Yu Di followed at a distance behind the prince. He had two bodyguards with him, both in the upper edge of the second realm. They were two people he had never seen before.

  They entered the dilapidated building. The light seeped into the cracks like an unwanted guest. Children everywhere stood with large round eyes, staring at the two adult men coming in. Some of them cringed and withdrew from their presence.

  “There’s food outside,” Ying Fusu said. “Get it now as it might be the last I can bring you kids.”

  The children recognized his voice and ran out of the building fast. Farooq took up the rear, pushing past the two grown men.

  Ying Fusu took a step toward Vimala, but stopped. Instead, he turned around to face Yu Di. His face said it all.

  “What did you do?” Ying Fusu asked.

  Yu Di again cupped his hands and bowed. “What do you mean Prince Ying?”

  “Why does Vim hate me?”

  Yu Di looked past Ying Fusu to a very quiet Vimala. What happened to the vigor she had earlier? “I don’t know. All I know is that it has something to do with her being a Goddess. You’ll have to ask her yourself.”

  Ying Fusu’s two bodyguards forced Yu Di to his knees. They pinned him with a hand on each shoulder with little force. Not that they needed it. Yu Di could barely wiggle his fingers in his current condition.

  “I don’t understand, Prince Ying,” Yu Di said. “I have done nothing wrong.”

  Ying Fusu stalked over, his entire body looming over Yu Di. The look in his eyes was the same as his father’s, the emperor, when he was about to pass summary judgment for execution.

  “No, you did something to her,” the prince said. “There has to be a reason she doesn’t trust me anymore.”

  Yu Di closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was why he never got into any romantic entanglements. Hell, this was why he wished he'd never listened to that idiot and attempted dual cultivation to break his curse.

  “Vimala, can you please help me out here,” Yu Di said. “I’m bleeding out and I don’t have enough patience for this nonsense.”

  The bodyguards pushed him forward until his face hit the floor. A boot planted on his back.

  “You will not disrespect the prince,” the left one said.

  “Next time we will take your head,” the right one said.

  Both of them were eunuchs. Their high-pitched voices gave them away. That could mean only one thing. The Celestial Jade Army was close to sending out its army. They scouted the city in different guises, male and female, to see where the weak points were.

  “Stop,” Vimala said.

  The boot got off Yu Di’s back.

  Yu Di didn’t get up right away. He had a feeling that depending on how this conversation went, he would probably end up back in the dirt. Besides, it was nice and comfortable down here. The cool earth gave his body a much-needed rest. Maybe this was what dying was like.

  Except Yu Di never wanted to die. He wanted to explore more of this world, let alone the unexplored universe out there. Why achieve godhood if not to learn more?

  “Prince Ying, please don’t hurt him,” Vimala said.

  “When did this man who cursed you become your confidant?” Ying Fusu asked. “You wanted to kill him a few days ago and now you’re protecting him? What happened? What did he do to you? I can get you the best doctors to fix whatever it is. Just come with me and leave him to the city.”

  Yu Di rolled his eyes at the sound of desperation. This brat really loved this woman. Why didn’t anyone love him like that? Well, maybe Yu Lin, if she didn’t think he had abandoned her by now.

  That was the worst part. He didn’t abandon her. He wanted to go back to her. Yu Di sighed.

  “Okay, it sounds like Vimala doesn’t want to answer because she’s too stuck in her ways,” Yu Di said. “I did nothing to her, but she has finally realized who you are Prince Ying. She knows why you are here.”

  Ying Fusu paused. “Explain.”

  “With your highness’ permission, can I sit up? Talking like this is tiring, trying to keep the dirt from my mouth and nose.”

  Two hands lifted Yu Di to a seated position. He steadied himself with his left arm while his right hung limply.

  “From what I can guess, you came to this city to see if you can steal the power of the Goddess for your father,” Yu Di said.

  Ying Fusu frowned, but said nothing.

  “Your meeting with Vimala was not an accident. Anyone with any cultivator training can tell that she’s related to the Goddess if not the former Goddess that protected the city. So you took her in, pretending to be her savior. In fact, I know you stopped her from killing herself.”

  Vimala rubbed her arms, close to her wrists.

  “You probably discovered that the secret to the Goddess’ power lies in the host that they use,” Yu Di continued. “It’s a really crude way to protect a city. It’s like they forgot how to do it properly and cobbled something together. But moving on to your problem. You now had the key to that power, but no way to get there without her telling you.”

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  Ying Fusu pressed his lips into a line.

  “Do I need to go on?” Yu Di asked. “Because I am so tired of this. All I wanted was… You know what? It doesn’t even matter what I want.” He looked at all the starving kids fighting for food outside. “What matters is how we fix this without more people suffering. You are a prince of the most powerful empire. It costs more to feed your army one day than for the entire year for this city. If you want Vimala to forgive you, then fix that.”

  Ying Fusu cupped his hands and bowed toward Yu Di. “I apologize for treating Elder Yu in such a disrespectful way. My anger got the best of me.”

  Yu Di returned the gesture. He was just happy he wasn’t getting executed. The Emperor would have done worse for less.

  “You are right though,” Ying Fusu said. “I have focused too much on my needs and not the needs of the people. The only thing I can do to fully resolve this issue is when my father’s army arrives at the city. Only then could they push out the Shah’s invading force and secure the city.”

  “No,” Vimala said quietly.

  Ying Fusu and Yu Di looked over at the woman.

  “That would only replace one oppressor with another,” Vimala said. “We can’t keep torturing our people like that. It is time for them to have hope again.”

  “What does that mean?” Ying Fusu asked.

  “I’m done hiding. Before this war is over, I’m going to reclaim my power and protect all the people of Miryana.”

  Ying Fusu looked at Vimala as if he were admiring an actual Goddess. His formerly angry face turned into a silly grin. He truly was a child.

  “And how are you going to do that?” Yu Di asked. “You have no resources, no army, nothing to help you get wherever the power is. You don’t even have to tell me that there’s probably an enormous obstacle in your way that would kill you. Otherwise, you would have done it by now.”

  “Yu Di, be respectful of the Goddess,” Ying Fusu said.

  “No, it’s like talking to children. My four-year-old has better ideas than you two. One will do nothing while his father solves the issue, while the other has hopes and dreams of achieving the impossible. I’m done. All I want to do now is help the children however I can and then wait this catastrophe out.”

  Vimala sat down next to Yu Di. She patted him on the back. “It’ll be okay once I fix everything. But I’ll need help.”

  “Don’t look at me.” Yu Di motioned to his dangling arm. He wasn’t sure why his mood soured so quickly. Maybe it was the pain finally getting to him. Then it hit him. “You want me to help you fix this thing, don’t you?” He glared at Vimala.

  “Of course. You created this mess; it’s your responsibility to fix it.”

  “Get your prince to fix it.”

  Vimala glanced at Ying Fusu and looked back to Yu Di as if looking at the prince would break her. “I can’t trust him.”

  Yu Di growled. He wanted to shout, but he didn’t dare agitate the prince’s men. “This is why you’re such a child, Vimala. Have you learned nothing in the last twenty years you’ve lived among the mortals? Stop being so inflexible. Trust me. Trust him if you want to fix this.”

  Vimala bit her lip.

  “I have nothing against your religion or the way you’ve been brought up, but this is going too far,” Yu Di said. “Do you want to save your city?”

  Vimala nodded.

  “Then tell Ying Fusu what you know so he can help you.” Yu Di laid back down on the uncomfortable floor. The burning in his shoulder was getting worse. If he didn’t start cycling his Qi to repair it, he would lose his arm permanently. He breathed in as much of the turbid Qi in the area as he could and converted it to his own Qi by cycling it through his body through his dantian.

  This process was both painful and time-consuming, especially as he also had to actively fight the infection coming on again. This time, Yu Di knew he wouldn’t have the luxury of an angry doctor to save him. Oh, what he’d give for that elixir he gave Kutan right about now.

  “Here, take this,” Ying Fusu said.

  Yu Di opened his eyes. A golden pellet hung in front of his face from one bodyguard. He opened his mouth and the bodyguard obliged.

  The moment that pill hit his stomach, the force of its Qi exploded outward. It was easily a second-realm pill. Based on his extensive study of alchemy, Yu Di recognized it as a life-saving pill. Anyone in the second realm and lower could be brought back to life with this as long as they were still breathing.

  Yu Di sat up to focus better. He would not let this pill go to waste. Not only that, he was going to use the pill’s natural Qi to push through to the second realm himself. It’s been so long since he’d gotten the opportunity to reach the second realm.

  Yu Di’s core lit up like the burning cauldrons at the Imperial Alchemy Office. Its pallor tone became a bright gold. The pill’s Qi made its way into his core, pushing against it like a giant firecracker exploding inside a ceramic cup.

  Only this was no ordinary ceramic cup. It was the core of a Demigod, reforged twice over.

  Yu Di pulled at all the loose strands of concentration in his mind and focused only on his core. He poked it at first, trying to smooth out the outer edges. Then he clamped down on it hard like a tiger on its prey, pushing it down and molding all the rampaging Qi into a sphere.

  Once it became still, this was where the hard part lay. Yu Di still remembered what he told Gu Zi back in that large blue diamond. Cultivation is not simply body modification, but a fundamental understanding of the universe and everything. This especially applies to personal understanding and its place within the larger Dao.

  Yu Di entered his personal mindspace again. This time, the enclosed room was gone, replaced by wide open plains. Tall grass grew all over, blocking sight of anything beyond it.

  This would do just fine. His previous understanding of his place in the universe was a peaceful one. He only wanted to cultivate and live off that high, seeing where it would take him. No longer.

  With a gentle push from his mind, the entire plains and the tall grass were set aflame. Even the sky seemed to burn with Yu Di’s determination and passion.

  It was time for Yu Di to stop cowering like a thief. He was going to take his first steps as a true Immortal by reshaping the world and the universe to his vision, one where the suffering of children didn’t exist. One where his own daughter could thrive without fear. To do that, Yu Di needed power and ambition to go further.

  Yu Di’s core shimmered at that acknowledgment. It released the flood of Qi into his entire body from the very tip of his head down to his toes. His meridians enlarged back to their former size as a Demigod. His core reforged itself to become denser and smaller. All his injuries instantly healed.

  Yu Di opened his eyes to the eyes of not just Vimala, Ying Fusu, and his bodyguards, but all the children that had gathered to watch. Their faces all glowed from the aura coming off Yu Di.

  “Congratulations on reaching the second realm, Elder Yu.” Ying Fusu cupped his hands and bowed his head slightly.

  Yu Di lifted his right hand, feeling the absolute power flooding into it. He felt as if he could do anything. That unbelievable high hit him, making him shiver before he controlled it. No, this was not what he was after anymore.

  “Thank you,” Yu Di said. His voice came out melodically, a sound he hadn’t heard in decades. He took a moment to sit and simply listen to the breathing around him and feel the suffering of the children.

  That’s when he heard the clarion bells ringing all over the city. A loud voice called out over the entire city. “Take notice. These three individuals are highly dangerous and should be reported. A large reward will be given to those who do so.”

  They all looked outside as the pictures of Yu Di, Vimala, and Ying Fusu appeared in the sky.

  Yu Di would have been impressed with how they used a Qi array for that if not for how he would be hunted like a dog again. He cracked his reforged knuckles with a smile creeping up on his face. “Vimala, I’ll help you, but don’t blame me if I break these fools.”