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

Sixty li to the southeast of the capital.

On an abandoned mountaintop, blackened to the color of charcoal by demonic energy.

Xue Du sat cross-legged.

Its demonic body was covered with dense, grayish-white cracks, making it look like a piece of porcelain about to shatter.

That was the damage caused by the spiritual storm in the capital.

The rejection reaction produced when pure spiritual energy seeps into a demon's body is like its meridians being filled with a deadly poison.

Even with the full power of his Golden Core Perfection cultivation to activate the self-healing of the demonic core, three days have passed, and the cracks have not only failed to disappear, but have instead shown a tendency to spread.

Because the demonic energy within a 50-mile radius of the capital has been permanently reduced by 70%.

Demonic energy is the lifeblood of evil spirits.

Just like fish can't live without water.

Even evil spirits cannot do without demonic energy.

For Xue Du, the concentration of spiritual energy around the capital was like a cultivator being thrown into a swamp of ten thousand poisons.

Every breath you take is like pouring poison into your body.

It had to retreat sixty miles away, to the edge of the spiritual energy storm's influence, before it could barely stabilize its crumbling injuries.

The golden elixir vibrated and hummed in his abdomen, its circulation extremely sluggish.

Xue Du could clearly feel that his strength had dropped by at least one major realm.

With his Golden Core Perfection cultivation, his current combat power is probably only at the level of the mid-Golden Core stage.

But the injuries weren't what terrified Xue Du the most.

What terrified it most were the messages that had been coming from all over Dali over the past three days.

One urgent message after another fell into its hands, like death warrants.

In the northern city of Qing Shi, 30,000 mortals besieged the spire, causing it to explode en masse, killing two late-stage Qi Refining demons on the spot.

In Ironlock Town in the North, 20,000 mortals detonated an explosion, wiping out the garrisoned demons.

In the southern border region, eight villages of mortals joined forces to rush to the nearest demon stronghold and detonated it together, clearing away the demonic energy within a ten-mile radius.

In the fishing village of Donghai, fishermen rowed their famous boats to surround the demon patrol boat on the sea. They detonated their boats on board, and the spiritual energy storm instantly evaporated the demon iron ship along with the demons on board.

Every message uses the same template.

Mortals gathered, surrounded the demon, and collectively detonated it, causing the demon to perish.

Simple, direct, and efficient.

So effective it makes your scalp tingle.

It then realized that the explosion that killed millions of people in the capital was not an isolated case.

That was just a signal.

A signal that ignited the entire Great Li!

Those mortals were not aimlessly self-destructing from the beginning; they were organized, targeted, and tactically planned!

They know where the evil spirits are.

Every black iron spire, every demonic stronghold, is a marked target.

They know how many people are needed.

Based on the strength of the garrisoned demons, a sufficient number of mortals are precisely mobilized.

They even know how to surround it.

They poured in from all directions at the same time, leaving the evil spirits nowhere to escape.

This is not a riot.

This was a full-scale war that had been meticulously planned for three years.

Weapons are the lifeblood of mortals.

Xue Du forced himself to calm down.

It desperately needs a reason to put its mind at ease.

"Don't panic."

Xue Du whispered to himself.

"Those who have cut themselves off are already dead. A dead man cannot cut himself off a second time."

"Ten million died in the capital, and several million more died in other parts of the country..."

"A total of ten or twenty million died? No, let's say thirty million."

"With over a billion mortals in the entire Great Li realm, thirty million is just a drop in the ocean."

"It's like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. They burned down the strongest group, and the remaining rabble can't cause any trouble."

"Change the location, change the capital, and rebuild order."

"As long as we completely eradicate that set of rules and prevent it from spreading, the situation can still be controlled."

Xue Du repeatedly confirmed this conclusion in his mind.

Then it issued the command.

"Issue my order—"

Xue Du's voice reached its highest point, carrying the demonic power of a Golden Core cultivator, and boomed loudly within a radius of several miles.

"Starting today, the entire territory is under lockdown!"

"It is forbidden for anyone to mention, disseminate, or practice anything related to the self-mutilation techniques of mortals!"

"Those who have read it aloud, kill them!"

"Kill those who have heard of it!"

"Anyone associated with the self-mutilation technique, kill them!!!"

Blood Cross's vertical pupils were bloodshot, and his voice was hoarse from extreme anger.

"Better to kill a million innocent people than let one guilty person go free!"

The order was issued.

The remaining ruling machinery of the Great Li Dynasty began its final, frenzied operation.

The entire Zhenfu Division was mobilized.

The surviving demons personally led their troops, along with the Imperial Guards of the Zhenfu Division, to launch an unprecedented purge across various regions.

Without investigation or questioning.

Anyone gathering in a group of three or more shall be killed on the spot.

Someone was dragged out of his house simply because a neighbor reported him for reciting some incantation in the middle of the night.

Someone was cut in half at the waist in the street simply because his child drew a straight white vertical line on the wall, which looked like a beam of light.

Some people did nothing but look up at the blue sky after the spiritual energy storm, their expressions seemingly somewhat moved.

Then he died.

Xue Du felt that his strategy was sound.

Fear is the best tool for ruling over mortals.

If you kill enough and kill enough, the remaining mortals will become obedient food again.

This logic has been used for tens of thousands of years and has never failed.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The outer city of the capital has seventy-two streets and alleys.

The large-scale purge by the Zhenfu Division entered its third day.

It was also the third day after Xue Du issued the "rather kill a million" order.

In three days, the number of ordinary people killed has exceeded hundreds of thousands.

The streets and alleys of the capital were filled with a heavy stench of blood, mixed with the unique chilling smell of demonic energy, making people nauseous.

But what Xue Du received was not fear and obedience.

Instead, it was a response that utterly destroyed it.

Simultaneously, the chanting of the self-mutilation ritual for mortals resounded throughout the seventy-two streets and alleys of the outer city of the capital.

It wasn't whispered or spread in private.

Tens of thousands of ordinary people left their homes, stood in the streets and alleys, facing the direction of the black iron spire, and chanted in unison.

The chanting gathered into a tide, reverberating like rolling thunder over the capital.

Those mortals who survived the spiritual storm in the capital and lived through three days of the Great Purge.

They don't care anymore.

Zhao Heng's death allowed them to see the blue sky again.

The swords of the Zhenfu Division showed them the fear of evil.

The news of the demons' deaths, triggered by explosions at various locations, spread like wildfire through every alley.

They learned something.

Demons can truly die.

The method of killing the evil spirits is in the hands of each of them.

The imperial guards of the Zhenfu Division rushed into the streets and alleys.

But this time, faced with the surging tide of ordinary people flooding the streets, those imperial guards could not raise their swords.

Because there are too many people.

There are too many to kill.

So many times, the imperial guards could see their mothers, their wives, and their brothers just by glancing at the crowd!