Chapter 575 - 40: Well Said! Same Here

Agustin, 39, male. Unemployed, no profession, an Awakener.

Agustin’s ancestors had been well-off farmers with a good amount of land. While not enough to make them fabulously wealthy, they had saved enough to not only make ends meet but also send him to the city for a college education.

Back then, Agustin was just a country boy, timidly gazing at the city’s dazzling lights and decadent streets with a sense of awe. But soon, tempted by those around him, he plunged into endless entertainment, leaving his family’s hopes and dreams for him far behind.

He even got hooked on drugs at a party.

He never finished college, and his body was wrecked. When he returned to his rural hometown, his utterly disappointed family locked him in a cattle shed until he was forced to kick his drug habit. Afterwards, he seemed to have turned over a new leaf and started farming with his parents. Everyone thought that while Agustin had made some foolish mistakes, he was at least a normal person now.

But how could someone who had seen the splendor of the big city go back to enduring such a dull, tasteless life? Then one day, Agustin’s father, who had come down with a casual fever, suddenly took a turn for the worse. Not long after, his mother, overcome with grief, also passed away.

Why? Who knows.

Soon, having acquired ownership of all the family’s land, Agustin excitedly sold it all off. He scraped together a sum of money, claiming he was going to the city to start a big business.

Several years later, destitute and deep in debt, he returned to his hometown once more. This time, he had nothing left.

Begging, stealing, digging for roots in the mountains, rummaging through trash cans, and fighting with Beasts for food—Agustin was filled with a boundless hatred. He hated the classmates who had tempted him, hated the "big bro" who had handed him that first smoke, hated his parents who had been so determined to make him suffer, and hated his business partner who ran off when the money dried up. Of course, he never hated himself. It was always everyone else’s fault. If only he had one more chance, he would definitely make a comeback and become a man above all others!

And it was as if the world heard this "man’s" voice and, without any emotion, gave him a chance.

In the era of the Spiritual Energy Revival, he was assessed as having superior Talent, allowing him to practice Cultivation smoothly.

Dancing with wild joy, Agustin seized this last chance. He began to greedily practice the free Cultivation Techniques that were publicly available worldwide, acquiring resources through theft or deception. In the end, he actually managed to cultivate to the Awakening Tier, becoming a locally recognized Formal Cultivator.

From then on, Agustin’s hometown seemed to have descended into Purgatory.

"You all looked down on me before! Now I’m a master Cultivator. What, do I need a reason to slap you?"

"I’m honoring you by taking things from your shop! And you dare to give me attitude?!"

"I only stole one of your chickens before, and you chased me all the way into the mountains... So what? I only killed all your Beasts. I didn’t kill you, so be grateful!"

"Go on, report me to the authorities! Let’s see who’s in charge here, who dares to get involved!"

Having obtained Extraordinary Power in a remote town beyond the control of local authorities, with no other Cultivators in the entire village but himself—Agustin finally wielded an unprecedented power, a strength that left everyone furious but too afraid to speak out. He had never felt so good, never felt so great.

Soon, he was hooked on drugs again. He started smoking and drinking, living a life of debauchery.

And then, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Cultivation can prevent all sorts of diseases, but for someone merely at the Awakening Tier, it was still too early to prevent cancer. Even Extraordinary Tier Cultivators who haven’t formed their Spiritual Power Organs can get cancer, so how could Agustin, with his chaotic lifestyle, be an exception?

"Are you cursing me?!"

Enraged, Agustin sent the gray-haired old doctor crashing to the floor with a single punch, knocking out several of his teeth. There was nothing but cruelty in his eyes. "You just want me to die, don’t you? All I did was take some medicine and syringes from you, and you really think you’re so great just because you’re a doctor!"

"I’m telling you, if anything happens to me, not a single one of you here will live! I’m an Awakener, and I mean what I say!"

"Well said. And I, too, mean what I say."

Then, he heard a sentence spoken in Chinese.

And saw a mass of black Flame descend from the sky.

In that instant, Agustin instinctively reviewed his entire life’s actions.

’Were the things I did evil?’

’Without a doubt, they were!’

’But so what if I was evil? My pleasure is all that matters. My happiness is all that matters. What do other people’s thoughts have to do with me? If they can’t make me happy, then they’re no good to me. And is there any reason for people who are no good to me to exist?’

Then, an intense, searing pain descended upon Agustin’s entire body. It felt as if his Soul was being crushed, as if all his organs and bones, all his muscles and nerves, were being ripped out and forged inch by inch in the Flame.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH—"

Trembling, the old doctor got to his feet, intending to pick up his fallen teeth. He watched Agustin, now engulfed in the black Flame, with a mixture of terror and relief, listening as the man let out a sudden, violent scream that instantly tore his throat raw.

Agustin was still lucid. He could feel that the Flame wouldn’t kill him that quickly... No, it *would* kill him, and very fast, but his sense of time seemed to have been stretched by the pain. Every instant felt as long as several months.