Chapter 516: Chapter 506: Why Trap Me in the Long River? Time Is Accelerating Toward Ruin

"Brother Su, come and visit often!"

Elder Bai Mei waved to Su Mu, his gaze full of reluctance.

After witnessing Su Mu’s strength, Elder Bai Mei became more steadfast in the new path he had chosen!

He shifted his mindset, thinking that by staying by Brother Su’s side, he might truly come into contact with the truth of the Ten Thousand Realms, see the end of cultivation, and know if the Ten Thousand Realms have a lifespan...

He was no longer interested in cultivation or in increasing his own strength; what intrigued him were those "truths"!

"To hear the truth in the morning, can die content by evening!"

...

By the time Su Mu returned home, it was already late at night.

The two Barrier Beasts guarding the front courtyard gate unusually did not sleep, maintaining vigilance until their master returned before allowing themselves to rest.

As long as the master was not at home, the two remained extremely vigilant, observing all directions, listening intently. This level of mental strain was also a significant drain on them.

Because here was the River of Time, and every drop of water, every tree, every blade of grass was extraordinary; they needed to be mindful of every movement at all times.

It’s like asking a Cultivation Great Power to sit in front of the River of Time, watching the Water of Time flow by. Watching for too long would eventually lead to a mental breakdown.

For they are not watching ordinary river water flow but time from countless worlds rotating!

Thus, not just anyone can behold the River of Time with the naked eye!

In the past, when they guarded the Stone Sect, within the Iron Wall Barrier, they were beneath the River of Time where time’s rules were less stringent, enabling them to guard for many years. Even then, they required long periods of sleep to maintain their energy.

Once they saw their master had returned home, the two Barrier Beasts leaned against each other and fell asleep.

.....

The river was tranquil, with only the sounds of flowing water and rising and falling breaths.

The little ones at home had long gone to sleep to rest.

This was something Su Mu enforced on them; once night arrived, everyone had to sleep and rest, not to continue working, and definitely not to go out.

For it’s a critical time now, the river at night is very dangerous, and there’s no telling how the enemy might appear or what traps could be laid.

If he were caught in a trap, it wouldn’t matter, but if the little ones at home were, it would be problematic, for he couldn’t ensure their safety in extreme situations.

Watching these sleeping little ones, Su Mu let out a long, soft sigh.

Just wait a bit longer, it’s almost time.....

Soon, I can take you all away from here....

....

Su Mu sat upright under the tree, facing the river, watching the water flow relentlessly, and fell into contemplation...

Today, although the abyss that devoured the river water was filled, patching up a hole, it didn’t truly resolve the cause of the water level decline.....

He had noticed the water level declining as early as a year ago, and perhaps even earlier.

When he noticed the water level, it may have already been dropping for a long time...

Thus, the decline in water level may have started a year, two years, or even several years ago, but Su Mu hadn’t noticed it.

By the time he did, it had already dropped by a full meter.

If Elder Yang hadn’t deceived him, and that abyss appeared suddenly three months ago, then the main cause of the water level decline wasn’t that abyss; there could be other abysses, potentially many of them.

Even if Elder Yang deceived him and the abyss existed long before,

the main cause still wouldn’t be that.

Since Su Mu came to this river less than a decade ago, even if the abyss had appeared a decade ago, after ten years of devouring, it couldn’t lower the main river channel’s water level by more than a meter.

His River Affinity was nearly ninety percent; no one understood this river better than him.

This river was absurdly large, extraordinarily wide, with a storage capacity reaching astonishing levels.

The abyss was a hundred meters wide, capable of devouring vast amounts of water every second, but compared to the entire long river, it amounted to nothing, less than a drop in the ocean.

So, even if that hundred-meter abyss devoured for a hundred or a thousand years, it couldn’t lower the main river channel’s water level by ten centimeters.

Thus, the only possibility is that in certain corners of the long river, worse situations than abyss devouring are occurring, crazily consuming the river water....

However, as he extended his Divine Sense, covering more than half of the long river, he found nothing unusual.....

This left Su Mu quite vexed.

Logically, he should be able to sense even the slightest happenings on the river, but such a significant issue remained unnoticed, which was truly bizarre.....

He even carefully examined the environment around the abyss, but found no arrays or anything capable of evading his Divine Sense....

.....

What gave Su Mu a sense of urgency was the recently accelerated speed of the water level decline, which was exceedingly abnormal.

He had first noticed the decline a year ago.

Now, just a year’s time had passed, and the water level dropped another half meter.

At this rate, in just a few years, when the main river channel’s water level drops by five or six meters, many tributaries will dry up completely, and countless creatures will perish...

If it continues for a decade or decades, the river would be utterly ruined, completely dried....

Thus, he must find the cause.

Moreover, once he identifies and resolves the anomalies, he can earn a significant amount of Favor Points, drastically speeding up his refinement process.

.......

Based on Elder Yang’s description, the abyss might have been man-made.

Therefore, the person who created the abyss wasn’t merely destroying the river but probably targeting him.

He wondered if it could be the same group of people who previously targeted him.

But..... why would they do this?

What benefit do they gain from it?

To give him trouble?

To trap him here, preventing him from leaving the river?

For if severe conditions arise in the river and he fails to address them promptly, causing the ecology to worsen, the Favor Points he usually earns would be significantly reduced...

This is because the system would automatically evaluate him as irresponsible, ignoring extremely adverse conditions.

In response, Su Mu indeed felt the urge to complain:

"Oh Brother Tongzi, you must understand, it’s not that I don’t want to deal with it, or that I’m ignoring it; I simply don’t know where the problem is happening!"

But, besides himself, no one knew he must refine the river to leave, not even Nannan.

Why would anyone damage the river and create trouble for him?