Even though it pained her, Yun Jin didn't hesitate to spend that much Emotional Value. The system might demand a lot every time, but it had never once cheated her. Every trade had been worth it.
So far, Yun Jin still trusted the system.
[Emotional Value deducted. Beginning scan of the Blood Moon.]
This time, the scan lasted far longer than usual. It wasn't until the main army located the first demon gathering point that the system finally gave a result.
[The Blood Moon is the companion of the Tree of Life. Unless the Tree of Life is destroyed, the Blood Moon cannot be extinguished.]
Yun Jin's pupils tightened slightly.
The Tree of Life?
The demons actually had one?!
She remembered what Zi Mo Xiāndì had once said about the Tree of Life.
Rumor had it that the Tree of Life grew at the end of the world, capable of giving birth to new life.
And now…
It seemed those rumors weren't just rumors.
A bold guess flickered through Yun Jin's mind. She kept reading the system's explanation.
[The Tree of Life is an ancient divine relic. Its origin lies in the World Tree at the end of the God Realm. The World Tree is the beginning of all living beings under the order of the Heavenly Dao.
Every ten thousand years, it sheds one branch. Some wither, while some, by coincidence, survive and grow into a Tree of Life.
A Tree of Life, being born from the World Tree, carries the same power to give birth to life.
A Tree of Life can also drop branches over time. In extremely rare cases, a branch may grow into a new Tree of Life.
In the Supreme Demon Realm, there once existed a Tree of Life soaked in demonic energy for countless eras. One of its branches, by chance, fell into this world. Since its origin was tied to the Supreme Demon Realm, the life it gave birth to naturally possessed immense demonic nature. Those beings became the demons of this realm.
The Blood Moon hanging in the sky is the spirit of that Tree of Life. To destroy the demons, one must first destroy the Blood Moon. Otherwise, as long as the Tree's spirit remains, new demons will eventually appear.]
All that information cost Yun Jin a total of five hundred million Emotional Value.
Was it worth it?
Yeah.
Totally worth it.
Yun Jin frowned slightly.
These were secrets within secrets. Even Zi Mo Xiāndì hadn't been sure of the Tree's abilities, only saying that rumors claimed it could create life.
Now, the system had given her a definite answer. Not only that, it revealed the existence of the World Tree itself. That kind of earth-shattering truth—probably even the God Realm's top beings didn't know. And now she also knew the only true way to erase the demons.
Unless the Blood Moon was destroyed, the demons could never be truly wiped out.
Sure, by the time new ones appeared, Yun Jin would probably already have ascended to the Immortal or God Realm.
But still—
She didn't want to leave behind such a hidden threat.
Evil had to be rooted out completely.
After thinking for a moment, Yun Jin issued another command.
"System, create a cultivation method that can temporarily resist the Blood Moon's corruption."
The system displayed two options.
[Immunity for three months: 500 million Emotional Value.
Permanent immunity: 1 billion Emotional Value.]
Another terrifying number.
Yun Jin's eyebrow twitched.
She quickly chose the three-month version. She wasn't stingy, but she also wasn't stupid. Three months should be more than enough to crush the demons.
This time, the system responded fast.
The new technique turned out to be a Heaven-rank secret art.
Yun Jin sighed softly. That meant it couldn't be spread widely. Only those with exceptional talent could master it in a short time.
Even so, she instinctively began cultivating it right away.
Before this, the Blood Moon's crimson light had always made her feel sick, like she was wrapped in blood. But as soon as she began training the new art, a thin film seemed to appear over her body, blocking out the Blood Moon's radiance completely.
However, since she'd only chosen the three-month version, that protective film would eventually wear away, and once it did, it couldn't be used again for a while.
Yun Jin wasn't worried.
Three months, huh? That was plenty.
And if not… She could always pull a Hou Yi and shoot that damn moon down herself.
The change in her aura didn't escape those nearby.
Ji Wusi looked at her in surprise. "Xiao Jin, what's going on with you?"
"Nothing," Yun Jin said casually. "When I saw the Blood Moon, I suddenly gained an insight and created a method to resist its corruption. It's a bit high-level though, so Master, you can try cultivating it too."
She casually recorded the technique and handed Ji Wusi a copy.
Ji Wusi: "???"
What the hell? Just from seeing the Blood Moon, she "accidentally" came up with a resistance technique? Was that even something a human could say with a straight face?
Yun Jin didn't bother hiding the art. She simply had it copied and distributed to everyone.
Whether they could learn it was up to their own ability.
She even sent it to the cultivators who hadn't entered the Demon Realm yet.
The art was designed solely to resist the Blood Moon's corruption, so the more people who learned it, the better.
Yun Jin was generous, but given that it was a Heaven-rank technique, the learning difficulty was absurdly high. For now, no one had managed to master it yet.
"Keep the technique for later. Let's move to the gathering zone first," Yun Jin said.
Everyone agreed and followed.
The outskirts of the Demon Realm reeked of a vile stench.
The low-ranked demons had almost no intelligence—barely smarter than wild beasts.
Compared to beasts, though, they were far more violent, shameless, and depraved. Every kind of negative emotion you could imagine existed within these creatures.
Yun Jin couldn't help wondering.
Was the legendary Supreme Demon Realm the same way?
Or did higher-ranked demons have emotions closer to real beings?
Either way, it didn't matter.
The demons of this world were living manifestations of negative emotion—beyond saving and beyond purification. Leaving them alive would only bring endless disaster.
Which meant…
There was only one solution.
Extermination.
The human army was vast. If these demons had even a hint of intelligence, they'd have fled already.
But these low-grade ones didn't even think about retreat. Instead, they charged forward like crazed predators, drooling as they came.
"Humans! Fresh flesh and blood! I haven't tasted human meat in a hundred years—let me go first!"
"Meat! I want meat!"
"I love eating children the most! Let me see if there are any kids here!"
As they roared and lunged, the filthy words pouring from their mouths made the humans' blood boil with rage.
"Go ahead," Yun Jin said with a raised brow, stepping aside.
These low-tier demons didn't deserve her attention. The human elites didn't need to act either. They were perfect targets for the younger cultivators to practice on.
The younger ones were already furious. They summoned their artifacts and charged straight ahead.
High above, Yun Jin and the other human experts watched the battle unfold. Her gaze instinctively shifted toward the disciples of the Wushuang Sect.
This time, Yun Jin had allowed all disciples who had formed their Golden Cores to sign up for the Demon Realm expedition. With her leading the charge, the danger level wasn't too high. It was the perfect opportunity for them to temper themselves.
Besides, the Wushuang Sect had a group task related to demon extermination. The more demons they killed, the more contribution points they'd earn, which meant better rewards later.
As expected, the Wushuang Sect disciples performed impressively.
Then suddenly—
Yun Jin's eyes landed on one person.
Gu Jinghong.