Phanes Returns to the Sky Throne! Incarnates Heavenly Principles to Suppress the Abyss, Demon Gods Are All "Lovers of Humanity"

"Wait!" Huo Yuhao suddenly spoke, his Spiritual Eye filled with shock and doubt. "If 'love' is the sole standard, then doesn't that mean... the Demon Gods would also use this standard to measure each other?"

At his words, everyone was stunned once more.

A flash of insight seemed to strike Tang San's mind, and he immediately picked up Huo Yuhao's train of thought. "If a Demon God commits an act that harms humans—even unintentionally, or for a longer-term goal—wouldn't that violate the law of 'love' in the judgment of other Demon Gods? Wouldn't they lose their reason for existence?"

"Would they... kill each other?" Bei Bei blurted out, then felt a chill run down his spine.

"It's not impossible." Xu Sanshi's expression also darkened as he recalled his Black Tortoise Turtle Spirit Ring, which represented guardianship. "This is a self-correcting, self-purifying system. Once a 'Demon God' develops a 'program error,' the other 'Demon Gods' become the 'Antivirus Program' and eliminate him."

"Oh my god..." Xiao Xiao covered her mouth.

This was no longer tragic—it was brutal.

Phanes had not only set their external duties but also established an internal "cleansing" mechanism. Everything was to ensure the absolute purity of the core law: "love humanity."

Niu Tian and Titan, those two burly men, now exchanged glances, seeing only one word in each other's eyes: awe.

Such a scheme, such a mind—it surpassed their understanding of power.

"Then, back to the original question," Chang Gongwei said in a deep voice, pulling everyone's thoughts back. "Who would be the first to accept this fate?"

Now, the weight of that question was ten thousand times heavier than before.

It wasn't just the first Demon God—it was the first prisoner bound by the "shackles of love," the first cornerstone of this grand and cruel plan.

Just as everyone held their breath, waiting for the Light Screen to reveal this heavy answer, the image on the screen suddenly shifted.

No name. No face.

Instead, a breathtakingly magnificent tableau unfolded.

In the image, the great being they called Phanes was slowly rising, his Divine Body ascending. He was no longer the majestic God of War who had battled dragons; though his radiance was still dazzling, it carried an indescribable weariness and fragility. His gaze swept one last time over the land below, which had just experienced creation and destruction, over the humans struggling to survive in the ruins—tiny yet brimming with Life Force.

That look held too many complex emotions: relief, reluctance, resolve, and a deep, unspeakable loneliness buried beneath it all.

"He... is leaving," Lie Yan said softly. As a former enforcer of the God Realm, she understood better than anyone the desolation of reaching the pinnacle.

Ji Dong silently grasped her hand. He saw a familiar shadow in Phanes—the determination to burn oneself out for a belief, bearing everything alone.

The next moment, Phanes' figure transformed into a streak of light piercing heaven and earth, without a trace of hesitation, shooting straight toward the floating island that hung high in the sky, already battered and broken.

[Phanes completed his final arrangement for the mortal world.]

[His Divine Body returned to the broken Sky Throne. He would spend the long years ahead licking the wounds from his deadly battle with the seven Dragon Kings, and using himself as a prison to eternally suppress the curse from the Abyss.]

The cold text appeared, each word like a Heavy Hammer striking everyone's hearts.

"Suppressing... the curse of the Abyss?" Tang San's pupils contracted. "His enemy wasn't just those seven Dragon Kings? He was also fighting a deeper threat?"

"So this isn't a triumphant retreat—it's a... strategic withdrawal!" Dai Hao's voice was hoarse. The Emperor's sharp instincts let him see the truth instantly. "He turned himself into the world's first and last line of defense! Imprisoning himself in the sky!"

Emperor Xueye's body trembled slightly as the old emperor murmured to himself, "What we see is only what he allowed us to see. Beneath the glorious creation myth lies endless solitude and battle... Is this the... fate of Gods?"

The image on the Light Screen did not stop there.

As Phanes' figure vanished into Sky Island, a term slowly enlarged at the center of the screen.

[Heavenly Principles]

[The Heavenly Principles retreated behind the scenes. The stage of Teyvat was henceforth handed over to the Demon Gods.]

As the words fell, the entire world's tableau rapidly scrolled before everyone's eyes. On the land, one after another, overwhelmingly powerful auras surged into the sky, as if responding to some silent call. On mountaintops, beneath the seas, among the clouds, in the wilderness... Hundreds of Figures manifested in their respective domains. They varied in form and appearance, their auras mighty, each possessing the power to Destroy the Heavens and Exterminate the Earth.

They were the "Demon Gods" Phanes had spoken of.

"Hundreds..." Zhou Weiqing gasped. He himself had achieved greatness through a series of coincidences and opportunities, yet now on the screen, Strong Ones of the same level appeared in batches! "He... how many of these monsters did he create?"

"They are not monsters," Gu Yuena said coldly. As the Lord of Soul Beasts, her understanding of "laws" far surpassed ordinary people's. "They are part of order. Look—though they are powerful, they are clearly separated from each other, as if divided by invisible boundaries."

Tang Wulin followed her gaze and saw that, indeed, although the Demon Gods' auras were vast, none actively crossed over to encroach upon another's domain. The entire world, in a strange "peace," began a new chapter.

A new era—one ruled by hundreds of Demon Gods bound by "love"—had begun.

"I understand..." Rong Nianbing, the Ice Fire Demon Chef who controlled seven extreme emotions, wore an expression of profound complexity. "Phanes didn't answer 'who was the first' because... there was no first!"

At his words, everyone was taken aback.

Rong Nianbing continued, "This wasn't a one-by-one persuasion or transformation. It was an 'Imperial Decree'! A 'law' that descended simultaneously into the souls of all chosen 'Demon Gods'! At the moment of their birth, or the moment Phanes ascended, this shackle had already been placed around all their necks!"

"Love humanity" was not a choice—it was a Factory Setting!

"Oh heavens..." Xiao Xiao felt a chill shoot from the soles of her feet to the Crown of her Head. "From the moment they gained consciousness until now, they might not even know what 'freedom' tastes like."