The final verdict! Douluo Star could not accept it! The awakening of the Shrek Seven Devils!

At that moment, countless people across Douluo Star held their breath.

On the Sky Screen, the assessment of Douluo Star's economic system had entered its final stage.

Whether they were kingdom nobles, Soul Master families, or merchants who painstakingly ran their businesses, all were waiting for the final result.

They wanted to know just where Douluo Star stood in the eyes of the Sky Screen.

After all, Douluo Star possessed a Soul Master civilization. Its powerful figures could move mountains and overturn seas, while Titled Douluos wielded terrifying power capable of changing the course of a battle.

In many people's eyes, even if Douluo Star had some problems with public welfare, things could not possibly be that bad.

Yet the very next moment, the Sky Screen's final verdict utterly shattered their last illusions!

[Douluo Star: a nightmare in the name of an economy. Its ability to provide for its people is exceptionally poor, making it one of the worst planets in the universe in this regard!]

As that verdict fell, all of Douluo Star seemed to suffer an invisible, crushing blow.

Countless people stood frozen, their eyes filled with disbelief.

One of the worst planets at providing for its people?

Those words grated on their ears more painfully than any attack!

Living on this continent, they had long grown accustomed to nobles standing high above them, to Soul Masters wielding authority over ordinary people, and to the almost unbridgeable gulf between rich and poor.

But being accustomed to something did not mean they were willing to endure it forever!

In the past, they had never had the chance to encounter other planets, much less learn what a truly advanced civilization looked like.

They could only accept everything before their eyes as the natural order.

Only when Huaxia Star appeared, only when the Sky Screen exposed the truth again and again, did they finally realize how astonishingly backward the lives they took for granted truly were!

"So that's it... so that's it!"

In a remote town on the Douluo Continent, a middle-aged man in ragged clothes looked up at the Sky Screen, his eyes slowly reddening.

His family had farmed for generations. They toiled for an entire year, only to have their harvest whittled away by layer upon layer of exploitation.

Even if they were lucky enough to survive a year of disaster, they still faced their lord's ever-increasing taxes.

One wrong step, and even the land they depended on for survival might be seized.

Before, he had simply thought he had bad luck, that he had not worked hard enough.

But now, he finally understood that everything he had suffered was far more than his own personal tragedy!

"Why is it like this?"

"Why do we work ourselves to the bone, only to end up without even a full meal?"

"Those noble lords sit back and reap the rewards! What gives them the right to take our last scraps of food?"

Voices suppressed for years finally erupted at that moment.

As the Sky Screen's verdict spread, more and more people on Douluo Star began to reexamine the world they lived in.

In their eyes, those lofty kings and nobles were no longer rulers born to privilege, but the chief culprits obstructing the development of all Douluo Star!

This was especially true of the merchants who had long suffered oppression.

They had once believed that if they worked hard enough and managed their businesses well enough, they would one day escape poverty and become truly wealthy.

Yet reality dealt them heavy blows time and again.

A shop they had painstakingly built could be forcibly confiscated with a single word from a noble.

Wealth accumulated over many years could vanish down the drain after a single act of extortion by a Soul Master.

Even the commercial rules they depended on for survival remained in the hands of powerful elites who could turn against them at any moment.

They poured in endless effort, yet never received returns that matched what they had given.

Why?

Were ordinary people doomed to become dependents of the powerful?

Could a lifetime of effort earn them nothing more than a few gold coins in a noble's eyes?

At that moment, countless merchants clenched their fists.

They finally realized that what they truly needed to change was not the outcome of any single transaction, but the entire environment in which they lived on Douluo Star!

"Douluo Star shouldn't be like this!"

"What gives those nobles the right to plunder our wealth however they please?"

"If they refuse to let us survive, why should we keep enduring this?"

Angry roars gradually rang out from streets, shops, and the corners of cities.

And among those furious crowds, the first to react were, unexpectedly, the low-ranking Soul Masters who suffered the same oppression!

To them, the truth exposed by the Sky Screen was even more painfully glaring than the suffering of ordinary people.

For they, too, were victims of the Soul Master world.

They had the talent to cultivate, yet without sufficient resources, they were forced to remain at lowly levels.

They worked several times harder than the children of nobles, yet still could not gain a fair chance to compete.

High-ranking Soul Masters and powerful families held cultivation resources in a stranglehold, turning opportunities that should have belonged to everyone into private property enjoyed by a select few for generations.

They had once believed these were simply the rules of the Soul Master world.

But now, the existence of Huaxia Star let them glimpse another possibility for the very first time!

A world where everything did not depend on birth, where the will of the powerful did not have to be treated as heaven's law!

"So these were also reasons why our lives were so difficult!"

"Damn it! If those nobles and powerful figures hadn't plundered so brazenly, how could we have ended up like this?"

"In that case, we can't let this go on any longer!"

Anger began to gather.

Amid that anger, a force unlike anything before quietly took root across Douluo Star.

Resistance!

A word that had once seemed beyond the reach of many ordinary people was now becoming unmistakably clear.

More importantly, they were no longer isolated and helpless.

As the Sky Screen continued to reveal Huaxia Star's true nature, the discerning people of Douluo Star finally found others they could reach out to.

They began trying to seek help from Xuan Yuan Tian and the others on Huaxia Star through the virtual world.

And Xuan Yuan Tian and the others did not disappoint them.

At that very moment, outside Huaxia Star's Federal Council Hall.

Xuan Yuan Tian and the many councilors looked up at the Sky Screen, their expressions filled with mixed emotions.

They had long known that Douluo Star suffered from severe class problems, yet they had never expected a planet with a Soul Master civilization to let its public welfare and economy deteriorate to such an appalling state.

"Ah!"

A sigh broke the silence outside the council hall.

The speaker was none other than Zhao Gongming, Huaxia Star's God of Wealth.

As a being who governed the way of wealth, he naturally understood economic operations and the circulation of wealth far better than ordinary people.

Yet precisely because of that, the Douluo Star before him seemed even harder to comprehend.

"Wealth should circulate, and commerce should flourish. If a world wants to develop over the long term, it must ensure that its people have food, that merchants can make a profit, and that everyone who labors receives a corresponding reward."

Zhao Gongming shook his head, his gaze settling on the merchants whose property was being forcibly seized on the Sky Screen.

"But look at Douluo Star. The state demands taxes, the nobles bleed people dry, and the powerful insist on sticking their hands in as well. Wealth painstakingly accumulated has no protection whatsoever."

"In an environment like this, who would dare run a business with peace of mind? Who would still be willing to invest resources in developing industries?"

"If even the most basic rules cannot be upheld, how could the economy ever truly flourish?"

At this point, Zhao Gongming could not help giving a bitter smile.

He had traveled through many worlds and witnessed the rise and decline of countless civilizations, yet this was his first time seeing such a suffocating commercial environment.

"How is this developing an economy? They're simply hollowing out their own foundations!"

The councilors beside him nodded one after another.

To Huaxia Star, the economy and public welfare had never been insignificant accessories.

Only when society as a whole functioned steadily could ordinary people live in peace, the powerful play greater roles, and civilization continue moving forward.

Yet Douluo Star had cast aside these very fundamentals.

Such an outcome was truly lamentable.

However, compared with the sighs of those on Huaxia Star, the atmosphere in Douluo Star's Divine Realm was particularly jarring.

Faced with the Sky Screen's final verdict, Tang San was actually the first to leap forward.

"Unfair!"

"This is completely unfair!"

Tang San's face flushed red as he pointed at the Sky Screen, as though he had suffered the greatest humiliation imaginable.

"How could my Douluo Star's economy possibly be so terrible? This is clearly a deliberate smear!"

"One of the worst planets at providing for its people? Utterly absurd!"

His voice grew louder and louder, as though becoming sufficiently worked up would let him overturn everything the Sky Screen had exposed.

"Can't you see? Aren't we all standing here perfectly fine?"

"Don't we Soul Masters and nobles live well?"

At those words, a brief silence fell over the surroundings.

Then some of those who had already sided with Tang San actually showed their agreement.

After all, in their eyes, as long as they themselves lived well, there could not be much wrong with the world.

As for those ordinary people who could not even fill their stomachs?

That was simply because they lacked strength and had poor luck!

Tang San had evidently realized this as well.

Rather than restraining himself, he spoke with ever greater self-righteousness.

"Besides, Douluo Star has so many powerful Soul Masters, Titled Douluos, and the Divine Realm! Isn't that enough to prove our strength?"

"As for those so-called economic problems, certain people are merely exaggerating them on purpose!"

Those words took the inversion of black and white to the absolute extreme.

He seemed to have completely forgotten his own experience as a work-study student.

Back then, Tang San had also faced numerous restrictions because of his background and lack of resources.

Yet now that he stood among the powerful, he could casually discard even the hardships he himself had once endured.

So long as he could protect his position, so-called fairness and public welfare seemed to have become beneath mention.

Yet Tang San's almost absurd display brought a glimmer of approval to the Asura God's eyes.

[Good, very good!]

[To become a god, one must be bold and black-hearted, able to disregard every challenge for the sake of one's own interests!]

[On that point alone, Tang San is certainly qualified!]

The Asura God marveled inwardly.

In his view, Tang San's current behavior proved that he was gradually freeing himself from those useless moral restraints.

As for how Douluo Star's ordinary people actually lived, who truly cared?

As long as the Divine Realm's rule continued, as long as the power of faith kept gathering in an unending stream, everything else could be sacrificed.

At that thought, the Asura God's gaze toward Tang San grew even more satisfied.

Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang naturally refused to fall behind.

He quickly stepped forward, putting on a look of righteous indignation.

"Exactly!"

"Even if Douluo Star has some problems, what does that prove?"

"Is Huaxia Star really so wonderful? For all we know, their land is also littered with the bodies of the starved, and their people can't get even a mouthful of food!"

Yu Xiaogang grew more agitated as he spoke, as though reducing Huaxia Star to something utterly worthless would prove that Douluo Star's system had no flaws.

"What right does an outside civilization have to judge our Douluo Star?"

"What do they know about Soul Masters? What do they know about the strong reigning supreme?"

His words rang with impassioned conviction.

Yet to everyone else, they sounded particularly absurd.

After all, the scenes the Sky Screen had just shown remained vivid in their minds.

Nobles levied taxes at will, Soul Masters brazenly plundered merchants' wealth, and ordinary people could not secure even the most basic necessities.

Had Huaxia Star fabricated those things out of thin air as well?

Yu Xiaogang refused to acknowledge even the most basic facts before rushing to push every problem onto another civilization.

Such behavior was simply jaw-dropping!

"Seriously?"

Ma Hongjun finally could not resist muttering under his breath.

"This is just too..."

Halfway through, he abruptly shut his mouth.

After all, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang were both standing beside the Asura God.

If he spoke rashly, who knew whether he might bring unnecessary trouble upon himself?

Yet even though Ma Hongjun fell silent in time, the astonishment on his face had already said everything.

Oscar, standing nearby, also frowned.

Dai Mubai remained silent, while Zhu Zhuqing's gaze gradually turned cold.

They had seen the arrogance of the powerful before, and they understood the cruelty of the Soul Master world.

Yet when they personally witnessed Tang San and Yu Xiaogang denying facts laid bare before them just to defend the Divine Realm, disappointment inevitably stirred in their hearts.

Especially Ning Rongrong's.

As the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had grown up witnessing the tangled interests of nobles.

But she at least understood one thing.

Business needed rules, wealth needed protection, and ordinary people also had the right to survive.

If the entire world served only the interests of the strong, then its so-called prosperity was nothing more than a false spectacle built upon the bones of countless weaklings.

At that thought, Ning Rongrong could no longer hold back.

"Grandmaster!"

She raised her head, her clear voice ringing with undisguised doubt.

"Don't you think you've gone too far?"

"Didn't you see those scenes the Sky Screen showed? Does anyone really need to explain again how hard life is for the ordinary people of Douluo Star?"

"Just because Soul Masters and nobles like us live well, does that mean there's nothing wrong with Douluo Star's economy?"

Ning Rongrong's tone grew colder and colder.

"If we can turn a blind eye even to things like this, then what exactly are we cultivating Soul Power and pursuing strength for?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression immediately stiffened.

He clearly had not expected Ning Rongrong to step forward and contradict him at a time like this.

Tang San's gaze also fell on Ning Rongrong in that instant.

A trace of darkness gradually crept into eyes that had still been smiling moments before.

Yet Ning Rongrong did not back down.

She was the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, with the sect itself backing her. Naturally, a single look from Tang San would not make her change her mind so easily.

Besides, at this moment, she was not standing alone.

Oscar slowly raised his head, a little more resolve in his eyes.

Dai Mubai reined in the complicated emotions on his face, and Zhu Zhuqing finally broke her silence.

Although Ma Hongjun was still somewhat apprehensive, he gritted his teeth and stood beside the others.

They finally realized that the Tang San before them seemed no longer to be the companion they had once trusted without reservation.

And Yu Xiaogang had long since ceased to be the Grandmaster they once respected.

At least when faced with the suffering of ordinary people, they could not agree with the choices those two had made.

Just as the atmosphere among the Shrek Seven Devils began to shift, the images on the Sky Screen changed as well.

Brilliant light poured down from the depths of the void.

The next moment, a scene utterly different from Douluo Star slowly unfolded before everyone's eyes.

There were no nobles casually plundering merchants' wealth, nor any powerful figures wantonly trampling the rules.

In their place was an entirely different picture of people's lives.

Huaxia Star!

As they watched the images about to emerge on the Sky Screen, the gazes of countless people on Douluo Star instantly burned with fervor.

At that moment, the other members of the Shrek Seven Devils also fully realized that they and Tang San and his master might already have set out on two completely different paths.