Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 915

As a confidant of the Heavy Stone God King, the Vast Ocean God King has always been the Heavy Stone God King's strategist.

Therefore, although the Heavy Stone God King underestimated Qiu Tu, the Vast Ocean God King was very wary of Qiu Tu after studying some of his information.

Although Qiu Tu has very little information, just looking at his current team: Yao Qin, a second-level god-king who was poached from the Star Forging God-King; Zhao Ji, a mysterious god-king who just arrived in the "Wine God Kingdom" in the last two days; two mysterious gods; and an "underground god kingdom" with an unknown number of reserve gods.

This already represents the rudiments of a mature pantheon.

Keep in mind that the entire temple branch only has a few pantheons. Therefore, Qiu Tu is definitely a promising talent.

It was precisely because of this judgment that the God King of the Vast Ocean put on his best acting skills when facing Qiu Tu.

Aside from having to obey the orders of the Heavy Stone God King to refuse Qiu Tu entry, he behaved impeccably after making contact with Qiu Tu.

Furthermore, by sharing his experience, he aimed to build a closer relationship with Qiu Tu, lower Qiu Tu's guard, and... smooth things over and lay the groundwork for the upcoming plans.

But who would have thought that Qiu Tu was almost fooled? Then, a mere maidservant saw through his deception!

Combined with the maid's sarcastic accusations earlier, the Vast Ocean God King couldn't help but have some doubts about the maid's identity.

However, no matter how he probed and observed, he found nothing unusual.

'Could it really just be a coincidence?'

Because there were so few clues, he ultimately dismissed it as just his own wild speculation.

Especially after seeing the magnificent palace with its carved railings and jade steps in the distance, the God King of the Vast Sea became even less concerned.

After all, in his view, whether the maid was intentionally giving hints or unintentionally pointing them out, it was no use.

With only a minute or two's walk from the "Heavenly God Bureau," even if Qiu Tu guessed his plan, he wouldn't have time to come up with a countermeasure.

'Everything is set in stone.'

With that thought in mind, the God King of the Vast Ocean felt relieved and prepared to proceed with the plan while observing the situation...

Meanwhile, as Qiu Tu and the God King of the Vast Ocean each harbored their own ulterior motives, behind them, Jasmine once again cast a smug glance at Zhao Ji beside her, then leaned close to Zhao Ji and, in a coquettish tone, transmitted her thoughts telepathically.

"Sister, it seems like I helped brother again. You're not angry, are you?"

Zeki: ....

...

Soon, led by the God King of the Vast Ocean, the three arrived at the "Heavenly God Bureau".

As the largest department of the "Temple", most of the gods who join the "Temple" are assigned to the "Execution Department" after training, to carry out various tasks and accumulate merits.

Therefore, if a god-king is promoted and needs to select celestial vassals, he will generally come to the "Celestial God Bureau".

The gods were also accustomed to meeting with the God-King at irregular intervals, and then choosing a day for each other.

However, today's selection is clearly different.

Two days earlier, some gods had overheard the gods in charge of the "Heavenly Gods Bureau" gossiping about Qiu Tu.

It is said that Qiu Tu was a chosen one from a remote world, and he was able to ascend to the rank of God King by relying on the fortune of the entire world.

This also resulted in his shallow foundation, making him merely an ordinary first-level god-king.

But somehow he got involved with the "Chaos Faction," and then resolved the great war between the two factions, thus being promoted to the deputy of the "Execution Department."

But in reality, both the guardian god-king Elena and the god-king Chongshi in charge of the "Execution Department" are very wary of him and are looking for problems with him.

The officialdom is where information is most readily available, and also where the most damaging information can be.

Especially since the words of these god-kings were mostly true and only partially false, even verification would only prove that everything was true. This led to the gods in the "Heavenly Gods Bureau" gradually learning about a "shocking secret":

Qiu Tu, this newly promoted God-King, is a sinking ship. We absolutely must not get involved with him.

Later that morning, a deity working in the Administrative Division came to the "Temple of the Gods" to give the deities a risk warning:

The recent conflict between the two major factions resulted in the fall of many celestial vassals along with their god-kings. Therefore, the selection of a god-king must be approached with caution and careful consideration.

However, recently a celestial being named Qiu Tu is coming to select celestial vassals, so this reminder is clearly aimed at Qiu Tu.

Those who can become catastrophic beings who embark on the "path of order" are inherently much more agile in their thinking than those who follow the path of order.

So after a little thought, they realized that this was a clear political signal from above.

So, the gods who had initially held onto a sliver of hope and wanted to take a gamble all lost interest.

This also led to all the gods being somewhat disgruntled and uninterested when Qiu Tu and the God King of the Vast Ocean arrived at the "Heavenly God Division".

Qiu Tu is a shrewd person; he could tell the attitude of everyone at a glance, which made him even more certain of his earlier guess.

Therefore, when the God King of the Vast Ocean introduced Qiu Tu's identity to the gods and was about to ask which gods wanted to become Qiu Tu's vassals, he decisively interrupted the God King of the Vast Ocean.

He patted the large tortoise shell on the back of the God King of the Vast Ocean, and then said, "Wait a moment, Lord Vast Ocean. I have something to say."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, the God King of the Vast Ocean paused for a moment.

He guessed that Qiu Tu might be trying to break the deadlock, but this deadlock wasn't so easy to break.

Moreover, with so many gods around, if he can't stop Qiu Tu from speaking, then everything is too obvious.

So he stopped talking, gestured to Qiu Tu, and said, "Since Lord Qiu Tu has something to say, please do so."

After saying that, he took a step back, giving Qiu Tu the space.

Seeing this, Qiu Tu didn't stand on ceremony and stepped forward to stand before the gods.

The "Execution Department" has a considerable number of gods who are not subordinate to the God-King, totaling more than 130. They stand there, a dark mass, their imposing aura seemingly capable of shaking mountains and seas.

Qiu Tu stood there, completely unconcerned. He glanced around at everyone, then opened his dimensional space and retrieved several pieces of the "Celestial God Rank" that the white-robed man had given him as compensation. (Chapter 744)

The crystalline "Celestial Rank" tumbled in his hands, radiating a seven-colored light.

Everyone present was a god, and they had all seen the "Godly Rank," so they recognized this treasure at a glance.

However, no one knew what Qiu Tu was planning to do, so they could only watch him silently, waiting for him to speak.

Qiu Tu played with the "Celestial Rank" for a few moments, then smiled and said, "Everyone, I am the newly promoted God King Qiu Tu. It's a pleasure to meet you all here."

"The God King of the Vast Ocean has already explained my identity and purpose, so I won't go into details again: I've come here to select a few celestial gods to work with me."

"However, the reason I interrupted him is that my selection method may be different from that of other god-kings."

"To protect everyone's privacy, and also to allow me to better select the vassal gods, I plan to use a 'secret selection' method."

As soon as Qiu Tu finished speaking, the expression of the Han Hai God King, who had been calmly standing beside Qiu Tu, suddenly changed, and he looked at Qiu Tu.

Meanwhile, the gods below exchanged glances upon hearing Qiu Tu's novel selection method, a hint of curiosity appearing in their eyes.

Qiu Tu stood in front and then briefly explained the "secret selection".

He said, "Our normal selection process in the 'Celestial Gods' Bureau' is an open selection. Celestial Gods who are interested in becoming God-Kings voluntarily apply, and then the God-Kings make the reverse selection."

"But I think...this is not good."

He said, "After all, in this way, everyone will know who is running for election and who is not, which will lead to comparisons and criticism of gods who have been repeatedly rejected or who never run for election."

"In that case, I might as well just make a secret selection."

He said, "Although I came here today to meet with everyone, I will not start the selection process immediately. Instead, I will give you three days."

"During these three days, everyone can send me their information in various ways."

"And I will announce the list of selected candidates in three days."

"In this way, the gods who are successfully selected will still be envied by others, but the gods who are not selected will not lose face."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, the gods below exchanged glances even more frequently.

It must be said that Qiu Tu's plan is indeed very interesting. It not only solves the embarrassment of running for office but losing, but also gives everyone more time to think.

More importantly... this can effectively prevent the Heavy Stone God King from holding a grudge.

After all, the fact that so many gods didn't want to sign up to become Qiu Tu's vassal gods wasn't because they completely believed the rumors. Their most important reason was their fear of the Heavy Stone God King's wrath.

It should be noted that even after the Heavy Stone God King made his stance clear, they still stubbornly ignored his warning and went to seek refuge with Qiu Tu.

If I get selected, that's fine. With Qiu Tu protecting me, nothing serious should happen.

But if you don't get selected, that's terrible. You'll have no one to protect you, and you'll have offended your boss.

If they assign one or two missions that are guaranteed to kill you, who can you complain to?

At this point, Qiu Tu's "secret selection" plan indeed relieved their biggest worry, daring them to take a gamble in private.

Anyway, if they bet right, they'll be loyal to Qiu Tu, the newly crowned God King. They'll stand by Qiu Tu through thick and thin, and regardless of winning or losing, they'll accept the consequences of their gamble.

Even if they lost the gamble, no one knew that they had once wanted to defect to Qiu Tu. They remained loyal to the "Execution Department".

Thinking this, the gods below suddenly shifted their stance.

Once external factors are no longer a concern, the remaining question is whether Qiu Tu is worth joining forces with.

At this moment, Qiu Tu spoke again.

He fiddled with the "Celestial Rank" in his hand, then said, "That's not enough. There's something I need to tell everyone in advance."

"This time, I've become one of the God-Kings in charge of the 'Execution Department,' with a total of 15 slots for subordinate gods."

"But... this time I don't want to recruit so many gods."

Qiu Tu said, "I am a sentimental person. I like to use my own people and promote them."

"Therefore, after learning that there were 15 slots for vassal gods, I had a long talk with Her Majesty Elena and obtained 5 'godly titles' from her, which I planned to give to my old subordinates."

At this point, Qiu Tu played with the "Celestial God Rank" in his hand again before saying, "So... this time, I will probably only recruit 3-10 Celestial Gods."

"However, these 3-10 celestial beings will also become my first core group within the 'Temple,' truly my own people."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, the God King of the Vast Ocean remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was already cursing Qiu Tu.

As the strategist of the Heavy Stone God King, how could he not understand the meaning behind Qiu Tu's words?

Qiu Tu seemed to be only saying that he wanted to reduce the number of slots.

But in fact, it revealed a lot of information in a simple sentence.

For example... Qiu Tu is a person who treats his subordinates very well and never forgets them.

For example... Qiu Tu's foundation is indeed weak now, but if he joins him now, he will become one of his most trusted followers, and he will definitely be promoted in the future.

For example... Qiu Tu enjoys Elena's deep trust.

After all, without Elena's deep trust, she wouldn't have exchanged five Celestial Subordinates for five "Celestial Ranks," allowing Qiu Tu to cultivate his own confidants.

This trust also dispelled the "rumors" spread by the God King of the Vast Ocean over the past two days....

'He's definitely not a simple person.'

Thinking this, the God King of the Vast Ocean couldn't help but give Qiu Tu a deep look, and then glance at the gods below.

People's hearts are in turmoil....

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Chapter 766 Little Green Tea: Sister, are you angry? (Seeking monthly votes)

However, as the strategist of the Heavy Stone God King, the Vast Ocean God King certainly couldn't just watch Qiu Tu completely take control of the situation.

So, his mind raced, and he began to think about how he could sabotage Qiu Tu's plan.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the "Celestial God Status" in Qiu Tu's hand, as if trying to discern whether the "Celestial God Status" was real or fake.

Unfortunately, the "Godhood" that Qiu Tu presented were genuine, so even the God King of the Vast Ocean did not notice anything unusual.

He then went on to analyze the possibility that Qiu Tu's claim of "divine status" was bestowed by Elena.

After a moment, he roughly came to the conclusion that there was still a probability of more than 60%.

After all... the Temple of Order had just fought a great battle with the Chaotic Path, capturing and killing many gods. Even though many gods' "godhoods" were shattered in the battle, the number of dead still far exceeded the original number.

Under these circumstances, it is reasonable for Elena to agree to Qiu Tu's request.

Moreover... more importantly, Qiu Tu comes from a remote world. The number of "Celestial God Ranks" in remote worlds is already scarce. It's considered good if you can get 1-2 "Celestial God Ranks" in each "Celestial God Trial," and there aren't enough for all the experts to share.

It's unlikely that Qiu Tu will have any "Celestial God Rank" left. This makes it difficult for him to fake it.

Furthermore, Qiu Tu is, after all, a god-king of a world, and he should have a group of trusted subordinates who can be promoted to celestial gods, so he also has the motivation to make such a request.