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

In the underground ancient city.

Countless lotus roots stretched across the dilapidated street, slowly emerging from the edge of the altar and entwining around the strange rocks.

Those roots did not touch the bishi stone tablet that was suppressing the strange rocks.

It did not directly shake the golden chains.

Instead, it clings to the cracks on the surface of the strange rock, absorbing the overflowing crimson essence little by little.

A series of system notification sounds rang out.

The seven lotus leaves on the Chu boat swayed more and more merrily.

He originally only wanted to give the strange rock a small punishment.

I never imagined that this thing, which looks like just a broken rock, contains such a vast amount of essence.

It only absorbs a small portion of the power that escaped from the seal's cracks.

That's equivalent to devouring a lot of fourth-tier exotic beasts.

Chu Zhou couldn't help but exclaim, "Little Shi Shi, you really are a treasure."

The strange stone was already quite angry with Chu Zhou.

Upon hearing this, the crimson light on its surface instantly intensified.

"Lotus Demon, get your filthy roots off!"

Chu Zhou said in a serious tone, "How can this be called a dirty root? I am a primordial green lotus, and my roots are pure and flawless."

"Besides, didn't you just say that the Blood Sea Embryo is rapidly recovering? My strengthening is also to deal with the crisis."

"As my beloved concubine, isn't it only right that you contribute a little of your essence?"

The strange rock was utterly enraged: "Who's your beloved concubine?!"

boom!

A terrifying will suddenly erupted from inside the strange rock.

The golden chains wrapped around its surface tightened instantly.

Ancient golden runes lit up from the chains.

The area surrounding the underground ancient city.

At this moment, the stone tablets and their supporting stone steles slowly opened their eyes.

Their eyes held no life, only an icy, golden divine light.

Rumble!

The entire underground ancient city shook violently.

The lotus roots that were wrapped around the surface of the strange rocks trembled violently the moment the golden divine light appeared.

An extremely heavy suppressive force instantly transmitted through the blood-red patterns on the surface of the strange rock to every root.

Chu Zhou felt as if his divine sense had suddenly been crushed by several mountains.

The bluish sheen on the surface of the roots quickly dimmed.

Several roots near the golden chains sizzled, and charred marks appeared on their surfaces.

A system notification tone then sounded.

"Ding, a high-level sealing rule has been detected."

"Ding, the host's current cultivation level is insufficient to absorb the power."

"Ding, the seal is locking onto the host's roots. Please disconnect immediately."

Chu Zhou's eyes narrowed.

next moment.

All the roots that were wrapped around the strange rock broke off at the same time.

Click!

Dozens of lotus roots broke off from the middle on their own.

The part enveloped by the golden divine light instantly burst into flames and turned to ashes in the blink of an eye.

The remaining roots quickly retreated beneath the streets of the ancient city.

Almost at the same time that Chu Zhou cut off the communication.

At the same time, a golden beam of light shot out from the mouths of the four bishi statues.

The beams of light converged above the altar, transforming into a giant ancient seal with the character "镇" (zhen, meaning "to suppress").

boom!

The character "镇" (zhen, meaning town/town) fell.

The space around the strange rock suddenly sank downwards.

The blood-red rock, which was still shaking, was forcibly pressed back to the center of the altar.

The golden chains wrapped around its surface tightened inch by inch.

One of the chains was even embedded in a crack on the surface of the strange rock, causing a crimson light to continuously seep out from the gap.

The strange rock let out a muffled groan.

The terrifying will it had just unleashed also weakened rapidly after the ancient seal of the character "镇" fell.

Upon seeing this, Chu Zhou's tone became unusually serious.

"Little Stone, are you alright?"

The strange rock remained silent for a moment.

Then, gritting his teeth, he said, "What do you think? I'm stuck here perfectly fine, and you insist on messing around with those few broken roots."

"Now that the seal has been awakened, are you satisfied?"

Chu Zhou said somewhat innocently, "I didn't expect these stone tablets to react so strongly."

The strange stone sneered: "How many times have I warned you not to touch the seal here?"

Chu Zhou said, "I didn't touch the stone tablet or the chains just now."

"That won't do either!"

The blood-red light on the surface of the strange rock flickered violently.

"This seal does not suppress my body, but everything about me."

"Flesh and blood, soul, origin, and even every wisp of my aura that has dissipated are all within the range of the sealed perception."

"The more power you take from me, the stronger the sealing reaction will be."

Chu Zhou immediately became interested.

"Now that I've absorbed so much essence, what will happen to the seal?"

Upon hearing this, the strange rock nearly went berserk again.

"How dare you ask?"

The blood-red light on the surface of the strange rock flickered for a while before it coldly said, "The seal will draw power from the Black Dragon Mountain's ley lines to replenish the portion of the origin you devoured."

Chu Zhou was slightly taken aback and asked, "The Black Dragon Mountain ley lines?"

The strange stone sneered, "Otherwise, do you think you could suppress me for so many years with just a few broken stone tablets and chains?"

"This underground ancient city is itself a huge sealing formation. Four bixie guard the four directions, and golden chains lock the source of the seal. The mountains and ley lines of the entire Black Dragon Mountain are the source of power to maintain the operation of the seal."

Chu Zhou's divine sense rapidly spread underground. Sure enough, as the ancient seal with the character "镇" (zhen, meaning to suppress) above the altar fell, a small portion of the spiritual energy from the earth veins deep within Black Dragon Mountain was forcibly drawn away and continuously flowed into the four bi-shaped stone tablets along the ancient array patterns underground.

Although the amount of spiritual energy extracted so far is not too much, if this continues for a long time, it will inevitably have an impact on Black Dragon Mountain.

The decline in spiritual field yields, the depletion of spiritual springs, and even the concentration of spiritual energy throughout the entire Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone will be affected.

Chu Zhou glanced at the evolution points that had just increased.

He sensed the dissipating spiritual energy of the earth veins again, and after a moment of silence, he seriously commented, "This deal was a bit of a loss."

The strange stone chuckled: "You only realize you've lost out now? Weren't you quite pleased with yourself when you were absorbing my essence?"

Chu Zhou said in a serious tone, "That's because I didn't understand the actual situation. When doing business, you always have to test the waters first."

The strange stone sneered, "So, are you done testing now?"

Chu Zhou said, "The trial is temporarily finished."

Strange Stone astutely grasped the key point: "What does 'temporary' mean?"

Chu Zhou laughed and said, "Once I reach the seventh level and am able to withstand these sealing rules, I will then study how to get you out."

The strange rock roared, "I need your help, not your mercy!"

"They're all the same."

"How are they the same?"

Chu Zhou comforted him, "Little Shi Shi, don't worry about it so much. I got you out of the seal, and you're contributing a little of your strength to me. Isn't that a win-win situation?"

The strange stone was utterly speechless. It realized that this blue lotus never thought it was taking advantage of anyone. No matter how shameless the thing was, it could always be described as mutually beneficial in its mouth.

After a moment of silence, the strange stone suddenly reminded him, "You'd better take care of yourself first."

Chu Zhou asked, "What do you mean?"

The strange rock did not answer. The next moment, the golden character "镇" (zhen, meaning town/suppress) above the altar suddenly lit up again.

A thin golden light, as fine as a hair, descended from the ancient seal, following the lingering aura of the green lotus, and landed directly on Chu Zhou's consciousness.