Then, Let Them Offer Their Loyalty! Chapter 1685 - 695: Tian Qi: Bai Yi Might Not Necessarily Become a Heavenly God (Monthly Ticket iPad Drawing)

"How many openings will there be in this 'Heavenly God Trial'?"

In the Fourth Sanctuary of the Southwest Region, within a luxurious chamber.

Tian Qi occupied the primary seat, with Bai Yi, Golden Lion, Mo Tian, and several other prominent figures of the Fog Hidden Association seated below him.

It was evident that following the successful clearing of the Isolation Mountain Range, the high-ranking members of the Fog Hidden Association had convened.

However, a stark contrast to their prior confidence regarding the Heavenly God Trial, their expressions today were far more somber than anticipated.

The underlying reason was straightforward... The Heavenly God Trial was nearing its conclusion, yet Tian Qi's rank had stagnated; in reality, it had seen a slight decline.

The current standings in the comprehensive Heavenly God Trial leaderboard were: Zhao Ji in first place, Qiu Tu second, Shao Hua third, Doris fourth, and Tian Qi fifth.

This outcome, naturally, failed to elicit satisfaction from Tian Qi, nor did it please the members of the Fog Hidden Association.

But of greater significance.... Recently, Tian Qi had forged an alliance with Qiu Tu and Zhao Ji, intending to gain their confidence.

Subsequently, Qiu Tu had enacted a deception upon Tian Qi—just yesterday, Qiu Tu had proposed that Tian Qi relinquish his current ranking and align under Zhao Ji's banner, citing the justification of "securing Zhao Ji's position."

At first glance, this proposition seemed reasonable. Yet, upon deeper consideration, a discrepancy emerged.

Zhao Ji currently held the premier position in the Heavenly God Trial—and given her exceptional combat prowess, she was likely far ahead of the competition.

With Qiu Tu occupying second place, one of their own, how could there possibly be a need for Tian Qi to cede his spot?

However, with Qiu Tu having already made his pronouncement, Tian Qi found himself in a precarious situation.

This predicament led him to summon this internal meeting of the Fog Hidden Association today: He aimed to deliberate with his subordinates and ascertain the number of available positions in this Heavenly God Trial before finalizing his decision.

If only one to three spots were available, then considering his own strength, surpassing Shao Hua would prove exceedingly difficult; he would most likely concede and seek favor with Zhao Ji and Qiu Tu.

But should there be five spots, then with the opportunity to attain Heavenly God status, he would have to meticulously weigh whether to continue cooperating.

After all, while Zhao Ji's favor was indeed valuable, the allure of becoming a Heavenly God was undeniably potent.

He had been entrenched in this same Realm for several centuries, a fact that weighed on him.

At this precise moment, after Tian Qi had concluded his statement, Golden Lion, the vice president who had previously held Qiu Tu as a hostage, stroked his chin. Then, in a gravelly, deep voice, he articulated, "Typically, the Heavenly God Trial yields but a single victor. I recall the trials held centuries ago consistently followed this pattern."

"After all, the Heavenly God represents the pinnacle of power and prestige in this world. And each Heavenly God governs a distinct celestial path, thus the number of Heavenly Gods is inherently finite."

"Therefore, my inclination is to believe there will be but one opening in this Heavenly God Trial."

Upon hearing his assertion, before the other vice presidents could formulate a response, Bai Yi disagreed, shaking his head. "There's no way it's only one."

Observing Bai Yi's divergent viewpoint, Tian Qi couldn't help but direct his gaze towards him.

Bai Yi's demeanor remained remarkably serene, devoid of any trace of hostility.

He stated with composure, "Much of what Golden Lion has said is accurate, but I must highlight: Our world has not conducted a Heavenly God Trial in many centuries, so it is plausible the world's origin may offer compensation."

"I surmise it cannot be merely one. It is highly probable that there will be several—perhaps even exceeding ten."

Hearing Bai Yi's conjecture, Tian Qi became momentarily stunned; his brow furrowed deeply.

Clearly, he perceived Bai Yi's prediction as excessively extravagant, bordering on the improbable.

He was not the sole individual to recognize this sentiment, for before he could voice his objection, Golden Lion interjected pointedly, "More than ten?"

"Bai Yi, do you believe Heavenly Gods are as plentiful as cabbages? Hahaha."

Golden Lion chuckled twice, then continued his teasing, "Bai Yi, why not suggest fifty? Grant a position to every participating Deity and reserve a few for our kin."

Responding to Golden Lion's jests, the other vice presidents joined in with their laughter.

Confronted by the collective amusement, Bai Yi did not display displeasure; his smile remained warm and affable. "My hypothesis might indeed be somewhat speculative."

"Allow me to halve my estimate. I believe that even if there aren't ten Heavenly God slots, there will be at least five, wouldn't you agree?"

Upon hearing Bai Yi revise his estimation, the vice presidents grew hesitant, yet they all subtly shook their heads.

Earlier, Bai Yi's forecast of ten slots had been perceived as too outlandish; now, casually reducing it by half rendered him seemingly unreliable once more. His credibility suffered another significant blow.

Furthermore, whether the number was five or ten, it still represented a substantial increase compared to Golden Lion's initial guess of a single spot.

This disparity intensified the objections from the vice presidents.

Mo Tian, father to the young Little Yaksha, expressed his sheer displeasure with a shake of his head, his sun-weathered face etched with discontent. "Bai Yi, your presence here doesn't seem aimed at aiding the president; instead, you're igniting discord."

"Consider this: in all prior Heavenly God Trials within our realm, there was consistently but a single available spot. You propose five now—that's an increase of fivefold."

"Furthermore... this current Trial sees fewer than fifty participants. Should five individuals attain the status of Heavenly God, that equates to one-tenth successfully passing the rigorous test."

"This essentially amounts to distributing these positions without true merit."

Following Mo Tian's initial objection, the other senior officials swiftly joined the fray, challenging Bai Yi from every conceivable angle.

While engaging Bai Yi in their heated debate, each official also ventured their own estimations.

However, due to Bai Yi's inflated prediction resulting in widespread ridicule, the others adopted an extremely cautious approach when presenting their own forecasts.

The majority ventured a guess of one person, perhaps two; only one individual dared to suggest a possibility of three, meticulously appending a multitude of conditions, clearly apprehensive of suffering the same public humiliation as Bai Yi.

This turn of events rendered the discussion overwhelmingly one-sided, with a collective conviction solidifying that the Heavenly God Trial would not yield an excessive number of openings.

Presiding over the assembly, Tian Qi had observed the entire exchange, his brow remaining persistently furrowed throughout....

In truth, his initial conjecture mirrored Bai Yi's—he, too, had harbored the belief that the Heavenly God Trial this time would indeed grant a greater number of opportunities.

Not quite the extravagant ten individuals Bai Yi first proposed, but... a possibility of four or five seemed plausible in his estimation.

Yet, who could have foreseen that after Bai Yi voiced his opinion, he would be subjected to mockery, and now, every participant is firmly convinced that the Heavenly God Trial will not see an increase in its allocated slots.

This shift in consensus also caused Tian Qi to waver: "Could it be... my intense desire to ascend as a Heavenly God is causing my subconscious to yearn for more openings?"

'Therefore... is my judgment being distorted by personal aspirations?'

Despite an underlying sensation that something was amiss, now that nearly all present had thoroughly dissected the situation and concluded that an expansion of slots was improbable, Tian Qi found himself succumbing to the prevailing sentiment.