271: Chapter 271 Mutual Loyalty, Shared Progress

Inside the cave of the former Golden-Horned Snake King, Tang Long's original body was panting heavily, swaying as if he could barely sit steadily.

As the thunderous light filling the cave subsided slightly, Xie Jin immediately asked, "Tang Long, how are you?"

Shi Chengyu, standing at the cave entrance, also looked full of concern. "Do you need to stop for a moment?"

Xie Jin frowned. "We can slow down, but we absolutely cannot stop. Stopping now would mean all our previous efforts were in vain."

At that moment, Tang Long waved his hand. "No need to stop, and no need to slow down. Let's continue."

Xie Jin asked doubtfully, "Your complexion is terrible. Are you sure?"

Tang Long gave a weary yet excited smile. "Don't worry, I couldn't be better right now!"

The Mad God's actions just now had indeed scared him half to death.

In particular, the impact caused by the Divine Blood Brand had filled his mind with noise, causing his original body to temporarily lose control.

However, as he gradually recovered, he found that... the noise was gone.

It couldn't be said to have completely vanished.

There was still plenty of noise in the Clone's mind, but the original body was no longer affected.

Even if the Mad God was a chatterbox, he could selectively let a certain Clone receive the noise, like putting a radio that couldn't be turned off into a small room so the overall situation remained unaffected.

What truly surprised him was this genuine division capability.

Previously, when driving a Clone, it had to be very close to the original body to be commanded freely.

Once far away, if the primary consciousness required delicate operation, the other Clones would have to fall into stagnation or could only perform simple, monotonous activities.

But now, it was completely different.

It was as if the original body and the Clones had truly been divided into independent individuals, each capable of moving freely.

This was probably the most perfect schizophrenia in the world, or perhaps... his Soul had already been split into several parts by the Mad God?

But from the current perspective, the impact was positive.

Though the Mad God was mad, He was extremely generous, directly bestowing a point of incomparably precious divinity!

Also, he could now use God Descent as well!

Although God Descent was extremely dangerous, if it could truly descend upon a Clone without affecting the original body, then there was nothing to fear.

Instead, he had gained an extremely powerful trump card!

However, speaking of which, wouldn't pulling a god down to fight those of the Spirit Map and Huagai Realm levels be a bit of an exaggeration?

Xie Jin's secret technique was still ongoing.

The boundless thunderous light seemed to form a sea. At the core of this sea, a spiritual bridge was built by lightning between the thunder emperor pearl, Tang Long, and Xie Jin.

Incalculable amounts of energy and information traveled back and forth across this bridge in the form of lightning.

Shi Chengyu watched, entranced.

Having entered the Spirit Map Realm in his early forties, he had always prided himself as a Genius of the path of lightning. But at this moment, in front of Xie Jin, he had to admit that his experience was still shallow.

Setting everything else aside, he couldn't have created this self-invented Spiritual Bridging Secret Technique himself.

Although Thunder Leopard Xie Jin had always kept a low profile, he had been famous throughout Dongyu for many years. Shi Chengyu could accept being inferior to him.

But Tang Long...

It had only been a few days since he obtained the flawless Legacy, yet he had already achieved the Thunder Spirit Body.

Furthermore, under this intensity of psionic and spiritual impact, he could actually hold out for so long?

By a rough estimate, his spiritual strength and endurance might already be comparable to a Open Origin Realm Martial Artist.

Even more incomprehensible was Tang Long's psionic reserves.

Shi Chengyu felt that even if he were in Tang Long's place, enduring until now would have likely consumed more than half of his psionic energy.

Yet Tang Long's psionic energy seemed inexhaustible. Besides maintaining a continuous Spirit Astral to protect himself, he could also output energy from time to time to help maintain the stability of the bridge.

Remembering that he was still only at the first stage of Qi Manipulation, Shi Chengyu felt a sense of stifling frustration.

Under his gaze, the thunderous light gradually faded, and Xie Jin and Tang Long opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

Tang Long said loudly in pleasant surprise, "Elder Xie, you are truly incredible! My cultivation in the Eight Scenes Art has directly increased by a large margin!"

Xie Jin, however, sighed with emotion. "Your Excellency, you are the truly incredible one. This secret technique of mine was originally extremely dangerous; the slightest instability could lead to mutual destruction or even death."

"But I really didn't expect that at such a young age, your spirit and endurance would be so powerful, to the point where you even had spare energy to help me."

"Except for a few minor fluctuations in the middle, it was basically done in one go from start to finish, allowing me to obtain this world-shaking divine art without the slightest error. I am truly grateful to you, my boy."

Shi Chengyu said as he walked closer, "Both of you are very remarkable. However, Your Excellency Tang Long didn't call me here just to watch the show, did he?"

Tang Long and Xie Jin looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

Xie Jin spoke up, "Dr. Shi is quite frank."

"Your Excellency Tang Long did indeed tell me to perform an Empowerment of the Thunder Emperors Eight Scenes Art for you."

"But you must think carefully. Once you take this step, there is no turning back."

"Yesterday, I witnessed with my own eyes how His Excellency allowed Yun Zhuoyue to easily cross the threshold she had struggled with for years to achieve the Spirit Map. Today, he has enabled me to successfully obtain the Eight Scenes Art Legacy."

"Do you know what this means? It means His Excellency has the ability to create a large number of Spirit Map experts. Under our joint efforts, even the Huagai Realm realm will no longer be out of reach."

"In twenty years, can you imagine what kind of scene will surround His Excellency?"

Shi Chengyu's breathing couldn't help but quicken.

Originally, due to his own situation, he was already inclined to cooperate with Tang Long because Tang Long would frequently show surprising flashes of brilliance.

But now, hearing Xie Jin's words, he realized he had still underestimated Tang Long.

Indeed, if Tang Long possessed the means to create Spirit Map experts, had a Cultivation Technique like the Thunder Emperors Eight Scenes Art that led directly to the Huagai Realm realm, and also controlled a Divine Ruins, this man's future was simply limitless.

Spirit Map experts were considered the backbone of this world's power structure.

However, achieving the Spirit Map was extremely difficult. Besides Aptitude and background, it often relied on luck.

Due to various accidents and factors like combat and war, the number of people at the Spirit Map level was never high. Each city in Dongyu generally maintained about a dozen Spirit Map experts.

In this world, a generation lasted twenty years, and the turnover rate of Spirit Map experts was roughly the same.

But if Tang Long truly possessed special means to mass-produce Spirit Map experts, it would undoubtedly reshape the power landscape immediately.

Furthermore, he truly possessed the ability to create Huagai Realm experts.

Take this Thunder Leopard Xie Jin for example. In time, if he could truly Breakthrough to the Huagai Realm realm using his own power, he would leap to become the strongest person in Dongyu.

Even he held Tang Long in such high esteem and had clearly decided to deeply bind himself to Tang Long. What did Shi Chengyu have to hesitate about?

He took a deep breath and knelt on one knee before Tang Long.

"As long as Your Excellency accepts, I, Shi, am willing to offer my loyalty here!"

Tang Long hurriedly helped him up. "Brother Shi, you're being too formal."

"Mutual loyalty, common progress."

"From now on, you can stride forward boldly. You no longer have to worry about being anyone's scapegoat, nor do you have to worry about being betrayed. Elder Xie, the White Clothing Society, the White Clothes Association, and I are all your strong backing."

"Let's work together and strive for a bright future for Dongyu!"

Light instantly appeared in Shi Chengyu's eyes, and he felt much of the stifling air that had been weighing on his chest for a long time dissipate.

But soon, he said with hesitation, "Your Excellency, I still must give you a warning. The Grand Secretary is very dangerous; he wants to get rid of you."

Tang Long chuckled. "Dongyu is about to be turned upside down, and yet he's still fixated on a small figure like me. That just goes to show our Grand Secretary lacks a sense of the big picture."

"Don't fear him. He'll soon be overwhelmed with his own problems and won't have time to come after me."

"Starting today, rumors will appear in Huaidu saying that Ritual Master Yu Hai killed the The Seventh Saint."

"Tell me, how will the Pope react when he hears this news?"

Shi Chengyu frowned. "The Pope probably won't believe it easily, right?"

Xie Jin explained with a smile, "Of course he won't believe it easily. But having such a good excuse to suppress the Grand Secretary, he won't let it go lightly. Sometimes truth or falsehood isn't important; what's important is..."

Tang Long calmly finished the sentence, "What's important is that when two people with a conflict need a knife, we must hand it over in time."

At this, the two looked at each other and laughed in unison.

They laughed with mutual understanding and appreciation, but Shi Chengyu felt a series of chills down his spine.

————

In the Governors Mansion, Xu Chaoyang slammed both hands heavily on the table and roared at the sweating Wei Yuan.

"What did you say! How much was lost!"

Wei Yuan replied with a slight tremble, "About... 2.3 or 2.4 billion."

Chief of Intelligence Zhang Wei, the head of the intelligence department nearby, said in a deep voice, "Governor! Five vaults were robbed one after another within two hours. The other party definitely obtained accurate intelligence!"

"Also, over two billion in cash is a very large pile. I don't believe they could have moved it out of the city so quickly, so the money must still be in the city!"

"Start a city-wide search immediately; we will definitely find it!"

Xu Chaoyang rubbed his forehead, sighed, and then waved his hand.

"No, stop looking for now."

"Governor, this..."

"You're right. Five vaults being robbed within two hours is definitely a leak; there's a problem within our internal ranks. The other party must have been well-prepared, so it won't be that easy to find."

"The Sangyu Delegation arrives tomorrow. And that Faint-hearted Monarch is also coming to join the fun tomorrow. If we cause a huge commotion ourselves, we'll only be a laughingstock."

"Twenty-odd billion won't affect the overall situation, and..."

"Too much has already happened in Song City these days. Let it have a moment to breathe."