Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 704

However, judging from her political achievements, her talent should not be enough to support her to go further and become a high-ranking official.

Qiu Tu also had a special talk with Liu Xiongyuan about her future path.

The two men have changed their perception of her to that of a subordinate.

In the future, she may transition into becoming Guan Xiao or Tang Feifei's deputy to assist them in handling government affairs.

Besides these few key confidants, Qiu Tu certainly hadn't forgotten his former confidants and childhood friends.

Players like the Hawks and Artest have all been promoted one or two levels. They are now generally deputy directors or high-ranking officials in a city's investigation department.

Compared to my previous life in the slums, there has been a complete transformation...

The members of the suicide squad who followed Qiu Tu back then are now scattered in various cities in New Jersey, serving as directors or deputy directors in some departments of the Exploration Bureau or the military.

It can be said that everyone who followed Qiu Tu has made leaps and bounds in the past two years.

This is also one of the reasons why QiuTu Group has such a strong sense of cohesion.

Aside from the internal reshuffling within Qiu Tu Group, the biggest changes have been made to those "academics" closely associated with Qiu Tu.

After assisting Tang Feifei in conquering the 7th Shelter, Huang Shangzong returned to the 8th Shelter and, together with Tang Feifei, was promoted to Vice Chairman of the Shelter's Supreme Council based on his military achievements.

With this, the "academic faction" once again had a leader at the vice-speaker level. They had managed to stabilize their position.

Meanwhile, the morale of the "academic faction," which had begun to crumble with Pang Haichen, finally regrouped and once again became a major force in the 8th Sanctuary.

Of course, compared to the past when the "academic school" was fiercely competitive, aiming for third place and striving for second, and also had a mixed bag of members, the current "academic school" is much purer, but its actual strength is also much weaker...

Besides Huang Shangzong, Yan Chen was exiled by Qiu Tu to the 6th Sanctuary to fight against the Kou family. This time, he also took a step forward, successfully becoming a cabinet minister in the 6th Sanctuary.

Because of the Kou family's power, he started to play the role of a tortoise again in the 6th Sanctuary, quietly developing his strength...

It can be said that Qiu Tu has made arrangements for everyone he can in the past few days.

Even people like Yan Yan and Ellie were promoted ahead of schedule and given positions.

In addition to the personnel changes at Qiu Tu Group, the Third Shelter, taking advantage of Qiu Tu's current prestige and the "overseas enclave" bill passed by the two major shelters, has begun to formally establish offices in the Sixth and Seventh Shelter.

Because this decision was made collectively by the senior management of the two shelters, neither shelter provided support nor caused any disruption.

This allowed the establishment of the third shelter office to proceed very quickly; four or five were set up in just three days. Seven or eight more are in the planning stages...

The entire "Northwest Region" enjoyed a rare period of peace during these three days because Qiu Tu was leaving...

Taking advantage of the three days of peace, Qiu Tu seized another six areas. He now commands eighteen areas, reaching the seventh tier!

He's just one final promotion away from officially becoming a Tier 7 Cataclysm!

And so, very quickly, the day arrived when Qiu Tu was to "leave".

The Seventh Sanctuary. The Senate. The Meeting Hall.

A long oval conference table occupied the center of the conference hall, and leather chairs around it were filled with dignified elders.

Light poured down from the ceiling, illuminating everyone's faces and adding to the somber atmosphere.

Qiu Tu glanced around at all the elders present.

Knowing all along that he was merely a transitional figure in the 7th Shelter, with a shallow foundation and insufficient talent reserves, Qiu Tu, despite eliminating the Han and Zhao families, did not make many adjustments to the core of the 7th Shelter.

This meant that while the core members of the 7th Sanctuary feared him and obeyed him, they were not loyal to him.

He glanced around and saw that almost all the elders had a loyalty score of around 30 above their heads; none were better. Of course... the good news was that none were below 20, proving that under Qiu Tu's pressure, no one dared to outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.

Therefore, the person with the highest loyalty in the entire conference room was actually Princess Xi, who sat to Qiu Tu's left, with a total of 43 points.

It has to be said, it's somewhat ironic.

However, Qiu Tu was too pressed for time and had no intention of seizing the 7th shelter, so he didn't care.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts, then surveyed the entire conference hall with an air of authority, and slowly began to speak, "As you all know."

"In order to further enhance my strength, and in order to strengthen our human faction, I will have to leave the 'Northwest Region' and head to the 'Core Area.'"

Although they had known about Qiu Tu's decision through various intelligence sources, the elders present still gasped for breath for a few moments when Qiu Tu officially announced it.

They exchanged glances with their close elders, their eyes revealing an undisguised fervor.

Qiu Tu keenly sensed the surging undercurrent, but paid no attention to it.

He continued, "So, the reason I've gathered everyone here today is to announce my decision."

“Yesterday, I stepped down as deputy minister of the 6th shelter and no longer hold any position there.”

“And from today onwards, I will also resign from all my positions at the 7th shelter. I will no longer serve as the head of the 7th shelter.”

With Qiu Tu's words, the next second, he suddenly felt his strength rapidly draining away.

It felt as if his body had suddenly developed a hole, making it unable to store so much cataclysmic power.

As the gap appeared in his body, his "Cataclysmic Path" level began to decline rapidly. From the peak of the sixth rank, to the late stage of the sixth rank, to the middle stage of the sixth rank, he quickly fell to the early stage of the sixth rank.

Fortunately, his cultivation level stopped falling after reaching the early stage of the sixth rank. This was roughly in line with Qiu Tu's prediction.

Qiu Tu's "path to catastrophe" is politics. His realm is linked to his official position.

After resigning from his positions in the 6th and 7th Sanctuaries, the only position he held in the human camp was Vice-Chairman (head-level) of the Supreme Council of the 8th Sanctuary, which was a nominal post.

The rank of the Vice-Chairman of the Supreme Council corresponds to the peak of the fifth rank. Therefore, theoretically, his cultivation level should only be at the peak of the fifth rank.

However, don't forget that Qiu Tu still holds a world official position. After advancing to the sixth rank, he belongs to the "fourth-rank deity" in the "world sequence".

It has the power to control and manage its own nine regions, which constitute a state.

Therefore, his "catastrophic path" stopped changing after it declined to the early stage of the sixth rank.

However, this is only the level of his "Cataclysmic Path". Don't forget, he has already merged with the sixth-order rank of "Nine-Headed Lion" and also pried away 18 "Boundless Heart Sea Regions".

Therefore, all he needs to do next is to thoroughly absorb the sixth-order rank of the "Nine-Headed Lion" and then condense the 18 "Boundless Heart Sea Regions" to officially advance to the seventh order.

Thinking this way, Qiu Tu didn't care about the short-term decline in his strength.

He scanned everyone present and then said, "As for who will succeed me..."

At this point, Qiu Tu's gaze fell on Princess Xi to his left, and he said, "Of course, Elder Lin will take over the role again."

Qiu Tu's decision did not surprise the elders present.

Qiu Tu and Princess Xi have a clearly unusual relationship. In fact, they are allies who fought together to conquer the 7th Sanctuary.

When Qiu Tu steps down, she will naturally be appointed to succeed him.

However... the fact that Princess Xi has regained her position as the head of the 7th Sanctuary does not mean that she can remain in that position indefinitely.

Princess Xi is not Qiu Tu; she doesn't possess the overwhelming strength to dominate the ages. She's just an ordinary, peak-level fifth-tier Cataclysm user.

While the 7th Sanctuary didn't have any Tier 6 Cataclysms, it did have three or four Tier 5 Cataclysms. (This is not related to Princess Xu Xi.)

More importantly... to mitigate the risks, Qiu Tu had already withdrawn the armies from the four states early on. Generals Tang Feifei and Huang Shangzong had also returned to the 8th Sanctuary.

It can be said that... Princess Xi only has the royalist faction's army of three to four hundred thousand men. Their numbers are even fewer than the native army of the 7th Sanctuary.

And because the Han and Zhao families were both wiped out, the Wei family became the dominant force in the entire 7th Sanctuary.

When Qiu Tu was around, he could help Princess Xi suppress the Wei family, but after Qiu Tu left, Princess Xi might not be able to suppress the Wei family anymore.

Therefore, upon hearing Qiu Tu designate his successor, the elders all turned to look at Princess Xi and Elder Wei, who were sitting on either side of Qiu Tu.

Princess Xi's face was dignified, devoid of any extra expression. Elder Wei, on the other hand, wore a smile, his gaze somewhat provocative as he looked at Princess Xi.

Qiu Tu took in their expressions but said nothing.

He is Princess Xi's ally, but not her father.

Even if Princess Xi might call Qiu Tu "Dad" in the future, he can't possibly arrange everything for her.

Thinking this through, Qiu Tu didn't say anything more after explaining everything. Instead, he stood up and gave up the main seat to Princess Xi.

Princess Xi returned to her seat without any formality, and then, according to etiquette, expressed her approval of Qiu Tu's governance over the past two weeks and looked forward to the future.

And so, the meeting ended, and everything was handed over.

With Princess Xi and others seeing him off, Qiu Tu left the Senate and got into the car with "Candle Dance," who was wearing Shen Ling Shuang's appearance, and then headed towards the "Isolated Mountains."

After a long journey of more than six hours, Qiu Tu arrived at the "isolated mountain range".

Tang Feifei, Guan Xiao, Liu Fuping, Liu Xiongyuan, Dai Yukang, Chen Feng, Lao Ying, Atai and other confidants were already waiting there.

The eyes and ears of various forces in the "Northwest Region" and "Southwest Region" are also focused here.

Clearly, everyone was watching Qiu Tu's departure.

He met with his close female friends and confidants, and gave them some instructions.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qiu Tu and "Candle Dance" stepped into the "Isolated Mountains".

The "Isolated Mountains" are a one-way street; once you step onto the sixth level, there is no turning back.

Therefore, upon seeing Qiu Tu step onto the "isolated mountain range," almost all the forces that were paying attention to Qiu Tu breathed a sigh of relief.

The past three years of Qiu Tu's rise have been like an accelerator for the "marginal areas".

The previously stable political environment suddenly began to change daily, almost too quickly to keep up with.

Moreover, Qiu Tu's talent is simply too high, and his strength has improved too quickly.

Qiu Tu now possesses power comparable to a seventh-tier cultivator, and his combat strength is also extremely astonishing.

All the forces involved are already under immense pressure and can barely breathe.

Now that Qiu Tu has brought "Candle Dance" and the other person into the "core area", the pressure on the various forces in the "peripheral area" has been greatly reduced.

This is equivalent to them sending away two great figures at once.

Of course, not all factions believed that Qiu Tu had actually gone to the "core area".

Therefore, some more cautious factions specifically sent spies to wait on the other side of the "isolated mountain range," wanting to see if Qiu Tu had really gone to the "core area."

As a result... they saw Qiu Tu and "Candle Dance" being picked up by the convoy personally brought by Yu Die after crossing the "Isolated Mountains," and then heading towards the "Western Kingdom."

The "isolation mountain range" isolates the inside from the outside, and neither clones nor remote controls can overcome the barrier of the mountain range.

Therefore, the only one who could leave this time is Qiu Tu.

At this point, they finally believed that Qiu Tu had left the "edge area".

For a moment... both the "Southwest Region" and the "Northwest Region" fell into an eerie silence...

Everyone guessed that trouble might break out in the "fringe area" after Qiu Tu left; in fact, many forces were already preparing to cause trouble. But... everyone was waiting for the first person to ignite this chaos...

.....

at the same time.

In Tang Feifei's convoy driving back to Sizhou. Inside Tang Feifei's car.

Tang Feifei, dressed in a formal suit, was silently and carefully adjusting a man's collar.

The man was wearing a black suit. Although he looked young, he exuded an imposing and authoritative aura.

Just one glance at it and it's as if you're looking at a majestic mountain.

If spies from various factions were here right now, they would recognize that the man in front of them was none other than Qiu Tu, who had crossed the mountains to go to the "core area"!

After tidying Qiu Tu's clothes, Tang Feifei glanced at him indifferently with her wheat-colored face, then looked at the passenger seat and asked, "Minister Guan, has any intelligence been sent?"

Hearing Tang Feifei's words, Guan Xiao, sitting in the passenger seat, responded and then turned around to smile at Qiu Tu and Tang Feifei, saying...

"Governor. I just received intelligence. Her Majesty Candle Dance did indeed obey the Speaker's orders and controlled the 'Unyielding Mannequin' to cross the 'Isolated Mountains.'"

"Yudie has now connected with them. They shouldn't be exposed anytime soon."

Hearing Guan Xiao's words, before Qiu Tu could speak, Tang Feifei nodded slightly, then looked at Qiu Tu with her wheat-colored face and said calmly, "'Isolation Mountain Range' isolates the inside from the outside. It prevents the ability from penetrating the mountain range to take effect."

Therefore, it is impossible to control the clone in the core area from the edge area. It is also impossible to control the clone in the edge area from the core area.

"But... that doesn't mean a person can't carry their clone across the mountains."

At this point, Tang Feifei paused, then added, "It's just... because you're too strong. At the peak of the sixth tier, ordinary Cataclysmics simply can't simulate your aura and strength."

"While 'Candle Dance' can mimic, her mischievous and unruly nature is already well-known to various factions."

“When Shen Yuzhou looked at her, he would always try to cheat and shirk his duties.”

"Nobody believes that you could get her to obey you completely in just three days, and that she would be willing to help you carry out such a complicated task in your absence."

Hearing Tang Feifei's words, Qiu Tu smiled and nodded, then admitted, "Yes. I used this information gap to create the illusion that I had left the 'fringe area.'"