Yu Di couldn’t believe what he heard. There was no way that was possible. He wanted to take out his jade tablet right then and there to check his own status, but he couldn’t let the two children from the sect realize who he was.

  Yu Di was still a hunted man from many sects. He couldn’t determine if his kidnappers were from a sect he’d previously stolen from.

  “Baba, look at the hills.” Yu Lin pointed from her seat in the cart. They had traveled away from their village to others, picking up people along the way. “They look like grandpa’s large stomach.”

  Yu Di smiled and nodded. That’s right. He shouldn’t focus so much on himself right now. He had to escape and protect his daughter.

  Oh, but he knew that gnawing feeling of wanting to know was going to eat him alive. He had only wasted the last few years hoping to break the curse.

  Finally!

  He took a deep breath. His hands were shaking.

  “Yes, they’re big,” Yu Di said. “Which reminds me, which glorious sect are we joining?”

  The man was sleeping on the cart beside the father and daughter. Probably hoping to keep them from running. The woman was driving the donkey.

  “We’re going to the ‘Forgotten Spirit Sect,’” the woman said. “It’s right over these two large hills, not too far from here.”

  Yu Di really thought for a moment. Had he ever been to this sect before? More importantly, had he ever stolen anything from them?

  “Look baba, more people are joining us,” Yu Lin said.

  A group of people were waiting in the next village. It was another man with the same blue tunic as the sect members and three other people, one man and two women. Unlike Yu Di, these people looked like they want to come.

  “Wow, you found something good,” the man in the blue tunic said as he got into the cart.

  “We almost came to blows,” the woman said. “You didn’t do too bad yourself.”

  The man scoffed.

  “They’re the most desperate, that’s all.”

  The rest of the way, none of the people talked on the cart except for Yu Lin. She marveled at the different things she saw.

  “Little Lin, has your mother never taken you out to see the world?” Yu Di asked.

  Yu Lin frowned when she heard mention of her mother.

  “No, we always stayed inside until the day she took me to see you. She kept telling me to not make any sounds so I didn’t even get to play. Only an auntie came to see me once in a while.”

  Yu Di picked up his daughter and hugged her to his chest.

  “I’m sorry that happened. If I had known earlier, I would have helped you.”

  Yu Lin smiled and poked him in the cheek.

  “You’re here now. Please don’t leave me.”

  Yu Di smiled back.

  “Never.”

  Yu Lin hugged him hard with her sharp chin digging into his shoulder.

  Yu Di hugged her back and realized something. He was being truthful that he wouldn’t leave his daughter no matter what. A year ago, he had to scramble to learn how to take care of this little child. Now he would never let her go.

  “Heh, so cute. Let’s see how long that lasts,” the sleeping man said.

  “We’re here,” the woman said.

  The cart stopped in front of a gigantic fortress. There was a large wooden bridge over a deep crevasse below. It looked familiar to Yu Di for some reason.

  “Baba, look.” Yu Lin pointed. “The wall is glowing.”

  A large fortress came into view, sitting on top of a cliff. The walls glowed with a purple crystal sheen. It was nothing special as the sect used some spirit stones to grow a crystal layer on the fortress walls. The process usually takes a long time, but it looked like someone finished it overnight. Sections weren't as shiny as others as if it deflected blows from other cultivators.

  “Yes, it looks impressive,” Yu Di said. “Just remember, not everything you see is what it seems.”

  “They have huge towers like in the stories. Do you think the Emperor is in there?” Yu Lin pointed at two large watch towers rising up into the sky, taller than any mortal buildings.

  Yu Di laughed.

  “No, the Emperor is most definitely not in some third-rate fortress like this.”

  “Hey, watch what you’re insulting.” The guard at the gate shoved a finger into Yu Di’s chest. “You’re new here, but it doesn’t mean I won’t throw you off this bridge.”

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  “Oh, my apologies senior.” Yu Di cupped his hands. “I was only explaining to my daughter a fact of life.”

  “Oh? And what might that be?”

  “That no matter where you go, there will be those beggars who think copper is the prettiest until they’ve seen gold.”

  “Enough.” The sect woman walked forward with a wooden badge. “Let us through Zhang. We’re here to report to Elder Li Zheng.”

  “Hey, you got this right?” The other two men from the sect walked to the farther side of the fortress. There was a smaller entrance into the fortress guarded by other members of the sect.

  The woman waved them away.

  “What’s stopping us from walking away from this sect?” Yu Di asked.

  The woman scowled.

  “You can. There are spirit beasts all around and the distance we traveled would take you a week to walk back to your village.”

  Yu Di hadn’t noticed how far they've traveled as his curse distracted him, but the donkey was a spirit beast.

  “Wow, that’s almost as fast as mother’s cloud,” Yu Lin said.

  Yu Di looked back at the fortress with fresh eyes. For them to afford something like that to carry new recruits, they weren’t as second rate as he had thought. There must be some powerful people within the sect, at least to the second realm he guessed.

  “Well, this is going to be our new home now, so I guess we should get on with it,” Yu Di said.

  Yu Lin nodded. There was a sparkle in her eye that matched the time when she learned she could do a back flip off the roof of the house and not be hurt. This sect didn’t know what they were accepting when they kidnapped the father and daughter.

  The best part? Yu Di wouldn’t need to control his daughter anymore. It was up to the sect to teach her.

  At least until he escaped.

  “Stay close,” the woman said.

  “Senior, I don’t believe I know your name,” Yu Di said.

  “You don’t need to learn it. Your talents are destined for something less.”

  Yu Di didn’t like the sound of that.

  “If you haven’t guessed yet, we needed to recruit servants. You five have agreed to serve the true cultivators here on their path of being an Immortal.”

  The other three looked happy to accept this new role for them. Yu Di? Not so much.

  Why did he spend the last few years running for his life only to be a servant in a sect?

  “Let’s go home Yu Lin.” Yu Di took little Lin’s hand and walked toward the bridge. A soft hand grabbed him by the nape of the robe and pulled him back.

  “I was only kidding about being allowed to leave.” The sect woman dragged Yu Di past the gate and into the sect proper. They passed by the force field generated by spirit stones.

  Yu Di knew the type. Only in, never out unless dead.

  “Baba, look.” This time Yu Lin pointed at the giant floating crystal hanging above the main courtyard. It hummed with quiet power, radiating Qi all around. “How is it floating like that?”

  Yu Di rolled his eyes. That was a cheap trick of a certain formation he knew that supported large crystals like that. Most likely, they used it as a defensive measure to protect this fortress from attackers. He got that from all the look-out towers all around the fortress that Yu Lin pointed out earlier.

  Yu Di was about to tell his daughter as much until he noticed her big round eyes. He forgot that while all of this was trash tier compared to his experiences, everything here was still brand new and awesome for his daughter. He couldn’t take that awe from her, especially if she was going to have the resolve to continue on the path of an Immortal.

  Yu Di smiled.

  “Yes, that’s a giant crystal that protects the fortress. It makes sure that any spirit beasts can’t come in here. It is so powerful that it can light up a city if needed.”

  “Oh wow. Can we get one for the village?” Yu Lin reached up with her small hands, almost as if she could reach up and pluck it from the sky.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s very rare and it probably cost this sect a lot of money to get.” Yu Di wanted to laugh. The diamond was as rare as sand on the beach as far as he was concerned. Even the people in the third realm would be strong enough to gather a bunch of these crystals. For this sect to only have one meant that Yu Di might have overestimated the sect leader.

  “Maybe we can get a smaller one?” Yu Lin asked. “Like one the size of a cat. That’s all our village needs, right?”

  “We’ll see.” Yu Di would love nothing more than to get his daughter one of these floating crystals, but that would mean they’d have to escape first. He eyed the crystal and an idea already formed in his mind on how to use that crystal to get out, but it might involve killing everyone in this sect.

  “What do you mean you can’t do it?” a man in a green tunic yelled across the main courtyard. He was berating a middle-aged woman dressed in dark purple.

  The woman leading them froze.

  Looking around, most of the other sect members looked away from the yelling man. Some of them walked away as fast as they could.

  “All you have to do is say yes,” the man continued to yell. “Just say you will join my faction and no one will ever bother you again.”

  The woman in the dark purple looked away, almost as if she was bored. She didn’t outright disrespect the man, but her behavior was bordering on it.

  “Tell me right now, yes or no.”

  “Well honored Elder, if you wish for me to tell you this moment, then the answer is no,” the woman in purple said.

  “Bai Feng! If you won’t accept my offer willingly, then accept it as a penalty. You will join my faction or I will make your life miserable.”

  “Baba, why are they arguing like that?” Yu Lin asked.

  “I don’t know, exactly,” Yu Di said. “Why are they arguing like that, senior?”

  The woman leading them winced at the two the moment she looked back.

  The Elder scowled at the group, but he didn’t come over. Instead, he focused his efforts on the woman in purple again.

  “Bai Feng, know that without my protection, the other Elders and Inner Sect disciples will punish you until you’ve left the sect. Is that what you want?”

  The woman in purple crossed her arms and looked away. She didn’t answer him.

  “Join me now or I will make sure that everyone in the sect spits on you when they see you.”

  “Is that all, Elder?” the woman in purple asked.

  “You seem to need some more convincing.” In a flash, the Elder grabbed the woman in purple’s arm and twisted. He forced her to kneel. “Join me or I will break your arm.”

  “Baba, what is he doing? Why is he hurting her?” Yu Lin asked.

  “Shhh, it’s none of our business,” Yu Di said. “Hey Senior, aren’t we supposed to be meeting this Elder Li of yours so you can get your prize?”

  “That is Elder Li,” their guide whispered.

  “Baba, help her. The bad man is hurting her.” Yu Lin tugged her father’s fingers with all her might.

  The Elder looked up and locked onto the newcomer group.

  Great.

  Yu Di knew what was coming. An Elder of a sect with an ego the size of the moon had noticed them, and not in a good way. This was going to take a lot of groveling. He had hoped to teach his daughter more about the world a little later when they’d settled down, but this was as good a time as any.

  “You stay right there.” The Elder pushed the woman in purple onto the ground.

  Then he came for them.