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

Night is falling over Heilong Lake.

Moonlight spilled onto the lake's surface, and amidst the swirling mist, the entire lake seemed to be enveloped in a layer of pale blue divine radiance.

Deep in the mountains and forests, all kinds of beasts lay prostrate, while Xiao Qing perched on the lake shore, its dozens of huge vines swaying slowly, like a loyal guardian.

Little Jinbao landed atop the ancient tree, its wings slightly folded, its golden eyes surveying the surrounding area. The swarm of Spirit-Sharp Poisonous Bees dispersed, densely hovering in the surrounding forest.

The entire Heilong Lake has been transformed into a true forbidden zone for life.

In the center of the lake, Chu Zhou fell silent again, its jade-like lotus leaves swaying and its massive roots sinking into the lakebed.

Dense spiritual energy converged upon him frantically. After breaking through to the fourth rank, his efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy far surpassed what it had been before.

The spiritual energy from within a radius of dozens of miles surged in like a tide, even forming a huge vortex of spiritual energy on the lake surface.

Throughout the entire Black Dragon Mountain range, one can faintly see the sky above Black Dragon Lake, where a spiritual light flows, as if some ancient being is awakening.

Chu Zhou did not stop, and is now exposed to human sight.

Time is the most important thing. He must become stronger before the next round of encirclement arrives.

It became even stronger, so strong that no one dared to touch it. However, at that moment, Chu Zhou suddenly paused.

"Hmm?" A very peculiar fluctuation suddenly emanated from the depths of the lake. The feeling was strange, like something dormant drawing him in.

As if calling out, Chu Zhou remained silent for a moment, then his spiritual domain rapidly extended to the bottom of the lake.

One hundred meters, three hundred meters, five hundred meters, the bottom of the lake is pitch black, covered with silt.

Countless aquatic plants and pebbles accumulated, but the deeper one went, the more obvious the fluctuations became, even causing the spiritual energy within Chu Zhou's body to begin to stir subtly.

There's something down there.

Chu Zhou's heart sank, and he continued to delve deeper with his spiritual power.

Suddenly, it felt as if I had pierced through some invisible barrier.

boom!

The scene before them suddenly changed; deep beneath the lake was not a layer of mud, but a massive underground cavern.

Chu Zhou was also somewhat surprised. This grotto was extremely large, like an underground world that had been carved out by man.

The surrounding stone walls are mottled and ancient, covered with traces of the erosion of time.

What shocked him most was the outer perimeter of the grotto. There stood enormous stone pillars, tens of meters high.

Each stone pillar is carved with a coiled dragon pattern.

The dragon scales are clearly visible, its five claws are sharp, and its head is menacingly looking down.

Even after countless years, it still exudes an ancient majesty.

Chu Zhou felt a slight tremor in his heart.

What is the origin of this stone palace?

How long has it been since the world's spiritual energy began to recover? How could such a thing possibly exist? But before he could think about it further...

The next second, he suddenly discovered an even more shocking scene.

In the center of the grotto, there was a huge ancient temple.

The temple is dilapidated, its bluestone structure riddled with cracks. The stone steps in front of the entrance have collapsed, yet glimpses of its former grandeur remain.

Even more bizarrely, the entire temple was entangled by a dense network of enormous chains, the chains being pitch black and covered with strange patterns.

Like some kind of seal, in the center of the temple, a massive stone statue lies silently.

Chu Zhou's spirits jolted.

With a dragon's head and a tortoise's body, carrying a stone tablet on its back, and an astonishingly large size, this is the mythical Bixi, one of the nine sons of the dragon.

Even a stone statue exudes a kind of heavy pressure. What's most chilling is that the stone statue is wrapped in chains, one after another.

Below the stone statue is an ancient well shaped like an octagon.

Chu Zhou paused for a moment, and for some reason, he suddenly felt a strange sense of oppression.

There's definitely some terrifying, forbidden being sealed up down there.

Chu Zhou tried to use his mental power to investigate, but found that the bottom of the ancient well was emanating a chilling aura.

His mental energy was isolated.

Chu Zhou was also shocked. "What exactly is sealed beneath this bi-shaped stone? The spiritual energy of the entire Black Dragon Lake is emanating from the bottom of that ancient well. Could it be that the well leads to another world?"

Having experienced the revival of spiritual energy and several beast tides in their previous lives, humans initially did not understand the source of the revival of spiritual energy.

After countless wars and in-depth national research, they finally concluded that the source of spiritual energy was seeping out from hidden places in the void or underground around the world.

In ancient times, these secret realms were called blessed lands and grottoes, while Westerners referred to them as parallel spaces, and of course, there were also speculations about other worlds.

As for what happens next, Chu Zhou has no right to know. In his previous life, he was just a low-level superhuman.

At the bottom of the lake, Chu Zhou remained silent for a long time, his consciousness lingering on the ancient octagonal well.

The spiritual energy, so dense it was almost tangible, was constantly overflowing from the bottom of the well, transforming into wisps of bluish-white spiritual mist that permeated the entire underground temple.

Even the surface of the stone bishi statue was covered with a faint spiritual glow. The more Chu Zhou sensed it, the more alarmed he became.

"The source of all the spiritual energy in the entire Black Dragon Lake is actually here. According to ancient legends, Black Dragon Lake was named after a black dragon. Could it be that a black dragon is indeed sealed at the bottom of the stone well? If so, it's terrifying. If this forbidden existence were to appear in the world, it would have earth-shattering consequences."

Thinking of this, Chu Zhou's heart sank. He suddenly realized a problem: he was now exposed to human eyes, and the country would not stop testing him.

If one missile fails, a second, a third, or even a higher level of supernatural power will inevitably appear sooner or later.

Time was no longer on his side.

Since that's the case, then he'd do everything he could to become stronger. Chu Zhou didn't hesitate any longer. His spiritual will spread out, and giant roots pierced directly into the depths of the lake, extending towards the underground cave.

The next second, one of the tendrils carefully touched the edge of the Bagua Ancient Well.

boom!

It was as if a sluice gate had suddenly been opened, and a torrent of spiritual energy, hundreds of times greater than that of Black Dragon Lake, suddenly poured in through the roots.

Chu Zhou's entire consciousness jolted violently.

"hiss!"

Even after reaching the fourth rank, this was the first time he had ever felt such terrifying energy. The spiritual energy was so dense that it was almost liquid.

In the center of the lake, the entire blue lotus suddenly burst forth with dazzling spiritual light. Spiritual mist churned within a radius of hundreds of meters, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth poured in frantically.

The lake water began to swirl, forming a huge whirlpool, and the entire Black Dragon Mountain began to tremble.

At the same time, system notification sounds rang out incessantly.

[High concentration of spiritual energy detected]

[Evolution efficiency increased by 1000%]

[Evolution Point +50]

[Evolution Point +60]

[Evolution Point +100]

...

Within minutes, the evolution points began to surge, and the system panel quickly unfolded in Chu Zhou's mind.

[Host: Chu Zhou]

[Race: Primordial Azure Lotus (Early Stage 4)]

[Spiritual Realm Range: 10 kilometers]

[Abilities: Mental Intimidation, Spiritual Domain, Water Control, Root Manipulation, Life Restoration, Spiritual Energy Absorption]

[Current evolution points: 321450/1000000]

[Distance to Tier 5: 678550 Evolution Points]

Upon seeing this number, Chu Zhou fell silent for a moment.

"Does it take this many for Tier 5?"

But soon he calmed down. If he continued absorbing at his current rate, it might not be as far off as he had imagined.

More importantly, Chu Zhou was very clear about what the fifth rank meant. Because in his previous life, even the strongest human superhuman had only barely reached the threshold of the fifth rank.

The fifth tier was later known as the "King-level" or, in other words, a strategic-level life form.

Tier 4 is merely a disaster level, meaning it's enough to destroy a city.

However, a fifth-tier being can already influence an entire state, with one person forming an army and a single beast destroying a city, truly a walking natural disaster.

Upon reaching the fifth rank, the spiritual domain will undergo a complete transformation, its range increasing dramatically from ten kilometers to one hundred kilometers, and the spiritual will becoming almost materialized.

A single thought can suppress all things, even enough to interfere with missile trajectories, electromagnetic systems, and the operation of extraordinary energy.

Conventional firearms will become completely meaningless. Even if human armies were to encircle and suppress them, it would be difficult to pose a real threat to fifth-tier life forms.

Because at that level, they are no longer powerful monsters, but true mobile natural disasters.

Chu Zhou pulled himself out of his thoughts. Deep in the lake, the ancient well was still slowly gushing out spiritual energy. But for some reason, as the absorption time increased, he suddenly felt...

Deep at the bottom of the well, something seemed to open its eyes, and an indescribable chill suddenly rose from the depths of its soul.

At the same time, a chain binding the bixie statue suddenly trembled.

Chu Zhou immediately became alert.