Earth Vein Spews Gold, Flowing Destruction; Corpses Become Demonic Creatures, Tang San: This Isn't a Natural Disaster, It's Heavenly Principles' Scheme!

A massive golden torrent, as thick as a mountain range, suddenly erupted from deep underground, tearing through the surface. It wasn't lava, but pure elemental energy in its most concentrated form. This torrent of energy, known as the Earth Vein, now surged like a wild horse, rampaging over everything in its path.

The instant a lush forest came into contact with the golden torrent, all its trees, flowers, plants, and living creatures—along with the land beneath them—were instantly "formatted," transformed into a desolate expanse of crystalline land that shimmered with a metallic sheen.

"What an immense force!" Rong Nianbing cried out. As the God of Emotion, he could sense that the torrent held more than just pure power—it also contained the pain and cries of an entire planet.

Gu Yuena's body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from resonance. Her silver hair stirred in the windless air, and all color drained from her beautiful face.

"It's the Earth Vein... the bloodline of this planet..." she murmured, her voice filled with deep sorrow. "It's losing control. It's wailing. It's bleeding..."

Tang Wulin immediately took her hand. The Golden Dragon King Bloodline within him was also stirring wildly, and a shudder of fear and anger, born from the Life Origin, came from deep within his Dragon Core. He could clearly feel the pain in every inch of that land—the agony of life being forcibly ripped away.

"Father..." Ning Tian looked toward her father, the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ye. The seasoned ruler, who had weathered countless storms, wore an unusually grim expression.

"If this happened on Douluo Continent..." Xue Ye's voice was hoarse. "Any empire, any sect, would be wiped out in an instant. This isn't war. It's a natural disaster—the end of the world."

Duke Dai Hao said nothing, but his clenched fists revealed his inner turmoil. For the first time, the iron-blooded commander of the Star Luo Empire felt an emotion called helplessness. Faced with such world-ending power, any army would be a joke.

But that wasn't the end.

The Light Screen's view shifted to a swamp shrouded in shadow. There, the Abyss's corruption was spreading.

A tiger had just died, its body not yet cold, when a thick, pitch-black substance like oil seeped out of the ground and slowly covered it, as though it were alive.

As everyone watched in horror, the black substance began to writhe. The tiger's bones creaked nauseatingly as they were forcibly twisted and snapped, then burst out through its flesh like barbs, forming a hideous bony carapace. Its rotting flesh knitted itself back together, and two points of Ghost Fire burned in its empty eye sockets.

In just a few breaths, the dead beast had become a twisted monster radiating an ominous aura. It threw back its head and let out a screech unlike anything any living creature could make, then charged deeper into the swamp on its misshapen limbs.

"Ugh..." Xiao Xiao was the first to lose her composure. She turned away and retched. Tang Ya had gone deathly pale too, and clutched Bei Bei's sleeve tightly.

"W-what kind of evil magic is this?" He Caitou looked sickened and bewildered.

"It isn't magic." Tang San spoke again, his expression graver than ever. "This is a higher level of corruption. If the Evil Soul Masters in our world use resentment and souls, then this power twists and corrupts everything at the level of 'existence' itself. The boundary between life and death has blurred here."

Even the Dragon God's majestic golden eyes flashed with disgust. "This is the most complete desecration of life. It turns remains into monsters, denying the dead their peace and condemning the living to endless torment."

Zhou Weiqing's carefree expression had vanished too. He whistled, but there was a chill in it. "So that Heavenly Principles fellow just lets this happen—or even deliberately turns his world into this hellscape?"

"No." Huo Yuhao picked up the thread, his Spiritual Eye gleaming as if he had already seen through the truth behind this endless calamity. "He isn't letting it happen. He needs it."

Everyone's gaze turned to Huo Yuhao again.

"Needs it?" Bei Bei asked, puzzled.

"Yes. He needs it." Huo Yuhao's voice was soft, yet everyone heard him clearly. "What would a half-finished world, constantly collapsing and being destroyed, give rise to?"

He didn't wait for anyone to answer. He gave the answer himself.

"Fear. Despair. The agony of struggling to survive amid the ruins."

The Light Screen offered proof at that very moment.

The scene shifted to the outskirts of a city that had been reduced to ruins. The human survivors wore tattered clothes and carried pitifully crude weapons—sharpened wooden stakes, rusty iron pipes, even rocks. With their backs to a broken wall, they formed a fragile defensive line.

In front of them were several monsters that had just been transformed from animal corpses.

A boy who looked no older than his teens used his frail body to brace a wooden spear against a monster's chest. The monster's claws came down, leaving a wound deep enough to expose bone on his arm.

His face contorted with pain, but he didn't retreat a single step. Behind him, a much younger girl clung to his leg, trembling with fear.

An old man with white hair summoned all his strength to hurl a rock at another monster's head. Then the monster swept him aside with its tail, sending him flying into the wall. He hit it hard, spraying blood from his mouth.

The battle was brutal and hopeless.

There were no soul skills, no martial souls, no divine gifts of power.

All they had was the most primitive, most humble struggle of ordinary people trying to survive in a Doomsday Wasteland.

Niu Tian and Tai Tan, those two towering men, watched with reddened eyes and clenched fists. They couldn't imagine how ordinary people could face such monsters without Soul Masters.

"They're... still fighting," Lei Xiang said softly. So proud was he, yet now he felt genuine respect for these ordinary people.

Tang San watched in silence: the boy shielding his younger sister with his body, the old man fallen to the ground yet still glaring furiously at the monsters.

After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice edged with cold understanding.

"I finally understand completely."

"Heavenly Principles gravely wounded, order collapsed, the world reduced to purgatory... None of this is the result of losing control."

Tang San's gaze pierced through the Light Screen, as if meeting the eyes of the dying God high above.

"On the contrary, this is exactly what he wants. A living hell can give him far more than a dead, silent one."