Although surrendering now would let all the Demon Slayer Alliance cultivators keep their lives—and they might not even be in any real danger—doing so would mean losing their chance at more than a hundred Saint-grade Heavenly Treasures. At the thought of letting such a golden opportunity slip away, they hesitated. Then Tu Gui spoke up with words that rekindled their hopes—he said plainly that they still had another way.
Another way meant they might still defeat Ling Tian and seize the Saint-grade Heavenly Treasures in his hands. At that thought, the Demon Slayer Alliance cultivators grew excited.
"Fellow Daoist Tu Gui, tell us quickly—what should we do next?!" urged a cultivator in the late stage of the Twenty-fourth Heaven of Near-Saint. "We're all in the same boat now. We've even agreed to hide with you in the Sacred Ruins Abyss, which means we've decided to betray our sects. So you can trust us completely—or at least trust that we're willing to stand with you to obtain the Saint-grade Heavenly Treasures."
"I know that, of course, and I have no reason to doubt you." Tu Gui saw the expectant looks around him and stopped keeping them in suspense. "My eldest brother's Small World still holds many cultivators. We can have them join the fight."
"What? Bring in even more people?!" one Demon Slayer Alliance cultivator cut in, then muttered, "That won't work, will it? We've already agreed to fight Ling Tian and the others with equal numbers. If we send in more people, we'll obviously break our agreement. That would count as a straight-up loss—or, you could say, it would be the same as admitting defeat."
He wasn't the only one who thought so. The others didn't voice their opinions, but they clearly felt Tu Gui's suggestion was a terrible idea.