The Curtain Falls, Prisoners of War

At the heart of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect battlefield

Qin Shiyuan slowly descended through the air, carrying Ning Fengzhi's lifeless remains in one hand.

"Enough! Stop fighting!"

His deep, resonant voice spread across the entire battlefield. The moment they heard it, everyone from Star-Plucking Tower halted their attacks in unison.

Seeing this, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples, who had long since lost the will to fight, gladly retreated like a receding tide.

Though the battle had not lasted long, the situation had been completely one-sided from beginning to end.

Before Star-Plucking Tower's assault, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had seemed like clay figures thrown into water, suffering devastating losses.

Of their original force of over four thousand, fewer than sixty percent remained after a careful count.

In other words, despite being the side with greater numbers, they had lost nearly half their men in this battle.

And what about Star-Plucking Tower?

Many had been wounded, but how many had truly died?

At that thought, fear filled the eyes of every remaining Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect member. Not one of them had any desire to continue fighting.

Fortunately, the news Qin Shiyuan brought was exactly what they wanted to hear.

"Listen up, members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Your current sect master has been executed. All of you, cease fighting immediately!"

"Anyone who dares resist further will be killed without mercy!"

His booming voice was deafening, reaching the ears of every Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciple with perfect clarity.

"What? The sect master is dead?"

In an instant, the crowd below erupted.

Everyone wore a different expression. Some were grief-stricken, while others were shocked.

Yet for most, there was a concealed flicker of relief in their eyes.

But after recovering from their shock, they glanced in a certain direction.

Then confusion appeared in the eyes of these disciples once more.

Wasn't their sect master still sitting safely on the platform? Why was he being declared dead?

After a long silence among the crowd, a somewhat cautious voice finally spoke up and voiced everyone's doubts.

"Tower Master Qin, you said Sect Master Ning has been executed, but... but isn't the sect master still sitting over there recovering his Soul Power?"

Hearing someone finally ask the question, Qin Shiyuan curled his lips beneath his mask in amusement.

"Oh? You mean that? That isn't your beloved Sect Master Ning."

As he spoke, his Soul Power stirred, and a tiny pebble on the ground was instantly drawn into his palm.

"Heh, watch closely."

Qin Shiyuan smiled mockingly and lightly tossed the pebble toward 'Ning Fengzhi.'

The instant the pebble touched him, that lifelike body seemed to dissolve into bubbles.

In less than a moment, a perfectly healthy living person turned into an illusion and vanished into thin air.

"Th-this sect master was fake?!"

Seeing this scene, even the stupidest among them understood.

The person before them was not Ning Fengzhi, for whom they had fought desperately to the death.

This was clearly a trick specifically meant to deceive them!

As the atmosphere among the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciples gradually changed, Qin Shiyuan, as if adding fuel to the flames, recounted Ning Fengzhi's actions in full detail without leaving out a single word.

When the disciples heard that their sect master had sent them to fight and die at the front merely to buy time for himself and his daughter to escape, every one of them flew into a rage!

"Ning Fengzhi, that beast! Good riddance! He said he would live and die alongside the sect, yet he could do something like this behind our backs!"

"Everyone in the Soul Master world praised him as a gentleman, but now it seems he's worse than a beast! You truly can't judge a person by their appearance!"

"Hmph! Using the lives of sect disciples to preserve his own miserable existence—how was someone like that worthy of being the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's master? No wonder the sect was destroyed in his hands!"

The curses directed at Ning Fengzhi rose and fell without end, and the fury in everyone's eyes at having been deceived refused to fade.

"Enough! Shut your mouths, all of you! Don't forget—your lives are still in my hands!"

The moment Qin Shiyuan spoke, everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter.

Their sect master was gone, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect existed in name only.

That meant the fates of these defeated remnants were entirely in the hands of the man before them.

Seeing that the time was right, Qin Shiyuan spoke calmly from midair once more.

"I'll give you a choice. Those willing to join my Star-Plucking Tower, step aside now."

"It's fine if you're unwilling. No need to be nervous."

At those words, the expressions in the crowd below the stage suddenly became unreadable.

Among them, the vast majority had traces of delight flash through their eyes.

They had originally thought that Star-Plucking Tower would either wipe them out completely or forcibly seize them all as slaves.

Yet they had never imagined that Tower Master Qin was such a kind-hearted person, actually offering them a chance to choose a path to survival.

After roughly half an incense stick's time, quite a few figures gradually lowered their weapons and stepped forward one after another.

Perhaps moved by Qin Shiyuan's actions, as many as half ultimately volunteered to join Star-Plucking Tower.

Counting them up, there were around a thousand people.

After some more time passed, once no one else came forward, Qin Shiyuan slowly spoke.

"Any Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect disciple who joins Star-Plucking Tower will receive the same treatment as this tower's disciples."

"However, before that, like this tower's disciples, you must first receive a Soul Restriction."

As he spoke, he beckoned, and Meng Shu along with several idle elders and stewards stepped forward together.

With over a thousand people, Qin Shiyuan naturally could not personally place restrictions on them one by one.

Fortunately, the Soul Restriction was merely a technique that could be taught.

He could teach it to these absolutely loyal subordinates, then have them place it on the people under their respective command.

This would not only save effort, but due to the parent-child relationship between the restrictions, Qin Shiyuan would still be able to control everyone.

Upon hearing that they prisoners of war could receive the same treatment as ordinary disciples after joining, everyone's eyes lit up.

Though they did not know what the restriction was, they were all surprisingly cooperative.

However, just as matters on this side had been properly arranged, the other side, which had remained silent for so long, could no longer wait.

Among the crowd of those who had not joined Star-Plucking Tower, someone finally stepped forward to ask.

"Tower Master Qin, when can people like us leave?"

Qin Shiyuan gave the man an expressionless glance before replying flatly.

"You can leave now."

"That's great!"

The crowd immediately erupted in commotion, overjoyed as they surged toward the mountain gate of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

However, not everyone was sincerely happy.

A closer look would reveal that an unusual gleam still lurked in many of their eyes...

When the crowd eagerly rushed down the mountain and arrived together before the mountain gate, they unexpectedly discovered that the Star-Plucking Tower disciples who had withdrawn earlier had all gathered there without exception, blocking their path.

Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of unease began to coil around everyone's hearts.