182: Chapter 182 Guinea Pig

The two came downstairs, and the four of them—Golden Scorpion, Tie Tou, Qin Bing, and Lu Xiaohu—greeted them with smiles.

Qin Bing was the first to laugh out loud, "Old Tang, you've given us a huge surprise."

"Good grief! You're a Royal Knight and an Honorary Academician of the National Academy now. Do we have to call you 'My Lord' from now on?"

"But you said on the phone that you were going to provide us with free Empowerment. That doesn't sound like you."

"I have to ask you in person—is it really free?"

Tang Long put on a straight face, "Old Qin, I don't like hearing that. Do I look like the type of person who puts profit before loyalty?"

"You do," Qin Bing replied with a serious nod, making everyone burst into laughter.

After laughing for a while, Tang Long waved his hand.

"Alright, I'm pressed for time. Let's talk business."

"Empowerment is one thing, but there's another matter that's even more important."

"I've decided that starting today, we'll use the Jinyue Martial Arts Hall as our new base of operations. Old Qin, remember the expansion plan you mentioned to me last time? Our connections are solid enough now; we can implement it."

"Besides Tai Chi, you can openly advertise that we teach the Wuque Method here for a fee—the kind that can refine a Postnatal Spirit Body!"

"Use all of my titles and positions, including President of the White Clothing Society, and promote them all. We need to make as much noise as possible, as quickly as possible."

"Not just the First Specialized Academy, but also the Second and Third Specialized Academies affiliated with the military and The Sect—post flyers on every street corner within five blocks of each school."

Qin Bing stared wide-eyed, "Good grief! You're poaching directly from The Sect and the military? Are we really going that big?"

"What? Are you scared?"

"I'm not afraid of anything! I'm only afraid of being poor!"

"That's good. Let's begin!"

As he spoke, Tang Long walked onto the large competition ring and sat down.

Qin Bing, Lu Xiaohu, and Golden Scorpion followed suit, but Tie Tou hesitated.

Tang Long called out curiously, "Master Tie, why are you just standing there? Come on over!"

Tie Tou sighed, "Mr. Tang, I'm already in my late fifties. Is there still any value in cultivating me? I've heard that this Empowerment consumes a significant amount of resources, and the failure rate is quite high. My share... let's just save it."

Tang Long curled his lip, "What are you talking about? The so-called success rate is just to fool outsiders."

"As long as you have enough perseverance and can endure the pain, I guarantee you'll make it through."

"As for resources, we're wealthy now. Whether you're herding one sheep or two, it's all the same—we won't miss your share."

Everyone laughed again, and Tie Tou couldn't help but scratch his head with a smile.

"Really?"

"You'll know if it's true once you try. Come on!"

Only then did Tie Tou step forward and sit down.

Tang Long took a pile of thunder spirit stones from Mad Dog, arranged them around the thunder emperor pearl, and then gave his instructions.

"The lightning will strike your body, and it will definitely be very painful. You will be scorched, and you'll soon smell your own burning flesh."

"However, you must grit your teeth and absolutely cannot move."

"When the mental imprint is complete, you will know it clearly. At that moment, withdraw immediately to lighten the burden on me."

"Do you all understand?"

"Understood!"

The group responded in unison, and Tang Long immediately began the Empowerment.

Actually...

Although he had studied this Empowerment for a while and had demonstrated it once for Ritual Master Yu Hai and the others, he hadn't fully mastered many of the details and principles.

Providing free Empowerment to his own people today was both a way to repay them and a way to use them as lab rats.

As arcs of lightning flashed across his body, the thunder emperor pearl levitated on its own, and a large amount of thunder spirit energy was drawn from the thunder spirit stones and flooded into it.

When the thunder emperor pearl absorbed enough energy, a spiderweb-like net of lightning suddenly burst forth from it. With Tang Long as the core, identical tentacles of lightning instantly struck the others.

The group groaned in pain almost simultaneously. Lu Xiaohu and Golden Scorpion even had skin split open in several places, and their bodies began to tremble.

Tang Long immediately shouted for them to hold steady, then began applying the Healing Spell to each of them one by one.

Under the magic of the Healing Spell, their health remained relatively stable.

Although they were all still gritting their teeth in pain, the pressure was indeed greatly reduced.

In less than two minutes, Tie Tou—who was practically an old man—was actually the first to open his eyes, and then he performed a backward roll out of the lightning circle.

After standing up, he still looked at his hands in disbelief, until he snapped his fingers and produced a wisp of lightning.

"This... did I really succeed?"

Tie Tou was extremely agitated, and there were even a few tears in his eyes.

Mad Dog sighed from the side and stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder in comfort.

For a martial artist like Tie Tou, whose potential was extremely limited and who was quite old, his path in martial arts could have been considered severed.

However, with the help of Tang Long's miraculous ability, he had indeed been given another chance.

The Thunder Emperors Eight Scenes Art could refine a spirit body.

The spiritual requirements for a spirit body were very high; it was not a task for a single day and required a great deal of resources. Whether Tie Tou could reach that step was still unknown.

But it could definitely gradually improve his spirituality; as long as resources weren't too scarce, Tie Tou breaking through to Blood Refining shouldn't be too far off.

Another half-minute passed, and a booming sound of thunder erupted from Qin Bing's body, sending him flying off the stage.

Although the only clothes he had left were reduced to ash in this lightning explosion and his body was scorched all over, his eyes were exceptionally bright.

After steadying himself, he was stunned for a few seconds before cheering loudly.

"I succeeded! I also succeeded!"

"Old Tang, you're awesome!"

"From now on, I'm your vanguard. Wherever you point, I'll kill!"

"Shut up!"

"Oh."

Another minute or so passed, and Golden Scorpion groaned, spat out a mouthful of blood that crackled with lightning, and collapsed on the stage, smoking.

Mad Dog and Tie Tou rushed over, wanting to drag him out.

But Tang Long suddenly shouted, "Don't move him!"

The two were startled and stopped immediately.

Golden Scorpion had been holding on quite steadily before, and his mental imprint was almost complete.

But no one expected that at the very last moment, his Golden Spirit Body would actually produce a Spirit Blast with the thunder spirit energy, which directly caused him to suffer severe injuries and faint.

He was only a hair's breadth away from success, so Tang Long decided to give him another boost. He immediately applied an invincibility effect on him, followed by a Healing Spell, and then continued the Empowerment.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

At the final moment, seeing signs that Golden Scorpion was about to open his eyes, Tang Long used the Aurora Phantom Sound and shouted suddenly.

"Scorpion! Wake up!"

Golden Scorpion jolted upright, and at the same time, another burst of lightning exploded from his body.

This time, it wasn't blood being spat out, but energy erupting from his crown.

Surprisingly, his skull wasn't shattered, and he didn't suffer any injuries at all.

It was just that his hair was gone.

Golden Scorpion sensed his own changes and started grinning foolishly.

But he only laughed for two seconds before a bolt of lightning swept over and knocked him rolling away.

Mad Dog and Tie Tou hurriedly helped the bald Golden Scorpion up.

"Young Master, are you okay?"

"Scorpion, did you succeed or fail?"

Golden Scorpion was still grinning, "It should have been a failure. But for some reason, the lightning suddenly couldn't hurt me. And then, it succeeded again! Dog Brother, what do you think it would look like if I managed to refine both a Golden and Thunder Spirit Body in the future?"

Mad Dog's face twitched; he felt... a bit jealous.

Generally, Empowerment inheritance is performed by a high-level martial artist onto a lower-level one; the reverse is impossible.

But Tang Long... this guy's methods were truly astonishing. Even being able to successfully provide Empowerment to someone like Golden Scorpion, who was at the Blood Refining stage, was simply incredible.

It was a pity that he was a Gods Vessel; he couldn't even catch this train. His life was considered wasted.

Of the four people undergoing Empowerment, three had already succeeded.

They couldn't help but be increasingly convinced by Tang Long, and their attention was focused on the last one, Lu Xiaohu.

Three minutes, five minutes, seven minutes...

As for the kid Lu Xiaohu, although he had the lowest strength, seeing him last for nearly ten minutes made them all feel a genuine sense of admiration.

Tang Long had said before that they might be scorched and would smell their own burning flesh. The three who had already succeeded hadn't been that dramatic; at most, their clothes had exploded or they had gone bald.

As for Lu Xiaohu, the kid was probably truly roasted by now, and the smell of burnt flesh was drifting throughout the room.

Yet, the Empowerment still hadn't succeeded.