Chen Yan looked down at the woman sprawled limply at his feet. The playful smile slowly faded from his face, replaced by pure indifference.
"A way to live?"
He repeated the words. His voice was quiet, but Meng Ran's already deathly pale face turned paler still.
"Senior... I..." Meng Ran trembled like a leaf in an autumn wind. She wanted to beg for mercy, but her throat was dry, and she couldn't force out a single word.
Chen Yan didn't look at her again. His gaze shifted to Yan Zheng, who was struggling to get back up, and Qin Lan, who stood rooted in place, pale-faced and unsure what to do.
"The same goes for you."
His voice was calm, as if he were discussing something trivial.
"If you want to live, then do as you're told."
Before the words had even faded, he flicked a finger.
Four nearly imperceptible streaks of light shot into the foreheads of Meng Ran, Wu Xiang, Qin Lan, and Yan Zheng.
All four of them shuddered at once!
They felt as if a searing mark had been branded deep within their souls. It was bound tightly to their very essence, and with a single thought, he could set it off and burn their souls and consciousness to nothingness.
It was absolute control, impossible to resist.
"This... this is..." Master Wuxiang struggled to sit cross-legged. As he sensed the restriction buried in his soul, despair appeared in his eyes.
He had never heard of such a method.
It was too domineering, too unreasonable.
"From now on, you work for me," Chen Yan said.
He didn't even look at their horrified expressions. With a turn of his wrist, the Heavenly Mystery Book he had just acquired floated lightly back to Meng Ran.
"Take it."
Meng Ran