If Lord Lao truly had absolute confidence, then everything their Buddhist sect had done would have been utterly useless.
Tathagata said, "Lord Lao had absolute confidence before, but now he does not."
"Uchiha Shin's appearance benefits Lord Lao by accelerating the deviation of the chaos trajectory, but it also has a drawback: it reduces his certainty."
Maitreya Buddha said, "If that is so, why does Lord Lao not eliminate Uchiha Shin? After all, Lord Lao now controls the Three Realms. He has ample time to wait for the chaos trajectory to slowly deviate."
Tathagata shook his head. "It is not that simple. If Lord Lao wishes to break free from the chaos trajectory and return to the realm of Saints, he must achieve it when Deva Path is at its weakest—and precisely at its weakest moment."
"He can no longer wait. He must use Uchiha Shin to accomplish it. Otherwise, it would be virtually impossible for him to do so again."
Maitreya Buddha nodded, understanding.
"This is an opportunity for Lord Lao, and it is also an opportunity for our Buddhist sect. This time, I too wish to enter an even higher realm of Saints." Tathagata smiled again.
There were generally three paths to the realm of Saints: becoming a Saint through merit, becoming a Saint by severing the Three Corpses, and becoming a Saint by proving the Dao through force.
Proving the Dao through force was the strongest path to the realm of Saints.
The Buddhist sect cultivated Buddhist teachings. To strengthen their realm of Saints, they did not need to fall from it as Lord Lao had; they only needed to improve upon their existing realm of Saints.
However, this could only be done gradually. It could not be achieved in one stroke like the Daoist sect.
Both