Then let them offer their loyalty!

"But now that I have the answer from you, I am completely relieved."

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Zhao Ji's thoughts and the topic of conversation were unusually drawn to her...

She asked, "How did you guess?"

Qiu Tu pointed to his head and said, "I rely on my brain."

Qiu Tu lit a cigarette and, while smoking, said with a distant gaze, "Actually... from the very beginning, I suspected Ling Shuang's identity."

"But I don't doubt that she has 'Yamane' (a Japanese term for the nose bridge), I doubt that she doesn't."

"The reason is simple."

Qiu Tu paused for a moment, then said, "I ask myself, if I discovered a business opportunity, would I announce it to everyone in a big way, or would I quietly make a fortune on my own?"

"I thought about it for a long time and I felt that... I would definitely choose the latter."

"And this matter is similar to the 'Twilight & Yamane' incident."

"If Mu Ye really discovers that Ling Shuang has a prominent nose bridge, he will make a big show of it to let everyone know that Ling Shuang is a treasure, so that Dongye Prefecture will value Shen Ling Shuang and countless people will covet her?"

"Should we kidnap Ling Shuang quietly without alerting anyone?"

"I think, logically speaking, he would also choose the latter."

"And once I got to this point, things suddenly became simple."

"Why has Mu Ye been constantly hinting to Dongye Prefecture that Shen Lingshuang has a problem?"

"It's very simple, he's trying to divert attention and sow discord."

“He wanted to draw everyone’s attention to Shen Lingshuang and me, or to make the state’s higher-ups suspicious of each other.”

"This way, he'll have ample time to obtain the real 'bridge of the nose'!"

"For this reason, he even went so far as to project himself and fight against the three of us fourth-tier Cataclysms."

"The reason he's doing all this is all for the sake of acting."

"This is just like... the military strategy used by his follower 'Scarface': feigning an attack on one side while secretly advancing on the other!"

After listening to Qiu Tu's analysis, Zhao Ji nodded slightly with her expressionless face, unusually agreeing with Qiu Tu's analysis.

However, after agreeing, she said calmly, "Your analysis is correct."

"The 'Yamane' is not with you; it's all an illusion created by the twilight."

She paused for a moment, then added, "But... that girl does have some issues too."

She glanced at Qiu Tu and then said, "Didn't you notice... she's not a complete person?"

"Her soul is incomplete."

"Or to put it more bluntly... she is actually a lost part of someone else's soul..."

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Two chapters, 10,000 words each. There will be a monthly ticket giveaway from September 8th to 14th. You can vote to participate.

Chapter 468 Even at the peak of the fifth tier, there's still a gap! (10,000 words, please vote!)

Qiu Tu was stunned when he heard Zhao Ji's words.

Although he often strategizes effectively, he is not a god who can predict the future.

So, he really didn't know what Zhao Ji was talking about...

The reason he was so certain that Shen Lingshuang's identity was neither "Shan Gen" nor the special catastrophic material that "Mu Ye" was looking for was because he had an incredibly accurate grasp of human nature.

Just like he analyzed to Zhao Ji earlier: if Shen Ling Shuang really is "Shan Gen" and is that special material in the cataclysmic event, why didn't Mu Ye secretly kidnap Shen Ling Shuang?

Why not just quietly make a fortune?

After all, even if Qiu Tu is quite strong, he is no match for a fifth-tier peak Great Evil God.

Now, he first made a deal with Dongyezhou, and then personally came down to attack Dongcheng City. It was as if he was about to put a megaphone on Qiu Tu's head and tell everyone that "Shan Gen" was by Qiu Tu's side.

Such a move, which alerts the enemy, could easily turn what could have been easily obtained into something that ends up with nothing at all.

Therefore, Qiu Tu suspected there was something fishy going on. However, he had no way to verify it...

Fortunately, he soon had an opportunity: after the attack on Dongcheng City, a rumor began to circulate among the middle-level officials of various cities that the special catastrophe material was in his possession.

Therefore, Qiu Tu immediately dispatched Guan Xiao to investigate from the New Territories. (Chapter 464)

No amount of tactics from the Political Department could withstand them.

So, within a day, Qiu Tu learned the source of the information: an agent who had just been corrupted and fallen by Mu Ye.

His dissemination of this news was also at the behest of his superiors.

This confirmed Qiu Tu's suspicions once again: Shan Gen was not by his side, and Mu Ye was deliberately framing him.

After all, if the previous events could be attributed to coincidence, or if Qiu Tu was overthinking things.

So now that Mu Ye is actively spreading rumors and gradually shifting suspicion towards Qiu Tu, it's all too obvious.

It was precisely because he was certain that Shen Lingshuang was not "protruding from the nose" that Qiu Tu dared to meet Zhao Ji and use the "driving a wolf to devour a tiger" strategy.

As it turned out, before the tiger could even be "driven away," it unexpectedly figured out Shen Lingshuang's identity.

Thinking this way, in order to extract more information, Qiu Tu stopped playing the part and honestly shook his head, saying, "I didn't know she only had a part of her soul."

"I didn't notice anything unusual about her when I was with her normally."

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Zhao Ji put her hands behind her back and said coldly, "Didn't you notice that her previous memories were incomplete or incorrect?"

"This is because her soul is incomplete, and her memories are fragmented or disjointed."

"And the thinking of higher beings is 'linear,' and memory requires 'logic,' so her brain will automatically fill in some details."

Hearing Zhao Ji's words, Qiu Tu couldn't help but recall the strange details Shen Ling Shuang had kept mentioning, such as "her parents wouldn't allow her to cultivate" and "she ran away from home to come to the Eighth Sanctuary"...

There are also those who can concoct medicine and create cataclysmic artifacts, yet always have all sorts of strange side effects...

Everything seems to make sense now.

Seeing a hint of realization in Qiu Tu's eyes, Zhao Ji spoke again, "However, it is indeed quite amazing that a wisp of her soul could be transformed back into a living person."

"This suggests that there may indeed be some kind of powerful natural treasure near Dongye Prefecture."

"It might just be the 'bridge of the nose'."

Hearing Zhao Ji's words, Qiu Tu came back to his senses.

Compared to the "bridge of the nose," Qiu Tu was actually more concerned about Shen Lingshuang.

Besides the fact that the girl had been selflessly devoted to him, and he had gradually come to regard her as his family, it was also because... his strength was still far from reaching level 6.

Even if he obtained such a rare and precious material as the "root of the nose," he wouldn't be willing to use it. In fact, even if he did obtain it, he wouldn't be able to keep it.

Therefore, it's better to use it for a trade.

Isn't the most satisfying thing in the world "using the enemy's things to bribe others"?

If Qiu Tu could really trick Zhao Ji into killing Mu Ye using a "mountain root" whose location is unknown, then he would have made a huge profit.

So, thinking this through, Qiu Tu asked, "So, if we can find the place where Ling Shuang was born, we can find the 'root of the mountain'?"

After saying that, Qiu Tu asked another question, "Also... how is a partial soul like Ling Shuang created?"

Zhao Ji seemed genuinely interested in Shen Ling Shuang's matter. So, despite her cold expression, she actually answered Qiu Tu's question after a brief moment of thought.

She said, "There are many possibilities regarding the splitting of the soul."

"It could be proactive, or it could be reactive."

"It's an active process, possibly involving some special catastrophic pathway, that requires splitting the soul and removing 'impurities' from it."

"Make your soul clearer and your potential greater."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu couldn't help but ask, "Wouldn't the main soul be incomplete then?"

Zhao Ji gave him a cold look and said, "Have you forgotten that the soul undergoes a reshaping process at the third and fourth tiers?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu's face showed a hint of realization. "So, there will be a completion process later?"

Zhao Ji nodded coldly and continued, "It's also possible that they encountered a major crisis, feared they would perish, and split their soul in order to preserve their hope of resurrection."

"But this requires a certain level of strength. At least the peak of the fourth rank, or even the fifth rank, is needed to achieve this."

Qiu Tu thought of Shen Ling Shuang's "true form" as having the strength of a peak fourth-tier cultivator on the surface, and blinked slightly.

Zhao Ji, oblivious to Qiu Tu's subtle expression, continued, "Also... there's another possibility."

Qiu Tu immediately chimed in, "What's possible?"

Zhao Ji said with a serious expression, "Soul Splitting Cultivation."

"Soul splitting cultivation?" Qiu Tu muttered these four words.

Zhao Ji hummed in agreement and said, "This is a secret technique from the 'Boundless Sea of ​​the Heart - Core Area'."

"When a living being is stuck in a realm that is difficult to break through for many years."

"He will set aside his own soul to experience a completely new life, gain new insights, and walk a different path."

"Only when the time is right, or when one's strength reaches a certain level, will the soul that He separated return to His original body."

"However, this secret technique has a major drawback. Each time a soul is separated, the strength will be greatly reduced."

"Furthermore, this secret technique has an extremely high barrier to entry, so unless one is a master of the 'Boundless Sea of ​​the Heart - Core Area,' ordinary catastrophic beings, and even evil gods, cannot use it."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, you can't either?"

Zhao Ji glanced at Qiu Tu coldly, then nodded and said, "Even if I advance to the 6th rank, I still won't be able to use it."

"So... the first two possibilities are still more likely."

Qiu Tu nodded slightly. If such a secret technique has such high requirements, then the probability is indeed relatively small.

Considering and verifying a possibility when there are no clear clues will only be a waste of time.

Thinking this through, Qiu Tu continued to ask, "What about the passively split soul?"

Zhao Ji reached up and gathered her hair that fell loosely over her shoulders, her deep, cold eyes remaining completely still.

"There are more passive situations."

"They may have experienced a major upheaval, suffering a mental shock; they may have been subjected to secret arts or catastrophic abilities by some evil god or catastrophic creature; they may have accidentally ingested or misused catastrophic potions or items..."

"I just thought about it and seven or eight possibilities came to mind."

Qiu Tu nodded slightly, his eyes revealing deep thought.

Regardless, it can be confirmed that Shen Lingshuang is not a "root of the nose," but a fragment of a soul.

In this way, the fundamental conflict between him and Zhao Ji would be resolved. All that remained was to "use one wolf to devour another"!

Thinking this, Qiu Tu came back to his senses, looked at Zhao Ji, and said, "Your Highness Zhao Ji."

"You've already seen everyone around me. And you're certain that 'Yamane' is no longer with me."

"So, you should trust in my and Xiaola's loyalty to you, right?"

Zhao Ji was like someone with a blank expression; upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, there was no change in her fair face.

She still didn't give a direct answer to Qiu Tu's question.

Instead, she asked, "You, and Larilu, have absolutely no interest in the 'nose bridge'?"

Qiu Tu had already prepared his plan when he was preparing the "driving away the wolf to devour the tiger" scheme.

He began by saying, "Xiao La and I were actually interested at first."

"But... later, we discovered two problems."

Zehime: "What's the problem?"

Qiu Tu said, "Firstly... we're only at the peak of the fourth tier, and even then, we're only at the pseudo-peak of the fourth tier. We're far from needing to use the 'Shan Gen' (mountain root) technique."

"Secondly... even if we wanted to waste resources and accelerate our advancement, we... still couldn't defeat Mu Ye."

Zhao Ji's eyes flickered slightly, as if she was thinking.

Qiu Tu was adept at striking while the iron was hot. Seeing that Zhao Ji was finally wavering, he added, "Moreover, Your Highness."