I died young at the start, but I'm reincarnated with unlimited skill points!

Half a year.

For the cultivation world, where time is often measured in centuries or millennia, it is but a fleeting moment.

But for the demons entrenched in the Great Li Dynasty, these six months have been exceptionally long.

Because something that makes them extremely uneasy is quietly happening.

The demonic energy is descending.

The first to notice the anomaly were the low-level demons who had been stationed in the outer states for years.

During their daily breathing exercises, they gradually noticed that the surrounding demonic energy had become thinner.

At first, there were only extremely faint fluctuations, so faint that they thought it was their own illusion.

But as time went on, this feeling became clearer and clearer.

Six months later, several secret letters submitted by various demonic branches were placed on Blood Crossing's desk almost simultaneously.

Black iron spire, inside the stone hall.

Xue Du stared at the several secret letters in front of him, his vertical pupils slightly contracting.

"In the three eastern states of Dali, the concentration of demonic energy has decreased by about 50% compared to half a year ago, and the recovery rate is extremely slow."

"In some areas along the southern coast of Dali, the demonic energy has shown intermittent, thin fluctuations."

"The demonic energy concentration in the northern wasteland of the Great Li has decreased by nearly 10% compared to six months ago, and it shows a permanent decline trend, unable to recover on its own!"

%.

This number doesn't seem like much.

But for demons, the meaning behind those two words is like a cold iron nail, driven deep into their very lifeline.

The demonic energy is no longer pure!

You must know everything that evil has done over tens of thousands of years.

Slaughtering the righteous path, polluting spiritual energy, sealing the boundary...

Ultimately, it all comes down to one goal.

They completely transformed the spiritual energy of this world into demonic energy, turning this world into their lair.

Tens of thousands of years of cultivation have polluted the spiritual energy of this place, turning it into an environment of almost pure demonic energy.

Now, in just six months, the demonic energy in some areas has experienced a permanent decline.

What does this mean?

This means that a large number of mortals secretly detonated the mortal self-mutilation technique.

And it wasn't just a few scattered incidents, but rather a large-scale and organized detonation!

"Zhao Chengqian!"

Xue Du slammed the secret letter onto the stone table, and the pressure of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator instantly enveloped the entire stone hall.

"waste!"

It gave the puppet emperor a month to completely eradicate the practice of mortal self-mutilation from the human world.

Zhao Chengqian did indeed do as instructed.

Tens of thousands of people were killed both inside and outside the capital, and the ban was implemented in every corner of the Great Li territory.

On the surface, no one dared to publicly recite that mantra anymore.

But what about behind the scenes?

The data on demonic energy doesn't lie.

Those who were killed or frightened are just the tip of the iceberg.

Those who truly remembered the mantra, those who were truly willing to risk their lives to detonate it, were not eliminated.

Instead, under the pressure of the ban, it spread like wildfire to every corner of Dali.

Zhao Chengqian maintained a facade of complete silence.

But he failed to truly eradicate the problem completely.

Because he can kill people, but he can't kill people's hearts.

……

Half an hour later.

Zhao Chengqian was escorted into the stone hall of the black iron spire.

He was dragged in by two Foundation Establishment stage demons, his dragon robe disheveled, his crown askew, and his face filled with terror.

"I gave you the order six months ago."

Xue Du's voice was flat and without any inflection.

"Tell me you've taken care of it."

"But now, the demonic energy in the North has decreased by 10%, and it's permanent."

How do you explain that?

Zhao Chengqian trembled like a leaf and knelt down with a thud.

"My lord, please calm your anger! I have already killed tens of thousands! No one, inside or outside the capital, will dare to..."

"The capital?"

Xue Du finally turned around, his vertical pupils filled with cold mockery.

"Is your world limited to just one capital city?"

"The Great Li territory spans tens of thousands of miles, encompassing hundreds of prefectures and counties."

"Your decree has caused chaos in the capital, but what about those remote and impoverished areas outside? Can your garrison command handle them?"

Zhao Chengqian opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

Of course, he can't control that.

Although the Great Li Dynasty nominally had a vast territory, in reality, the effective control of the court only extended to a few large cities surrounding the capital.

Remote prefectures and counties are inherently far from the reach of the emperor.

By the time the ban reached them, it had long become a dead letter.

"Useless thing."

Xue Du stood up and looked down at Zhao Chengqian, who was kneeling on the ground.

There was no anger in its tone, only the disgust of a superior for a discarded tool.

"I've raised you for so many years, and you can't even control a bunch of ants."

Before he finished speaking, a dark red demonic energy shot out from Xue Du's fingertip without warning.

Zhao Chengqian didn't even have time to let out a scream.

His head exploded like a watermelon crushed by an invisible giant hand.

Blood and brain matter were splattered all over the ground.

The headless body knelt for two breaths before slowly collapsing.

The dragon robe was soaked in blood, which spread a glaring color on the dark red stone bricks.

Zhao Chengqian was the thirty-seventh emperor of the Dali Dynasty.

He served diligently for thirty years, being a loyal dog to his master for all thirty years.

He killed countless compatriots, extracted countless tributes, and suppressed countless resistances.

He spent his entire life bowing and scraping, diligently managing this vast human pasture for the evil.

In the end, it was nothing more than an old, worn-out dog.

The owner thought it wasn't biting well enough, so he casually killed it and replaced it with a new one.

He didn't even leave a last word, and he couldn't even keep his body intact.

Zhao Chengqian believed that as long as one was obedient enough and worked hard enough, one could succeed.

The master would reward him with a bone and ensure his safety for life.

But he never understood one thing until his death.

Even the most loyal dog is still just a dog in its owner's eyes!