Exposing Heavenly Principles to Force the Demon God into Infighting! Tang San: This is Eliminating Unqualified Tools!

"I... am I seeing this right?" He Caitou rubbed his eyes vigorously, his voice trembling. "Letting... letting those gods fight, kill, devour each other? To prove whose 'love' is stronger?"

He couldn't understand.

He had just been stunned by Guizhong's exquisite Mechanism Art, moved by her selfless gift of wisdom to humanity. Yet in the blink of an eye, this goddess of wisdom and benevolence was to be thrown into a bloody, life-or-death Meat Grinder?

"Crazy... this 'Heavenly Principles' is absolutely insane!" Zhou Weiqing couldn't help but curse, his usual roguish grin long gone, replaced by utter disbelief. "What kind of bullshit rule is this! Making a bunch of world-guardians slaughter each other, and picking the seven strongest at the end? What's the difference between this and Raising Gu!"

"No."

Tang San's voice rang out, cold and clear, instantly silencing the surrounding clamor.

His eyes—those Purple Demon Eyes—were fixed on the Divine Decree on the Light Screen, as if branding every word into the depths of his soul.

"You're only half right. This isn't Raising Gu."

Tang San paused, then spoke word by word: "This is forging the perfect 'weapon.'"

"Weapon?" The crowd was baffled.

"Phanes created the Demon Gods, gave them the rule of 'God Loves All Beings,' and had them incubate civilizations—that was the first step. Now, civilizations have blossomed everywhere, and these 'incubators' have fulfilled their purpose. But they themselves possess power to Destroy the Heavens and Exterminate the Earth, and their thoughts are all different. For a world that demands absolute stability, they are the greatest 'unstable factors.'"

Tang San's pace wasn't fast, but every word struck the hearts of those present like a Heavy Hammer.

"So, the Heavenly Principles issued a second decree. Use a war sweeping the entire continent to eliminate all 'unqualified' Demon Gods. What is 'unqualified'? Not strong enough, not firm enough in their ideals, not... 'submissive' enough—all are unqualified."

"The final seven Victors are not only the strongest in power, but in this bloody slaughter, they have proven with the bones of their own kind that their ideals best align with the will of the Heavenly Principles. They transform from guardians into enforcers of the Heavenly Principles' rules. From individuals with free will, they become seven highly unified, absolutely obedient tools with legitimate 'ruling authority'..."

"This is the true Divine Masterstroke." Tang San slowly closed his eyes. "Not to eliminate evil, but to purge all beings that might harbor 'dissenting hearts.' Use the cruelest internal conflict to buy thousands of years, or even longer, of absolute, noise-free 'stability.'"

Tang San's analysis sent chills down everyone's spines.

"Treating beings of equal rank as consumables..." Gu Yuena's silver eyes flashed with a bone-deep coldness. "What a grand scheme, what a merciless law."

As the Lord of Soul Beasts, she understood best the tragedy of being treated as a "resource" and "consumable." Now, that fate had fallen upon the gods.

"Tyrant! An utter Tyrant!" Ji Dong's aura raged, black and white flames flickering faintly. "This so-called 'God Loves All Beings' is nothing but an excuse for raising livestock! Once the pigs are fattened, the knives come out! Ridiculous! Pathetic!"

Beside him, Lie Yan gripped his hand tightly, soothing him with her warmth. She had once been the queen of the Core World, yet even she couldn't accept this treatment of gods as mere Weeds.

"Rules... surpass all power." The Dragon God murmured again, this time its voice heavy with gravity. "So this is the true meaning of 'Rules.' Not guidance, not restraint, but selection and eradication. Phanes' 'love' is given only to the final victors. As for the losers, there is only the 'mercy' of turning to dust."

The Dragon Prince's face had long lost all color. He had been proud of the dragon race's dominance, but now, compared to a power that treated continents as chessboards and gods as Chess Pieces, the dragon wars seemed like nothing more than children's squabbles.

"Goddess Guizhong... Goddess Heulia... they, they're all going to die?" Xiao Xiao's voice carried a sob. The gentle goddess who created life from salt but was too weak to protect her Subjects had left a deep impression on her.

No one answered her.

Because the answer was already written in that Divine Decree.

The loser turns to dust.

Hai Long's fists had clenched without him realizing it.

The question he first asked had received an answer a thousand times darker than he imagined.

The price of the Golden Land was the corpses of countless gods.

And this perfect land itself was the most magnificent graveyard.

The image on the Light Screen shifted once more.

The golden pillar that pierced heaven and earth slowly dissipated, but the Divine Decree of the Heavenly Principles had already turned into invisible Shackles, branded into every inch of land and every wisp of element in the Teyvat World.

Former friends, former allies—in that moment, their eyes changed.

Morax looked at Guizhong beside him. On the face of this Close Friend was nothing but sorrow and confusion.

The Light Screen's perspective shifted to the Salt Demon God, Heulia.

She curled up in her temple, trembling. If she couldn't even protect her own Subjects, how could she survive a war that swept heaven and earth?

Fear, confusion, unwillingness, anger, resolve...

Countless intense emotions erupted simultaneously across every corner of the continent.

The war had already begun.

The image on the Light Screen shifted once more.

The golden pillar that pierced heaven and earth slowly dissipated, but the Divine Decree of the Heavenly Principles had already turned into invisible Shackles, branded into every inch of land and every wisp of element in the Teyvat World.

Former friends, former allies—in that moment, their eyes changed.

Morax looked at Guizhong beside him. On the face of this Close Friend was nothing but sorrow and confusion. He wanted to reach out, to pat her shoulder as he always did, to tell her everything would be fine.

But that hand stopped mid-air.

Beneath the Divine Decree, all turns to dust.

They, too, were enemies.

The Light Screen's perspective shifted to the Salt Demon God, Heulia.

She curled up in her temple, trembling. If she couldn't even protect her own Subjects, how could she survive a war that swept heaven and earth?

Fear, confusion, unwillingness, anger, resolve...

Countless intense emotions erupted simultaneously across every corner of the continent.

The war had already begun.

In the image, it was no longer a grand, sweeping view, but one specific Demon God after another.

A Demon God who once took joy in brewing fine wine and sharing it with all other gods was now wiping down a dust-covered spear. His gentle face held nothing but cold determination.