It stared down at Zhou Xuan, the red light in its eye sockets flickering wildly.
"You think that's a key for opening a gate?" The False Heavenly Dao extended a black finger and pointed at the hole in Zhou Xuan's left shoulder.
The Brass Key kept twitching between his bones, seeping black blood.
"That's authority." The False Heavenly Dao's laughter was shrill and piercing, greed written all over its face. "Gathering all three keys isn't about opening the Unified Divine Prison. It's about devouring it."
Zhou Xuan raised his head, his face expressionless.
"The Divine Lord is a fool. He thinks he can use that woman's bloodline as a catalyst to slowly refine the Primordial God imprisoned inside." The False Heavenly Dao spread its arms, its voice echoing through the deathly graveyard. "That cage and the Primordial God inside it are the greatest origin source in all the heavens and worlds. Get the three keys, seize control of the Divine Prison, and swallow prisoner and cage in one gulp. I will be the new master of the ten thousand Daos."
The False Heavenly Dao flicked a fingertip.
A string of spatial markers steeped in death qi shot into the void before Zhou Xuan.
"The coordinates of the Heavenly Strategy World's ruins." The False Heavenly Dao's eyes stayed fixed on Zhou Xuan's face. "You're the most useful tool I've ever encountered. Sharp, and obedient. Do you know why I'm letting you see all this?"
Zhou Xuan said nothing.
"Because you have no place in the age of gods." The False Heavenly Dao spoke with a perfectly measured air of charity. "Once I've devoured the Primordial God and hold the ten thousand Daos in my grasp, I'll erase you myself. Something at your level doesn't deserve to live in my new epoch.