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

The underground passage was damp and cold.

The leader in black knelt on the ground, blood still dripping from the wound on his shoulder where vines had pierced through it. Blood slid down his arm, staining the puddles on the ground red.

A moment later, a hoarse voice sounded again on the screen: "The inverted netting along the river has been destroyed?"

The leader in black pressed his forehead to the ground: "Your subordinate is incompetent."

"This is not your fault; that plant should not have existed in the first place."

The leader in black raised his head, his face filled with resentment: "My lord, Wenxue Yinxing severed its ancestral roots, causing its cultivation level to drop to the fourth rank. The humans in Linjiang City have also started to establish some kind of regulations to protect spiritual plants."

"Give me another chance, and I'll take my men back and destroy it completely."

The man sneered, "Destroying a fourth-tier spiritual plant is easy, but that would be too cheap for it."

The leader in black was taken aback.

The voice continued, "The Spirit-Enhancing Black Nails were never meant to kill a few strange beasts or destroy a few spiritual plants."

"What I want is for them to run rampant in the human cities, and for those they protect to raise their swords themselves."

"The more you protect, the more painful the betrayal will be."

"Once everyone believes that the strange beasts eat people and the spiritual plants harm people, they will naturally clean up these things that should not exist for us."

A fanatical glint appeared in the black-clad leader's eyes as he excitedly asked, "Your subordinate understands. Does Your Excellency still intend to activate the backup plan for Linjiang City?"

"As planned, the target location is set at the South City Spirit Beast Rescue Center."

"That white ape guarding the nest has protected dozens of cubs and was once imprisoned by humans. If it can witness the thing it fears most falling on those cubs once again, it will be a great help."

"It will resemble a horde of beasts more than a ginkgo tree."

hum!

A faint blue light suddenly appeared from the wound on the shoulder of the leader in black.

The bluish light was as fine as a hair.

If you don't look closely, you'll almost be covered in blood and flesh, but the figure on the communication screen suddenly stopped.

"etc."

The leader in black was stunned.

The next moment, a small green leaf mark, the size of a grain of rice, appeared in the wound on his shoulder.

The mark swayed with each step, like a tender sprout just breaking through the soil, and the smile on the black-clad leader's face froze.

"What is this?" The voice on the screen instantly turned grim: "Fool, your whereabouts have been exposed."

The leader in black suddenly raised his hand, trying to tear open the flesh on his shoulder, but he couldn't even touch the wound.

A gray-black rune suddenly lit up on the communication screen.

"If you're being targeted, you have no reason to continue living."

The black-clad leader's pupils constricted sharply: "My lord! I also know..."

Before he could finish speaking, his chest suddenly caved in.

One after another, gray-black threads emerged from the heart, like countless tiny venomous snakes, instantly covering the entire body.

The leader in black lay in the floodwater, convulsing, staring intently at the screen, blood foam constantly gushing from his mouth.

Before it died, the green leaf seed suddenly bloomed.

Fragments of images, following the underground spiritual veins, crossed half of Linjiang City and flew into the distance.

Seven black trucks without license plates.

Boxes of metal with old spiritual material labels.

The contents of the iron box were not ordinary elixirs.

Instead, they were spirit-summoning secondary nails wrapped in black silk.

The final image freezes in front of a white building with a sign hanging on it.

Linjiang City Animal Rescue Center.

……

Outside of the First Middle School.

The morning light shines through the street.

The ginkgo trees are all withered and yellow, their branches and leaves rustling in the wind.

The police cordon outside the school has not yet been removed.

Dozens of members of the Ninth Bureau stood guard nearby, and a psionic monitoring array was spread out around the school, with silver-white array patterns flowing slowly along the ground.

Su Wan stood in front of the temporary command vehicle, and on the screen was the newly compiled spiritual pressure report.

[Ginkgo's current life level: Peak of Tier 4.]

[Tree heartwood stability: 43%]

[A new guardian spirit has been detected.]

[Recommendation: Conduct tree core sampling and establish a long-term monitoring database.]

A researcher standing nearby whispered, "Team Leader Su, this mutation of the ginkgo tree involves the Life Sacrifice Nail and a sixth-order composite disaster. The remnants in its heartwood are crucial for studying the Spirit-Inducing Black Nail; we'll only take a small sample."

Su Wan looked towards the center of the playground.

On the trunk of the ginkgo tree, there is a jagged crack.

But from the crack, a tender green leaf quietly peeked out.

A moment later, a thin twig drooped down from the trunk, with a half-green, half-yellow ginkgo leaf curled at the end.

The leaf fell and landed at Su Wan's feet.

The researcher was stunned. Su Wan bent down and picked up the ginkgo leaf. A faint gray-black scent remained on the leaf.

These are the erosion patterns left after the main sacrificial nail shattered.

"Take what it's willing to give and use it for research."

Su Wan handed over the leaf: "No one is allowed to touch what the tree heart doesn't want to give."

The researcher opened his mouth, and Su Wan looked at him: "Article 1 of the Special Regulations for the Protection of Spiritual Plants in Linjiang City."

"The guardian spirit plant is not unclaimed material. No one may collect its heartwood, roots, or spirit core without its consent."

"This is a qualification it earned with its life."

The researcher took the ginkgo leaf, his expression complex: "Understood."

In the distance, the school gates opened, and several teachers led students back from the temporary resettlement point to retrieve their books.

They did not approach the ginkgo tree.

I just stood far away at the edge of the playground.

A little girl bowed to the ginkgo tree and said, "Grandpa Ginkgo, we'll come to class again tomorrow."

The tree branch swayed.

A golden leaf slowly drifted down and landed on the girl's shoulder.

Linjiang City, Old Town.

Inside an inconspicuous old teahouse.

The doors and windows were tightly closed. There were no statues of gods or flags inside. A dozen or so awakened individuals sat at a table, each wearing a blue leaf badge on their chest.

Center of the desktop.

A psionic projection screen was floating.

The video playing on the screen was footage of Chen Mo working for the Asta Group back then.

The image was blurry, but Chen Mo could be seen standing next to the truck, with several spirit beasts bound by chains being sent into an alloy cage.

Below the video.

Lines of glaring text kept scrolling.

[Chen Mo, the president of the Qinglian Society, once captured spirit beasts for the Asta Group. Those who worship exotic beasts actually made their fortune selling them.]

Is this what they mean by the coexistence of all spirits?

The room was very quiet.

Finally, a young member couldn't help but ask, "Brother Chen, are these things true?"

Chen Mo sat by the window, not looking at the projector, his fingers holding a bloodstained green leaf mark.

That was the image transmitted back by the seed planted by Aoba, and she said, "It's real."

Everyone's breath caught in their throats.

Chen Mo raised his head: "I provided the coordinates for the Asta Group. I also personally escorted some of those spirit beasts onto the truck before they were sent into the lab."

"I've taken money and spiritual materials; I've survived on those things."

A woman frowned: "Then why should we guard all souls?"

Chen Mo said, "I am not qualified, nor am I qualified to forgive myself for those spirit beasts that died in cages."

He placed the Green Leaf Mark on the table: "Anyone who wants to leave can leave now. The Green Lotus Society does not bind people with faith, nor with gratitude, nor does it absolve anyone of past sins."

"Those who are willing to stay are not following me, Chen Mo, to atone for their sins, but to continue down this path."

No one spoke inside. After a moment, the first to speak was a middle-aged man with animal claw marks on his arm.

"I used to hunt beasts. My father was trampled to death by a beast tide, and I hated all strange beasts. But later, my daughter was dragged out of the black tide by a blue wolf."

"I just realized that hatred is one thing, but taking out one's anger on all living things is another."

He removed the blue leaf badge from his chest, and everyone's expression changed.

The next moment, the middle-aged man pinned the badge back to his chest: "I stayed not because I trust you, but because I believe in the more than one thousand children that Wenxue Yinxing saved."

The others looked at each other, and a young woman said softly, "I'll stay too, but Brother Chen, we need to add another rule to the Qinglian Society's rules from now on."

"No one can use the concept of 'universal coexistence' as an excuse to whitewash themselves."

Chen Mo nodded: "Add."

He raised his hand, and a pale blue light emanated from his palm, falling on each of the blue leaf badges in the room.

"From today onwards, the Qinglian Society shall establish three covenants."

"Do not take the life of a living being, nor sacrifice the innocent."

"Anyone who uses humans, beasts, plants or trees as livestock, materials or weapons is an enemy of the Green Lotus Society."

"Furthermore, the Qinglian Society will not serve humans or kill for beasts. Humans have the Ninth Bureau to guard them, and we will guard those with spirits who cannot be found elsewhere."

hum!

One by one, the green leaf badges lit up.

Chen Mo closed his eyes, and the scene transmitted back by Qingye's seed reappeared: the spirit beast rescue center.

A black truck, and an old serial number on the box: Asta Group Biological Assets, South Line Seventh Pier.

Chen Mo suddenly opened his eyes: "Qingyu."

On the windowsill, a palm-sized blue-feathered sparrow tilted its head and looked at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo said, "Go to the North City and keep an eye on the Linjiang City Spirit Beast Rescue Center. Don't get too close; something big is going to happen there tonight."

Outside the Hall of Inquiry.

Xuan Ku sat cross-legged in front of a green lamp, the flame of which was not strong.

The light made the small hall very quiet. Several awakened individuals were lined up outside the door, some seeking purification, others seeking talismans.

Some people just wanted to see what this "eerie temple" standing outside the school looked like.

Suddenly, a young man wearing an expensive designer coat barged in.

His right arm was wrapped in thick gauze, and grayish-black blood was constantly seeping out from the gaps in the gauze. Two bodyguards were following behind the young man.

"Who is Xuanku? Heal him quickly!"

The young man threw a leather suitcase on the ground. The suitcase was opened and filled with spirit stones and beast cores.

The people around him immediately stirred. Xuan Ku didn't look at the box; he just stared at the young man's right arm.

"You possess the aura of three beast souls."

Upon hearing this, the young man's expression changed instantly.

Xuan Ku continued, "A roe deer, a young lynx, and a white-scaled snake—they were all trapped in cages before they died."

Panic flickered in the young man's eyes: "Nonsense! I'm an Awakened One. What's killing a few beasts? Who doesn't hunt beasts these days? I have money. You suppress the Abyss Corrosion for me, and everything in the box is yours."

Xuan Ku twirled his prayer beads and said, "This injury of yours was not caused by the Black Tide. It was caused by the snake's soul backlash after you forcibly took the snake's core after killing the White Scale Snake."

The young man gritted his teeth and said, "So what?"

Xuan Ku looked at him and said, "Release the young beasts you are holding, hand over your ledger of buying and selling beast cores, and take this humble monk to see the creatures still in cages. After that, Jinglian Temple can help you suppress the backlash."

The young man was stunned, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, and sneered, "Are you crazy? I paid you to treat my injuries, and you want me to release all the goods? What kind of Buddhist sect is this?"

Xuanku clasped his hands together: "Jinglian Temple does not sell atonement certificates. Those who wish to repent will be saved; those who do not wish to stop evil will leave with their karma."

The young man's face contorted as he cursed, "I think you're just like the Green Lotus Society—a bunch of beast-worshipping lunatics!"

He turned to leave, but as soon as he stepped out the door, the gauze on his right arm suddenly burst open, and from the gray-black flesh, a phantom white-scaled snake emerged and tightly coiled around his neck.

The young man screamed and fell to his knees. Two bodyguards tried to rush in, but several disciples of the Pure Lotus Academy blocked the doorway.

The prayer beads jingled softly, and a pale golden light shone on the young man's face.

Before the young man's eyes appeared a small white snake locked in an iron cage.

It kept ramming against the cage door, breaking its head and bleeding profusely.

Outside the cage, he was smiling as he picked up the pliers and reached into the snake's belly.

"what!"

The young man clutched his head, screaming in agony. Xuan Ku's voice remained calm: "The Buddha's light doesn't shine on you, not because it's not bright enough, but because you yourself refuse to emerge from the darkness."