"So he had a treasure like that in his hands."
"The Flesh Ancestor told me this for a reason, and it wasn't a good one."
"It seems they mean to gather their strength and attack Li Qing, then keep us from helping him at the critical moment."
"But there are still eleven breaths left. If he dies, no one will be left to coordinate us all, and our fate may be no better."
"We still have to help him."
"If they want us to stand aside, it might only be possible in the final two breaths."
An unreadable look flashed through the Desolate Age's eyes. From the moment he heard of the heaven-defying power of the treasure in Li Qing's hands, an idea had taken root in his mind.
At their level, there was only self-interest, not emotion.
The capable rose; the weak fell.
An innocent man could still be condemned for carrying a precious jade. That held true here as well.
Even if they became Rulers and destroyed the former Nine Great Rulers, they might not be much better.
Where one stood shaped how one thought. In a struggle over cultivation, a struggle over the Great Dao, there was no room for compromise.
Nearly a thousand Spacetime Heavenly Dao experts were shaken. Their thoughts raced through countless implications.
In particular, they recalled how Heavenly Secrets Daoist Li Qing had gradually built super civilizations over all those years.
And they recalled the prophecy he had made with the Basin of Reflection, describing the power of the higher-dimensional Rulers.
Suddenly, they understood. Every one of them had been played. Li Qing had never told them the truth.
But Li Qing had made other arrangements as well, tying down the other forces of the Eight Great Rulers.
The representatives of the various