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

Su Wan walked quickly to the observation window.

In the distance, above Black Dragon Mountain, the illusory image of a sky-covering blue lotus slowly unfolded.

Colorful rays of light cascaded down from the edges of the lotus leaves, like waterfalls of light piercing the heavens and earth, falling toward the stone ridge on the west side of the forbidden zone.

Inside the command center, dozens of psionic instruments vibrated simultaneously.

"The spiritual pressure on the western stone ridge has surged!"

"High-order erosion reaction detected!"

"The earth's ley line barrier in the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone is expanding outwards!"

One of the team members, his face pale, asked, "Captain Su, should we notify Linjiang City to go on high alert?"

Su Wan stared at the colorful lotus light in the distance and slowly shook her head.

"Don't panic. That force isn't spreading towards Linjiang City; it's the Qinglian Forbidden Zone sealing off the mountain."

She could tell that the Lord of the Azure Lotus was not launching an attack this time, but rather using the entire ley lines of Black Dragon Mountain to seal off some kind of dangerous entity.

Su Wan pressed the communicator: "All personnel outside the restricted area, retreat ten miles. Activate all Soul-Cleansing Lamps and monitoring arrays."

"No one is allowed to cross the line without my order."

"clear!"

……

West side of Heilongshan Mountain.

The moment the phantom of the towering lotus descended, the entire stone ridge emitted a deep rumble.

Countless blue-silver roots emerged from the ground.

Instead of piercing the mountain-devouring insects, the roots penetrated the mountains in all directions, pulling back the collapsing stone peaks.

boom!

A boulder weighing hundreds of tons rolled down from the mountainside.

The roots entangled the boulder.

The boulder was suspended in mid-air, less than ten meters away from the mountain.

Shan Kui, clutching the mountain-shaped stone, breathed heavily.

It wiped the blood from its face and looked up at the sky.

"Owner."

Chu Zhou's voice came from within the lotus shadow: "Mountain Fiend, the Mountain Devouring Insect has a Corrosive Vein Insect Core inside its body. As long as the core remains intact, it can continuously devour mountains and rocks to repair its body."

"White Mountain Lord, trap it. Little Gold Treasure, find the insect core, and you suppress it."

Shan Kui nodded: "Yes."

Baishan Jun stepped onto the giant rock in the center of the valley.

The Platinum Tiger Demon gathered behind it, gradually transforming into a phantom of a white tiger that was a hundred meters tall.

"roar!"

The tiger's roar echoed through the mountains.

Dozens of huge tiger stripes rose from all around the valley and crashed down.

Just as the mountain-devouring insect was about to burrow into the ground, the rocks on all sides closed like a giant mouth, trapping its hundreds of legs.

The insect's body writhed wildly.

Layers of black slime oozed from between the shells, sizzling as it corroded the rocks.

The white tiger has four paws on the ground.

The White Tiger's fierce aura pressed down relentlessly: "Stay here for me."

The mountain-devouring insects emitted a piercing hiss.

It opened its enormous mouth.

With a spin of its mandibles, dozens of rocks were instantly crushed, and even the tiger stripes left by Bai Shanjun were gnawed open.

Little Jinbao flew into the air.

Its wings spread wide, and the crimson-gold feathers on its forehead shone brightly.

"I see it! On its seventh abdominal segment, there's a large black lump covered in a stone shell!"

The Mountain-Eating Insect noticed Little Gold's spying.

The insect's head suddenly rose.

Hundreds of jet-black antennae shot out from its mouth, soaring straight into the sky.

Little Jinbao's wings trembled: "How disgusting!"

It transformed into a streak of crimson gold, narrowly avoiding the insect's antennae.

The insect's antennae pierced through the clouds.

A sharp explosion rang out in the sky.

Little Jinbao landed on a distant rocky peak, several of its tail feathers were cut off, and it was so angry that all the feathers on its body stood on end.

"How dare you touch my feathers? Lord White Mountain, beat it up!"

Bai Shan Jun didn't bother to respond. It stared at the Mountain-Eating Insect and slammed its tiger claw down hard.

boom!

A section of rock collapsed.

The mountain-devouring insect was slapped so hard that half of its body was buried in a crevice in the rock, yet it still let out an excited hiss.

Its abdomen swelled violently.

The next moment, a large amount of black slime gushed out.

The black liquid did not fall towards Baishanjun, but instead spread wildly along the cracks in the stone ridge towards the location of the Fuyue Taishi.

The mountain monster tightened its arms, clutching the fetus stone, and turned to leave.

Suddenly the ground cracked open, and a black insect leg pierced out from below, striking its back.

The mountain demon was knocked forward by the impact.

The heavy stone in his arms crashed to the ground.

The black liquid coiled around the birthmark like a swarm of snakes.

The mountain monster roared, bracing itself with its arms and forcefully flipping over to pin down the mountain stone, the black liquid falling onto its back.

The grayish-brown hair quickly turned black, and the skin and flesh were corroded, leaving large wounds.

"Mountain Demon!"

Little Jinbao cried out in alarm.

Chu Zhou's roots trembled.

The azure-silver spiritual light surged along the earth's veins towards the mountain demon, suppressing the abyssal corrosive aura within its wounds.

The mountain beast did not retreat; it lay on the back of the mountain stone, its arms tightly embracing the stone.

"These stones belong to my ancestral mountain, and they are the mountain that my master ordered me to guard. You must not act recklessly."

The head of the Mountain-Eating Insect emerged again, opened its huge mouth, and lunged at the Mountain King.

The mountain beast raised its head, and the pale golden mountain patterns in its eyes became even brighter.

In a daze, it seemed to see an ancient mountain range that stretched endlessly.

Mountains collapsed, the sky was stained with blood, and giant apes carrying mountains on their backs stood on the fractured earth.

Even if they carry the weight of shattered heaven and earth on their shoulders, even if the mountains on their backs crush their flesh and blood, they still move forward step by step.

A vast, ancient voice resounded deep within the bloodline of the Mountain Demon.

"Those who carry a mountain on their backs cannot retreat from the mountains behind them."

hum!

The stone beneath the mountain burst forth with dazzling golden light.

The mountain beast's bones emitted a series of cracking sounds.

Its originally tall body continued to rise, and ancient stone patterns emerged among its gray-brown fur.

With its spine bulging, nine illusory ancient mountains slowly coalesce behind it, each one so heavy it seems capable of suppressing a ley line in the earth.

The giant mouth of the mountain-devouring worm stopped in mid-air.

For the first time, fear surfaced in its scarlet insect eyes.

Shan Kui stood up.

It supports the mountain-bearing stone with one hand, and with the other hand, it grasps the upper jaw of the mountain-devouring insect.

"You want to eat my mountain? I'll let you eat your fill!"

boom!

The ground beneath the foot of the mountain demon exploded.

With veins bulging on its arms, it forcefully pulled the hundreds-of-meters-long mountain-devouring worm out of the ground.

Large amounts of soil and gravel flew into the sky.

The mountain-devouring insects struggled frantically with their hundreds of legs, leaving deep grooves in the mountain rocks.

The mountain demon roared, and the nine illusory mountains behind it pressed down simultaneously.

The mountain-devouring insects were smashed into the valley, causing the valley floor to sink tens of meters.

Seizing the opportunity, Lord Baishan roared, "Tiger Demon, suppress!"

Platinum tiger stripes descend from the sky.

Nine layers of tiger-like evil energy pressed down on the Mountain-Eating Insect, preventing it from burrowing underground any further.

Little Jinbao hovered above the insect's body.

The reddish-gold stripes between its wings grew brighter and brighter.

"Mountain Demon, three inches to the left, smash it!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the mountain monster swung its fist.

boom!

With a single punch, the carapace of the Mountain-Eating Insect shattered, and black insect blood spurted dozens of meters high.

Boom boom boom!

With each punch Shan Kui landed, the stone ridge trembled.

The mountain-devouring insects screeched wildly.

The core of the corrosive worm inside its body was shaken and kept moving, trying to hide deeper into the worm's abdomen.

A flash of crimson-gold light appeared in Little Golden Treasure's pupils: "Master, the insect core has emerged!"

This was the moment Chu Zhou had been waiting for.

The towering lotus shadow in the sky spun, and countless blue-silver roots pierced through the valley.

The roots bypassed the insect's body, passed over its carapace and flesh, and precisely pierced around the black insect core.

The mountain-devouring insect emitted a shrill, mournful cry.

The black insect core spun wildly.

Twisted insect faces emerged from the insect core, biting towards the roots.

Chu Zhou's voice was calm: "You've come to the wrong place to devour the earth's veins on my own turf."

hum!

Black and gold lotus patterns shone on the roots.

The power of the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal pressed down along the western earth veins.

The black mist around the insect core quickly dissipated.

The body of the mountain-devouring insect convulsed violently, and hundreds of its legs broke off one by one.

It tried to struggle, but the mountain monster picked up a collapsed stone peak and pressed it heavily onto its insect head.

"Behave yourself!"

boom!

The insect's head crashed into the ground.

The last wisp of black smoke burst forth from the insect's core.

Chu Zhou's roots curled up gently.

The black energy was completely purified by the black and gold lotus pattern.

The entire rocky ridge fell silent.

Only the sound of the mountain wind whistling through the gravel remained.

【Ding! 】

[Successfully slain: The Mountain-Devouring Insect King.]

[Gained Evolution Points: 5.2 million.]

[Item obtained: Remnant Core of the Corroded Vein Mother Nest.]

[Negative ancestral vein detected.]

The purification of the earth's veins on the western side of the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone has been completed.

[New restricted area node: Fuyue Stone Ridge.]

[The mountain spirits, their bloodline, have undergone a transformation.]

[Comprehension Ability: Supporting the Mountain and Suppressing the Land.]

[Realm Breakthrough: Mid-Seventh Rank]

Shan Kui stood still.

The nine illusory mountains behind it slowly dissipated, but the pale gold stone patterns on its surface did not.

It looked down at its hands, then at the stone bearing the weight of the mountain.

After a long while, Shan Kui scratched his head and said, "Master, I think I've become stronger."

Little Jinbao fell from mid-air.

It flew around the mountain goose once, marveling, "You've more than just become sturdy; you're like a walking boulder now."

Shan Kui thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "I was originally Shan Kui."

Little Jinbao choked.

Bai Shan Jun walked to the remains of the Mountain-Eating Insect.

It used its tiger claws to pry open the black carapace, revealing a broken bronze slab inside the insect's abdomen.

Several ancient mountain patterns are carved on the stone slab.

At the very top, there is only a line of blurry ancient characters.

[Of the twelve ancestral mountains in the Nine Provinces, Fuyue is one.]

Bai Shanjun said in a low voice, "It's twelve again."

The roots of the Chu boat landed on the bronze stone slab.

The imperial seal trembled, and the incomplete mountain patterns on the stone slab gradually lit up, with dotted lines of earth veins extending outward from the Fuyue Stone Ridge.

Heading north, it connects to Changbai Mountain.

To the west, beyond the endless mountains, and to the south, one descends upon an ancient mountain range shrouded in black mist.

The sound of the strange rock echoed in Chu Zhou's consciousness.

"The twelve ancient ferry crossings, which soothe the souls and guard the rivers, and the twelve ancestral mountains, which protect the earth and support the heavens, are what the fourth tide has truly revived, far more than I imagined."

Chu Zhoulian swayed gently: "So what if it's complicated? We'll deal with whatever comes our way. How complicated can it get?"

With his increased strength, Chu Zhou has recently become more confident and no longer takes these things seriously.

Seeing this, Guai Shi sneered, "Lotus Demon, don't be so confident. The fourth spiritual energy tide is coming, and things are not as simple as you think."