I Destroyed the School after They Stole My Fate

It hurt. It felt like someone was scraping the flesh off my bones inch by inch with a rusty, blunt knife.

I opened my eyes. Everything around me was pitch-black. The stench of rot and blood filled my nose. Cold, sticky mud pressed against my back, and I coughed.

I tried to move a finger, only to realize that there was hardly a patch of unbroken skin left on my body. Where my Supreme Bone had once been, there was only a gaping hole in my chest. Whenever the wind blew, it whistled through the wound.

That was my Supreme Bone.

Three years ago, on another snowy day, my fiancee, Rebecca Lawson, had ripped it out with her own hands.

“Felix, don’t blame me.”

She had been wearing her wedding dress. Her smile had been gentle.

“William has extraordinary talent. He only needs this last bone to break through to the Golden Core Realm. You’re just a junior student. Even if you kept this bone, you could never use its full power.

“For the good of the school, consider this the last thing you can do for us.”

She had spoken as if nothing was wrong with what she was doing.

My fellow students, the same people who called me their friends every day, had stood nearby. Every one of them kept their head down. Not a single one dared to look me in the eye.

When they threw me into the Abyss of a Thousand Bones, I could still hear the cheers from above. They were celebrating the birth of a once-in-a-generation prodigy at the school.

“Heh…”

I forced a smile. A ragged, wheezing sound came from my throat. The moment Rebecca ripped out my bone, Felix had already died.

Suddenly, a bitterly cold wind rose from the bottom of the abyss. Countless anguished cries echoed through it. It sounded as if thousands of restless spirits were crying in my ears.

Then, something moved inside the bloody hole in my chest. It was not the itch of a healing wound. Rather, it was a sharp, piercing pain, as if something alive were burrowing deep into my bones.

I looked down. A faint ray of light from the opening far above illuminated the ground beneath me. In that dim light, I saw that my blood had not clotted. Instead, it gathered on the ground as if it were alive. It formed a strange symbol.

The next second, the strange symbol shot straight into my forehead.

With a loud boom, it felt like thunder had exploded inside my head. A pitch-black book with no cover appeared deep inside my mind.

The pages turned on their own. A line of blood-red text appeared.

[Host is on the verge of death. Resentment level has reached the required threshold. The Life-Stealing Book is now active.]

[Current target: The person with the strongest life force within a ten-mile radius.]

[Steal?]

I froze. Steal someone’s life?

Before I could process what was happening, I heard rocks tumbling down from above.

“Martin, are you sure that piece of trash is dead?” a shrill voice called out.

“He’s dead. No question about it. But Mr. Baker told us to check the body ourselves. What if he still has something valuable that he never handed over?” another gruff voice replied.

Two figures slid down the ropes. The flickering firelight revealed two familiar faces.

They were Martin Watson and Simon Lane, two junior students. They used to bring me tea and water and address me with great respect.

“Well, look at that. He’s not dead yet.” Martin jumped when he saw my eyes open. Then, he gave me a vicious grin. “Felix, you really are hard to kill. Good. Now we can finish the job and go back.”

Simon rubbed his hands together. His eyes were full of greed as he stared at me. “Felix, if you have anything valuable left, hand it over. You’re going to die anyway. Why not let us have it?”

I looked at them and suddenly smiled.

The Life-Stealing Book flashed wildly in my mind. The blood-red letters were so bright that they almost burned my eyes.

[Target locked: Martin Watson, third level of Arcane Refinement.]

[Steal his remaining thirty years of life?]

“Sure,” I said softly.

The two men froze. They clearly had not expected me to agree so readily.

The moment his fingers touched my collar, I shot out my hand and grabbed his wrist.

“What are you doing?!” he shouted in panic. He tried to pull away, but my grip was like a steel vise. He could not break free.

“Let me borrow your life.” I stared into his eyes and said each word slowly.

Martin’s eyes suddenly widened.

The next second, it was as if every drop of life had been drained from his body. His skin shriveled before my eyes, and his hair turned white. Then, his teeth fell out. All the life force in his body poured into mine like a flood breaking through a dam.

Simon was so terrified that he dropped to the ground. A wet patch spread across the front of his pants.

“Ghost... Ghost!”

I let go.

Martin’s body collapsed onto the ground like a piece of dead wood.

New flesh began to grow over the bloody hole in my chest. A warm current spread through my body. My damaged energy channels began to reconnect.

[Theft successful. Thirty years of life acquired. Cultivation restored to the fifth level of Arcane Refinement.]

[Special effect activated: Basic Concealment Technique.]

I stood up and rolled my neck. It cracked loudly.

Simon was still trembling. He kept muttering to himself.

I walked over and crouched in front of him. Then, I patted his face, which was covered in tears and snot.

“Go back and tell Rebecca and William.”

I leaned close to his ear and said, “Tell them to keep their necks clean and wait for me. I’m coming to make them pay.”