In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Seeing Zhang Chi's spinelessness, Yuwen Qin felt like vomiting blood.

Zhang Chi is the person he respects most in his life!

"Zhang Chi, are you crazy? Someone like Shen An, even if he agrees to your request, he'll still kill you!" Yuwen Qin hurriedly reminded him, "The only way for us to survive is to say nothing!"

"Do you think everyone is like you? Just because you're like this doesn't mean everyone else is!" Zhang Chi roared. "I just want to save my life, why are you stopping me?!"

He looked as if he wanted to devour Yuwen Qin whole.

Yuwen Qin was initially extremely disappointed, but then he sighed deeply.

"Fine, say what you want to say. Don't blame me if you regret it!"

Zhang Chi ignored Yuwen Qin and instead looked at Shen An: "Master Shen, I'll tell you everything, can you at least spare my life?"

"Slap slap slap..."

Shen An clapped.

"Mr. Shen, what do you mean by this?"

"I'm applauding your acting skills! As expected of the number one young talent in the southeastern prefecture, even when faced with a desperate situation, you still want to use a scheme to make a comeback!" Shen An said with admiration.

"Mr. Shen, there might be some misunderstanding behind what you're saying. I mean it sincerely, it's definitely not some kind of desperate counterattack!" Zhang Chi denied.

"Alright, since you're sincere, it means you've already betrayed Yuwen Qin. So kill Yuwen Qin now! I'll believe you if you kill him with your own hands!" Shen An tossed a knife to Zhang Chi.

Wang Junfeng and the others immediately gathered around.

"Kill them! What are you standing there for!" Wang Junfeng urged.

Zhang Chi stared at the knife for a few seconds, then picked it up and looked at Yuwen Qin.

Wang Junfeng and the others looked surprised. Could it be that Shen An made a mistake?

Shen An didn't react much, but just kept watching.

Zhang Chi looked like he was about to kill him, but when the knife was pressed against Yuwen Qin's body, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"hehe…"

Zhang Chi gave up. He threw the knife on the ground and asked Shen An, "Judging from how things unfolded, what happened just now was merely a test for me. As long as I showed that I was willing to kill him, you should have stopped me at the first opportunity. Believe me, why didn't you stop me?"

Shen An yawned and said, "I've seen this kind of thing a lot before, it's nothing new."

Zhang Chi gave a wry smile: "It seems my acting skills are still lacking; you saw right through me from the start."

Shen An shook his finger and said, "I didn't see through you. I was just feeling uneasy and wanted to test you, but I didn't expect to actually get the information out of you."

"..."

Zhang Chi's face flushed red, a sense of humiliation welling up inside him.

He had always prided himself on being able to see through people's hearts, but he couldn't even see through Shen An's shallow scheming.

Yuwen Qin didn't know at first that Zhang Chi was faking it. It wasn't until Zhang Chi shouted that he remembered the agreement between the two of them.

They thought that as long as Zhang Chi gained Shen An's trust and provided him with some false information, they could launch a counterattack!

Now... nothing is possible anymore.

This made him lose his composure, and his face turned ashen.

"Zhang Chi, I can see that you are a man of great talent. If you could serve under me and scheme against others for me, I think your reputation as a strategist would resound throughout the land," Shen An said with a smile.

Just as Zhang Chi was about to say it was impossible, Shen An said again, "You don't need to refute it directly. I think Yuwen Qin is also a talented person. He relied on himself and started from scratch to become the head of a state. He just showed his spirit of never giving up."

If you work for me, I think your future will be limitless!

Therefore, what I, Shen An, want is not only the Divine Dragon Society and the secret of the human skin mask, but also your talents and the opportunity to follow me and conquer the world in the future!

After this battle, you intelligent people should be able to see that I, Shen An, am no ordinary person. Serving me means you have a bright future, and I will not treat you unfairly.

Anyone who opposes me will die today!

I think you're all smart people, you should know how to choose!

"Gentlemen, I was originally abandoned by Yuwen Bingyu. It was our lord who took me in, and now I am a general under his command, and I will soon be able to take revenge!" Wang Junfeng spoke from experience: "I hope you two can recognize reality! Don't give up your chance and continue to be stubborn!"

Wang Junfeng's words forced the two of them to reconsider.

They suddenly realized that Shen An seemed to be really good to them.

People like Wang Junfeng are able to be given important positions.

Why can't they?

Judging from the potential Shen An has shown so far, it's entirely possible that he could one day conquer the world!

Why can't they serve Shen An? They could also make a name for themselves in history.

It's better than being killed now!

Thinking of this, both of their hearts started racing.

They discovered a broad and wide road ahead.

Yuwen Qin stepped forward first: "Lord Shen, I have one condition. If you can agree to it, my life, Yuwen Qin's life, will be yours, and I will serve you for the rest of my life!"

"Give me conditions? To be honest, if you weren't afraid of death, you would have said everything, and you'd be a dead man now. But you remained defiant to the death, which makes you a true hero. I'm willing to give you the chance to make your conditions! Speak!"

"Lord Shen, you will surely kill Yuwen Bingyu, won't you? This woman is a menace and must not be allowed to live! If you are to kill her, please allow me to do it myself!" Yuwen Qin pleaded.

"If I kill her, I'll give you this chance!" Shen An promised.

"Thank you, my lord. From now on, I am willing to serve you and follow your lead!" Yuwen Qin knelt down.

Zhang Chi's temper remained unchanged. Although he also knelt down, he clenched his fists and said, "My lord, I am also willing to serve you. From now on, my life belongs to you. But I will prove to you with facts that my strategies are by no means inferior to yours!"

Perhaps you are the most capable among the younger generation, but the most shrewd one is definitely me!

"Hahaha!"

Shen An threw his head back and laughed, not in a mocking way, but because he really liked people with strong personalities.

This person is very individualistic; even when he yields, he still retains his pride.

"Very good, I look forward to the day when the world will regard you as the greatest strategist!" Shen An said expectantly.

Zhang Chi was stunned.

He thought that Shen An would be unhappy if he said that, but he insisted on saying it. It was not to provoke him, but because he never wanted to hide his ambition. He wanted to be the number one strategist in the world!

But Shen An was not angry at his seemingly provocative remarks; instead, she looked on with anticipation.

What a magnanimous heart!

It made him feel ashamed.

At this moment, he finally understood why Wang Junfeng and others were so devoted to serving Shen An. How many people in the world could possess such magnanimity?

But in Shen An's opinion, he was overthinking things.

The reason he does this is because he needs talented people.

The more capable a person is, the more they can help him!

Otherwise, what's the point of having such talent?

"Haha, from now on, one of us will be the top strategist, the top general, and the top wise minister!" Wang Junfeng laughed heartily.

His laughter was thunderous, causing everyone present to burst into laughter as well.

His proposed positioning was also recognized by Yuwen Qin and Zhang Chi.

Yuwen Qin was good at governance, Zhang Chi was good at strategy, and Wang Junfeng was exceptionally skilled in martial arts.

But in Shen An's opinion, they were thinking too idealistically.

Liu Wenyuan, Liao Bing, Shen Xiaoqi, and Zhang Long will not submit to them.

Who will achieve more at that time is truly uncertain!

"Someone, bring the wine!" Shen Anxing was also in high spirits.

After everyone had drunk two jars of wine, Yuwen Qin took the initiative to speak: "My lord, should I report the secret of making human skin masks to you privately, or should we do it now...?"

Yuwen Qin glanced around at the people in the room.

"They are all trustworthy people."

"This human skin mask was not made by the Divine Dragon Society, but by a force called the Divine Mechanism Sect," Yuwen Qin replied.

"Shenji Sect? I've never heard of it before?" Wang Junfeng asked, scratching his head.

Yuwen Qin was relieved: "Very few people know about this sect. I only found out about it when Zhang Chi and I secretly followed the undercover agent of the Divine Dragon Society and discovered that this person would occasionally go to a temple in the Nanling Mountains."

Instead of exposing him, we wanted to see who he was meeting with.

We were very lucky; we only stayed for half a day before the man appeared and took the letter left behind by the undercover agent.

We then secretly followed them all the way and sneaked into one of the Shenji Sect's branches.

Once inside, we discovered they were called the Divine Mechanism Sect, and they actually made human skin masks.

"Since you obtained the human skin masks in the first place, did you think you could make them for any customer who could afford to pay?" Shen An asked, pouring himself a glass of wine.

Yuwen Qin and Zhang Chi shook their heads vigorously, like rattles.

Shen An put down his wine glass: "What? Is there some special condition?"

"Yes, the conditions are extremely demanding; simply offering money is definitely not enough," Yuwen Qin nodded.

"Then tell me, what are their stringent conditions?" Shen An continued to ask.