98: Chapter 98 History Repeats Itself

The seventh year of Hanyuan.

A year had passed since that "insignificant little riot" in Suining Prefecture.

A year's time.

The devils of Great Zhou finally understood how Xue Du had felt back then.

The spread of the Mortal Self-Severing Method in Great Zhou far exceeded the imagination of all the devils.

From the remote border counties of the Southern Territory to the bustling major cities in the heartland, the incantation had spread in just half a year.

Half a year.

The impregnable defense that Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan had managed for thirty thousand years had been thoroughly penetrated in half a year by an incantation of less than a hundred words.

The reason was simple.

News of the restoration of Great Li had long since spread across the entire world.

The merchants, refugees, and fishermen flowing out from Great Li had brought not only the incantation but also stories.

The story of Zhao Heng sacrificing himself for the Dao.

The story of Leader Li Zizai teaching the technique.

The story of millions of Mortals besieging the Black Iron Spire, detonating themselves en masse, and burning the devils to death.

And the story of a blue sky.

These stories were more infectious than the incantation itself.

Because the incantation was just a set of words, while the stories were proof.

Proof that this path was viable.

Proof that Mortals could truly kill devils.

Proof that the blue sky was not a legend.

The Mortals of Great Zhou had lived under the feet of devils for thirty thousand years—longer than those in Great Li, and they were even more numb.

But numbness did not mean they had no feelings.

When a living example was placed before them, that layer of numbness began to crack, bit by bit.

What grew from the cracks was hope.

And once hope took root, it could never be pulled out.

The Mortals of Great Zhou began the exact same resistance as in Great Li.

It started with sporadic detonations.

Dozens or hundreds of people would gather in front of a local devil stronghold, sit down, close their eyes, and detonate.

The scale was small, and the damage was limited, but every time, it would permanently reduce the Devilish Qi in that area.

The devils' response was also exactly the same as it had been in Great Li back then.

One word: Kill!

Suppression, blockade, mass purges.

The devils and lackeys under Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan acted swiftly and ruthlessly, launching a frantic slaughter across the Southern Territory.

But what was the result?

The result was also exactly the same as in Great Li.

Kill one, and they would detonate before death, shining a white light.

Kill ten, and ten would shine.

The harder they killed, the more Mortals detonated.

Because the slaughter itself was helping the Mortals spread their message.

"Do you see? The devils are killing people."

"Why are they killing? Because they are afraid."

"What are they afraid of? They are afraid of the Mortal Self-Severing Method."

"Is the Mortal Self-Severing Method really useful? Look at how scared they are; tell me, is it useful?"

Fear is contagious; the devils' fear was passed on to the Mortals.

But what the Mortals read from the devils' fear was not terror, but courage.

You fear me, so I no longer fear you.

Half a year later, the sporadic detonations escalated to the scale of villages and towns.

Two months later, it escalated to the scale of cities.

A dozen prefectures and counties in the Southern Territory of Great Zhou fell one after another.

The word "fell" is quite interesting here.

Previously, when Mortals were ruled by devils, it was called "falling."

Now that the devils were being driven away by Mortals, it was also called "falling."

It was just in a different direction.

Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan finally could not sit still.

For thirty thousand years, it had never personally handled the affairs of Mortals.

In its eyes, Mortals were just livestock. Livestock matters were for the shepherds to handle; why would it, the master, need to step in?

But the shepherds could no longer control them.

The Golden Core Stage devils could no longer control them.

The Foundation Establishment Stage devils were burned to death.

The Qi Refining Stage devils had long since been hacked into pulp by Mortals using hoes.

Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan had no choice but to take action personally.

It unleashed its full Middle Stage Nascent Soul power, whipping up a terrifying storm of Devilish Qi across the Southern Territory of Great Zhou.

The sky for a thousand miles around turned pitch black again.

In the areas that had been purified by the Mortals' detonations, the Devilish Qi was re-infused by the Nascent Soul power of Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan.

The blue sky vanished, and the darkness returned.

The Mortals of the Southern Territory looked up at the blue sky that had just appeared and was quickly swallowed up; many knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan stood high in the sky, looking down at the ant-like Mortals below, its vertical pupils filled with cold killing intent.

"I have said it before."

"Great Li is Great Li, and Great Zhou is Great Zhou."

"A situation that not even a Golden Core could suppress, I can turn around with one hand."

It was right.

The power of the Nascent Soul Stage was indeed terrifying.

Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan could re-pollute a thousand miles of Devilish Qi with a single Spell.

In the face of absolute power, the Mortals' detonations were like mayflies trying to shake a tree.

But the problem was, there was only one Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan.

Great Zhou had billions of Mortals.

It re-polluted the Southern Territory, and the Northern Territory exploded.

It rushed to the Northern Territory to suppress them, and the Mortals in the Eastern Territory besieged the local Black Iron Spire.

It flew to the Eastern Territory to re-infuse Devilish Qi, and the area in the Southern Territory that had just been re-polluted was purified again by a new round of mass detonations.

Because the Mortals would not stop.

If you pollute it back, they will detonate again.

If you pollute it again, they will detonate again.

Your magic power is limited, but the lives of Mortals are endless.

For the first time, Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan felt a weariness from the depths of its Soul.

It was not the weariness of exhausted magic power, but a weariness of knowing that whatever it did was useless.

It finally understood why Xue Du had been pushed to such a state back then.

It was not because Xue Du was weak, but because this kind of attrition was a bottomless pit.

You are consuming magic power, while the Mortals are consuming their lives.

Magic power can be exhausted, but the lives of Mortals cannot.

Because new Mortals are born every day, and every day, dying Mortals detonate before their final breath.

This was a war of attrition that could never be won.

Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan could re-pollute a thousand miles, but it could not re-pollute the entire Great Zhou.

And the Mortals' detonations covered the entire Great Zhou.

As one wanes, the other waxes.

Time was on the side of the Mortals!

The night Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan suppressed the Southern Territory.

Xue Du had already quietly left Great Zhou.

It knew better than anyone what would happen next.

Because it had experienced it.

The exact same script, the exact same progression, the exact same ending.

It was just that Great Zhou had one more Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan than Great Li, so the process would be longer.

But the ending would not change.

Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan would exhaust its patience, its magic power, and that arrogance of being "unrivaled in the Nascent Soul Stage."

Then it, too, would make the same choice as Xue Du.

Escape.

Xue Du did not want to wait for that day.

It did not want to watch with its own eyes as Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan repeated its own script.

That would be too torturous.

It was like looking into a mirror, and the mirror reflected its own most wretched self.

So it left early.

Where to?

Great Yan.

The Great Yan Imperial Dynasty was further away than Great Zhou, separated from Great Li by half the world.

Moreover, the devil stationed in Great Yan was also at the Nascent Soul Stage.

Xue Du did not expect Great Yan to be able to stop the Mortal Self-Severing Method.

It no longer harbored any illusions.

It just wanted to survive a little longer.

To survive for as long as possible before the Mortal Self-Severing Method burned its way there—to live one more day was one more day.

When leaving Great Zhou, Xue Du did not say goodbye to any devils.

It only carved a line of text on the wall of the stone chamber with its Devilish Qi.

"Lord Nascent Soul Demon Chi Yuan, Great Zhou is Great Zhou, and Great Yan is Great Yan."

"I wish you luck in controlling your Mortals."

After carving it, Xue Du looked at the line of text and, for a rare moment, revealed a smile.

A very bitter smile.

Then it flew away without looking back.

PS: The little author knows their mistake and has corrected it; I only just realized there was a problem with "Qingyuan" and changed it to "Hanyuan." Wuwuwu, it's my fault. By the way, asking for a gift, qaq...