Prosperity's Wisdom Was Actually a Manual for the Cage? All Living Beings Were Fuel for Heaven's Principles' Cycle! Heaven's Principles: Let the Prisoners

Inside Sea God Pavilion, Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, Xiao Xiao, and Tang Ya—the Shrek Seven Devils of old—had long since lost the high spirits they once possessed.

"We... The world's number one sect we once fought to claim—doesn't it seem now like we were just competing to be the king of the kids in a slightly bigger yard?" Xu Sanshi said bitterly. His Black Tortoise Soul Beast even sent him a faint cry of sorrow.

He Caitou said nothing, merely polishing his Soul Tool in silence. Yet the precision instrument seemed to have lost its former brilliance in his eyes. The crystallized wisdom that humanity took pride in couldn't even break free of the constraints of the "mortal realm."

Clear Sky Sect.

Niu Tian and Tai Tan, the two Divine Beasts, had gotten back to their feet, but their backs could no longer straighten as they once had.

"The Earth Vein bears all living beings..." Niu Tian, the Sky Azure Bull Python, was himself a creature nurtured by the essence of the earth. He understood the meaning of those words better than anyone. "We Soul Beasts are born from the Earth Vein, and after death... our souls return to the Earth Vein. But our king is resisting..."

"Are we the filth?" The Titan Giant Ape's voice was hoarse. "Because we're too powerful and 'Heaven's Principles' won't allow us, are we supposed to be eliminated, to be cast into the 'filth' of the dark currents in the Void Realm?"

The thought sent the hearts of the two Divine Beasts plummeting into an abyss without end.

It filled them with even greater despair than being hunted by humans for their Spirit Rings.

Because it meant that, in the very structure of this world, their existence was a "mistake"!

Bright God Realm.

Long Gong Wei, Lei Xiang, Hai Long, and Tian Hen—powerful figures from different worlds who had ultimately gathered here—all wore expressions so grave they seemed almost tangible.

"The three realms..." As a former God King, Long Gong Wei understood the world far better than ordinary people. "This is a cage—a perfectly designed energy cycle, with every part assigned its role!"

"Our ascension was nothing more than moving from the mortal realm, a place where we were left to grow, into the light realm, a source of energy." Hai Long's tone was tinged with self-mockery. "But we're still in the cage. We've even... become part of it, providing energy to keep it running."

Zi, the sovereign of the East Dragon Empire and a descendant of the Dragon God, began to glow faintly. The dragon blood within him responded just as Gu Yuena's had earlier: it was a cry of sorrow for his ancestor Apep, and fury at the truth of these three realms.

Yes, fury!

After the sorrow and self-reproach, a suppressed anger began to stir quietly in the hearts of countless powerful figures.

Why?

Why should living beings be divided into ranks?

Why could all living beings do nothing but struggle on the "Earth Vein"?

Why should they be taken in as "filth" after death?

And who had given the lofty "Heaven's Principles" the right to define everything?

In the God Realm Committee, Tang San spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, yet it reached every God King as clearly as a clap of thunder.

"This structure seems perfect, but it has one major flaw."

Everyone's eyes turned toward him.

"A cycle needs a driving core." Tang San's gaze seemed to pierce the Light Screen, looking toward some unknown higher dimension. "Who is maintaining this cycle? The mortal realm, the light realm, the Void Realm... Where does their energy ultimately flow?"

The writing on the Light Screen burned itself deep into the souls of every living being. The cruel truth of the three-realm cage filled even the powerful, who had always thought themselves exceptional, with a profound malice emanating from the very structure of the world.

Oppressive silence.

Whether they were the Titled Douluo who had once dominated Douluo Continent or the Deities who stood high above in the Divine Realm, all now felt as though an invisible hand had closed around their throats. Even breathing came with the weight of despair.

Just as that despair was about to consume everyone's minds, the writing on the Light Screen quietly shifted. The old images and words receded like the tide, and fresh lines of text, glowing with a pale golden light, slowly appeared.

[Divine Revelation]

[Seeking the truth is the wisdom brought by prosperity, not the seed needed to bring prosperity about.]

[Everything comes to an end, but that does not mean there is no eternity.]

[At the end of the cycle, the earth will welcome new life once more, forming a Closed Loop.]

These lines were not as blunt and cruel as the previous ones. Instead, they were steeped in some unfathomable philosophy. Yet to those who had just learned the truth of the cage, every word sounded like a merciful sentence being passed.

Douluo Continent, Heaven Dou Imperial City.

Emperor Xue Ye slumped on his throne and stared at the Light Screen, murmuring, "Wisdom brought by prosperity... not the seed... So after a lifetime spent governing our country and making the empire prosperous, was it all just so we could understand this 'revelation'?"

What a bitter irony. In the eyes of that "Heaven's Principles," all the achievements they had pursued throughout their lives amounted to no more than raising cleverer prisoners, capable of understanding their own fate.

Star Luo Empire, imperial palace.

Dai Hao clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white. As a great ruler, he had never felt so powerless. "A Closed Loop... The end of new life is the beginning of the next cycle. Has everything we've done just been going around in circles?"

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Rongrong leaned against Oscar, the light of her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul dim. She thought of the sect's teachings, of all that her father and the two grandfathers, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, had sacrificed for the sect.

"We worked so hard to amass wealth and grow stronger, building the sect into the greatest on the continent. And all this time... it was just to make this 'prosperity' measure look better?" Her voice trembled slightly.

Ning Tian, the new generation's sect master, was equally pale. She had always made revitalizing the sect her responsibility, but now that sense of duty was shrouded in an immense emptiness.

Shrek Academy.

"That sounds like it's telling us not to bother trying, just to sit quietly and wait for the world to restart." Xu Sanshi's bitterness turned into sharp self-mockery. "If it's all a Closed Loop anyway, what are we fighting for?"

Bei Bei did not argue. He only looked up at the sky, where the golden writing hung like an impassable chasm.

Star Dou Great Forest.

"The earth will welcome new life once more..." Niu Tian murmured. The Sky Azure Bull Python's connection to the earth told him these were no empty words. The Earth Vein's depletion and renewal were simply natural laws.

"But there's no place for us in this Closed Loop!" The Titan Giant Ape slammed his fist into the ground, shaking the earth. "Does every new beginning mean our kind will be labeled 'filth' and purged again? And then the survivors wait for the next 'new beginning' and 'purge'?"