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

"for you?"

Chu Zhou's voice came from the roots of the green silver tree.

The black stone body trembled violently.

Its cloudy, pale golden eyes were fixed on the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal floating above its roots.

"Give me the Seal of Zhenyuan, and I can protect Beishan Mountain, Linjiang River, and countless others for you."

Chu Zhou, his lotus leaves swaying, sneered, "You can barely protect yourself, what are you talking about protecting the mountain?"

The black stone body fell silent.

The next moment, all thirty-six black wish lines on its surface lit up simultaneously.

Countless chaotic thoughts rushed toward Chu Zhou along the path of desire.

Someone knelt down at the foot of Beishan Mountain, begging for wealth.

Some people are selling baby spirit beasts on the black market.

Someone is carrying explosives, intending to blast open the spiritual veins of Beishan Mountain and extract the mountain marrow.

Countless others lost loved ones in the Black Tide and the Beast Tide, kneeling before the mountain god's temple, weeping and begging for protection.

Fear, greed, prayer, despair.

They were all swallowed up by the black stone body.

It had just developed sentience and couldn't distinguish between protection and enslavement.

It only knows that the more afraid humans are, the stronger it becomes.

"Mountain...it hurts..."

The black cracks on the surface of the stone body are constantly twisting.

"People are in pain too, I want to protect them..."

The strange stone's voice echoed in Chu Zhou's mind: "Lotus Demon, there is still hope. The essence of the stone embryo has not been completely corrupted. As long as these wish threads are peeled away and the aura of the pupil gate is forced out, it can restore its true nature."

Chu Zhou's roots drooped down: "I can save you."

The black stone core trembled: "You're giving me the Zhenyuan Seal?"

Chu Zhou said, "I will not give you the Imperial Seal, but I can give you a real position to guard the mountain. If you are willing, you can enter my Imperial Seal and help me guard the Northern Mountain's veins."

"Once you reaffirm your promise at Beishan, I will send you back to the mountain."

The black stone body remained silent for a long time.

It seemed not to understand what returning to the mountain meant, but deep within the stone core, that speck of earthy yellow spiritual light flickered.

"Returning to the mountains, don't the mountains feel pain?"

Chu Zhou's voice was calm: "The mountain doesn't feel pain, and people shouldn't kneel. This is true protection."

hum!

Ten lotus leaves of Chuzhou bloomed at the same time.

Above Heilong Lake.

The Taiyin Zhenjie Pearl shone with a moon-white light.

The Zhenyuan Emperor Seal slowly rotated.

Countless cyan and silver roots extended from the earth's veins, transforming into a massive lotus-patterned magic net that landed on the black stone core.

"net."

boom!

The moonlight shines into the stone embryo through the white lotus.

The thirty-six black wish lines emitted a sharp hiss.

They struggled frantically.

Some of the wish lines even transformed into distorted human faces, rushing towards Chu Zhou's roots.

"Get out of our way! This is our wish. We offered incense and made our vows; the mountain god should protect us!"

Chu Zhou's roots trembled.

The black and gold lotus pattern spread along the wish line: "Wishes can be made, but they are not chains to bind living beings."

Bang bang bang!

Thirty-six threads of wishes, one by one, snapped.

The faceless clay figurines on the ground exploded simultaneously.

On the mountain road of Beishan.

Those who had been lured up the mountain gradually awoke from their daze.

The incense and candles in some people's hands turned into black ash.

Some people knelt on the ground with their heads in their hands, completely unaware of why they had ended up in Beishan.

And at the deepest part of the ancient well.

The black patterns on the surface of the black stone body also continued to peel away under the lotus light.

A large amount of gray-black mist rushed out from the stone body.

The mist was just about to escape towards the pupil.

The Zhenyuan Emperor's Seal crashed down with a deafening roar.

"town!"

The black gold imperial seal hangs in the center of the grotto.

Above the imperial seal.

The moon-white radiance intertwines with the blue-silver lotus pattern.

The gray-black mist was immediately compressed and contracted upon contact with the Imperial Seal.

Finally, it transformed into a black phantom eye, which writhed wildly beneath the Emperor's Seal.

"You cannot stop the one who suppresses the abyss..."

boom!

Black pupils exploded.

Inside the grotto, silence returned.

After the black stone core was freed from pollution, the massive stone body continued to shrink.

Ten meters, five meters, one meter, and finally it transformed into a fist-sized bluish-brown stone core.

The surface of the stone body no longer had black patterns, but only faint golden mountain patterns, which floated in front of Chu Zhou's roots and trembled slightly.

"Return to the mountains, guard the mountains..."

Chu Zhou's roots fell down: "Enter the seal."

hum!

The bluish-brown stone core transformed into a beam of earthy yellow spiritual light, which flew into the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal.

In an instant, the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal trembled violently, as did Black Dragon Lake, Fuyue Stone Ridge, Changbai Mountain Heavenly Lake, Tokyo Bay, and Zhenhai Relic Island.

The five major ley line nodes lit up simultaneously.

The endless source of the earth's veins, flowing along the vast Azure Lotus Realm, converges towards the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal.

[Ding! Detection of the original source of the Northern Mountain Stone Embryo.]

[The will of the earth's vein spirit has been detected.]

The Zhenyuan Emperor Seal is absorbing the essence of mountains and rivers.

[The Zhenyuan Emperor Seal has completed its second transformation!]

boom!

On the imperial seal, the original black and gold lotus pattern continued to spread.

A series of earth-yellow mountain-like patterns emerged from the bottom of the imperial seal.

Ten illusory mountains slowly appeared around the Imperial Seal.

Black gold, moon white, cyan silver, earth yellow.

Four kinds of light intertwined.

The aura of the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal surged instantly.

[The transformation of the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal is complete!]

[Current Form: Imperial Seal of Mountains and Rivers Suppressing the Abyss.]

[New Ability: Mountain Suppression and Gate Sealing.]

[New Ability: Ley Line Reflection.]

The location of the Imperial Seal can suppress mountains, veins, souls, and boundaries.

Chu Zhou sensed the additional wisp of mountain spirit will emanating from the Emperor's Seal.

The stone embryo did not disappear; it simply transformed into a mountain-suppressing spirit seal within the Emperor's Seal.

As long as Beishan keeps its promise and re-establishes itself, it will have the opportunity to return to Beishan and become a true guardian stone spirit.

Just as the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal completed its transformation.

Click!

The deepest part of the grotto.

The massive stone gate suddenly trembled violently.

The tightly closed vertical pupil totem on the stone gate suddenly opened.

"roar!"

An indescribable roar came from behind the pupil.

The entire North Mountain began to tremble.

Above the mountain god temple, large boulders tumbled down from the mountaintop.

Lin Qingxue's expression changed drastically.

"Everyone retreat!"

Master Liang and the others had just rushed out of the temple gate.

The ground then cracked open, creating a huge fissure tens of meters long.

Below the crack, a gray-black mist shot into the sky.

And above the North Mountain.

A huge black shadow suddenly appeared among the lotus leaves of the Ten-Petaled Green Lotus Dharma Form, which had just bloomed.

A giant hand covered in silver-black scales.

It was forcibly protruded from underground in Beishan.

The five fingers resemble five black mountain peaks.

The moment the giant hand appeared.

The sky over the entire northern part of Linjiang City darkened.

"What is that?"

Zhou Yuan's face turned deathly pale.

Lin Jianguo gripped the psionic crowbar.

Master Liang's legs were trembling.

But he still stood in front of the temple gate, preventing the ordinary people who had just woken up from getting any closer to the mountain.

The deepest part of the ancient well.

In the darkness behind the pupil.

The giant hand kept pushing outwards.

The dense chain patterns on the stone gate began to crumble one by one.

The strange rock formations shimmered violently.

"Lotus Demon, be careful. After you refined the stone embryo into the Emperor Seal, the Pupil Gate lost its medium and is forcibly breaking the seal."

Chu Zhou's roots dug into the earth's veins: "Then let's suppress it once more."

boom!

The Emperor's Seal, symbolizing the suppression of mountains and rivers, rose into the sky.

Ten illusory mountains surround the imperial seal.

The black and gold lotus pattern spread wildly along the northern mountain range.

The giant hand had just reached out halfway.

A huge wound suddenly appeared on his palm.

At the edge of the wound, a faint trace of moon-white sword marks remained.

Chu Zhou's gaze sharpened slightly.

This sword mark is exactly the same as the injury left by the Taiyin Fairy's Dharma form during the previous strange phenomenon in the Moon Palace.

The next moment, a deep voice filled with shock came from behind the pupil.

"It's you? It hasn't been that long since we parted ways at Tokyo Bay, and you've already advanced from the eighth rank to the King Realm?"

Chu Zhou, with lotus leaves swaying, said, "So behind the North Mountain Pupil Gate lies a wisp of your will, Moon Abyss Priest."

A brief silence followed behind the pupil.

Then the voice of the Moon Abyss Priest rang out: "Qinglian, last time you relied on the power of the Zhenyuan Emperor Seal and numerous nodes to barely block my attack."

"Now that it has reached the King Realm, the Ancestral Realm is indeed more worthy of destruction than I expected."

Chu Zhou said calmly, "I'm sorry to disappoint you. I've not only stepped into the King Realm, but today I've also obtained something specifically for suppressing seals."

hum!

The Emperor's Seal of Shanhe Zhenyuan suddenly fell.

The Moon Abyss Priest's giant hand roared.

He spread all five fingers at the same time and slapped them toward the imperial seal.

Boom!

The Imperial Seal collided with the giant hand, unleashing a terrifying aftershock that tore a huge gap in the clouds above the North Mountain.

The image of a ten-petaled blue lotus sways gently.

Countless blue-silver roots drooped down from beneath the lotus leaves.

Its roots have penetrated every inch of the North Mountain.

All the tumbling rocks were firmly caught by the roots.

The entire geological veins of the North Mountain were forcibly stabilized by the Ten Leaves Town Lotus Domain.

The stone bearing the weight of Mount Fuyue on the shoulder of the mountain peak shines brightly once more.

It sits cross-legged in front of the ancestral vein of Shiling, with nine illusory ancient mountains appearing behind it.

"Master, I've come to help you suppress the mountain!"

Chu Zhou's voice came: "Borrowing the mountain's shadow."

The mountain demon pressed his palms onto the mountain-supporting stone: "Mountain-supporting, suppress the earth!"

boom!

Deep within the northern mountain range.

A massive, illusory mountain slowly descended from above the pupil.

The giant hand was about to reach out again.

The phantom of the mountain pressed down on its wrist.

The Moon Abyss Priest let out a low, angry roar.

"Bearing the ancestral veins? These damned mountains in the ancestral realm aren't all dead yet!"

Chu Zhou's roots wrapped around the five fingers of the giant hand.

The Emperor's Seal of the Mountain and River Town hung above the giant hand's palm.

The ten mountains at the bottom of the Imperial Seal lit up simultaneously.

"Suppressing the mountain, suppressing the abyss, suppressing the gate!"

boom!

The imperial seal fell heavily.

Large sections of the silver-black scales on the giant hand's palm cracked and broke off.

Black blood sprayed out.

The blood had barely flown out of the pupil gate when it was purified by the moon-white lotus light within the Ten-Leaf Lotus Domain.

The giant hand of the Moon Abyss Priest convulsed violently.

It tried to struggle, but Chu Zhou's roots tightened their grip. He roared, "Get back here! This is not a place for you!"

boom!

The giant hand was forced to retreat continuously by the pressure of the Imperial Seal.

Above the pupil, the enormous vertical pupil spun wildly, and the Moon Abyss Priest's voice was extremely gloomy.

"Damn you, Azure Lotus! You can suppress one door, but can you suppress all the doors in the Ancestral Realm?"

"The fourth tide has only just begun. Once all those slumbering things awaken, I'll see how many mountains and rivers you, this lotus, can protect."

Chu Zhoulianye swayed gently: "I will protect as many as I can, but as for you old dog who dares to show yourself, I will suppress you."

boom!

The Emperor's Seal of the Mountain and River Town was pressed down for the last time.

The giant hand of the Moon Abyss Priest could no longer hold.

Two of his fingers were smashed off by the Imperial Seal.

The severed finger transformed into a large wisp of silver-black mist, which was then swallowed back into the pupil.

The giant hand quickly retracted behind the stone gate.

The vertical pupil totem on the stone gate also closed amidst its unwilling roar.