The atmosphere in the square before the hall was somewhat strange.
The dozens of Hunyuan Wuji experts rose from the ground one after another.
They exchanged looks, their eyes filled with complicated emotions: bewilderment, humiliation, and, above all, the dazed disbelief of having survived a catastrophe.
Not long ago, they had been lofty cultivators of the Ten Great Dao Realms, elite forces sent to purge rebels on the orders of the Divine Asura Domain's envoy.
Now, however, the envoy from the Divine Asura Domain had been casually erased, while they themselves had become prisoners, with restraining spells planted in their true spirits that they could not resist.
The change in their status had come far too quickly, and far too violently.
Watching their utterly dispirited faces, Liu Yuan knew exactly what they were thinking.
Had he not been just like them back then?
The transition from a realm lord to Senior's subordinate had hardly been pleasant.
But he did not dwell on it. He simply spoke calmly.
"I know what you're thinking. Resentment? Humiliation?"
"You think you'll be worked like beasts of burden from now on, risking your lives for Senior without ever seeing the light of day."
Everyone remained silent, but their expressions said it all.
Liu Yuan chuckled. His laughter carried a trace of self-mockery from someone who had been through it himself, along with a barely perceptible sense of superiority.
"Thinking yourselves in circles won't help."
"Since Senior has planted restraining spells in your true spirits, your lives and deaths now hinge on a single thought of his."
"I don't think I need to repeat that."
At those words, their faces grew a few shades paler.
A late Hunyuan Wuji expert steeled himself and said, "We... understand."
Liu Yuan took in all their expressions. Rather than explaining