that Yu Di was out of the barrier, Fatima took over full control of it again. It was a shame because if he had had more time within the barrier, he could have made it his new home. All that dense Qi pushed into it every day by all the Shah’s cultivators to maintain it would have sped up Yu Di’s own cultivation.

  Yu Di took out his jade tablet.

  Current Power: Realm 1, Stage 3, Level 8 (Core Formation)

  Remaining Lifespan: 3 years, 2 months.

  Current Status: Cursed (15.2% lifted)

  Overall Power: Fourth Realm, End Stage, Peak level (Demigod)

  At least Yu Di’s curse didn’t become worse despite his use of Qi in there. The techniques he used were within his own limits. That was another thing he noticed. If he used his Qi for self-preservation, it didn’t make his curse worse, mostly. More things to test in the days to come.

  More importantly, he gained quite a few levels within his cultivation. What would happen if Yu Di broke into the second realm? Would his lifespan increase as it would if he weren’t cursed? That would give him a lot more time to break it.

  At least his day didn’t get worse. As of the moment, Yu Di was full of Qi. He burned through it at a slow rate to control his body with his technique, but it would last him a month at least. Hopefully, he would have time to settle and repair his body before that happened. And he was alive!

  That murderous woman and her shady master. What did Shah al-Rahman mean he was the inspiration for his desire to conquer and make others miserable? Yu Di made himself miserable enough without the guilt from others.

  Yu Di licked his lips, tasting sand. The first thing he’d need would be water as he used whatever he stored within his storage ring. He had plenty of food from his time with Bai Feng, but he never thought he’d need water.

  Yu Di sat up and froze.

  “You finally noticed me,” high priest Kutan said. The man wore his white robes, still pristine despite the sand. He had Buddhist prayer beads wrapped around his left hand. The only thing missing was the dazzling smile he had when they first met.

  Yu Di cupped his hands. “Greetings Kutan. What misfortune brought you out here?”

  Kutan made a chopping motion with his right hand toward Yu Di.

  A large force of Qi flew at Yu Di. He shielded his body, knowing that this force would obliterate him completely. Instead, the Qi flew over his body and collided against the barrier.

  The barrier shimmered for a moment before becoming still again.

  “You see, my elite soldiers found a weak spot here not too long ago,” Kutan said. “We bombarded it with everything we had and prayed that it would finally come down. It weakened only for a moment before going back up. We sensed it was weakening again and rushed over, hoping to tear it down to end our people’s suffering. Yet not only did it do nothing, you popped out of the barrier. I wonder why that is.”

  Yu Di shrugged. “I was captured by Shah al-Rahman’s people and they brought me through the barrier. I escaped only after much struggle.”

  Kutan walked over to Yu Di. A personal barrier shimmered around him, preventing any sand from getting on his clothes. A high leveled cultivator must be nearby.

  “You are lucky that someone validated what you just said,” Kutan said. “Otherwise, I would kill you where you sit for being a spy. But since you’re still alive, it’s best if we interrogate you back at the Pavilion of Goddess’ Grace. We’ll let Abbot Lokenatha determine your fate.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to protect me until we get back?” Yu Di asked.

  Kutan raised an eyebrow.

  Yu Di reached back into the barrier and released his hold on it. He couldn’t hold on much longer anyway since he was outside and the technique drained his Qi. He needed it to move his body.

  That’s when a feral roar erupted from within the barrier. The wall shimmered, glowing yellow and then blue.

  “Yu Di, you are a dead man!” Fatima yelled.

  Yu Di forced himself into a sprint away from the barrier. He left Kutan staring at the wall. A monster was coming and he looked calm.

  A large curved sword made of Qi cut through the barrier and slammed into Kutan’s force field. Yu Di expected him to explode into little bits and pieces, but whoever protected him withstood a strike from someone in the third realm.

  Yu Di glanced around in his sprint, trying to identify the cultivator. Whoever it was shouldn’t have trouble dealing with Fatima then. Not that he cared. If they killed each other, then that would make Yu Di’s escape easier.

  The sand shifted below him. A bowl formed from the sand held Yu Di in place. He ran into the bowl, getting a face full of sand up his nose.

  Yu Di fell on his behind, wiping the sand from his face. A trio of men dressed in the same white robes as Kutan stood at the top of the bowl, looking down at him. Their robes weren’t pristine, though.

  “You may not leave,” one said. “Try and we will kill you here.”

  “That’s fine,” Yu Di said. He didn’t need to turn around to see the fight as he felt it in his bones. Two third realm cultivators fighting each other shook the entire ground. “Could we at least move far away from that disaster without getting caught in it? I would rather die within Miryana than from a stray strike.”

  The white robes glanced up, and their faces paled with each strike. They looked at each other before nodding. The bowl of sand dispersed and one of them grabbed Yu Di by his tunic.

  It ripped in half, leaving him topless.

  “Sorry, it’s been one of those days,” Yu Di said.

  “Move.” The closest white robe placed a hand on Yu Di’s shoulder.

  Pain shot into him through the shoulder. Yu Di collapsed onto the ground.

  “I barely touched him,” the white robe said.

  “What did you do to me?” Yu Di yelled. The pain radiated out from his shoulder and traveled throughout his body, causing crippling pain.

  “I was going to hold you so you wouldn’t run. I dispelled whatever techniques you had on you as standard procedure.”

  “That was stupid,” Yu Di said through gritted teeth. “You dispelled my pain, resistance and movement techniques.”

  The blinding pain was threatening to overwhelm him if he couldn’t get it back under control. Yet even through the pain, he could feel the fight between Fatima and the unseen white robe escalating. It would soon engulf them.

  “We have to go,” the white robe said. “Leave him.”

  As one, all three white robes ran for their lives. Sword strikes carved long trenches beside Yu Di.

  All Yu Di felt was blinding pain as he shut his eyes. Was he going to die here?