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

The moment the desolate, shattered world collapsed.

Above Broken Cloud Ridge, the gray-black cracks contracted violently.

Black Tiger King led his Black Tiger Guards out of the crevice.

Just as the last black panther with a broken tail stepped out of the valley, a deafening roar came from behind it.

Boom!

The boundary markers broke apart inch by inch.

Nine black locks wrapped around the nails were dragged into the depths of the crevice by countless pale white beast souls.

The giant, bone-armored hand still tried to reach out from the crack.

The Iron-Backed Bear King pressed its palms against the Broken Cloud Ridge's earth veins, and the Iron Mountain pattern on its back shone brightly.

"Get back here!"

boom!

Dozens of illusory mountain images fell simultaneously.

The giant bone-armored hand was smashed and shattered, and the gray-black cracks completely closed.

Duanyun Ridge has returned to silence.

Only the cracks all over the ground and the lingering black tide in the air proved that the battle just now was not an illusion.

The Black Tiger King landed on the cliff.

A dark mountain pattern appeared on its forehead, intertwining with the Patrol Abyss Battle Order and faintly transforming into the shape of a chain.

The Ironback Bear King dragged his heavy body over: "Black Tiger, you're still alive."

The Black Tiger King glanced at it: "I'm tough."

The Ironback Bear King let out a low growl, as if it wanted to laugh, but the movement aggravated its wounds and caused it to cough up a large amount of blood and foam.

The Black Tiger King stopped arguing with it and instead looked at the injured Black Tiger Guards scattered all over the ground.

The black panther with its severed tail lay among the rubble, blood still flowing from the bone spear wound on its shoulder.

When it saw the Black Tiger King approaching, it even tried to get up.

The Black Tiger King raised its paw and pressed it down: "Lie down."

The black panther with the broken tail grinned and said, "Tiger King, I've been to the Desolate Bone Shattering Realm."

The Black Tiger King was silent for a moment: "I'll remember this favor."

The black panther with the severed tail flicked its tail slightly and then fainted.

In the distance, tens of thousands of pale white beast souls swept across the sky above Broken Cloud Ridge.

They did not linger, nor did they harm any living beings.

The wolf's spirit rushed north, the bear's spirit disappeared into the mountains of Sichuan, and the ape's spirit transformed into a stream of light, falling towards the Qinling Mountains.

Many more soul lights lingered above Bear Ridge.

They circled the injured cubs for a moment before slowly dissipating into the forest.

Black Dragon Lake, the Soul-Suppressing Platform of Ten Thousand Beasts emitted a low hum.

The black and gold lotus patterns flowed slowly along the mountains and rivers, sending the remaining souls back to the forests they had guarded in their previous lives.

The strange stone said in a deep voice, "The boundary nail is destroyed, but this was just a test."

Chu Zhou did not answer.

He gazed at the wisp of gray-black aura that had appeared on the Soul-Suppressing Platform.

That aura did not belong to the Black Tide, nor to the Desolate Bone Shattered Realm.

It was more like someone from a great distance coldly glancing at this land.

……

Linjiang City.

Ninth Bureau Headquarters.

The piercing alarm blared throughout the building.

On dozens of psionic screens, the spiritual pressure curve of Duanyun Ridge in Sichuan Province was fluctuating wildly.

First came the gray-black cracks, then the nine beast soul locks.

Finally, the psionic energy levels in the entire valley briefly went out of control, and even satellite images showed large areas of snow.

Wang Jun stood in front of the main screen, his face pale.

"Director Zhou, confirmation has come from the Sichuan-Chongqing Spirit Network monitoring station."

"The cracks that appeared at Duanyun Ridge are not ordinary Kuroshio fissures."

"It briefly connected to an unknown space."

Zhou Zhenshan stared at the screen. On the screen, the Black Tiger King led the Black Tiger Guards into the crevice, the Iron-Backed Bear King suppressed the mountains and rivers, and finally, the soul light of ten thousand beasts returned to the mountains.

After a long silence, Zhou Zhenshan spoke: "Casualty statistics."

A staff member immediately stood up: "No human towns near Duanyun Ridge were damaged. The Xiongling herd suffered 47 casualties, and the Black Tiger Guard had 11 seriously injured."

"The number of beast souls bound by the boundary nails is initially estimated to exceed 30,000."

The command center fell silent. Thirty thousand beast souls—this was no ordinary beast tide, nor was it a beast king going out of control.

That boundary nail was made by someone using the souls of countless strange beasts after their deaths as a tool to tear apart mountains and rivers.

Chen Wuji asked in a low voice, "What will happen to Broken Cloud Ridge if the boundary nails are completely firmly planted?"

Wang Jun's voice was hoarse: "The ley lines of Sichuan will be torn open. At that time, the first to suffer will not be the restricted area, but dozens of surrounding cities and tens of millions of ordinary people."

Zhou Zhenshan paused for a moment: "The Southwest Brigade of the Ninth Bureau is on high alert. The Earth Vein Research Group has been dispatched to the outskirts of Sichuan, but they are not allowed to enter Xiongling and Duanyunling without permission."

"Contact the Black Tiger King and explain that the Ninth Bureau is willing to provide medical materials, purification potions, and supplies for the herd's settlement."

"Remember, it's about providing, not taking over."

Wang Jun nodded: "Understood."

Zhou Zhenshan looked at the blood-covered black tiger on the screen: "Also, immediately issue a Level 1 mountain and river warning to the whole country."

"Notify all branches that if any abnormal cracks, beast soul riots, or blackening of the earth veins are discovered recently, whether they occur in human cities or beast territories, report them immediately."

"Anyone who dares to conceal this information will be dealt with according to military law."

……

Half an hour later.

The official announcement from the Ninth Bureau appeared on the homepage of the Dragon Kingdom Psionic Network.

A high-risk space rift event has occurred at Duanyunling in Sichuan Province.

[It has been confirmed that the rift has been sealed by the combined forces of the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone Beast King and the Sichuan Beast Horde.]

[Ninth Bureau Reminder: The public is advised to avoid visiting restricted areas, remote mountains, ancient tombs, and areas with unusual ley lines in the near future.]

[Anyone who discovers abnormal beast souls, black tide pollution, or ground fissures can directly contact the local Ninth Bureau.]

Below the announcement, a processed video was simultaneously released.

A gray-black wasteland, mountains covered with animal bones, nine chains piercing through the souls of beasts.

Instead of slaughtering the bone beasts, the Black Tiger Guards used their soul-suppressing power to send the trapped beast souls away one by one.

Finally, all the souls returned to the mountain.

The internet fell silent briefly.

Subsequently, a flood of comments poured in.

"Holy crap, so those bone beasts weren't monsters, they were trapped beast souls."

"I used to think that the farther away the monsters from the restricted area were from the city, the better. Now I realize that if the place they guard is torn apart, we won't be able to escape either."

"When the Black Tiger King rushed in, it could have ignored those beast souls, but it still did."

"The announcement from the Ninth Inning finally made things clear: the Beast Forbidden Zone is not a wasteland that anyone can just trespass into."

There are also dissenting opinions.

"What will happen to humanity if these beasts become powerful in the future?"

"We can't leave the entire land to be guarded by mythical beasts, can we?"

"No matter how strong Heilonghu is, it can't make decisions for everyone."

Soon, someone replied: "No one said they would hand it over. The question is, when the boundary nails were driven into Sichuan, who was the first to rush in to save the beast souls and protect the ley lines?"

"Both humans and mythical beasts should guard their own boundaries, and they should also protect the mountains and rivers when disaster strikes."

This reply was pushed to the top.

There wasn't much harsh criticism, because the image of ten thousand souls returning to the mountain remained on everyone's screen.

For the first time, many people realized that after the resurgence of the spiritual tide, the strange beasts in the mountains and rivers were neither simple enemies nor inexhaustible resources.

They also have groups, young animals, and homelands.

And those calamities that slumber in the ancient mountains and rivers will not only devour strange beasts.

……

night.

The border of Sichuan and Chongqing.

The transport vehicle for the ninth inning was parked outside the restricted area boundary marker.

There were no weapons on the vehicle, only healing elixirs, soul-purifying stones, and a large quantity of spiritual energy supplements.

A young team member looked out into the deep forest, his palms sweating.

In the forest, the Black Tiger King emerged from the shadows with two black wolves.

The young team member instinctively gripped the psionic gun tighter.

Wang Jun raised his hand and pressed down on the muzzle of the gun: "Put it down."

The Black Tiger King stopped inside the boundary marker and said in a low voice, "Human, what is it?"

Wang Jun walked to the boundary marker and put down boxes of supplies: "The Ninth Bureau has sent medical supplies. Thank you for protecting the Sichuan region in the Battle of Duanyunling."

The Black Tiger King looked at the supplies but didn't take them immediately. After a moment, it said, "Leave the supplies, and retreat thirty miles."

Wang Jun nodded and said, "Okay."

Before turning around, the Black Tiger King paused again: "Also, if you find any other cracks, don't rush to step into them."

"There are some places you can't go to right now."

Wang Jun nodded solemnly and said, "We understand."

Black Tiger King took the supplies and disappeared back into the mountains.