"Eliminating that River Guardian was just a smokescreen."

"The real goal was merely to trap him, to displace him from the River of Time, creating a time-space discrepancy."

"It’s to buy time for the Lord’s strategy!"

The short shadow’s eyes twinkled, realizing the truth.

Upon hearing this, Gao Renying glanced at him and said, "Looks like you have some brains."

"In that case, should we join the battle and try to delay them as much as possible for the Lord?" the short shadow thought of something and asked Gao Renying.

After he finished speaking, Gao Renying shook his head and said, "No need, we mustn’t act too clever, we cannot do things outside the plan on our own."

"Then why are we standing here doing nothing?" The short shadow didn’t quite understand why the Lord wanted them just to watch here, without being of any help.

"We can’t just stand by and watch him kill those thirty-six people, can we?" He thought of a reason, trying to persuade Gao Renying.

...

"They were mere pawns; the moment they entered the game, their demise was inevitable."

"Even if we were to go, their fate of the thirty-six would not change, and we would endanger ourselves excessively, so what’s the point?"

"What we need to do now is, once they are defeated, we must relay the message to the Lord immediately."

"Simply put, just forget about it, got it?"

Gao Renying glared at him, pondering how he managed to rise to this position with such a mind.

.....

"Brother Tao, how long do you think those thirty-six can hold out?" the short shadow asked softly.

"At most an hour, I guess..." Gao Renying responded.

"Half an hour? Brother Tao, are you joking?"

"Thirty-six of them, acting together with the barrier we set up, the advantage is ours, and yet they can only hold for half an hour?"

"I think they should at least hold for two and a half hours..."

The short shadow retorted.

....

Meanwhile, within the deep pit barrier.

As the "Hundred Spirits Map" formed, its immense oppressive force caused the solid barrier space to start collapsing somewhat.

The little groundhog, within Su Mu’s protective barrier, felt its blood nearly solidifying, face pale. Despite its master’s barrier shielding it from ninety percent of the oppressive force, even the remaining ten percent was nearly unbearable for it.

Who exactly are these thirty-six dharma aspects?!

....

To avoid distracting its master, to not become a burden, it resolutely sent a message to its master, "Master, don’t worry about me!"

Su Mu, deeply focused, gazed at the "Hundred Spirits Map" above, undistracted, without responding to the little groundhog’s words.

The next second.

The thirty-six dharma aspects opened their eyes simultaneously, extending their right hands.

As they waved their right hands, the "Hundred Spirits Map" descended to suppress Su Mu.

As the "Hundred Spirits Map" descended, the surrounding iron walls continuously erupted with sounds of breaking, with visible fine cracks appearing, resembling a spider web across the iron walls.

Suddenly, the little groundhog couldn’t bear it any longer, spewing a mouthful of blood, collapsing on the ground, its breath weak.

Su Mu, operating his cultivation technique, released a surge of spiritual power from his palm, transforming into a dharma aspect of a copper bell, directly enclosing the little groundhog.

As the copper bell dharma aspect descended, the oppressive feeling on the little groundhog dissipated, making it feel much better.

It truly regretted coming along, not out of fear of death, but for fearing it became a burden to its master...

.....

At this moment, the flames of madness flickered in the eyes of the thirty-six dharma aspects, showing their excitement!

Su Mu swung his hand, a pitch-black axe appearing within it.

With the appearance of the black axe, the chaotic spiritual power around suddenly calmed down.

Upon sensing the black axe’s aura, the expressions of the thirty-six dharma aspects subtly changed.

This black axe was the sole magical treasure awarded to Su Mu by the system. In terms of power, it’s even higher than his strongest silver dagger, making it the most powerful magical treasure Su Mu possessed.

With the infusion of spiritual power, runes of light emanated from the axe’s blade as Su Mu gripped its handle.

"Suppress!"

The thirty-six dharma aspects spat out dharma seals, causing the "Hundred Spirits Map" to suppress Su Mu instantly.

At this moment, Su Mu slowly raised his head, black axe in hand, swinging it toward the "Hundred Spirits Map".

This swing lacked flair; it was just an ordinary axe strike.

.....

At the instant the black axe clashed with the "Hundred Spirits Map".

The entire deep pit barrier trembled!

....

Meanwhile, the Iron-Eating Beast and two Barrier Beasts, trapped in the deepest part of the barrier, sensed the anomaly.

The entire Iron Wall Space quaked violently.

"What’s happening?"

The two Barrier Beasts were shocked, urgently asking the Iron-Eating Beast.

The Iron-Eating Beast looked up and suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahaha!"

Hearing the Iron-Eating Beast’s laughter, the two Barrier Beasts were puzzled: "Why are you laughing?"

"Oh, nothing, just thought of something happy."

"What happy thing?"

"I’m coming to get you shortly," the Iron-Eating Beast said with a smile to the two Barrier Beasts.

"Get... get us?"

"I said it, once the master acts, victory is assured." The Iron-Eating Beast murmured to itself, a proud little expression on its face.

Though it hadn’t seen the battlefield firsthand, and the battle’s outcome was undecided, it firmly believed its master could not lose.

....

Bang——

The black axe and the "Hundred Spirits Map" only stalemated for less than three breaths.

The next second, a clear sound of shattering echoed.

The "Hundred Spirits Map" was cleaved like a soft piece of paper by the black axe, split directly in half, shattering into specks of light, cascading downwards in the void.

The compasses in the hands of the thirty-six dharma aspects shattered in an instant as well.

They stood there dumbfounded, as if witnessing an unimaginable terror.

They had expected defeat, but never in their wildest dreams, dared to imagine that they would be vanquished in such a manner, with everything they planned shattered like an illusion, their Dao hearts breaking alongside.

Only at this moment did they suddenly awaken to the terrifying entity they were facing!

They also realized that they had been abandoned from the start; the moment they arrived here, whether they won or lost, they would not escape the fate of death and Dao extinction.

....

Soon, the bodies of the thirty-six dharma aspects began to fade, transforming into thirty-six golden relics, ready to escape.

Seeing this, Su Mu’s pupils shrank, and he swung his hand.