89: Chapter 89 Dawn Breaks

Millions of white beams of light.

This number had far exceeded any precedent set by the Mortal Self-Severing Method.

When the millionth beam of light ignited, the crack in the firmament had expanded from fifty li to a hundred li.

When the five millionth beam of light converged into a sea, the grey haze that had shrouded the capital for tens of thousands of years began to churn violently and crack.

And the moment the ten millionth beam of light existed in this world simultaneously.

Quantitative change had triggered a qualitative change.

"Boom——!!!"

A deafening roar, indescribable in words, exploded directly above the capital.

It was not thunder, not a spell, nor was it any man-made power.

It was the laws of heaven and earth themselves roaring.

Millions of white beams of light merged into one in that instant, transforming into a pure white vortex that constantly rotated and expanded.

The center of the vortex was the capital's central square.

The edges of the vortex spread outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Wherever it passed, the sinister demonic energy was not slowly purified, but violently torn apart, crushed, and completely reversed!

Those black demonic particles that had floated in the air for tens of thousands of years emitted a faint hissing sound under the pressure of the pure white vortex, vanishing instantly like ice falling into a furnace.

In their place was a spiritual energy of heaven and earth that was pure to the extreme.

To what extent was the spiritual energy concentrated?

It was so concentrated that transparent raindrops actually drifted down from the sky.

These were not ordinary raindrops.

It was the liquefaction phenomenon produced by spiritual energy under extreme concentration!

Spiritual Rain!

This was a phenomenon that only existed in ancient legends.

It is said that in the primordial era before the demonic invasion, when the spiritual energy of this world was at its peak, a very small amount of Spiritual Rain would occasionally fall upon sacred grounds where spiritual veins converged.

Every drop of Spiritual Rain was worth a fortune.

Yet at this moment, the pure spiritual power, bought with the lives of tens of millions of Mortal, had actually birthed a torrential downpour of true Spiritual Rain above the capital.

Transparent raindrops drifted down from the azure sky, sprinkling onto the ruins, onto the crumbling walls, and onto the faces of the Mortal who were still alive.

They were cool and refreshing, carrying an indescribable, faint fragrance.

Someone opened their mouth and caught a drop.

Then they froze.

Because the taste was so clean it made one want to cry.

...

The center of the spiritual energy storm was a patch of absolute pure white.

But at the edges of that pure white was a hell for the demons.

Those demons at the Foundation Establishment Stage who could not retreat in time were swallowed up the moment the spiritual energy storm expanded.

The pure spiritual energy was like ice under the scorching sun meeting boiling water, but in reverse—it was their demonic bodies that melted within the spiritual energy.

"Ah——!!!"

Piercing screams rose and fell one after another.

Some demons had their meridians burst throughout their bodies, black demonic blood gushing wildly from their seven orifices.

Some demons had their demonic cores shatter on the spot, their cultivation dropping to the level of Mortal in a few breaths, before being "poisoned" to death by the spiritual energy.

There were even a few demons at the Qi Refining Stage who were closest; without even a chance to struggle, their physical bodies turned directly into fly ash within the spiritual energy.

Within a radius of fifty li, all demons below the Foundation Establishment Stage were wiped out.

Demons at the middle and late Foundation Establishment Stage were severely injured.

Even Xue Du, at the Golden Core Great Perfection, was forced to retreat to the very outermost edge of the spiritual energy storm.

Fine cracks appeared on the surface of its demonic body.

That was the rejection reaction produced after pure spiritual energy permeated its demonic body.

It was as if its body had been filled with gut-wrenching poison.

Xue Du exerted all its power to mobilize its Golden Core to protect its body, barely stabilizing its tottering form.

It stared fixedly at that azure sky and the incredible Spiritual Rain beneath it.

Deep within its vertical pupils, for the first time, a fear emerged from the deepest depths of its soul.

It was not fear of the spiritual energy storm before it.

It was fear of a fact.

This power came from Mortal.

From the Mortal it had trampled underfoot for tens of thousands of years, viewing them as nothing more than pigs and sheep.

They had no spiritual roots, no magic power, and no means of a cultivator.

But they used the most primitive, most brutal, and most incredible method.

To turn themselves into weapons.

And the number of these weapons was endless!

...

Meanwhile.

In the northern territory of Great Li, deep in the wilderness.

In the deepest part of an abandoned mine, inside the central secret chamber.

Twelve-year-old Su Yu sat cross-legged, eyes tightly closed.

Since breaking through to the Qi Refining 7th Layer three years ago, his spiritual sense could cover a range of several dozen li.

But at this moment, he did not need spiritual sense.

Because the fluctuations of spiritual energy coming from the direction of the capital were strong enough that even Mortal could perceive them.

The sky over the entire northern territory was faintly glowing.

That was the afterglow of the spiritual energy storm above the capital, hundreds of li away, reflecting onto the horizon.

Su Yu felt that overwhelming, mountain-toppling pure spiritual power and remained silent for a long time.

The face of Zhao Heng appeared in his mind.

That young emperor who had approved the Blood Tribute for three years in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, his fingers stained dark red by cinnabar.

Su Yu had lived for thousands of years and had seen too many people off.

His wife, his son, his fellow disciples, his juniors.

Each time he saw someone off, he thought he had become sufficiently numb.

But at this moment, he still silently recited a sentence in his heart.

"Zhao Heng, you did it."

Su Yu opened his eyes.

There was no sadness in his eyes, no sentimentality.

Because the death of Zhao Heng was not the end, but the beginning.

The detonation of the millions of Mortal in the capital was merely the most critical first move in this game of chess.

But purification of the capital alone was far from enough.

Demonic energy shrouded the entire Great Li, shrouded the entire world.

The fifty li of blue sky in the capital was nothing more than a lonely island in the vast ocean on the map of this world.

If they did not take advantage of this momentum to expand the scope of purification to the entire Great Li.

Then Xue Du would only need to retreat outside the capital and wait for the peripheral demonic energy to slowly flow back, and everything would return to the starting point.

Su Yu would naturally not let such a thing happen.

He stood up and walked toward the sheepskin map that covered the entire wall deep in the secret chamber.

The map was densely marked with thousands of ink dots.

Each ink dot was a node.

Each node was a group of Mortal prepared to trade their lives for the blue sky.

Su Yu raised his hand and drew a circle in the very center of the map.

Then he turned around and said three words to Adjutant Li Xiaotian and the dozen or so core members waiting for orders in the secret chamber.

"Dawn has broken."

Adjutant Li Xiaotian trembled all over.

This was the code they had been waiting three years for.

"Pass down the order."

Su Yu's voice was extremely calm, as if he were speaking of the most ordinary matter.

"Full activation."