The Higher-Dimensional Judgment Exposed: From "Wall-Breaking" to "Heavenly Punishment," the Fate Defiers Are Marked

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the Light Screen.

The clear writing began to fade, replaced by a few fragmented characters that seemed to seep in from beyond the endless reaches of time and space.

[Wall-Breaking Plan...]

The first thing to appear on the Light Screen was these four cold, metallic-looking characters.

"Wall-Breaking Plan?" The sinister smile froze on Zhou Weiqing's face. He rubbed his chin, baffled. "What does that mean? Breaking what wall?"

Rong Nianbing furrowed his brow. As the God of Emotion, he could keenly sense that the words carried a completely emotionless, purely programmatic will. That chilled him more than any furious rage could.

Then more characters began to emerge with difficulty. They flickered like images caught in a poor signal. Each character seemed to contain a vast amount of information, causing the space around the God Realm Committee to warp slightly.

[...look... at me...]

[...knowledge... power...]

[...Abyss.]

The fragmented words made no sense, yet every God King present felt immense pressure. It was the sensation of being watched from above by a higher-dimensional existence, as if everything about them lay beneath its gaze.

"Abyss?" Tang Wulin's pupils contracted sharply.

Those two words were a nightmare carved into his and Gu Yuena's memories. The Abyss Plane had once nearly devoured all of Douluo Star, bringing devastation to countless living beings. Could everything behind this be connected to the Abyss?

Gu Yuena's body tensed. Her silver hair stirred without a breeze, and the elements gathered around her as she went on guard.

Huo Yuhao brought his Spiritual Eye to bear, trying to see through the essence of the characters. But all he saw was chaos and nothingness. It was a power beyond his comprehension. Any attempt to peer into it would be instantly assimilated and devoured.

"Is it... showing us its arsenal?" A'Dai, once Mandun the God of Death, spoke in a hoarse voice. Knowledge, power, the Abyss... All those words pointed toward abilities of immense destructive potential.

Just as the crowd reeled in shock, all the fragmented characters on the Light Screen suddenly vanished, converging into a single, complete, clear declaration, imbued with supreme authority.

The blood-red script looked as though it had been written with the blood of countless gods and demons. Every stroke carried the weight of a judgment.

[Sin shall be purged by 'Heavenly Punishment.']

If "We have ideas of our own" had been the Core Flame that ignited the gods' rebellion, these words were a bucket of icy water poured over them, its bone-chilling cold meant to extinguish the flames entirely.

"Heavenly Punishment?" Hai Long's expression turned strange. First he was taken aback, then his usual defiant arrogance surged back. "What a bold claim! I'd like to see who dares judge me, and who can bring down this 'Heavenly Punishment'!"

"This isn't arrogance. It's a declaration." Tang San's voice drew everyone's attention back to him. His expression remained calm, but beneath that calm, a tempest was already raging.

"'Wall-Breaking Plan' must be its codename for this operation." Tang San's gaze swept over the line of blood-red text. "It didn't review our past for no reason. It's selecting—selecting the 'sinners' in its eyes. Those of us who defy fate and refuse to follow its arrangements are clearly on the list."

He raised a hand and pointed at the glaring words "Heavenly Punishment."

"And this is the fate it has prepared for us."

In an instant, everyone understood.

This wasn't a declaration of war.

A declaration of war was something made between two sides on equal footing. This was a "Purge Notice" from a higher level of existence.

It was telling them: I've reviewed your records. You're all guilty. Prepare to be punished.

Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy.

The atmosphere inside the Sea God Pavilion was oppressive.

Beneath the Golden Tree, everyone had only just recovered from the shock and excitement stirred by the words "We have ideas of our own" when this sudden change on the Light Screen caught them off guard.

"Wall-Breaking Plan... the Abyss... Heavenly Punishment..." Bei Bei recited, one word at a time. The once-gentle senior disciple's expression was now grim. As the Dragon God Douluo, he could feel a tremor deep in his bloodline, a primal revulsion and anger at the words "Heavenly Punishment."

"Damn it, who's behind this? All this spooky nonsense!" Xu Sanshi cursed. He instinctively moved to shield Xiao Xiao behind him, while his Black Tortoise Power quietly stirred, as if to ward off the invisible pressure bearing down from the sky.

Xiao Xiao's face was pale. Her Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron spirit trembled faintly. It wasn't fear, but an answering resonance to a provocation.

He Caitou said nothing. He simply took a piece of metal from his Soul Tool and quickly ground it down with his tools. Yet a kind of madness glinted in his focused eyes. A product of the Ultimate Soldier Plan, he regarded Soul Guidance Cannons as his faith. To him, this so-called "Heavenly Punishment" was nothing more than an attack with an enormous energy yield.

As long as it was an attack, it had a trajectory and an energy signature.

As long as it could be analyzed, it could be intercepted and counterattacked!

Tang Ya clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. She remembered the Dark Years when Evil Soul Masters had controlled her, and the hatred she bore for the destruction of her sect. The word "sin" grated on her ears.

Star Luo Empire, Imperial Palace.

The White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, stood on the observatory in his military uniform, gazing up at the enormous Light Screen in the sky.

The generals behind him all wore grim expressions. Not one dared breathe too loudly.

Dai Hao's face was as impassive as a statue, revealing neither joy nor anger. But those who knew him well understood that when the duke fell silent, the storm inside him was at its fiercest.

"Wall-Breaking Plan..." he murmured. His military mind immediately began to analyze it. "Does it mean breaking the barriers between worlds? Or the barriers in our understanding?"

"The Abyss..." His brow furrowed deeper. As Marshal of the empire, he knew all too well how devastating the war against the Abyss Plane had been. It had nearly exhausted the entire continent's reserves.

"Heavenly Punishment."

When the final two words appeared, an Iron-Blooded Aura surged from Dai Hao into the sky.

"Some 'Heavenly Punishment'!" he scoffed. "The sons of the Star Luo Empire know only how to die in battle, never how to accept punishment! Pass on my order: the entire army is to enter Level One Combat Readiness! Whatever this Heavenly Punishment may be, if it dares descend upon the continent, we'll blast it right back where it came from!"

Deep within the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial palace.

With the support of his attendants, the elderly Xue Ye walked out of the palace hall and gazed toward the horizon with cloudy eyes.

He didn't possess Dai Hao's formidable cultivation, but he could sense that the laws of the entire world seemed to be growing unstable under the influence of the Light Screen.