Reborn as a lotus, she initially refuses to hand it over to the state.

The pungent smell of blood from the lynx's explosion, mixed with a rich aura of energy, spread rapidly on the mountain breeze.

Zhao Guoan's expression finally changed. He quickly stood up and said, "Leave here immediately and go down the mountain."

What he had just witnessed was completely beyond his comprehension. If the gray wolf was merely a mutated animal, then the lynx he had just witnessed had evolved into something out of control.

Staying in the mountains any longer is too risky. Zhou Hao nodded immediately, eager to leave: "The professor is right, let's retreat first and conduct further research back at the university."

Lin Qingxue visibly breathed a sigh of relief, and the three of them were just about to retreat.

The woods ahead suddenly fell silent; the wind stopped, the birdsong ceased, and an indescribable sense of oppression descended upon them.

As if being targeted by some kind of apex predator, Lin Qingxue felt a chill run down her spine.

"Don't you guys feel like something's wrong?"

Before she could finish speaking, a tree in front of her was knocked down, and a huge white tiger, nearly four meters long, appeared behind it. It had a hideous wound on its shoulder and bloodstains on its abdomen.

His muscles bulged all over his body, and the king-shaped lines on his forehead were particularly frightening.

Zhou Hao was terrified. His eyes widened, and he exclaimed in horror, "A tiger! No, this is a monster!"

Zhao Guoan's face turned ashen. He finally understood why someone had gone missing nearby.

Ordinary people simply couldn't handle something like this. The white tiger sniffed the blood in the air. It had been injured after escaping Black Dragon Lake and desperately needed to replenish its flesh and energy.

In its eyes, the three humans in front of it were prey delivered to its doorstep.

"run!"

Zhao Guoan gave a sharp shout and swiftly raised his hunting rifle. A shot rang out. The bullet struck Baihu in the shoulder.

What sent chills down the spines of the three was the single shot that was powerful enough to take down a large wild beast.

It only tore part of the fur, and the white tiger only paused for a moment.

Then it realized what had happened, and a hint of fury, as if it had been offended, appeared in its tiger eyes.

"roar!"

A deafening tiger's roar suddenly rang out, causing Lin Qingxue's eardrums to ache, and Zhou Hao's face turned completely pale.

"This is impossible, the gun didn't work?"

Zhao Guoan gritted his teeth and hissed, "Don't just stand there, run towards the car."

Lin Qingxue asked, "Professor, what about you?"

Zhao Guoan said, "I've had enough of living, you guys run!"

That's what he said, but the tiger didn't give them a chance to catch their breath and pounced straight out.

He moved so fast he was like a blur. Zhao Guoan whirled around, bracing himself to block the two students.

"Walk!"

"Hurry up!"

Startled awake by the roar, Zhou Hao and Lin Qingxue staggered and ran wildly down the mountain.

Behind them came the sounds of trees breaking, a deep tiger's roar, and screams of agony. The two turned around and witnessed a scene they would never forget.

With a single swipe of its claw, Zhao Guoan's seemingly imposing body was no match for the tiger's claw and was cleaved in two, as if made of paper.

The gun was also flattened. What kind of power was that? It was terrifying.

Lin Qingxue asked Zhou Hao in a trembling voice, "Zhou Hao, what should we do? The professor is dead."

Zhou Hao's forehead was covered in cold sweat: "Survival is the priority, let's run!"

But just then, heavy footsteps came from behind again.

The tiger caught up again, and the distance was getting closer and closer.

Zhou Hao's face grew increasingly grim. His survival instinct began to overwhelm his reason, and only one thought remained in his mind.

He can't die; he's still young.

The world has clearly changed: awakening, evolution, unknown forces. He cannot die here.

Absolutely not. Lin Qingxue slipped and almost fell because the mountain path was slippery.

Zhou Hao turned around abruptly, his eyes filled with struggle.

The next second, an extremely selfish thought arose.

What if someone stalls for time? Would that mean I could survive?

Meanwhile, in the distance, towards Black Dragon Lake, Chu Zhou, who was absorbing spiritual energy, felt a slight fluctuation in his mental domain. He sensed a familiar third-tier aura approaching.

Chu Zhou's consciousness slightly sank. With his mental perception expanding, distant scenes quickly came into his mind.

A familiar third-tier white tiger, its body covered in wounds, its aura violent and chaotic. In front of it, two human life energies were desperately fleeing.

There was a man and a woman, one of whom was breathing erratically and was clearly nearing her limit.

"Another human?" Chu Zhou frowned. He scanned the area behind him with his mental senses and saw an old man on the ground. The old man had already lost his life and his body had been bloodily cut in two.

And that white tiger—the very one that had just escaped from his grasp—was quite a surprise to Chu Zhou.

After Baihu was injured and fled Black Dragon Lake, I didn't expect this guy to reappear now.

Meanwhile, in the mountains and forests, Zhou Hao and Lin Qingxue were in a terrible state, their clothes torn by tree branches and their shoes covered in mud.

Lin Qingxue's face was pale, and her strength was clearly failing her.

"Zhou Hao, I can't run anymore."

Lin Qingxue's voice trembled, and Zhou Hao turned around to look at her.

His face turned deathly pale instantly; they were too close, at most a few dozen meters away.

They couldn't shake off that tiger at all; if this continued, they would both die.

Just then, as the two were fleeing for their lives, their view suddenly opened up, and a lake shrouded in spiritual mist came into view.

Heilong Lake, its surface shimmering in the sunlight. The air is cooler than outside, carrying even a strangely reassuring quality.

Zhou Hao's eyes lit up; there was water, which might buy him some time.

Just then, Lin Qingxue slipped and fell to the ground by the lake with a thud.

Her palm was scraped, and she turned pale from the pain.

"Zhou Hao!"

She instinctively reached out, but Zhou Hao stood still, breathing heavily, while the tiger's roar from behind grew closer.

Under the pressure of death, the will to survive completely overwhelms reason.

Zhou Hao said, "Qingxue, I'm sorry, only one of us can live. As long as I live, I can bring more possibilities to humanity. Please forgive my selfishness."

After saying that, he turned around and ran in another direction of Black Dragon Lake, hoping to buy himself some more time.

Lin Qingxue was incredulous. She sat there blankly, never expecting Zhou Hao to abandon her. She felt utterly hopeless.

The tiger in the distance had already charged out of the woods.

The beast's eyes swept across the lakeside, locking onto its target. Lin Qingxue's body stiffened, and she subconsciously closed her eyes.

That's it, but the expected attack didn't come the next second. Instead, heavy footsteps swept past her.

Lin Qingxue suddenly opened her eyes and was stunned. The terrifying tiger didn't even glance at her.

Instead, they turned in another direction and chased after Zhou Hao, who was fleeing.

Because in the tiger's perception, a familiar aura that it instinctively feared was spreading in Black Dragon Lake.

It realized that the aura was emanating from the lotus flower in the lake, and dared not approach it at all. The lotus demon was too strange, and it did not want to get close to it no matter what.