No matter how much Yu Di struggled, he couldn’t get up from the Qi force pushing down on him. The woman in black had to be at the second or third level of Core Formation. She was easily the same level as Fu Homei.

  Yu Di hated to do this but he reached for his transmission jade.

  “Don’t come to me. Second or third level Core Formation, black tunic. Stick to plan everyone, I will see you on the other side.”

  Yu Di was prepared to activate his teleportation artifact. There was no point in staying here any longer. He hoped he would have survived to go back to see his daughter.

  A white fan slapped the woman in black across the face so hard, she twisted in midair before falling flat onto the ground.

  “Let’s go!” Fu Homei shouted.

  Yu Di got up and ran toward Fu Homei. The other disciples got up as well.

  At this point, the other black tunics moved off from the dead lizard and ran toward them.

  “We can’t win,” Yu Di said. “Don’t fight them.”

  “I know that,” Fu Homei shouted back. She waved her hand in a circular motion, recalling her white fan to her. She threw it out in front of her, turning it back into a large white fan. “Everyone get on.”

  Yu Di and the other disciples clamored onto the fan as it took off in a hurry. The last disciple almost slipped, but Yu Di held onto him.

  Fu Homei had a gash on her forehead and her blue tunic was ripped in many places from sword attacks.

  “Thank you for saving us, Senior Fu,” Yu Di said.

  “You were right,” Fu Homei said.

  “About what?”

  “This is not an honorable duel among peers. Those bastards have all been targeting our sect.”

  “You tried to fight them one on one, didn’t you?”

  Fu Homei didn’t respond.

  “Either way, I’m glad you made it out safe. Now we just need to meet up with Elder Bai and the rest of our squad mates to develop a plan.”

  “That’s not all. While I was fighting a green tunic, a group of black tunics ganged up on us. They killed the green one first as he was weaker and chased after me. They’re not allies.” Fu Homei grabbed her left arm as blood dripped down her hands.

  “I saw the same thing just now,” Yu Di said. “Once the black tunics had the upper hand, they murdered the other sects’ disciples as well. Something is going on.”

  Fu Homei’s head dipped along with the fan.

  “Woah, are you okay?” Yu Di asked.

  “No.” Fu Homei got down to a knee as the large white fan dipped again.

  “Land. We’ll walk from here.”

  Fu Homei collapsed and so did the large white fan.

  Yu Di grabbed Fu Homei and shielded her from the hill they were crashing into. The rest of the disciples tumbled hard against the ground. Luckily, they were already flying at lower altitude. Their hard cultivator bodies were able to withstand the impact.

  Curse unlocked: .2% lifted.

  Yu Di really wished there was a way to stop that voice from popping up as he had bigger issues to deal with, starting with how his left arm was entirely numb, most likely dislocated.

  “Senior Fu, you have to get up,” Yu Di said.

  Fu Homei groaned.

  “Help me get her up. We’re going to have to fix her wounds before we can keep moving.”

  The other disciples pulled Fu Homei off Yu Di.

  That’s when the pain hit Yu Di. His left arm was definitely dislocated. It took everything in him not to shout out loud. It would give away their position, if they weren’t tracking the flying fan already.

  “Do you need help, Senior?” a disciple asked.

  “Can you pop my shoulder back into its socket?” Yu Di asked.

  “I can, but it will hurt.”

  Yu Di nodded as he sat up.

  The disciple popped his shoulder back, causing immense pain to flow into him.

  Yu Di shut his eyes and cultivated, bringing as much Qi to his shoulders to soothe himself. He really missed the full use of his demigod body where mortal pains like this wouldn’t affect him. It didn’t help that the curse was taunting him.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  It unlocked, but he had no time to cultivate. He had to survive this stupid festival first.

  The remaining disciples looked over Fu Homei. They stopped her bleeding arm but she didn’t wake.

  “What do we do now, Senior?” a disciple asked.

  Yu Di wrapped his arm in a cloth from his storage ring. He pinged his transmission jade.

  “Anyone close by? We could use some help carrying Fu Homei.”

  “Is she okay?” Bai Feng replied.

  “She is alive. That’s all I can say for now.”

  “We’re coming.”

  Yu Di pinged the jades and noticed two approaching them. It was quiet until they got there. The black tunics didn’t find them and no others came by.

  Yu Di managed to walk on his own as the two that came carried Fu Homei. She slept all the way until they reached Cui Ying’s location.

  Cui Ying had chosen the perfect location for their group. It was out of the way from everyone else nearly at the edge of the flaming blue walls. There were no caves around and none of the natural resources such as streams or trees grew around there. What it did have was a nice cliff side that the group could hide in. Even if someone flew above they wouldn’t see them.

  When the group got there, Bai Feng quickly moved them all down the side of the cliff with her flying sword. It was tricky with Fu Homei, but Bai Feng simply carried her in like a large baby before gently laying her down.

  “She’s exhausted,” Bai Feng said.

  “We all are,” Yu Di said. “But we still need to post a lookout. I’ll take first watch while everyone rests.”

  “No, let me do that.” Bai Feng got up.

  “We need you at your best, Elder Bai. You are our only source of protection right now. Everyone else is expendable.”

  One look at the pitiable disciples from their sect told them how bad they had it. No one came out without an injury. Many of them had torn clothes and dirty faces. But that last comment Yu Di said gave them all a taste of reality.

  “Everyone get as much rest as possible. We might have to move very soon.” Yu Di walked to the cave entrance. He made sure to stick to the side as much as possible so as to not stand out.

  Cui Ying walked over, the least injured of them all.

  “Senior Yu, let me take first watch,” he said.

  “You must have fought like hell to get this cave,” Yu Di said.

  “I got lucky. My opponent tripped and fell down the cliff. He tried to take me with him, but I found the small ledge and held on. That's how I found this place.”

  Yu Di took out his jade and pressed the orange dimple. It absorbed all the information from the transmission jades from his squadmates, forming a functional map of the area.

  “That is amazing,” Cui Ying said.

  “It would have been more amazing if more of us made it here. We might have gotten more members, but they’re all at the Qi condensing stage. I was hoping for an inner sect disciple.”

  Cui Ying placed his hand on Yu Di's shoulder.

  "Thanks. You seem calmer now," Yu Di said.

  "I've watched someone I know die in front of me. I'm still scared, but I know that you will get us out of this. We get what we get in life. Our fates are predetermined by heaven.”"

  Yu Di nodded.

  “Now go get some rest.” Cui Ying walked toward the entrance.

  Yu Di contemplated that common phrase. It was a nice way to let people down surely, or at least feel as if there was a reason for why anyone has bad luck. But for Yu Di? That was all nonsense.

  He was a demigod. He had seen the workings of this so-called heaven and those above him. No, there was definitely something up there working against him, preventing him from ascending to true godhood.

  So no, he was not going to go along with what the “heavens” decreed for him. His curse told him that much at least. If they wanted him to simply die and be forgotten, they shouldn’t have given him the key.

  Yu Di walked to the back of the cave and looked at each of his squad mates. He saw the despair in their faces. Yet somehow, he didn't feel despair. After all those years of running toward godhood, he missed out on so many other things.

  He used to be alone. Now he was surrounded by people he could trust.

  Fatigue hit him like a sudden kick to the head. He took out his bedroll and laid it down. In his haste, he didn’t realize it was the same bedroll that others have sat on and left undesired pebbles in. It didn't matter, sleep took him in moments.

  After a few hours of rest, and no one bothering them, Yu Di conferred with his team.

  “The flaming wall is creeping closer,” he said. “We have to move soon. We’ll have to carry anyone that can’t walk or is still unconscious.”

  Fu Homei was one of those people.

  “Before we go, I’ve developed a map for the arena so far.” Yu Di took out his transmission jade. He tapped the white dimple in the center.

  A green light shot out from the bottom of the jade, coating the dark floor with light. It formed a circle first and then lines within, each showing where mountains and other resources were. A blue dot blinked at the edge of the map.

  “This is where we are,” Yu Di pointed at the blue dot. “What we need to do is get from here to here.”

  The location in question was close to the center of the arena, but far away from any reasonable resources. There was a small cave and nothing else.

  “This location would give us the best chance of defending as well as being close to the center as the blue flaming wall closes.”

  The location he suggested would be somewhere he would have hidden back in the day as he waited for opposing sects to wipe each other out.

  “That’s not a good location,” a disciple said. “No offense, but that’s a death trap. Unless you have the highest Core Formation level Qi artifacts blocking the entrance, any nearby fights would turn us all into a liquefied mess.”

  “Then where would you suggest?”

  The disciple looked at the map, then pointed at the large forested area in between two mountain ranges. It was off center and filled with spirit beasts.

  “That looks like the most dangerous place on the map,” Yu Di said.

  “It’s also the last place anyone would approach willingly. If we can wedge ourselves in there, then nature would protect us. Isn’t that what we want?”

  Yu Di saw the merit in that. There were also many openings that they could run away through if needed.

  “Fine, that’s where we will go, with Elder Bai’s agreement of course.” Yu Di looked to Bai Feng.

  “I agree. Let’s go there,” Bai Feng said.

  "Gather your things and prepare to go." Yu Di put away his jade.

  "Now? But it's still dark," the disciple said.

  "Dark is the best time to move. They can't see as well to chase us down."

  "We can't see well either."

  "That's a risk we'll have to take. I'll carry Senior Fu. The rest of you help anyone else."

  Yu Di walked away toward Fu Homei before anyone could disagree. For just a moment, he closed his eyes, relishing the peace.

  It didn’t last long. It never did.

  Sounds of screaming permeated the night.