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

Lin Qingxue looked at the dark blue boulder.

The blue lotus mark on her chest throbbed faster and faster.

The mountain-like patterns on that rock bear a striking resemblance to the patterns on the mountain-shaped stone on the shoulder of the mountain demon.

"Don't go near the well opening."

Just as Lin Qingxue opened her mouth, an old voice suddenly came from below the ancient well.

"The mountain has no owner, and the person has broken his promise."

The voice wasn't loud, but it resonated from the depths of everyone's heart.

One of the trainees suddenly froze.

His eyes lost focus, and his steps moved uncontrollably toward the ancient well.

"Zhou Yuan!"

Lin Qingxue raised her hand.

A ray of azure lotus light wrapped around the student's waist, forcefully pulling him back.

Zhou Yuan collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat: "Professor Lin, I just saw my mother."

"She stood in the well and said that Beishan was going to collapse, and that as long as I kowtowed to the mountain god, the mountain god would protect Linjiang City."

Lin Qingxue looked at the ancient well.

The reflections of everyone were mirrored in the well water.

But soon the reflections began to distort, and some people saw their deceased relatives.

Some people saw the beast tide rush into Linjiang City, while others saw themselves trapped under collapsed rocks, covered in blood.

"Close your eyes!" Lin Qingxue's voice suddenly rose. "Don't look at the well water!"

The blue lotus in her palm burst forth with light.

A phantom image of a lotus leaf fell, blocking everyone's view.

The scene in the well water was blocked.

But from the depths of the ancient well, that voice rang out once more.

"The Azure Lotus Seal, the Will to Suppress the Abyss—are you willing to become the Lord of Northern Mountain?"

boom!

Suddenly, a terrifying suction force emanated from the ancient well.

The blue lotus mark on Lin Qingxue's chest lit up.

Strands of cyan light were forcibly pulled out from the mark and flew towards the ancient well.

Lin Qingxue let out a muffled groan and quickly retreated.

"Trying to steal my mark?"

She formed a hand seal, and the spiritual light of the blue lotus condensed into a barrier in front of her.

boom!

An invisible force crashed into the barrier.

Lin Qingxue was so shocked that she staggered back several steps, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

The team members immediately surrounded them.

"Professor Lin!"

"fine."

Lin Qingxue wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, stared at the ancient well, and said in a deep voice, "This thing doesn't want to kill us; it wants people to accept its power."

The words fell.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the dark blue boulder in the center of the main hall.

From the crevice, a giant hand formed from mountain rocks reached out.

The giant hand was covered with cracks, and a pale golden light flowed from each crack.

The giant hand did not slap down on the crowd, but instead opened its palm.

In the palm of his hand, a yellowish-brown stone seal floated silently, with two ancient characters engraved on it.

【Zhenshan.】

"Receive the seal, the North Mountain will protect you, and Linjiang will be free from disaster."

The voice grew clearer, and the students stared at the stone seal, their breathing becoming rapid.

That's the seal that guards the mountain; if we could get it...

He could then control the earth's veins in the North Mountain and even become a mountain god, so Lin Qingxue did not approach.

She gazed at the stone seal and said, "What you are looking for is not the one who guards the mountain; what you are looking for is someone who is willing to kneel before you."

The sounds from the ancient well stopped.

Lin Qingxue continued, "Beishan should not belong to me, nor should it belong to anyone else."

"If you truly want to protect Beishan, you shouldn't force people to accept your power through disasters, nor should you use other people's fear to gain offerings."

boom!

The water in the ancient well suddenly burst open.

Countless water jets flew up into the main hall.

Water lines condensed in mid-air.

They transformed into thirty-six faceless clay figurines.

Each clay figurine holds a burning black incense stick in its hand.

When incense and candles are burning.

In the thick fog outside the temple, the faint sound of footsteps could be heard.

The footsteps were numerous, as if many people were approaching the North Mountain God Temple.

"Offering incense on the mountain will bring protection from the mountain god, and those who make vows will be blessed."

A low murmur, piercing through the thick fog.

The team members' expressions changed drastically.

"Someone has been lured here!"

Lin Qingxue looked outside the temple.

She finally realized.

This is not simply an unusual movement in the ancient well.

This thing is using the geomantic veins of Beishan to influence the people around Linjiang City.

If ordinary people were to enter the mountain god's temple, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Zhou Yuan, you take two people and guard the temple gate. The rest of you, come with me down the well to rescue people."

Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "Instructor Lin, it's too dangerous down there."

"Those two staff members are still down there." Lin Qingxue looked at the ancient well. "They can't stay inside."

She walked to the well.

Above the well wall, concentric stone steps extending downwards appeared.

The stone steps lead into the depths of darkness.

A spiritual light shone from a blue lotus in Lin Qingxue's palm.

Just as I took my first step, an old voice suddenly came from outside the temple gate behind me.

"In Beishan Temple, there is no mountain god, but a well-pressing stone."

Lin Qingxue suddenly turned around.

Outside the thick fog.

A middle-aged man carrying a box of psionic devices ran quickly into the front of the temple.

It was Mr. Liang from the Awakened Ones transport team.

Lin Jianguo and Master Zhang were following behind him.

Lin Jianguo's expression changed immediately upon seeing his daughter: "Qingxue, what are you doing here?"

"dad?"

Lin Qingxue was taken aback.

Master Liang, panting heavily, looked at the dark blue boulder: "I grew up at the foot of North Mountain when I was a child."

"The village elders said that there is a well in Beishan Temple. If the well water flows upward, no one can throw money into it or kneel down, because the thing at the bottom of the well is not the mountain god."

He finished speaking.

Inside the ancient well, the giant hand of the mountain rock suddenly clenched.

A corner of the roof above the main hall collapsed with a loud crash.

Master Liang and his companions were so shaken that they staggered backward.

Deep within the ancient well.

The voice turned deep and angry: "Mortals, do you still remember the Old Testament?"

"The Old Testament?"

Lin Qingxue frowned.

Master Liang stared at the churning well water, his face pale, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "The old folks in the village used to say that Beishan doesn't belong to anyone."

"People protect the base of the mountain, and the mountain protects the city gate. At that time, there was a great disaster at the foot of the mountain. Countless boulders rolled down from the mountain. It was the well-pressing stone in the temple that shone and suppressed the mountain's momentum."

"Later, the old man left behind a saying: 'Mountains can protect people, but people cannot enslave mountains.'"

boom!

Master Liang had barely finished speaking.

The black water in the ancient well suddenly surged dozens of meters high.

Thirty-six faceless clay figurines turned around simultaneously.

They clearly had no faces, yet they all looked toward where Master Liang was.

The black incense candles burned even more intensely.

"Humans protect the mountain's root?" From the depths of the ancient well, the aged voice was filled with resentment: "The spiritual veins of the North Mountain have been dug up, the mountain's root has been severed, and the old covenant has long been forgotten."

"Since the people have broken their promise, a new one should be established. The one who receives the seal of the mountain shall be the master, and the rest shall be the mountain people."

"Offer your wishes, your spirit, your life, and Beishan will protect you and keep you safe."

"fart!"

Lin Jianguo suddenly shouted angrily.

He stood in front of Lin Qingxue, still holding the psionic crowbar that had been removed from the transport vehicle.

This man, who was usually not very talkative, was now blushing.

"If you want to protect people, then protect them. But if you expect people to kneel before you and give their lives for you, then what kind of mountain god are you?"

The sounds from the ancient well suddenly stopped.

The next moment, the floor of the main hall cracked open, and dozens of gray-black stone spikes emerged from the ground, heading straight for Lin Jianguo.

"dad!"

Lin Qingxue's expression changed.

The light from the blue lotus in her palm had just begun to shine.

boom!

A deep hum suddenly rang out above the temple, and a phantom image of a bluish-silver lotus leaf descended from the sky.

The lotus leaf wasn't large, but it seemed to weigh a ton.

The gray-black stone spikes had just emerged from the ground when they were crushed inch by inch by the phantom of the lotus leaves.

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

A familiar thought entered her mind.

"Step aside."

Lin Qingxue's body trembled: "The Lord of the Azure Lotus?"

On the Qinglian Forbidden Zone side, above Heilong Lake.

The ten lotus leaves of the Chu boat unfolded simultaneously.

Above the lake, the black-gold imperial seal rose, and the green lotus mark within Lin Qingxue's body was originally a protective mark he left in Linjiang City.

Normally, that mark could protect Lin Qingxue and also allow Chu Zhou to sense the nearby erosion and anomalies.

But just now, the thing in the ancient well in Beishan tried to use the Zhenshan Seal to forcibly peel off the Qinglian Seal.

[Ding! Detection indicates the Azure Lotus Mark has been eroded by an unknown contract.]

The objective is to establish a mountain lord contract.

[Abnormal ley line life detected.]

[Should we initiate the descent of the Myriad Miles of Azure Lotus Realm?]

Chu Zhou's lotus leaves trembled slightly: "Descend."

hum!

The black gold imperial seal rotates.

The azure-silver light pierced through the veins of Black Dragon Lake and spread rapidly along the river.

Inside Zhenyuan Ancient City.

The strange rock was still staring at the water mirror.

But when the image of the Beishan Ancient Well appeared in the water mirror, the scarlet stone patterns on its surface suddenly began to flash violently.

"Lotus Demon, wait!"

Chu Zhou paused, then asked, "What's wrong?"

The strange stone stared at the dark blue boulder in the water mirror. After a few breaths of silence, it said with some surprise, "That's not an ordinary evil object. It's a stone embryo."

Chu Zhoulianye swayed gently: "Stone embryo?"

The strange stone said in a deep voice, "Mountains have their own spirits, and stones can also nurture spirits. The North Mountain is a branch extending from the ancestral vein of the mountain. The power of the earth vein has been gathered for hundreds of years. If a spirit stone gets the opportunity, it may be able to nurture a spirit within the stone."

"This stone was supposed to give birth to a guardian spirit, but before it could truly awaken, it was corrupted by a strange aura."

Chu Zhou's gaze fell on the water mirror, where the surface of the dark blue boulder was interwoven with pale gold mountain patterns and black cracks.

It certainly doesn't resemble an inanimate object; it's more like an infant that has just opened its eyes and is enveloped in darkness.

The strange stone said in a deep voice, "The first thing it learned was not to guard the mountain, but to devour wishes, demand masters, and force people to kneel and worship. There is a seal beneath the North Mountain."

……

Beishan, Linjiang City.

The sky grew completely dark.

But above the northern mountain, a ten-petaled blue lotus, obscuring the sky and sun, slowly emerged from the sea of ​​clouds.

Ten lotus leaves, like a canopy in the sky, cast a shimmering light of silver and moonlight over the entire mountain range.

The strange beasts that were originally restless in the mountains all lowered their bodies.

Those ordinary people who had been led up the mountain by Hei Xiang also stopped in their tracks the moment the lotus light fell.

Some people's incense and candles went out, while others stood there blankly, as if they had just woken up from a nightmare.

Inside the mountain god temple, everyone looked up.

A thick, bluish-silver root fell from the ten-petaled blue lotus image.

The roots did not damage the temple; they extended into the darkness along the mouth of the ancient well.

Suddenly, the giant hand of rock in the ancient well rose up and slammed down on the roots.

boom!

The giant hand of the mountain rock just touched the roots.

On the roots, the black and gold lotus patterns suddenly lit up, and dense cracks appeared on the surface of the giant hand.

The next moment, the giant hand shattered with a deafening roar.

The well water shot into the sky, and the thirty-six faceless clay figurines emitted sharp screechs, while the black incense sticks in their hands exploded simultaneously.

Lin Qingxue stood at the edge of the well.

She saw the blue-silver root descending continuously down the stone steps.

Soon after, two violent coughs were heard from down the mine.

Two staff members who had previously gone missing were pulled out of the darkness by roots and placed on the floor of the main hall.

The two were soaking wet, their hands and feet wrapped in black mud threads, but thankfully they were both breathing.

"Help!"

Lin Qingxue immediately spoke up.

Zhou Yuan and the others quickly stepped forward and dragged the two staff members outside the temple, while the blue-silver root continued to descend.

At the deepest part of the ancient well lies a huge grotto hidden beneath the North Mountain, with ancient mountain patterns covering the surrounding rock walls.

The mountain-shaped patterns were broken in some places, and gray-black mist kept gushing out from the broken areas.

In the center of the grotto.

A black rock, over ten meters tall, floats above.

The surface of the stone has black veins that look like blood vessels.

Thirty-six black wish lines extended from the surface of the stone, passed through the rock strata, and connected with the faceless clay figurines on the ground.

It is devouring the fear, prayers, and spiritual energy of those led up the mountain.

The roots of the blue silver tree fell down.

The black stone suddenly trembled.

Two cracks appeared on the surface of the stone, and from within them, a pair of cloudy, pale golden eyes emerged.

[Ding! Pupil Abyss Stone Embryo detected.]

[Status: The ley lines are imbued with spirit, but have been contaminated by an unknown and strange substance.]

[Current Realm: Early Stage of Fifth Rank]

[Current obsession: Seeking the Lord, securing the mountain, fulfilling wishes.]

The stone embryo uttered a deep voice: "Suppressing Abyss... Seal of Suppressing Abyss... Give it to me..."