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

Spring of the fourth year of Yongning.

Nearly half a year has passed since the spiritual storm that occurred during the Winter Solstice Grand Ceremony.

For the demons within the Great Li territory, these past six months have been longer than hell itself.

Because they witnessed firsthand how everything they had painstakingly built up over tens of thousands of years crumbled in just six months.

The rate at which the concentration of demonic energy collapsed far exceeded the predictions of all the evil spirits.

Initially, the demonic energy within a 50-mile radius of the capital city decreased by 70%.

Then, nodes in various locations were activated, and thousands of towns were purified by mortals.

Immediately afterwards, ordinary people who were not on the node list also began to spontaneously detonate.

Then, even the mortals who had previously dared not move stepped forward.

Because the demons have become so weak that they can't even withstand the weight of a mortal's hoe.

Six months have passed.

The demonic energy throughout the entire Dali region has decreased by 70% almost permanently.

And it continues to decline.

Because ordinary people are setting off explosions every day.

It wasn't forced, nor was it organized.

It is those who are dying who, on their deathbed, voluntarily recite incantations to return their last wisp of primordial energy to heaven and earth.

Some elderly people, on their deathbed, silently recited a mantra before closing their eyes.

Some terminally ill patients choose to end their lives prematurely when the pain is at its most intense, turning the rest of their lives into a light drizzle.

Some people even just thought of that mantra before they died.

The practice of mortals committing suicide has been ingrained in the very bones and blood of this race.

It became an instinct.

It's an instinct to take a bit of demonic energy with you even after you die.

What does this mean for evil spirits?

This means that as long as there are still mortals dying in this world, the demonic energy will continue to decline.

But mortals will always die.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the fate of mortals, and also the things that evil spirits once despised.

But now, this destiny has become a sword hanging over the head of evil.

Every day, mortals die.

The demonic energy dissipates every day.

Unstoppable.

Irreversible.

……

The last stronghold with a high concentration of demonic energy in the eastern border of the Great Li.

In a deep valley shrouded in black, demonic mist.

Xue Du sat cross-legged on a black boulder at the bottom of the valley, surrounded by a thin layer of demonic energy.

This is the place with the highest concentration of demonic energy it could find in the entire Dali region.

Even so, the concentration of demonic energy here is only 30% of what it was six months ago.

For a demon at the peak of the Golden Core stage, this amount of demonic energy is not even enough to maintain daily needs, let alone cultivate or recover from injuries.

Xue Du could clearly feel his strength declining day by day.

The golden core became dull and its rotation speed slowed down.

The cracks on the demon's body not only failed to heal, but instead multiplied and deepened.

Its current full-force combat power has probably fallen to the level of the early Golden Core stage.

And it's still falling because the demonic energy is continuing to decrease.

If this pace continues for another six months, its strength will probably really drop to the Foundation Establishment stage!

If this gets out, it will completely lose face in the entire demon realm.

But this is no longer a matter of saving face.

This is a matter of life and death.

Xue Du kept his eyes closed, his vertical pupils moving slightly behind his eyelids.

It is thinking.

From the Winter Solstice Grand Ceremony until now, it has been thinking about this.

We need to think of solutions, countermeasures, and ways to salvage the situation.

But after thinking it over, there's only one conclusion.

No way.

The method of mortal self-mutilation is a perfect dead end.

It has no weaknesses.

Or rather, its only weakness is that it requires mortals to die.

But this is precisely the weakness that evil cannot exploit.

Because you can't stop someone from dying.

Kill him; he detonated it before he died.

If we don't kill him, he'll choose to detonate it himself.

Trapped in him, detonated when he dies of old age.

Even if you lock him in the deepest dungeon, as long as he remembers that incantation, the explosion will occur automatically.

You can't erase a memory from someone's mind.

This is the most terrifying aspect of the mortal self-mutilation method.

It does not require any external conditions.

It requires no magic weapons, no spirit stones, no formations, and doesn't even require the person involved to consciously operate it.

It only needs one thing: death.

Death is the only thing in this world that cannot be prevented.

Xue Du has lived for tens of thousands of years, and has seen countless extremely intelligent cultivators and countless exquisite spells.

But it had never seen anyone turn death itself into a weapon.

Moreover, it is a weapon that is infinitely numerous, has zero barriers to use, and is completely undefendable.

Which madman created this?

Xue Du thought of the person behind the scenes whom he had been unable to find.

For three years, it has sent out countless spies to search every corner of Dali.

However, the originator of the method of mortal self-mutilation has never been found.

All it knew was that the incantation originated from an execution outside the capital city.

The rebel leader named Li Zizai.

But Li Zizai could not have been the creator of the formula.

How could an ordinary martial artist, who doesn't even have spiritual roots, possibly create a technique that involves innate pure energy and the laws of heaven and earth?

There must be someone behind this.

A person who is well-versed in the laws of heaven and earth and has a profound understanding of demons and spiritual energy.

But Xue Du never found this person.

But now that things have come to this, there's no need to look anymore.

So what if we find it?

Killing him wouldn't make a difference.

The incantation has spread throughout the entire Great Li, and entered the minds of billions of mortals.

Even if you tear the founder to pieces, it won't change anything.

This fire no longer belongs to anyone.

Xue Du opened his vertical pupils.

For the first time, a strange emotion appeared in those vertical pupils that had looked down upon all living beings for tens of thousands of years.

It's not anger.

Anger becomes meaningless once the situation is completely hopeless.

It's not hatred.

It had hated, but after six months of hating, it realized that hating couldn't change anything.

It was a fear that came from the deepest part of the soul.

It wasn't fear of a powerful individual, nor fear of a particular spell, but fear of a phenomenon.

It was afraid.

A powerful demon at the peak of the Golden Core stage was terrified by a group of mortals who had no spiritual roots, no magical power, and couldn't even defeat a single demon beast.

It's not because they're strong, but because they're fearless!

Moreover, the more they killed, the more numerous they became, and the more ferocious they grew.

They can't kill them all, they can't drive them back, they can't stop them.

Just like a locust plague.

You can crush the one under your feet, but you can't stop the swarm that blots out the sky.

Blood Crossing remained silent for a long time, and then it made a decision.

It was the most pathetic, yet also the most correct, decision it had ever made in its life.

"Pass on the order."

Xue Du's voice was hoarse and low, no longer possessing the awe-inspiring demonic power it had half a year ago.

The remaining demonic subordinates in the valley gathered together tremblingly.

Now, only two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and seven mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators remain by Xue Du's side.

Including Xue Du himself, there are ten in total.

Six months ago, there were more than a thousand evil spirits stationed in Dali.

Now only ten remain.

The rest were either burned to death by the spiritual energy storm of mortals, died from weakness after the collapse of demonic energy, or fled in advance.

Xue Du looked at his ten surviving subordinates and opened his mouth.

"withdraw."

Just one word.

The valley was deathly silent.

A demon in the late Foundation Establishment stage asked cautiously.

"Sir, where should we retreat to?"

"Leave Dali."

When Xue Du uttered those four words, his vertical pupils closed slightly.

It looked like they were swallowing something extremely difficult to swallow.

"The Great Li Dynasty is finished."

"This ranch is ruined."

"The longer we stay here, the weaker we become."

"Stay any longer..."

Blood Crossing paused for a moment.

"If I stay any longer, I'm afraid I'll be dried up by the mortal self-mutilation technique."

These words, spoken by a demon at the peak of the Golden Core stage, seemed utterly absurd to every demon present.

But no one dared to laugh.

Because they are also afraid, even more afraid than Blood Crossing.

Blood Crossing at least has the Golden Core protecting him.

Those in the Foundation Establishment stage may follow in the footsteps of their Qi Refining stage counterparts at any time once their demonic energy drops to a certain level.

He was hacked to death by a mortal with a hoe by the roadside.

"The world is vast, and there are many dynasties like the Great Li."

Xue Du stood up, his vertical pupils gazing eastward.

"To the east lies the Great Zhou, to the south the Great Chu, and to the north the Great Yan."

"With the Nascent Soul demon Chi Yuan in charge of the Great Zhou, the demonic energy is abundant, and the rule is stable."

"Go there."

"As long as there is no method for mortals to commit suicide, we still have a place to stand."

Xue Du turned around and walked out of the valley.

The remaining nine demons followed closely behind.

They dare not fly.

Because the demonic energy was too thin, the art of flying consumed a great deal of demonic power, and they were unwilling to waste what little cultivation they had left.

Therefore, these dignified demons at the Foundation Establishment stage and above walked out of Dali on two legs.

Like a stray dog.

As they emerged from the deep valley, Xue Du paused for a moment.

He glanced back in the direction of Dali.

The gray sky of six months ago has now turned into a dazzling blue.

A clean breeze blew from that direction, carrying a refreshing scent that made the demon feel uneasy.

The vertical pupils of Blood Crossing reflected the blue sky, a blue so blue it made it feel nauseous.

"Tens of thousands of years."

Xue Du murmured softly.

"From the day I settled in Dali until today, it has been exactly 23,000 years."

"The most stable pasture in 23,000 years."

"How could it be overturned by a bunch of ants?"

No one answered it.

Because every demon present had the same answer in their heart.

But no one dared to say it.

Xue Du withdrew his gaze and turned to leave.

Their figures disappeared into the wilderness of the eastern border of Dali.

What it didn't know was that on the very same day it left Dali...

The mortals in various parts of Dali did not stop detonating their weapons just because the evil spirits had retreated.

Although the blue sky has appeared, the demonic energy has not been completely eliminated.

There's still 30%.

Although 30% of the demonic energy was not enough for the demon to survive, it was still eroding the heavens and earth and the bodies of mortals.

Those elderly, dying mortals are still voluntarily detonating.

It's not about killing evil spirits, but about making the sky a little bluer.

Make it even bluer.

May Lan's descendants never have to remember the day when mortals committed suicide!