Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 661

However, due to a series of coincidences, Shen Lingshuang's soul was not completely devoured. Instead, it drifted to the 8th Sanctuary, and under the influence of the "Legion Flower," she was resurrected as a half-baked pharmacist with only fragmented memories...

Thinking this, Qiu Tu's hands clenched involuntarily, feeling that he might be getting close to the truth...

.....

Meanwhile, at the Third Shelter, in the Parliament Building...

As the highest authority in Sanctuary 3, this council building stands like a silent behemoth in the heart of the city.

The entire exterior of the building is made of cold, black marble, each stone looking as if it had been forged in a dark purgatory for thousands of years, exuding a chilling aura.

On the top floor of this black parliament building, in a black room, an old man was talking to a middle-aged man.

The old man had white hair and beard, a stern face, and deeply furrowed brows. His long face looked rather unsmiling.

He said slowly, "So, according to you, Qiu Tu is following the same path as us—'using evil gods to control evil gods'?"

The middle-aged man responded, his expression somewhat grave.

He looked to be close to 40 years old, and his features vaguely resembled Shen Lingshuang's, which made him still very elegant and handsome despite the ravages of time.

If Qiu Tu were here, he would recognize him at a glance as the vice chairman of the Supreme Council of the 3rd Shelter, who is also Shen Lingshuang's father, Shen Yuzhou.

Throughout the entire Third Shelter, the only person who could speak to him in a superior capacity was clearly Xing Su, the Speaker of the Third Shelter's Supreme Council and the head of the "Order Faction."

Upon hearing Xing Su's words, Shen Yuzhou nodded slightly, then shook his head. "Qiu Tu's political line is indeed somewhat similar to ours, but it is not the same."

"He doesn't control evil gods through any means like we do. Instead, he uses 'emotion' or 'personal charisma.'"

"Heh..." Xing Su chuckled coldly twice and commented, "Feelings are the most unreliable thing, and also the easiest to spoil."

"If the two sides have a conflict and there is no way to check and balance them, they are likely to lose everything."

Shen Yuzhou nodded slightly, then said with a serious expression, "That's how it is."

"Moreover, if the relationship is only maintained by feelings, it is actually just a cooperative relationship between the two parties."

"If the other party turns against us, the whole situation could fall apart immediately."

"Therefore, I plan to take Ling Shuang to the Northwest Region again. We'll meet Qiu Tujian and see what he's really like."

At this point, Shen Yuzhou paused, then said, "Coincidentally, today the 7th Shelter sent a request for help to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Shelters. They hope that our three major shelters will lend them a helping hand."

"The Fifth Shelter refused, but the 'Iron Women' of the Fourth Shelter were very interested in Qiu Tu."

"After all, their longtime rivals, the Nine-Headed Lion and the Jackal, were killed and captured alive, respectively. They were also very curious about what kind of person Qiu Tu was, who had ended the lives of their two rivals."

"In addition... Shelter No. 2 is also somewhat interested in Qiu Tu and has asked us to assess his potential."

"Let's see if there's any value in connecting to the 'core area'."

"Therefore, I plan to take Ling Shuang and the 'Iron Women's Army' to the 'Northwest Region' to meet the rising star, Qiu Tu."

Upon hearing Shen Yuzhou's words, Xing Su remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly and slowly gave his reply, "Agreed."

With Xing Su's approval, Shen Yuzhou smiled and prepared to leave.

Just then, Xing Su called out to him again.

"Yuzhou...."

Shen Yuzhou stopped and then looked at Xing Su.

Xing Su said in a hoarse voice, "Ling Shuang's strength has increased so much recently. Can you still control her?"

Hearing Xing Su's words, Shen Yuzhou smiled and said, "Dad, don't worry. Everything is under control."

At this point, he raised his hand, revealing a jade thumb ring on his thumb, and said, "Isn't this still here?"

Upon hearing Shen Yuzhou's words, Xing Su nodded slightly and then waved his hand.

As they left the speaker's office, a girl who looked exactly like Shen Lingshuang was waiting at the door.

However, the girl was clearly not as well-behaved as Shen Lingshuang. She was wearing a black crop top with a black leather jacket over it, and below her smooth stomach were hot pants, fishnet stockings, and black shoes.

Coupled with her nonchalantly blowing bubble gum, she looked like a carefree, spirited young woman on the street.

Upon seeing Shen Yuzhou emerge, the girl's gaze lingered for a second on Shen Yuzhou's jade ring before she called out, "Father."

Then, he looked up at Shen Yuzhou and said in a nonchalant tone, "Old Deng. Finished your business? Let's go."

Upon seeing the girl's attire, Shen Yuzhou's expression darkened slightly. He said in a low voice, "How many times have I told you? You need to be mindful of being the speaker's daughter when you're out in public."

"What are you wearing?!"

Upon hearing this, the girl tilted her head indifferently and said disdainfully, "Who cares about being the speaker's daughter?"

Shen Yuzhou: ....

Shen Yuzhou took a deep breath, then turned the jade thumb ring on his thumb and said in a deep voice, "Stop joking around. Pack your things, we're going to the 'Northwest Region'."

Upon hearing this, the girl's face immediately showed her displeasure. "Going to the 'Northwest Region' again? Didn't we just go there last year?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuzhou glanced at her expressionlessly and said, "This time it's something important."

After speaking, he paused for a moment, then said softly, "Shen Lingshuang seems to have come back to life..."

Upon hearing Shen Yuzhou's words, the girl's pupils contracted slightly, followed by a wicked smile.

"Interesting, very interesting..."

.......

Meanwhile, in the Northwest region, at the 7th Shelter, in Phoenix Perch State, the state capital...

Qiu Tu was sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, deep in thought, while giving orders to Guan Xiao.

"Have Larilu take Shen Lingshuang to Zhao Ji in the 'Eastern City Area'."

"During this time, tell her not to leave Zhao Ji's side. Just say... it's for her cultivation."

"Then... release the jackal, let him unite the evil gods surrounding the 7th Sanctuary, and then seal off the passage between the 7th Sanctuary and the 'Boundless Heart Sea - Core Area'."

"Inform Princess Xi and Tang Feifei. Tell them to speed up the process."

At this point, Qiu Tu opened his eyes, his gaze gleaming, and said, "I hope to see the 7th Shelter taken down by tomorrow or the day after!"

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Chapter 593 Speaker Qiu Tu Approaches the Central Hub of the 7th Sanctuary (7k views, please vote)

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Guan Xiao, who was kneeling at Qiu Tu's feet, spat out the sweet chocolate bar and replied, "Yes, Speaker!"

After speaking, she thought for a moment, then tilted her head back and asked again to confirm, "But... Speaker, are we really going to let the jackals go?"

"Wouldn't this be considered letting a tiger return to the mountains?"

Although Guan Xiao always listened to Qiu Tu and did whatever he said, she was, after all, a human cataclysmic being. She had a natural wariness of evil gods.

In particular, the jackal is also a sixth-tier evil god.

It should be noted that, apart from Qiu Tu, there isn't a single Tier 6 Cataclysm in the three major shelters across the entire Northwest region.

Furthermore, Tier 6 is far more powerful than Tier 5 at its peak. Therefore, if Qiu Tu goes too far and truly lets the tiger return to the mountains, the situation in the entire Northwest region could instantly descend into chaos.

Therefore, as Qiu Tu's chief secretary, Guan Xiao had to fulfill her responsibility to remind him of these responsibilities.

However, compared to Guan Xiao's simple analysis, Qiu Tu has a "cheat code".

After yesterday's interrogation and questioning, coupled with Qiu Tu's combination of kindness and severity, the jackal's loyalty has risen to 75 points.

With this level of loyalty, it's almost impossible for them to betray you unless something major happens.

So Qiu Tu reached out and patted the back of her head, comforting her, "Don't talk, just keep eating."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Guan Xiao gave him a charmingly disdainful look, then lowered her head and continued eating her snacks.

Qiu Tu, as before, remained seated in his chair, enjoying the moment with his eyes closed while explaining.

"Don't worry. I'm pretty accurate at judging people and evil gods."

"The jackals now genuinely want to pledge allegiance to us. This is a golden opportunity to buy their favor."

"If we handle it well, we will have many more evil god allies in the future."

At this point, to allay Guan Xiao's concerns, Qiu Tu rubbed her head and added,

"Besides, even if he is really acting, it doesn't matter."

"He's just a minor sixth-tier evil god. I can destroy him with a flick of my hand."

While listening to Qiu Tu's words, Guan Xiao ate a chocolate bar and also thought about the recent wind direction in the entire Northwest region.

Actually... a few months ago, after Qiu Tu and Zhao Ji joined forces to kill Xiao Yacha and Meiren Feng, the higher-ups of the three major shelters in the "Northwest Region" elevated Qiu Tu to the position of the strongest in the "Northwest Region".

However, you should know that... those who can become high-ranking members of the shelter may be bad, but they are definitely not stupid.

Although they acknowledged Qiu Tu's strength, they were also secretly testing it.

Not long after Little Yaksha and Beauty Wind perished, the three major sanctuaries secretly sent people to the "Trade Zone" to investigate the situation of the great battle at that time.

Similar to what the Jackal investigated, the auras of Zhao Ji, Little Yaksha, Meirenfeng, and Qiu Tu were indeed detected in various shelters within the shattered "Trade Market Area".

However... the first three factors account for a very high proportion, while Qiu Tu's aura is almost negligible in comparison.

This indicates that Qiu Tu didn't unleash much of his power in that great battle. Or to put it more bluntly: Qiu Tu barely contributed anything and was essentially just a bystander.

This has led many high-level officials to wonder: Is Qiu Tu really as capable as he claims?

Could it be that he actually just slept with Zhao Ji and then used her to intimidate others?

The result is that although everyone is afraid to provoke Qiu Tu because he now controls many evil gods, they are secretly trying to figure out Qiu Tu's true strength and weaknesses.

After all... having your own strength is different from borrowing someone else's strength.

The former possesses power that belongs to itself and cannot be taken away by anyone. The latter, however, can crumble at any time due to various reasons such as the relationship between the two, their interests, and their positions.

This is also why, although the leaders of various shelters respect Qiu Tu's current strength, they are taking a wait-and-see approach to everything.

Then... at that moment, Qiu Tu proved himself in two battles.

One instance was when he faced a sneak attack from a jackal. With his peak fifth-tier strength, he single-handedly beat a sixth-tier evil god jackal for three minutes, driving the jackal away.

This directly revealed to all the higher-ups in the shelter that Qiu Tu's true combat strength had reached the level of 6!

The other battle was the one that took place just two days ago: he joined forces with Zhao Ji to fight against the nine-headed lion and the jackal.

This was the battle that laid the foundation for Qiu Tu's position within the human camp.

The four of them fought so hard that they destroyed the entire "Summer Ridge Region." Summer Ridge City was also nearly destroyed, with the sky and earth collapsing.

In the aftermath of that great battle, the high-ranking officials of the three sanctuaries secretly investigated the lingering traces of the fight, attempting to reconstruct the events of the battle.

As it turned out... they were surprised to find that Qiu Tu played a very significant role in that battle, almost on par with Zhao Ji.

This shows that Qiu Tu played a role almost identical to that of Zhao Ji in that great battle.

To be honest, this really made the various forces a little unsure of Qiu Tu's strength.

Could it be that... Qiu Tu is actually quite strong, and he's not just relying on Zhao Ji's coattails, but is actually evenly matched with her?

Otherwise, how can we explain that the total amount of their energy is almost the same?

It can't be that... Qiu Tu fought the Jackal and the Nine-Headed Lion for a long time, and Zhao Ji ended the battle with just one move, right?

This is even more bizarre than Qiu Tu and Zhao Ji being evenly matched!

However, regardless of the circumstances, the details left over from that great battle did indeed help all parties gain a more comprehensive understanding of Qiu Tu.

Through intelligence analysis, they roughly deduced Qiu Tu's strength range:

His cultivation level should be at the early stage of Rank 6, but his actual strength should be between the mid-stage and peak of Rank 6.

After all, only in this way can we explain why Qiu Tu was able to intervene in such a high-level battle between evil gods.

However, whether it's the early stage of Rank 6 or the peak of Rank 6, Qiu Tu's current strength is the absolute best in the Northwest region.

It would even rank in the top 10 among all of humanity.

Such power and status made Qiu Tu seem like the uncrowned king of the "Northwest Region," granting him numerous legitimate rights.

Fortunately, Qiu Tu is quite "ambitious". Although he has reached the top of the human camp in terms of strength, he does not stay out of worldly affairs and focus on cultivation like other experts. Instead, he actively expands his territory and increases his political influence.

Therefore, Qiu Tu's close associates and confidants are now full of cohesion and ambition.