Although Lei Ba had not been cowed by the Sacred Heart Sect's "might" into agreeing to the Divine Emperor's terms, he had suddenly grown interested in Ling Tian and wanted to see his potential. He then declared that he would not let any of the sect's disciples at the Twenty-ninth Heaven of Near-Saint attack Ling Tian and the others—not even cultivators at the peak of the Twenty-eighth Heaven of Near-Saint.
The Sacred Heart Sect's goal had been to keep Thunder Strike Sect cultivators at the Twenty-ninth Heaven of Near-Saint from attacking Ling Tian and the others. Although Lei Ba had not agreed to their terms, it seemed they had achieved their goal for the moment, so they stopped dwelling on it. The Sacred Heart Sect's nine disciples trusted Lei Ba's word; after all, they did not believe that someone of his standing would deliberately deceive them.
Even so, to guard against anything going wrong, the Sacred Heart Sect Eldest Disciple and the others did not leave the Sacred Ruins Abyss. Instead, they set up camp not far from where the Thunder Strike Sect cultivators were stationed. Clearly, they intended to keep an eye on the sect's every move.
Lei Ba did not mind the nine Sacred Heart Sect disciples' actions. Their earlier conversation had made it clear how much the sect's disciples valued Ling Tian and the others, so it was only natural that they wanted to prevent anything unexpected from happening. Of course, Lei Ba had no intention of playing any tricks. He would only send cultivators below the peak of the Twenty-eighth Heaven of Near-Saint into the Sacred Ruins Abyss. However, to further spur Ling Tian and the others to reach their potential, he gave those cultivators strict orders: capture them at any cost.
Lei Ba had been