After listening to Chi Xue's analysis, everyone stopped worrying that the Lord of the Universe would assign them a life-or-death battle. Besides, worrying would do them no good; none of them could change anything. They continued cultivating hard, striving to improve their strength.
Time drifted by, and in the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of years passed. Over that long stretch, Shi Lin and the others made breakthroughs one after another, giving Chi Xue and his companions a substantial boost in overall strength. This also gave them greater confidence that, one day, they could break free of the Lord of the Universe's shackles.
Still, some things weighed heavily on them. Even after all this time, Po Tian and Chi Xue had yet to break through to the late stage of the Near-Saint Eighteenth Heaven, and they showed no sign of doing so. Worse, their Bloodline Power had been in decline for some time, and the situation would only deteriorate as time went on. Unless something unexpected happened, it would be difficult for them to make another breakthrough before reaching their limits.
In Po Tian and Chi Xue's minds, another breakthrough would mean they could reach a higher limit in the future and live longer. That would naturally give them a better chance of breaking free of the Lord of the Universe's shackles.
Indeed, given their current circumstances, if Chi Xue and Po Tian could break through to the late stage of the Near-Saint Eighteenth Heaven, they would gain at least another hundred thousand years of life, perhaps more. And since they would be able to reach a higher limit, they would naturally have a better chance of escaping the Lord of the Universe's control.
Most importantly, Po Tian and the others knew that the longer they could hold