Yu Di wanted to slap this young looking old man for his foolishness.

  “What do you mean it can’t be turned off? You said once you ascend, you can turn it off.”

  Gu Zi looked sheepishly to the side.

  “I thought I would have enough time to stop the cascading effect in the diamond. But because the other sects attacked us last time, I already set it to cascading failure. I must have forgotten to shut it down then.”

  “So now it’s about to explode for real because of a runaway effect?”

  Gu Zi nodded.

  Yu Di wanted to shout, but he knew that wasn’t going to help anyone. He touched the blue diamond’s walls. The chain reaction within was past the critical point.

  “What if we used your teleportation artifact to run away?” Gu Zi showed the artifact in his hand. “You and I could run far enough so that the Qi explosion can’t kill us.”

  “What about all those people down there? Your disciples, your sect members, your family?” Yu Di couldn’t look away from the pink tunic right below him.

  “Forget them. I finally ascended and I know that you will too. I noticed how much stronger you’ve gotten since you joined. It’ll only be a matter of time before Senior Yu will once again be stronger than me. I look forward to exploring the world and there would be no better partner I could ask for.”

  Gu Zi held out his hand.

  If Yu Di took it, he knew that they could escape far, far away. The teleportation artifact could send them anywhere in the world, but it was a one time use only.

  “No. Before I came to your sect, I would have been the person to choose my safety over others,” Yu Di said. “All the people across the region are innocent. They don’t deserve to be wiped out by silly cultivator games.”

  Curse unlocked: .4% lifted.

  Gu Zi scoffed.

  “Suit yourself.” He crushed the teleportation artifact and disappeared, leaving Yu Di all alone.

  “Ah…” Yu Di was left hanging with his mouth open. “You could have at least told me how to get out of here you old bat. Let me hug my daughter one last time.”

  The blue diamond shook, as the Qi became denser within. Soon it would fold in on itself and become solid. When that happened, all it would take is a small breath of air to ignite the entire thing, burning all the Qi for hundreds, if not thousands of li.

  Yu Di only had one option left. The last sliver of his demigod powers. It would take the rest of his lifespan, but he could neutralize this explosion with a thought. After all, it was a useless diamond that demigods would throw into the trash.

  Yu Di laughed at that.

  A warm orange light shone next to him. Grand Elder Fu appeared, carrying something pink.

  “Baba!” Yu Lin ran into her father’s arms.

  Yu Di felt the warmth in his arms and against his chest. This was the best gift he could have gotten before he died.

  “Junior Yu, it seems that I owe you an apology,” Fu An said. “I watched as you did everything you could for our sect. You even saved my granddaughter.”

  “Can you stop the explosion, Grand Elder Fu?” Yu Di asked.

  Fu An shook his head.

  It was worth a shot. If the Grand Elder could turn it off, then Yu Di wouldn’t have to waste his life. He wanted to keep living a little while longer. Watch his daughter grow a little older. Maybe even break his curse.

  “Thank you for bringing my daughter,” Yu Di said. “But since you can get in here, then I assume you can get back out?”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Fu An nodded.

  “I can take you out too. If we’re going to die, we might as well die comfortably outside, surrounded by our family.”

  “While I appreciate that notion, there is something I can do to stop the explosion. But it will…” Yu Di didn’t want to finish the sentence. Not out of fear for his life, but out of mercy for his daughter. She held him tighter and tighter still.

  Sometimes, even children know how dire a situation is.

  “Little Lin, please go with Grand Elder Fu.” Yu Di pulled her in tighter, kissing her on the head. “He’ll take care of you.”

  “No, I want to stay with Baba,” Yu Lin said.

  “Please be a good girl. Your Baba has to do something really quick.”

  “Then you’ll leave me, just like Mother.”

  “No, I would never leave you like your mother. But little Lin, please listen to your Baba. If I don’t do this, then everyone is going to get hurt. Do you want your aunties and uncles hurt?”

  “No, but I don’t want Baba hurt either.” Yu Lin grabbed onto her father’s ponytail, not letting go.

  “Yu Lin, I love you. I love you more than anything in the world. Remember that. Before I had you, I was a selfish monster that only cared for myself and my cultivation. You have so many friends and family here, you will be loved even after I’m gone. So please, let me do this.”

  “No!”

  Yu Di could feel the solidification of the Qi within the blue diamond. The small space within became suffocating like breathing sand in the air.

  “Take her, please Grand Elder Fu.” Yu Di pulled his daughter, first by the arms, and then by the waist until he deposited her into Fu An’s arms.

  “I love you little Lin,” Yu Di said.

  “I love you Baba.” Yu Lin cried.

  It struck Yu Di that this was the first time he ever heard or seen her cry since her mother abandoned her with him.

  In a flash of orange light, Fu An disappeared with Yu Lin.

  The air became thicker without two other cultivators to absorb the Qi. The blue diamond was now in overload. Yu Di coughed once before holding his breath.

  Yu Di wanted to laugh at the absurdity that a piece of trash like this threatened not only his life but his daughter. And yes, the entire region, but that wasn’t as important.

  Yu Di reached for his demigod powers, feeling it deep within his dantian. He had let it bleed out for so many years, overconfident that he would break the curse before long. Now he was a shell of what he was. And he was so close to reaching Core Formation again too.

  Wait, he was going to die anyway. Why not hit that stage while being surrounded by all this dense Qi. No one would normally do that because it would be suicidal, especially without an escape plan. The irony was, this kind of circumstances and environment was perfect for forming a core.

  Yu Di sat down and cultivated. He dragged in as much of the dense Qi into his body as he could. Once his entire body, every meridian, every cell within him was filled with that dense Qi, he lit the match in his dantian.

  This was the process most cultivators were afraid of in the beginning. Yu Di didn’t simply light up the Qi like a candle, it was more like lighting up a ball of oil and then watching it burn within him. Eventually, the Qi coalesced and through a specific technique, one stolen from a nearby sect actually, he could forge the most dense core to replace his dantian.

  Of course that was simplifying it.

  In moments, he was done, forcing all the Qi in his body and his surroundings into a small area within his body. The technique Yu Di used was also very overbearing. The Qi from the blue diamond waned, looking like it might not explode.

  When Yu Di opened his eyes, he was at the Core Formation stage. He was also out of Qi. He took the chance to absorb as much of the solid Qi as he could.

  It wasn’t enough.

  Yu Di knew that. He wasn’t a fool. The cascading effect was unstoppable at this point and he was only delaying the inevitable. He wanted to feel that high once more, even if it wasn’t anywhere near what he felt earlier when he solved the stone stele.

  He felt that electric feel from leveling up and breaking through to another stage. It felt… hollow.

  It could never compare to the hugs he got from his daughter.

  That’s when Yu Di knew that in the end after a long journey of searching for that next great feeling, it found him instead. That was a life worth living.

  The blue diamond glowed a bright white. The solid Qi had hit an upper limit and was forming inside itself with Yu Di.

  “Can’t even give me a second to enjoy this, can you?” Yu Di said to the blue diamond. He reached out with his demigod powers and grabbed the blue diamond. In a blink of an eye, he snuffed the diamond out of existence.

  Yu Di tried to pull his powers back into him, but they were already leaving him, along with his life force. He felt his full powers for the first time in decades. But it was already leaving him as quickly as he started. He floated down to the ground, right to the center of the fortress.

  “Baba!” Yu Lin tried to run to Yu Di, but Fu An held her back.

  Yu Di could only look up and smile at her daughter as the light began to fade from his eyes. He wanted to tell her she was a good girl and that he would see her in the next life, but his mouth wasn’t working anymore.

  All his internal organs were shutting down rapidly.

  Curse unlocked: .1% lifted.

  What? That was the last thing Yu Di would hear before he died. And it was only a .1% for saving the entire region. Wasn’t that how much he got when he saved the village?

  How droll.

  At least let his daughter’s voice be the last thing he heard.

  An explosion burst forth from his chest, engulfing him.

  Then darkness.