Heavenly Principles Personally Ends the Golden Age! Issues a Deadly Order for Demon Gods to Slaughter and Devour, Even Tang San Freezes!

Countless city-states and nations dotted the land like stars scattered across the earth. Some were built atop towering trees that scraped the heavens, others floated among the clouds, and still others lay hidden deep within underground caverns. Each nation bore the unmistakable imprint of its guardian god, distinct in style, yet all thriving and prosperous.

Thousands of years flowed swiftly through this unfolding scroll.

Under the direct guidance and protection of the gods, human civilization entered an unprecedented, most stable, and enduring Golden Age.

[Ten thousand nations stand side by side, gods and men coexist—this is the Golden Land.]

The text on the Light Screen offered the final definition of this scene.

"A world... with no internal strife, no conflict, where all strength is poured into development and protection..." Rong Nianbing, the God of Emotion, spoke with a voice thick with complex feelings. He had seen too much of humanity's greed and struggle; this world before him was like a utopia that should never have existed.

"Rules surpass all power." The Dragon God's low, rumbling dragon's roar sounded once more, reaffirming his earlier judgment. "No matter how different these gods are in temperament, ideals, or the nature of their power, all their actions ultimately point to one outcome: 'God Loves All Beings.' Phanes' rules are like an invisible rein, steering all Divine Power in the direction he predetermined."

The Dragon Prince was already struck speechless by the grandeur of the scene. He had always believed the Dragon Clan's rule was the pinnacle of power, but compared to this might that directly wrote the world's laws, it was utterly insignificant.

"So... this is how it is..." Tang San murmured to himself.

He finally understood. Phanes wasn't guarding against the gods "doing evil"; he was using them to "do good." With an unbreakable supreme command, he had turned a group of beings capable of Destroying the Heavens and Exterminating the Earth into the most efficient incubators of civilization.

This was the true handiwork of a god.

Not punishing evil, but ensuring evil had no soil to be born in from the very start.

Hai Long stared at this perfect "Golden Land." The question he had first raised seemed to have found its answer.

Yet, for some reason, a deeper unease rose within his heart.

"A Golden Age guarded by Puppets..." Ji Dong spoke slowly, his gaze sharp as if trying to pierce through the Light Screen and see what lay behind the prosperity. "Truly... so perfect it's suffocating."

Ji Dong's words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring a thousand ripples in everyone's hearts.

A Golden Age guarded by Puppets.

So perfect it's suffocating.

Yes, too perfect. So perfect it didn't seem like a real world, but rather a meticulously constructed sandbox.

And now, the god who built the sandbox seemed ready to tear it down with his own hands.

The scroll on the Light Screen, the thousands of years that had flown by, came to an abrupt halt.

The once thriving, vibrant scene of ten thousand nations began to take on a somber hue. The once clear borders between nations were repeatedly traced with thick, heavy ink lines, as if emphasizing each other's territories.

Resources were limited. The earth's veins were drying up.

Nations bordered each other. Friction was growing.

Ideals clashed. Neither side would yield.

Line after line of cold text appeared beside the image, explaining the root of this subtle shift.

Thousands of years of peaceful development had yielded abundant fruits of civilization, but it had also made the space for survival increasingly cramped. Even the gods bound by the rule of "God Loves All Beings" found their innate "ambition" and the "ideals" rooted in their souls, like a volcano suppressed to its limit, beginning to brew magma beneath the earth capable of overturning everything.

In the image, the goddess of wisdom, Guizhong, stood shoulder to shoulder with the Lord of martial valor, Morax, gazing into the distance. The ease and joy they had shown when first guiding humanity were gone, replaced by deep worry.

The Gu Li Ji beneath their feet was already bustling with people and unmatched in prosperity. But on the horizon, the outlines of nations belonging to other gods were equally clear.

Peace was like a bowstring stretched to its breaking point, ready to snap at any moment.

"In the end... it still comes to this?" Rong Nianbing sighed softly. As the God of Emotion, he could clearly "see" that the pure emotions of protection and joy in the image were being eroded by suspicion, vigilance, and a trace of barely perceptible hostility.

"There is no eternal peace, only eternal interests. When the pressure of survival outweighs the restraint of rules, conflict is the only outcome." Emperor Xueye spoke solemnly. This was the iron law he had distilled from countless history books as an emperor.

Duke Dai Hao said nothing, but agreement showed in his eyes. What true friendship could exist between nations? It was merely a balance of power and interests.

Just as this oppressive atmosphere spread, the entire Light Screen suddenly went dark.

Boundless darkness swallowed everything.

Then, a golden pillar of light, indescribable in words, as if piercing the entire world, shot up from the center of the image.

The light was not warm. It carried a supreme, unquestionable authority and coldness.

A voice, or rather, a will, resounded in the minds of every god on the Teyvat Continent.

[Heavenly Principles, Awaken.]

Just four words, but they made every God-level powerhouse before the Light Screen, including the Dragon God, tighten with tension.

They could feel it. The original creator, named "Phanes," that great power who had written the world's rules, had descended once more.

This time, what He brought was no longer a covenant of protection.

It was a Divine Decree of war.

On the Light Screen, golden Ancient Text appeared line by line. Each character contained a law-force that made the soul tremble.

[The era of ten thousand nations is about to end.]

[The authority of the mortal world shall be held by seven victors.]

[Thus, commence the "Archon War."]

[Go forth, fight, slaughter, devour.]

[Prove to the Heavenly Principles whose 'love' is the strongest, the most correct.]

[The final seven Victors shall be granted the 'Gnosis,' ascend to the divine thrones, become the 'Seven Archons' who shepherd the mortal world, and enjoy a thousand years of glory and authority.]

[And all you failures—your strength, your ideals, your remains—shall turn to dust, becoming the foundation stones of the new world order.]

The content of the Divine Decree, word by word, was clearly displayed before everyone.

The entire God Realm hall fell into a dead silence.

A silence so profound that a dropping needle could be heard.

If the "Golden Land" had been a perfect utopia before, then at this moment, this Divine Decree had shattered that utopia's shell in the most brutal, most bloody way possible, smashing it to pieces!