Deviant: No Longer Human

"As for the demon," Wang Xiao continued, "he indeed killed them, but could they control the demon?"

"If they had been strong, they would have survived."

"If they had been truly powerful, nothing would have happened from the very beginning."

"Just being wise isn't enough; being the most powerful is the key. It doesn't matter how you achieve it—whether through wisdom or sheer might—what matters is that you become the strongest."

"The man was wise, yes," Wang Xiao conceded, "but not wise enough to become the most powerful. His sin was in being weak."

Yue felt the weight in his words, sensing the truth in them.

But something still nagged at her, a question that needed answering. "Then what about the disciple girl?" she asked.

Wang Xiao smiled, as if anticipating her question. "The disciple girl, too, was weak," he replied, "too weak to refute her master or change her fate. And the man, for all his supposed wisdom, was still shackled by the small worldview he brought with him. He thought he was wise, but was he really?"

"In our world," Wang Xiao continued, "marriages are allowed after eighteen, but is it the same everywhere? In some places, it's sixteen, in others, it's even eleven or twenty-four. The man came from a world, from a country, where eighteen or higher was the norm. He couldn't help but have a rigid mindset, viewing a relationship with the younger girl as a sin."

"He followed the rules set by his old world, rules made by a society of weaklings. Does he need to care about their rules if he is strong? He was bound by rules created by those stronger than him, and that shaped his early mindset."

"It was a mindset of never recognizing the true need for strength, of not understanding the importance of reigning supreme above all."

Wang Xiao's eyes seemed to glow with the intensity of his convictions.

"The demon could do whatever he wanted because he had strength! People bow to the heavens because the heavens are powerful!"

"It's not a sin to have selfish desires. But it is a sin to be incompetent."

"The weak suffer because they lack the power to get what they seek, to fulfill their desires. Strength is the only true path to freedom from suffering."

Yue listened intently, absorbing his words.

She could feel the depth of his experience, the hard-won lessons that had shaped his worldview.

Wang Xiao wasn't just imparting wisdom; he was sharing the truths that had guided him through countless trials, and that he hoped would guide her as well.

In that moment, Yue understood that her father wasn't just telling stories or giving lectures—he was preparing her for the harsh realities of the new age of gods, the world they lived in, where strength was the only true currency and where even the purest love could be crushed if not protected by power.

Even with Aurora—one of the strongest beings on the planet—by his side, Wang Xiao never saw her as his ticket to everything he desired.

He understood deeply that if he didn't reign supreme, he could lose even her.

Power was his hunger, his drive, and it still consumed him.

He had grown stronger over the years, but he knew that if he were even more powerful, there would be no limits to what he could achieve.

With all his current strength, he could locate Aurora in an instant, but doing so would fracture the very planet they lived.

It was his lack of overwhelming strength that forced him to hold back, to be cautious.

If he were stronger, he could have achieved it all—without compromise, without restraint.

As he glanced down at Yue, a faint smile formed on his lips.

He thought of the many worlds he had come across, places where humanoid creatures roamed—worlds that were as alien as they were dangerous.

He had a chance to visit those places, to explore the depths of hell and beyond.

But he had never dared to enter them fully.

He wasn't a dog chasing after every bone thrown his way.

No, Wang Xiao had become strong, and he wanted to savor that strength, to bask in it.

The feeling of power was addictive, and he had come back to rule the well he had once thought so small.

He was the frog in the well, but now he was the emperor of that well.

To him, it was better to be the emperor of a small nation than a slave in a vast continent.

Wang Xiao understood the meaning of power better than anyone else.

It wasn't just about conquering the world—it was about controlling your own destiny, about having the time to wait, to plan, to live as you chose.

He had time now because he was strong.

He could afford to wait for his daughters to grow, to become powerful in their own right.

He could wait because he had earned that privilege, after enduring death and humiliation so many times.

He had suffered, as all must suffer, because the world is designed in such a way that only through suffering can one truly grow.

But Wang Xiao had avoided pain—the kind of pain that comes from losing everything.

He hadn't lost anyone... except, perhaps, one.

Yin Yue...

The memory of her surfaced, unbidden. Her voice had once filled his mind—sometimes sarcastic, sometimes nagging, but always helpful.

He remembered the moment he gave her a name.

She had sacrificed him once, because he was weak, because he hadn't been strong enough to protect her, to keep her by his side.

A faint sadness flickered across Wang Xiao's face, one that Yue, lost in her own thoughts, couldn't see.

If she had looked up, she might have noticed the rare weakness in his eyes, the shadow of a past loss that still haunted him.

"Umm… what about the second story?" Yue's voice broke the silence, her curiosity pulling her back to the present.

She hadn't noticed his expression, only the long pause in his words.

Wang Xiao's eyes returned to their usual calm, the fleeting sadness fading like mist in the morning sun. "The second one?" he echoed, his voice steady once more. "He was an utter idiot."