Cold Heaven Nail Wasn't a Killing Move, but a Torture Device! It Pinned Apep Down and Drained His Power, Turning the Rainforest into a Sea of Sand in Seconds-The Dragon God Was Enraged

One chain held time in suspension, then sent it racing forward, a paradox both contradictory and harmonious. One chain folded space in upon itself, then stretched it infinitely outward, profound and unfathomable. One chain held the alternating flashes of life's rhythm and death's decay, repeating in an endless cycle.

"That's..." Lie Yan's pupils contracted in the Divine Realm. As a former God King, she could clearly identify what it was. "Authority! The four fundamental Authorities that make up the world!"

Ji Dong stood beside her, his expression more solemn than ever. "He gave the Authority of Order a tangible form, turning it into an actual object. This isn't an attack. It's... rewriting!"

Tang San's gaze pierced through the Light Screen, as if he could see the Giant Nail's true nature. "He doesn't intend to destroy Sumeru. He intends to erase the very 'concept' of Sumeru ever having existed."

His words sent a chill through all the Deities.

Destruction left traces behind, but erasing a concept meant stripping away even the proof that it had ever existed.

Inside the God Realm Committee, Chang Gongwei and Lei Xiang exchanged glances. Both saw deep shock in the other's eyes. They had fought to protect their own worlds and had witnessed the might of God Kings, but this kind of brute-force use of the World Origin's Laws as a weapon, without the slightest regard for reason, went beyond their understanding of what a "God" was.

"Madman. A complete and utter madman," Zhou Weiqing muttered.

The Giant Nail descended slowly, but with every inch it fell, the entire Teyvat World seemed to wail. Its target wasn't any living being, but the vast rainforest below—the entire land of Sumeru!

At Shrek Academy, no one could utter a word.

Storms raged in Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness. He could feel an irresistible, incomprehensible "will" descending—a cold program intent on reducing everything to a matter of "setting."

"It can't be stopped..." Tang Wulin murmured. The Golden Dragon King Bloodline within him trembled—not from fear, but from an instinctive wariness of that pure power of "Rules."

Gu Yuena squeezed his hand, her silver eyes full of frost. "This isn't power. It's 'authorization.' He's using the authorization of the Creator to modify his own creation."

At last, the Cold Heaven Nail touched the ground.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no deafening roar, not even a speck of dust kicked up.

Time seemed to stop in that moment.

From the point where the Heavenly Nail struck, an invisible ripple spread silently outward, like ripples on the surface of water.

Wherever it passed, a miracle—or perhaps a divine miracle—unfolded.

The towering ancient trees, millions of miles of them, which had been growing for countless millennia; the exotic flowers and plants scattered throughout the forest; the vines and shrubs that sustained the entire ecosystem... Everything instantly lost its "green."

They didn't burn, wither, or crumble into ash.

They simply... turned into sand.

The moment the invisible ripple touched them, their emerald leaves, sturdy trunks, and pliant vines had the concept of "life" forcibly extracted from them, and their forms of existence rewritten in an instant. They were transformed directly into the most primordial, lifeless matter—grains of sand.

Circle after circle of green was mercilessly replaced with dull yellow.

Seen from above, that vast green jade was being eaten away by yellow rust at a visible speed, spreading from the center to every last corner.

Within just a few dozen breaths, the millions of miles of primeval rainforest had become a vast, boundless desert.

"My heavens..." Ning Rongrong covered her mouth, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Niu Tian and Tai Tan, those two men built like iron towers, felt their hands and feet go cold. What kind of might was this? To turn clouds with one hand and rain with the other was nothing compared to it.

Dai Hao crushed the armrest of his throne into powder. "What a move... What a Divine Punishment! He isn't punishing them. He's making a declaration! He's declaring that from this day forth, this land no longer deserves to have life!"

Emperor Xue Ye slumped in his chair, his face ashen. He finally understood how laughable mortal wars were as games played on a god's chessboard.

The Light Screen's view slowly shifted downward, focusing on the very center of the desert.

The Cold Heaven Nail that pierced the heavens and earth had struck its mark. Directly beneath it, the enormous body of Apep, the Grass Dragon King, was pinned firmly to the ground.

The Giant Nail pierced his body, yet had deftly avoided every vital spot.

It wasn't meant to kill him.

It was a "seal."

It was suppression.

And it was unending torture.

Plainly visible on the Giant Nail, the Four-colored Law Chains writhed like living creatures. They burrowed deep into Apep's body and connected to the depths of the earth. Pure Life Force and the savage Abyss Power poured out of Apep, flowed into the Heavenly Nail, and were transformed within it, seemingly nourishing something.

"Is he using a Dragon King to purify this tainted land?" Hai Long asked, his voice dry.

Tian Hen shook his head, a trace of pity on his face. "No. He's using the Dragon King's suffering to etch his 'Order' into it. He's making sure this land remembers forever what happens when anyone defies him."

"Eternal torment, eternal decay... This is ten thousand times more cruel than simply killing him." Ye Yinzhu closed his eyes, unable to look any longer.

Zi leaned silently against his shoulder, her body trembling slightly.

For the first time, God of Death A'Dai's wooden expression twisted in response to someone else's suffering. "He's... toying with life and death."

The Dragon Clan.

"Roar—!"

A roar, suppressed to the breaking point, burst from the Dragon God's throat. His terrifying dragon might swept through the entire space, shaking even the God Realm Committee.

"Heavenly Principles!!" The Dragon God's eyes were bloodshot, his boundless killing intent nearly taking physical form.

The king of an entire clan had been turned into a purification tool, pinned to his homeland and drained of his power day and night, forced to endure endless pain and humiliation! This was the most vicious Curse imaginable against the entire Dragon Clan!

The Dragon Prince was trembling all over too, his teeth clenched so tightly they chattered.

"How dare he... How dare he treat a Dragon King like this!"

Feeling the unrelenting Storm of Despair in the sealed Dragon King's heart, so tangible it seemed to reach across worlds, Rong Nianbing sighed. "Because he can."

Yes, because he could. Because he was the Victor, the New God.

So he could trample everything the defeated had beneath his feet, using the cruelest means to declare the beginning of his rule.

Tang San silently watched the boundless desert and the Giant Nail rising like a tombstone.