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

The darkness lasted for three seconds.

All streetlights, shopping malls, psionic trains, and defense towers in Linjiang City were simultaneously shut down.

That night, many people in Linjiang City stood still, their faces pale. They clearly heard someone whispering in their ears in the darkness.

Bluestone mineral.

When the warning tower lit up again, the spiritual pressure curve above the mining area suddenly spiked, and the communicator in Han Lie's hand emitted a piercing static.

"Dean!" A mentor rushed over: "The psionic towers in Linjiang City have all lost contact for three seconds, and there are abnormal fluctuations in the underground water veins of the old city!"

Han Lie's expression changed: "Notify the Ninth Bureau to seal off the mining area."

"All trainees, retreat!"

Just now.

The black tentacles emerging from the belly of the red-horned deer suddenly emitted a sharp hiss; it did not try to escape.

Instead, it desperately burrowed deeper into the mine tunnel. Chen Xueli reacted extremely quickly, pressing down with several Soul-Purifying Lamps at the same time.

"Don't let that thing get back into the mine!"

hum!

The silvery-white light condensed into a cage.

The black tentacles were trapped in the center, twisting and turning wildly, drilling tiny cracks into the ground.

The red-horned deer lay among the rubble, its body convulsing.

Its horns slammed into the ground, as if trying to force the black tide out of its body.

Lin Qingxue knelt down beside it.

The blue lotus mark emitted a faint light.

She could feel the red-horned deer's pain.

You can also sense that what remains within it is not just the black tide, but also an ancient pull.

It was as if something underground was calling it back.

"It wasn't infected by the Black Tide," Lin Qingxue suddenly said. "It was chased out by something in the mine tunnels."

Du Feng, gripping the psionic gun, frowned and said, "You actually believe what a strange beast says?"

Lin Qingxue looked at him: "If it really wanted to kill someone, the first thing it smashed when it rushed out wouldn't have been the guard post."

Du Feng hesitated for a moment, then Chen Xueli raised her hand: "Third squad, seal off the mine entrance; second squad, move the red-horned deer to the safe zone."

"First squad, come down with me."

Han Lie shouted, "Chen Xueli, the situation in the mine is unknown; you are not allowed to venture in!"

Chen Xueli looked at the collapsed mine shaft: "Two patrol teams are still inside; they can't wait."

Han Lie remained silent for a moment.

He took out a crimson token and threw it into Chen Xueli's hand.

"Only probe, do not linger in battle. If you encounter spiritual pressure of level six or above, retreat immediately."

Chen Xueli caught the token: "Understood."

Lin Qingxue also walked towards the mine tunnel, while Chen Xueli frowned: "You stay outside."

Lin Qingxue shook her head: "The mark's reaction is inside, and I also saw what the Red Horned Deer saw just now."

Chen Xueli looked at her for a moment, but ultimately did not stop her: "Stay close to me."

Linjiang City.

As night fell, dozens of residents, dressed in pajamas, walked blankly down an abandoned alley in the old town.

They didn't speak, but left a trail of wet watermarks under their feet.

An old man walked up to the manhole cover and reached out to lift it.

hum!

A soul-purifying lamp lit up in the distance.

The Ninth Enforcement Team quickly arrived and stopped the crowd, shouting, "Don't touch the manhole cover!"

The old man shuddered, as if he had suddenly woken up from a dream.

He looked around blankly.

"How did I end up here?"

The enforcement captain looked down at the ground.

A wisp of cold water vapor seeped out from the cracks in the manhole cover.

Moisture spreads along the ground.

It's like an invisible river is awakening beneath the city.

Kyoto, Ninth Bureau Headquarters.

Upon returning to headquarters, Zhou Zhenshan received a message from Linjiang City. He was standing in front of the psionic map at that moment.

On the map of Linjiang City, a dark blue waterline extends from the Qing Shi Ling Mine in the northern suburbs, passes through the old city, and finally disappears into the Linjiang River.

Old Ye stood beside him, his face solemn: "This is the old riverbed. Sixty years ago, when Linjiang City was rebuilt, the old river was filled in, and the underground riverbed was sealed with spiritual energy cement."

Zhou Zhenshan stared at the waterline: "Why did it revive?"

After a moment of silence, Elder Ye said, "It should be the ancient ferry crossing by the river."

Zhou Zhenshan frowned, and Elder Ye pulled out a yellowed document: "We deciphered from the ancient books that in ancient times, Linjiang was not an ordinary river city. There was once a Soul-Crossing Platform here, which was responsible for settling the souls of the dead and the remnants of strange beasts."

"If the ancient ferry were to awaken, the souls of the dead would return to the river. But if the ferry platform malfunctions, it will mistake the souls of the living for the souls of the dead who are supposed to cross the river."

Zhou Zhenshan frowned: "Put the old city under psionic control. Turn on all Soul Cleansing Lamps. Notify the security team to prioritize the protection of hospitals, schools, residential areas, and underground transportation lines."

"Also, contact Han Lie and tell them that what lies beneath the Qing Shi Spirit Mine is probably more than just a mine shaft."

"It is a road leading to the ancient ferry crossing on the river."

Inside the mine tunnel.

A damp, misty atmosphere filled the darkness.

Chen Xueli led more than ten students to delve deeper into the area.

The miner's lamp shone on the rock wall.

The rock face, which was originally covered with traces of mining, now revealed unfamiliar patterns.

Those patterns resemble rivers, and also the silhouettes of countless people and mythical beasts walking side by side.

Du Feng said in a low voice, "These things weren't available before."

Lin Qingxue said softly, "It's not that it's newly appeared, it's just that no one could see it before."

A faint cry for help came from ahead: "Help! Is anyone there?"

Chen Xueli raised her hand to signal to stop.

Two patrol members were trapped under the collapsed rock wall, their psionic armor torn in several places.

Beside them lay a red-horned deer.

It broke free from the transfer team at some point and ran in along the mine tunnel.

The red-horned deer was still bleeding from its abdominal wound, but instead of attacking the patrol team, it used its body to block a loose boulder.

One of the patrolmen was pale.

"It just pulled us out of the water."

Du Feng fell silent.

He walked to the boulder, his psionic energy flowing into his arms: "Don't just stand there, save them."

More than ten students attacked at the same time.

The boulder was pushed aside little by little.

The red-horned deer staggered to the side, its breathing rapid.

Chen Xueli looked at it and said, "It's leading the way."

Lin Qingxue nodded: "It wants us to go to the river."

The group passed through the collapsed mine tunnel.

The view ahead suddenly opened up.

A dried-up ancient river lies underground.

The riverbed is 100 meters wide.

On both sides of the river stand broken stone pillars, covered with blurry mythical beast totems.

A white tiger lies on the bank, a giant tortoise guards the river, birds spread their wings, and a group of monkeys carry mountains. Among the stone pillars, there are also human figures holding ancient lamps.

They stood side by side with the strange beasts.

They guard this ancient underground river that has been dormant for thousands of years.

The end of the ancient river.

Half of the stone tablet was buried in the silt.

The four characters on the stele are ancient and weathered.

[Linjiang Ancient Ferry.]

Du Feng's Adam's apple bobbed: "What exactly is this place?"

No one answered, because suddenly the sound of water rose from the dry riverbed, and streams of black water gushed out from the cracks in the ground.

The river wasn't very deep, but it carried a bone-chilling cold.

On the water's surface, rows of wet figures rose up.

They have no facial features.

Its body has the appearance of an old man, a child, an armored warrior, as well as wolves, bears, apes and birds.

All the spirit shadows reached out their hands to the crowd.

"Get off... cross the river..."

Several trainees turned pale and began to walk uncontrollably toward the riverbed.

Chen Xueli stepped in front of him to block his way.

"Stay calm and collected!"

She inserted the crimson token into the ground.

boom!

A fiery aura spread.

The trainees suddenly came to their senses and quickly retreated.

The lotus mark on Lin Qingxue's chest felt hot.

She looked towards the end of the riverbed.

There is an old lamp there.

The lamp was broken, but the flame never went out.

The flames, which should have been golden, were now enveloped in a cloud of black mist.

In the black fog, blurry faces kept emerging.

They wailed and struggled, trying to crawl out of the light.

"The soul-guiding lamp has been contaminated."

Lin Qingxue's voice tightened, and Chen Xueli looked at her: "Can it be purified?"

Lin Qingxue did not answer immediately.

She could sense what was inside that lamp.

It wasn't just a simple black tide; there was also a wisp of the guardian spirit that was supposed to guide souls back to their way. However, it had been entangled by the black tide for too long and was gradually losing its ability to distinguish between the dead and the living.

The red-horned deer emitted a low moo.

It dragged its wounded body toward the ancient lamp.

Du Feng instinctively wanted to stop her, but Lin Qingxue shook her head: "Let it go."

The red-horned deer walked to the ancient lamp.

The black mist in the lamp suddenly churned, and a black water shadow rushed out, wrapping around its neck.

Du Feng gritted his teeth and raised his psionic gun with a roar.

boom!

Gunshots echoed across the ancient river.

The water reflection was blasted apart.

Du Feng stood in front of the red-horned deer, his arm getting a cut from the black water.

The black mist climbed upwards along the wound.

Chen Xueli rushed over and pressed the Soul Cleansing Lamp onto his arm.

Du Feng's forehead was covered in cold sweat, but he did not back down.

"I don't owe it anything, I just don't want to see it die in front of me."

The red-horned deer stared at him for a moment.

Then it lowered its head and placed the blood-stained red horn in front of the ancient lamp.

hum!

The fragments of the Black Tide that remained inside the Red Horned Deer were drawn out by the ancient lamp.

The black mist rushed toward the lights.

The entire ancient river trembled violently.

Countless soul shadows turned around simultaneously.

They no longer looked at the crowd, but at the ancient lamp.

The blue lotus mark on Lin Qingxue's chest suddenly bloomed.

A phantom lotus leaf floated in front of her.

The voice of the Lord of the Azure Lotus did not come directly.

With only a gentle thought, Lin Qingxue took a deep breath as the lotus leaf fell into her soul.

She walked toward the guiding lamp.

Chen Xueli grabbed her wrist: "What are you doing?"

Lin Qingxue looked at the dark mist in the lamplight: "It doesn't want to kill people, it just forgot who should cross the river and who should go home."

Chen Xueli tightened her grip: "Then I'll go with you."

Lin Qingxue shook her head: "You stay here. The river mouth cannot be lost."

Chen Xueli remained silent for a few moments, then released her grip: "If anything happens to you, I'll smash this broken lamp."

Lin Qingxue smiled and said, "Then you hold the line for now."

She stepped into the ancient river, the icy water reaching above her ankles.

The next moment, countless soul thoughts rushed into her consciousness.

War, black tides, fractured mountains and rivers, human warriors lying on the riverbanks, and alien beasts dragging their wounded bodies back to the forests.

An old man, clad in tattered armor, stood alone at the ferry crossing.

Holding the soul-guiding lamp, he whispered to the river full of dead souls: "Those who return to the mountains, return to the mountains; those who return to the river, return to the river. The living do not cross; the dead have their own way."

The screen suddenly shattered.

Black mist rushed towards Lin Qingxue.

"Stay...and cross the river..."

The Azure Lotus Mark emitted a soft azure light.

Lin Qingxue did not fight the black mist head-on; instead, she reached out and placed her hand on the Soul-Guiding Lamp.

"This is not a place for the living to die. You are guarding the way home, not the way to death."

hum!

The ancient lamp trembled violently.

The aged, withered spirit in the lamplight slowly opened its eyes.

It looked at the blue lotus pattern on Lin Qingxue's chest.

Then he looked at Chen Xueli and the others who were guarding the students, the strange beasts, and the patrol team members by the river.

After a long while, a hoarse voice rang out over the ancient river.

"So there are still people protecting our land."

boom!

Golden flames burst forth from the wick.

The black mist let out a shrill shriek, trying to escape into the depths of the ancient river.

Chen Xueli was prepared, and the crimson token emitted a burst of spiritual light.

"Frozen the river!"

More than ten trainees simultaneously planted the battle flags into the riverbed.

Psionic runes intertwined.

Despite the excruciating pain in his arm, Du Feng stood in front of the red-horned deer.

"Don't let it get away!"

The red-horned deer let out a low growl.

Its two horns glowed with a crimson light as it crashed heavily into the black mist.

boom!

The black mist was sent flying backward by the impact.

Countless souls surged out of the river.

They did not attack anyone.

Instead, it dragged the black mist along, pulling the soul-guiding lamp back inch by inch.

The black mist struggled frantically, but was ultimately swallowed up by the golden lights.

Whoosh!

In the dried-up ancient river, the sound of real flowing water could be heard.

The water was clear and no longer carried a biting chill.

Those wet, ghostly figures lingered on the river's surface.

They bowed slightly to the crowd.

Then it transformed into specks of light, flowing along the ancient river into the depths of the mountains and rivers.

The sky above Linjiang City.

Dozens of psionic watchtowers simultaneously returned to normal.

In the streets and alleys of the old city, those sleepwalkers slowly awoke.

The sound of water flowing under the manhole cover gradually faded away.

On the banks of the ancient river.

Lin Qingxue stepped back from in front of the soul-guiding lamp.

The blue lotus mark on her chest had faded considerably, leaving only a faint lotus petal.

Chen Xueli quickly helped her up.

"Can it still hold on?"

Lin Qingxue nodded: "I can manage."

Du Feng leaned against a stone pillar, his arm wrapped in a Soul-Cleansing Bandage. He looked at the Red-Horned Deer and asked, "What should we do with it?"

Lin Qingxue looked at the red-horned deer. The wound on the red-horned deer's abdomen was gradually healing. It stood by the river, looking towards the direction outside the mine tunnel.

Chen Xueli understood: "Let it go."

Du Feng opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

The red-horned deer paused for a moment before turning and rushing into the mine tunnel.

It returned directly to the mountains and forests.

……

Soon after, Chen Wuji, Han Lie, and Lu Cang arrived at the ancient riverbank. Chen Wuji stood in front of the river-suppressing monument and reached out to brush away the silt.

Below the stone tablet, a new line of ancient characters is revealed.

Of the twelve ferry crossings across the nine provinces, Linjiang is one.

[When the four tides rise, the twelve crossings open.]

Chen Wuji's face darkened: "Of the twelve ancient ferry crossings, Linjiang is only the first one."

Looking at the ancient river flowing again, Han Lie said solemnly, "Contact the Ninth Bureau headquarters in Beijing and notify the whole country to include all old rivers, ancient wells, abandoned mines and underground relics in the highest-level monitoring list."

"Before the fourth spiritual tide arrives, the Dragon Kingdom cannot afford to miss any more ley line nodes."

Han Lie looked at the academy students behind him. They were all disheveled, but during this training, no one mentioned hunting alien beasts anymore.

Du Feng, head bowed, suddenly asked, "Dean, are you still accepting students for the Earth Vein Practical Training Class?"

Han Lie glanced at him and said, "Stop. Time is running out for our human race. You must become stronger in a short time. The disasters we will face in the future will be even more difficult than what we are facing now."

Upon hearing Han Lie's words...

Chen Wuji and Lu Cang did not refute it.

Yes, the fourth spiritual tide is coming soon. Who can say for sure what will happen in the future?