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

Chen Mo looked at Chen Xueli and said, "No one asked us to come, but the Qinglian Society cannot stand by and watch a guardian be judged as a dangerous and forbidden existence."

Chen Xueli said coldly, "The spiritual pressure here has reached the mid-stage of the sixth rank. This is not a place for people like you to interfere."

Chen Mo looked up at the Ginkgo tree in question.

Grayish-black mist continued to spread across the tree canopy.

Countless roots burrowed into the ground, bringing out large areas of contaminated soil.

He said in a deep voice, "We really can't stop a sixth-order being, but someone has to tell it that there are still people outside who are willing to believe in it."

Just now.

A low siren suddenly sounded over Linjiang City.

The alarm sounded three times.

The psionic towers throughout the city simultaneously lit up with a crimson glow.

[WARNING! A mid-stage, Tier 6 complex geological disaster has occurred in the old town area of ​​Linjiang City.]

[The Fourth Tide Special Response Order has been activated; support from high-ranking repressors is requested.]

The communicator in Chen Xueli's hand crackled with urgency: "Captain Chen, Senior Chen Wuji, Dean Han Lie, and Commander Lu Cang are on their way, expected to arrive in two minutes!"

Chen Xueli breathed a sigh of relief. The complex disaster at the mid-stage of the sixth rank was beyond what their Night Watch team could handle alone.

She looked at Chen Mo and said, "The high-level experts have arrived. You must retreat to the outside of the cordon."

Chen Mo shook his head and said, "Regarding the matter of the tree heart, will Qinglian back down?"

Just as Chen Xueli was about to speak, Xuan Ku stepped between the two: "Captain Chen, Benefactor Chen, you are guarding different things, and we are not enemies, are we?"

He looked up at the ginkgo tree and said, "Captain Chen is protecting the people of Linjiang City, while Benefactor Chen is protecting a tree that should not have died in vain."

"But right now, this tree is also guarding Linjiang City."

Suddenly, an aged voice echoed through the night sky: "Well said."

boom!

A figure appeared from afar, stepping through the air.

With each step he took, the spiritual pressure above Linjiang City increased.

Finally, Chen Wuji landed in front of the school.

He held half of the river-suppressing stele in his hands. The stele was ancient and mottled, and water patterns left by the ancient ferry crossing on the river remained on it.

Chen Wuji raised his hand, and half of the river-suppressing stele crashed down.

The ground within a few hundred meters of the school simultaneously sank.

The giant roots that kept rushing towards the residential area seemed to be pressed down by an invisible mountain.

The roots twisted and turned frantically, but could no longer break through the ground.

"The River-Suppressing Stele can suppress the earth's veins for thirty breaths," Chen Wuji said, looking at the ginkgo tree. "But it can't suppress what's inside it."

Two more figures landed almost simultaneously.

Han Lie was clad in crimson spirit armor, and his spiritual energy surged like flames around him.

Lu Cang held a silver-white spear, the tip of which swept across the ground, spreading outwards in streaks of cold light.

Han Lie frowned as he looked at the spiritual pressure above the school: "Judging from the current situation, although the aura of this spiritual plant has reached the sixth level, its true form is not the sixth level. The sixth-level aura it produces mainly comes from the composite spiritual pressure formed by the tree heart, the underground black nails, the water veins of the old city, and the remnants of the abyss erosion."

Lu Cang raised his spear, pointing the tip at a crack in the ground: "Based on our investigation, there are at least thirty-six secondary nails underground. They are using the heartwood of the ginkgo tree as the array's core. If we forcibly move this spiritual plant, there might be problems."

Han Lie nodded, then looked at Chen Wuji: "Elder Chen, how long can you keep this under control?"

Chen Wuji said calmly, "Thirty breaths. Any longer, and the Zhenhe Stele will clash with the waterways of the old city."

Han Lie let out a breath: "That's enough."

The next moment, he raised his hand and waved: "All instructors of the Linjiang City Psionic Academy, listen to my command! Use the outer perimeter of the school as the base to set up the Crimson Flame Isolation Array!"

"Ninth Watch Team, remove all contaminated roots. Remember, only cut the contaminated roots, do not damage the trunk!"

Dozens of figures flew in from both sides of the street.

Those were instructors and high-level students from the Linjiang City Spiritual Energy Academy.

As soon as they appeared, the defenses around the school were immediately stabilized. Chen Xueli looked at Chen Mo and Xuan Ku: "The Ninth Bureau is in charge of disaster relief. If you want to protect the tree, then it proves that it is worth protecting."

Chen Mo looked at her: "How can you prove it?"

Xuan Ku raised his prayer beads: "The Pure Lotus Temple's intention to kill with sacrificial nails will be met with the Green Lotus Society's protection of the Ginkgo Tree, preventing anyone from harming it in the chaos."

Chen Xueli nodded: "Okay, but there's one condition: if anyone harms the people of Linjiang City because of personal gain, I will kill them first."

Chen Mo laughed: "Likewise."

Outside the school, Chen Wuji suppressed the earth's veins, while Han Lie led the mentors to set up the Crimson Flame Array.

A crimson curtain of fire rose from the ground.

The school is completely separated from the surrounding three streets.

Lu Cang, along with high-ranking enforcers from the Ninth Bureau, pursued the enemy all the way into the crevice in the ground.

The silver spear pierced the ground.

boom!

A jet-black secondary nail was picked out.

As soon as the secondary nail left the ground, it burst into a large cloud of gray-black mist.

Lu Cang pressed down with his palm, and silver-white array patterns intertwined.

The gray-black mist was completely locked inside a spirit-sealing crystal.

"The first one, keep looking."

One by one, the underground network of black nails was pulled out, but the spiritual pressure of the Ginkgo tree did not decrease.

Instead, it became even more violent, because the true nail was still deep within the heart of the tree.

Outside the tree heart, Du Feng led the first team forward, and with each step they took, polluted roots pierced out from the ground.

"left!"

Lin Qingxue urgently reminded him, and Du Feng turned around and fired a shot.

The gray-black roots were shattered into pieces.

The wound on Du Feng's arm reopened, and the old injury left by Yue Du continued to sting.

He casually wiped away the blood: "How much further?"

Lin Qingxue closed her eyes, and the blue lotus mark on her chest emitted a faint light.

"It's just ahead; this ginkgo plant can't hold on any longer."

Chen Xueli followed behind, a crimson token hanging above her head. Whenever the roots became too numerous, she would activate the token to press them down.

The closer she got to the heart of the tree, the more somber her expression became.

The gray-black aura here is so dense that it can affect the soul of a fifth-order awakened being.

"Du Feng, you and your men stay outside. Qingxue and I will go in."

Du Feng was taken aback: "No, inside..."

Chen Xueli interrupted him: "Your mental defenses aren't strong enough; going in will only lead to your death."

Du Feng gripped the psionic gun tightly, remained silent for a few breaths, and finally, he took a step back.

"I'll guard the gate. Anyone who dares to go in, I'll break their legs first."

Chen Xueli nodded, and she and Lin Qingxue stepped into the azure-gold spiritual light emanating from the tree's heart.

The next moment, the world turned upside down, and the two entered an endless ginkgo forest.

This time, however, there was no soft moonlight in the ginkgo forest; the sky was shrouded in a gray-black mist, and countless ginkgo branches and leaves were entwined with black vines.

Twisted human faces kept appearing among the vines.

"Cut it down, the tree spirit will eat people, all strange beasts deserve to die, humans can't trust them..."

Those sounds were all expressions of fear and anger coming from outside the school gates, online, and on the streets.

Lin Qingxue's face turned pale: "The Life Sacrifice Nail absorbs people's obsessions."

Chen Xueli gripped the token tightly and said, "Then find the nail."

Deep within the ginkgo forest, a jet-black iron nail hangs in mid-air, with countless gray-black threads extending from it.

Some threads pierce the heart of the tree, some thread run through the ground, and some thread extend towards the myriad lights of Linjiang City.

In front of the nail.

A figure in a gray robe slowly materialized.

It has no physical form; it is like a collection of countless dark thoughts.

"It's the Azure Lotus Mark again." The gray-robed figure looked at Lin Qingxue: "You always think that protection can earn trust, but humans are only afraid of things stronger than themselves."

"The beasts will only tear apart prey weaker than themselves. The so-called coexistence of all creatures is nothing but a pipe dream."

Lin Qingxue did not speak.

Chen Xueli raised the crimson token: "Enough with the nonsense."

boom!

A blazing beam of light slammed into the gray-robed figure, who then waved his hand.

Countless black vines burst forth, their layers binding the spiritual light.

Chen Xueli's face turned pale. This thing used the emotions of the entire city as its power, so it was not an ordinary sixth-level being.

At that moment, the outside world...

Xuan Ku sat cross-legged in the center of the Pure Lotus Heart-Questioning Formation.

Behind him, thirty-six disciples of the Pure Lotus Temple simultaneously formed hand seals.

The pale gold cinnabar between each person's eyebrows slowly lit up.

"Disciples of Jinglian Temple, heed my command!"

Xuanku's voice echoed through the streets: "Today I will not save all living beings, but only those who are willing to turn back. All living beings are fearsome, all spirits."

"But do not do evil out of fear, for the battle will begin."

hum!

Dozens of prayer beads rose into the air at the same time.

The pale golden light spread like a tide.

Outside the cordon.

Many people affected by fear experienced a sudden jolt in their bodies.

The image of the stadium reappeared in the mind of the man who was holding a child and shouting that he wanted to cut down the tree.

The wall collapsed.

His child stood under the wall, a thick tree root emerging from the ground.

The roots held firmly against the falling wall, and cracks appeared on the surface of the roots, with bluish-gold sap flowing continuously through the cracks.

The man's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground: "It saved my son."

Another mother covered her face, and she saw in the ginkgo tree's heart a clumsy and panicked thought: "Don't go, it's dangerous outside. Stay, I'll protect you."

Tears streamed down her face: "It didn't want to hurt the child, it just couldn't speak..."

More and more people's fears are being dispelled by the Buddha's light.

The gray-black threads extending outward from the sacrificial nail also began to dim one by one.

But among the crowd, several of the most emotionally charged awakened individuals suddenly clutched their heads and screamed in agony.

Wisps of gray-black mist emerged from their bodies.

The mist turned into tiny black lines.

Wanting to escape back to school, Xuan Ku opened his eyes: "Wrath-Inducing Seal, so you are the nail slaves of the Life Sacrifice Nails."

The faces of those awakened individuals were contorted.

One of them roared, "You cultists, what right do you have to touch my soul!"

Xuanku's voice was calm: "This humble monk did not touch it; it was the evil in your heart that came to the fore."

A pale golden light descended.

The black lines crumbled inch by inch.

The awakened individuals collapsed to the ground.

Some people wept, some stared blankly at their own hands, while Chen Mo, along with the members of the Qinglian Society, stood on the outermost side of the Questioning Heart Formation.

Several awakened individuals, incited by the remnants of the Asta Party, armed with psionic saws and spirit-breaking axes, attempted to break into the school amidst the chaos.

"Get out of the way! This tree could kill someone!"

"We're here to rid Linjiang City of this menace!"

A member of the Qinglian Society was knocked back several steps.

Chen Mo slowly raised his hand.

Pale green vines sprouted from the ground.

The vines didn't prick, but they lifted all the psionic saws and spirit-breaking axes into the air before smashing them to pieces.

Bang bang bang!

Fragments were scattered all over the ground.

Chen Mo stood in front of the vines.

"You can be afraid of it, or you can disbelieve in it, but whoever dares to take advantage of its injury, dig out its heartwood, or sever its roots, will be an enemy of the Green Lotus Society."