Lei Ba had only asked offhandedly, but to his surprise, the Lord of the Universe actually replied. He even told them about his new agreement with Ling Tian: a delay of ten thousand years.
When they heard they could buy ten thousand years, Chi Xue and the others were overjoyed. They knew full well that spending so long cultivating in the Eastern Emperor Bell's inner space would greatly improve not only Ling Tian's strength but also that of their friends and family. They might even break through to the point where they could join the battle against the Lord of the Universe. That would give Ling Tian a much better chance of resisting the Lord of the Universe's cosmic suppression—and, after that, of defeating him.
But Chi Xue soon realized that the deadline could very well change again, since the initiative lay with the Lord of the Universe. So he deliberately called out what came next, testing the Lord of the Universe.
This time, however, the Lord of the Universe said nothing. He merely snorted, and no matter how Chi Xue and the others questioned him afterward, they got no reply. That confirmed he would no longer pay them any attention.
"Though the Lord of the Universe can change the agreed-upon deadline at any time, we can still infer from this ten-thousand-year limit when he'll launch his next probing attack," Tu Gui said gravely, looking around as he spoke. "He'll act against us within ten thousand years. He knows that delaying things benefits Ling Tian, so he'll do his best not to delay any further."
"Agreed. The Lord of the Universe will certainly launch a probing attack against us within ten thousand years, and probably more than one," Chi Xue said with a nod. After a brief pause, he continued,