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

Although he had already entered the early stage of the seventh rank, the evolution speed of the entire world was also accelerating.

Zhou Zhenshan broke through to the sixth rank, and now Qin Zhenyuan has also stepped into the sixth rank. The third spiritual energy tide has not even truly arrived yet, but on the human side, high-level powerhouses have already been born one after another.

If the third spiritual energy tide fully erupts, how many sixth-tier beings will appear?

What about the seventh rank?

Even stronger beings?

Chu Zhou's seven lotus leaves swayed gently as his consciousness drifted towards the ancient underground city.

In the underground ancient city.

The crimson patterns on the surface of the strange rock shimmered, clearly indicating that it had also sensed the soaring fist intent from the direction of Changbai Mountain.

After a moment, the strange stone sneered, "What, Lotus Demon, finally scared?"

Chu Zhou calmly said, "I just feel that the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone is not strong enough."

The strange stone scoffed, "Early stage of the seventh rank, several fifth-rank demon kings under your command, a root system covering hundreds of kilometers, and control of a water palace—you call that weak?"

"Then those things outside who haven't even reached the sixth rank, aren't they even less than ants?"

Chu Zhou said, "Whether it's weak or not depends on what it's facing. If it's just ordinary beasts and human forces, then the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone is naturally not weak."

"But the third spiritual energy tide is coming soon. There is a source of pollution hidden under Changbai Mountain, and there is a blood-filled womb deep in the East China Sea. The island nation has become a land of blood sacrifice."

"Behind the blood gate of Crimson Cloud Ridge lies a truly forbidden world."

Chu Zhou's voice was calm: "Compared to these things, my current strength is indeed nothing."

The underground ancient city fell silent for a moment.

The giant crimson eye on the surface of the strange rock opened, but this time, it did not continue to mock.

Because Chu Zhou is right.

In today's era, a seventh-order being would indeed be considered to be at the pinnacle of life.

In a truly forbidden era, a seventh-ranked individual would only have the basic qualifications to access certain secrets.

After a moment of silence, the strange stone suddenly spoke: "That human named Qin Zhenyuan is quite interesting."

Chu Zhou immediately became interested. For the strange stone to say something was interesting was no simple evaluation.

"Little Stone, what did you see?"

The strange stone sneered, "Don't call me Little Stone."

Chu Zhou remained silent.

A lotus root silently emerged from the ground, approaching the strange rock.

The crimson light on the surface of the strange rock instantly contracted: "Stop! I'll speak!"

Chu Zhou then stopped the roots less than half a meter away from the strange rock.

The strange rock was so angry that its entire body trembled.

This lotus demon is getting more and more shameless; now it's even too lazy to pretend anymore.

Suppressing his anger, Guai Shi said coldly, "That human broke through to the sixth rank not by relying on crystal cores, nor by forcibly piling them up with external force; he achieved it on his own."

Chu Zhou asked, "Traditional Chinese martial arts?"

"National martial arts?" Guai Shi said with a hint of disdain, "It's just what humans call the fragments of ancient martial arts after the spiritual energy was cut off."

"True martial arts never just trains the physical body, but also the essence, energy, and spirit. Essence is the physical body, energy is the source of life, and spirit is the will."

"If these three are completely integrated, they can condense a martial arts dharma image and project one's personal will onto the world."

Chu Zhou's heart stirred slightly.

Just now, when Qin Zhenyuan broke through, a illusory image of a Dharma body several tens of feet tall did appear behind him.

The strange stone continued, "That human practiced boxing for decades, killed people, saw blood, and experienced real war."

"His fists are not for performance, nor for cultivating realm, but for killing enemies. Such people are hard to find in peacetime, but once the world is restored, they can quickly make up for the power they once lacked."

The strange stone's voice gradually became solemn: "Moreover, his will is very pure; he is determined to defend the land, kill the enemy, and never retreat."

"Once this will is solidified into a martial arts form, it has a natural suppressive effect on corrupting forces."

Chu Zhou looked towards Changbai Mountain.

No wonder Qin Zhenyuan, who had only just entered the sixth rank, was able to tear apart the dark clouds brought by the Corrupted Tiger King with his fist intent.

It wasn't because his spiritual power was stronger than the Tiger King's, but because his fist intent could sever the corruption's erosion of the spirit and will.

Chu Zhou asked, "So, the Tiger King will lose this battle?"

Strange Stone sneered: "Lose? That tiger cub swallowed a little bit of the pollutant and actually thinks he can use it to step into the sixth rank?"

"The power within it doesn't belong to it at all. The corrupting power can make it recover quickly and allow it to have a short burst of power, but it will also erode its sanity."

"But that human named Qin Zhenyuan happened to take the path that best restrained it."

"If that tiger king cannot reach the sixth rank before it completely loses control, it will undoubtedly lose this battle."

Chu Zhou was not surprised; he knew Qin Zhenyuan would not lose, and he had clearly seen that as well.

The strange stone suddenly changed the subject: "However, that human may not be able to kill it either."

Chu Zhou asked, "Why?"

The crimson veins on the surface of the strange rock flowed: "Because something beneath Changbai Mountain has begun to awaken."

These words were spoken.

Chu Zhou's seven lotus leaves stopped abruptly: "Little Stone, what did you sense?"

The strange rock is a forbidden existence. What kind of strange changes will occur in this world? It must know more forbidden secrets.

The strange rock was silent for a moment. This time, it didn't deliberately keep people in suspense and said, "The source of pollution within that tiger cub is resonating with something deep at the bottom of the mountain."

"It launched this beast tide ostensibly to break through with Qin Zhenyuan's help, but its real purpose is probably not to defeat humanity."

Chu Zhou's eyes darkened slightly: "It wants to use the power of battle to try again to break the seal beneath Changbai Mountain?"

Strange Stone sneered: "You're quite clever. The tiger cub wants to break through, and the humans want to hold the line. The fiercer the fight, the bigger the commotion, and the easier it is for cracks to appear in the underground seal."

"No matter who wins in the end, there is no loss for that thing down there."

Chu Zhou looked at the image of Changbai Mountain projected by the system.

On the snow-covered plains.

The martial arts dharma image behind Qin Zhenyuan became increasingly clear.

With each punch, the heavens and earth trembled.

The polluted tiger king roared incessantly, and black lightning tore through the snowfield.

On the surface, the two sides still appear to be evenly matched.

But Chu Zhou suddenly noticed that below the area where the two were fighting, extremely faint traces of blood-red aura were seeping out along the cracked ice.

The blood energy did not merge into the Tiger King's body.

Instead, it silently burrowed into the bodies of the nearby corrupted beasts.

The wounds of the alien beasts that were originally injured by the artillery fire began to heal rapidly, and some snow wolves that were only at the second level even saw their aura rise to the third level in a short period of time.

Some of the ice-armored giant bears even began to deform, with blood-red bone spurs growing on their shoulders and scarlet eyes splitting open on their backs.

Chu Zhou's eyes turned completely cold: "So, this beast tide was just a sacrifice?"

Strange Stone said, "That's right. That tiger king thought it was using the underground pollution source to break through, but in the eyes of that thing down there, these strange beasts are all just food to be used to break through the seal."

"The more they die, the denser their blood becomes, and the faster the seal loosens."

Chu Zhou remained silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

This reminded him of the blood nest underground in the Crimson Cloud Ridge area, where that forbidden being also wanted to break the seal.

In order to influence the Crimson Scale Python to launch a beast tide, they wanted to slaughter humans to obtain a large amount of blood energy to break the seal.

In retrospect, these so-called taboo entities are nothing more than a group of heretics and evildoers.

The strange stone asked in confusion, "What are you laughing at?"

Chu Zhou said calmly, "I originally thought the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone was too weak, but now it seems that this battle at Changbai Mountain is an opportunity that has been handed to us."

The strange rock instantly became alert: "Lotus Demon, what are you planning to do now?"

The seven lotus leaves of Chu Zhou unfolded, and strands of blue divine light extended northward along the vast root network.

"The Corruption Tiger King wants to break through, and the things underground want to use the beast tide to break the seal. Qin Zhenyuan wants to use this battle to step into the sixth rank."

"Since everyone wants to benefit from this war."

Chu Zhou laughed and said, "Then why can't I get a share?"

The giant crimson eye on the surface of the strange rock contracted: "Changbai Mountain is more than a thousand miles away from Heilong Mountain; your domain simply cannot reach there."

Chu Zhou said, "My domain cannot extend there, but the Azure Lotus Mark can."

The strange stone seemed to have thought of something, and its voice deepened: "You want to leave lotus seeds in Changbai Mountain?"

Chu Zhou did not deny it: "The polluting force is spreading, and I happen to be able to purify the pollution."

"Qin Zhenyuan wants to defend the human defense line, while I want to devour the source of pollution. He shouldn't refuse this deal."

The strange rock fell completely silent.

After a long while, it sneered, "Lotus Demon, you really aren't willing to suffer even the slightest loss."

Chu Zhou said seriously, "Little Stone, you're wrong. I'm helping humans."

The strange rock retorted angrily, "Are you helping humans? You're clearly after the source of pollution beneath Changbai Mountain!"

Chu Zhou calmly said, "As long as the result is the same, that's fine."

The strange rock was speechless for a moment.

Just then.

Battlefield at Changbai Mountain.

After breaking through to the sixth level, Qin Zhenyuan raised his right fist, and the martial arts dharma image behind him, which was dozens of feet tall, also clenched its fist.

A terrifying fist intent coalesced.

The snowstorm came to a complete stop.

Qin Zhenyuan looked at the polluted tiger king opposite him. His voice was not loud, but it clearly carried throughout the entire Changbai Mountain defense line.

"If you want to use me to reach the sixth rank, then I will grant your wish."

"It's just sending you to your death."

next second.

Qin Zhenyuan took a step forward.

The same person behind him simultaneously threw a punch: "Xingyi, suppress mountains and rivers."

boom!

A fist-shaped imprint that blotted out the sky pierced through the dark clouds.

They headed straight for the Tiger King of Changbai Mountain and descended to suppress him.

Tiger King's scarlet pupils suddenly contracted.

This was the first time I truly experienced a life-or-death crisis.

It raised its head and let out a tiger's roar: "Human, you're asking for death."

Under the extreme pressure of fear, the Changbai Mountain Tiger King was surrounded by terrifying evil energy. Behind it, a huge tiger phantom, tens of feet tall, appeared, surrounded by a strange blood-red evil energy.

The illusory image of the Dharma roared and suddenly leaped up, directly rushing towards the giant fist imprint in the sky.

boom!

A terrifying explosion rang out instantly, and within a radius of fifty miles around Changbai Mountain, all vegetation was devastated by the aftershocks.

The building collapsed, and the accumulated snow turned into water vapor.

Some second- and third-tier alien beasts that didn't have time to escape were directly blasted into blood mist.

The power of this strike was almost at the sixth level.

How terrifying.