Douluo: Donghuang Taiyi, Dual God Inheritance from the Start - Chapter Summaries - Page 14

Ch. 261Bright Capital's Yin-Yang Hotpot

After Bright Capital’s residents are sealed away from the central square, Tai Yi orders Di Tian and the other Demon Marshals to kill everyone outside his protection.
Seven Marshals attack across the city: Snow Empress freezes much of the eastern district, while the others kill residents with fire, plants, darkness, and water. Di Tian and Demon Empress also prevent people from reaching the square, despite Tai Yi’s earlier promise that it offered safety.
Demon Empress floods a district, then Ice Empress and Snow Empress freeze it solid. People who flee toward the palace or Research Institute are killed by Bi Ji and Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
Some residents reach the square’s edge but are stopped by its barrier. Scarlet King kills those stranded nearby.
Within an hour, Bright Capital is reduced to frozen ruins on one side and scorched earth on the other. Everyone outside the central square is dead; its inhabitants survive.

Tai Yi reveals the full brutality of his plan: his protection is limited to the square, and he deliberately orders the rest of the city wiped out.
The Demon Marshals carry out the order without hesitation, using their powers to destroy entire districts.
The square’s survivors shift from relief at being protected to horror at witnessing the massacre, while remaining grateful they chose to obey Tai Yi.

Obedience and survival: Residents who enter the square live; those who hesitate or seek other refuge die.
Power and terror: The Marshals’ overwhelming abilities make escape or resistance futile.
False hope and regret: People who stay home, delay, or try to reach the square too late discover that their choices cannot be undone.
The cost of protection: The square is a haven, but its safety is secured by the deliberate destruction of everyone beyond it.

Tai Yi gives the order, and the Marshals comply without protest.
The attackers coordinate their abilities, especially Demon Empress with Ice Empress and Snow Empress.
Survivors in the square watch the slaughter of neighbors and acquaintances, experiencing both fear of Tai Yi and gratitude toward him for sparing them.

With Bright Capital’s purge complete, Tai Yi has the Ice Empress and Snow Empress thaw the buildings they had frozen. The Demon King makes the meltwater disappear, leaving the buildings empty of people.
Tai Yi releases the survivors in the central square and tells them they may settle in the surviving homes as long as they serve the Spirit Hall Empire loyally. They pledge allegiance and disperse to find houses.
Tai Yi restores the scorched ground to green grassland with life-infused Soul Power, further impressing the survivors.
From the city walls, Tai Yi sees that the Sun Moon Empire’s troops have disappeared. Di Tian then warns him that the Evil Eye Tyrant—the Evil Emperor, ruler of the continent—is approaching.
Tai Yi is confident his group can handle the newcomer and hopes to recruit him as a Demon Marshal. He tells Di Tian to prepare to negotiate, though he is willing to fight first.
The Demon King urges Tai Yi to beat the Evil Emperor, partly out of resentment that he was the only one among their group to resist sacrifice and get punished.
The Evil Emperor arrives in his enormous true form and challenges Di Tian, suspecting an invasion. Tai Yi invites him to shrink to human form so they can talk, but the Evil Emperor dismisses him as an interfering human.

Tai Yi consolidates control through both intimidation and protection: he offers the survivors safety in exchange for loyalty, repairs the land, and begins planning how the Evil Emperor could help oversee the continent.
The survivors quickly pledge themselves to the new regime, shaken by the purge and awed by Tai Yi’s power.
The Demon King reveals lingering embarrassment and frustration over having been beaten for resisting sacrifice; he wants the Evil Emperor to face the same treatment.
Di Tian acts as the intermediary who identifies the approaching threat and warns Tai Yi.
The Evil Emperor arrives suspicious and proud, treating Di Tian as the proper person to question and belittling Tai Yi before hearing him out.

Rule through fear and protection: Tai Yi secures obedience by demonstrating the consequences of disloyalty while promising safety to those who submit.
Power and restoration: The same overwhelming force that enabled the purge can also renew the ruined landscape.
Ambition and uncertain alliances: Tai Yi sees the Evil Emperor as a potential ally, but their first exchange suggests negotiations may begin with conflict.