The Stolen Life

Shock and fury were plastered on his face as his chest moved up and down with his heavy breathing.

If looks could kill, then Xue Yang, without a doubt, would have already perished.

The enraged brothel manager then started talking as if he was spitting venom with every word he said.

"Was defiling my woman not enough? You also had to kill her?"

He patiently waited for a dying man's last words despite his rage.

"Your woman?" Xue Yang became visibly confused at the word choice.

"She told me you saved her life and raised her like a daughter."

The manager laughed coldly.

"I guess seeing how she is already dead, and soon you will be too, I can tell you."

"It's thanks to me her parents left this world."

Xue Yang's confusion and guilt disappeared as it transformed into unbridled rage.

He barely held himself back from attacking the man and asked a simple question.

"Why?"

The manager scoffed.

"Why? Why not?"

"You have seen her yourself. She was an otherworldly beauty."

"When I first saw her passing on the street as a child, I knew she would become a peerless fairy."

"So I decided to make her mine and raise her into an obedient little doll."

"I hired some rogue cultivators. They got the family's wealth while I got her. A fair exchange if you ask me."

"Unfortunately, it seems like I didn't do a good enough job when it came to making her into an obedient doll, seeing how she brought you here."

Xue Yang's guilt had now fully transformed into rage. Instead of himself, he began to blame the man standing in front of him.

"You blame me for her death, but it's your fault!"

"If you had just left her and her family alone, she would have lived a happy life with those who truly loved her."

"She would have never met me, and this misfortune would have never happened."

The manager couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"HAHAHAHA"

"Do you truly believe that?"

"If so, you are far more naive than you look."

"If not me, then someone else would have done the same. Such a beauty is a rare commodity in this world."

"If anything, she was lucky it was me. She might have led a far darker life if it was someone else. Maybe even perished years ago."

"At least with me, she was educated, clothed and provided for. Is it so bad that I wanted her body in return?"

"If you want to blame anyone, blame the heavens."

"Survival of the fittest is the law of the jungle. The strong will always trample the weak beneath the feet."

"That's just how the world of cultivation works."

Xue Yang wanted to refute his words, but he couldn't. It was a fact that even he couldn't deny. After all, he was the one who made it so.

No matter what the man did. It didn't change the fact that Xue Yang designed the world to be like that.

Every little and big misfortune that befell those who roamed it were, without a doubt, indirectly caused by him.

While not everyone was cruel like that, it didn't change the fact that they would almost always choose themselves over others at the end of the day.

Even more so, it was still Xue Yang's fault that Tian Mei had died. If he didn't have the Heaven Devouring Physique or if, at the very least, he made it less of a burden for its holder.

Tian Mei might not have died at his hands. Even if he wanted to blame the manager, the truth was that his hands weren't spotless either.

"Anyway, enough of the chitchat. It's time to pay the price for not knowing your place."

"Ha, you can try if you dare, but it won't happen." Xue Yang snarled.

"The one paying the price will be you."

"That's just wishful thinking." The manager rebuked.

Xue Yang smiled as his crimson eyes gleamed with rage. His fangs extended, and so did his fingernails, becoming razor-sharp claws that could tear through metal.

"Maybe, but even if that's the case, you will still pay a heavy price."

"Mark. My. Words."

The manager burst into laughter, but in the next second, he appeared directly in front of Xue Yang.

"Weightless sword first form, 1kg"

Despite his scholarly demeanour, he was still a reasonably skilled warrior and a cultivator who had reached a respectable cultivation level.

Even if there were plenty of stronger cultivators out there, in the lower heavens, in this small town, he was still one of the strongest. The only ones who could rival him here were the cultivators belonging to the clan of the city lord.

Despite being the first form of the technique, the attack provided quite the punch.

Xue Yang managed to react in time, blocking the attack with his arms and using the force of the attack to propel himself backwards.

Due to the force of the attack, he was sent crashing through the wall and into the garden below.

Xue Yang managed to avoid severe damage thanks to his swift reaction and quick thinking. His wounds healed practically instantly, thanks to the innate healing factor of vampires.

If not for his impressive regenerative ability and his perfect physique attached to the Heaven Devouring Physique, not only would he have lost his arms, but most of his bones would have been broken upon impact.

He landed on his feet in the garden. His crimson robe was now covered in dust and debris from the wall, and his sleeves were cut from the earlier strike.

He looked up at where he came from with an unwavering gaze as countless cultivators who faithfully served the manager surrounded him.

It was not a small force by any means. Even though Xue Yang still wasn't a cultivator and therefore couldn't tell their exact levels, he knew that they were by no means weaker than the brat he used charm on earlier in the evening.

Standing in the hole was the manager, looking down upon Xue Yang with disdain as his hair fluttered in the wind.

Slightly impressed, the manager commented.

"Looks like you're not as simple as I thought. But the result will remain the same."

With that, he jumped down, landing on the ground without making much of a mark in the dirt and grass beneath his feet.