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

Su Wan stared at the abandoned well, below which a wisp of gray-black mist was extremely faint.

If Lin Qingxue hadn't used the listening stone tablet to draw out the earth's veins and mountain patterns, ordinary detection instruments wouldn't have been able to detect them at all.

Su Wan said in a deep voice, "Seal off Mine No. 3. First team, bring the ley line detector, the Soul Cleansing Lamp, and the Spiritual Energy Rope."

"No one is allowed to approach within fifty meters of the abandoned well without my order."

"yes!"

The players in the ninth inning acted swiftly.

He Yan looked at the mining area map in his hand, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

He walked up to Su Wan and said, "Team Leader Su, I know the structure of the No. 3 well best. I'll go down with you."

Su Wan glanced at him and said, "You're just an ordinary second-tier Awakened One, are you going down there to your death?"

He Yan pointed to a faded red line on the blueprint: "This old ore transport route was left more than ten years ago."

"Later, water seeped into the ground, and the mine collapsed once. But before the collapse, someone said they saw a green light down there."

"At the time, everyone thought it was just the reflection of the spirit ore, and nobody paid any attention to it."

Lin Qingxue took the blueprint, her fingers landing on the red line, and the pulse-listening stone tablet became hot again.

This time, what she heard was no longer the tearing pain of Beishan, but an extremely faint beating, like a heart sleeping deep in the earth.

"It's downstairs." Lin Qingxue looked up: "Sister Su, I'm going down."

Su Wan frowned and said, "Qingxue, you just came from Beishan Tongmen not long ago."

Lin Qingxue gripped the pulse-listening stone tablet tightly: "I can sense it; it's calling to me."

Upon hearing this, Su Wan didn't waste any words. She picked up her communicator and contacted them directly: "Chen Xueli, Du Feng, you lead the team down the well. Lin Qingxue will be in the middle. Do not leave the team. If anything unusual is found, evacuate first."

"clear."

……

Half an hour later, in the No. 3 old mine shaft.

The mine entrance has been sealed off by an iron gate for many years, and the warning signs on the gate are rusty.

Several members of the Ninth Bureau worked together to pull open the iron gate, and a damp, cold aura wafted out from the depths of the mine.

Du Feng walked at the front, raising his psionic gun, the Soul-Cleansing Lamp at the muzzle illuminating the bumpy mine tunnel ahead.

On both sides of the mine tunnel, many old-fashioned railway tracks and ore carts remain, but those tracks have long been deformed by the rocks.

Chen Xueli held a crimson token in her palm, the flames emanating from it dispelling the surrounding yin energy.

The deeper they went, the more solemn their expressions became, especially on the mine walls.

Fine wood grain lines emerged, extending from the ground.

After passing through the mine tunnels and crawling into countless cracked rocks, one of the team members couldn't resist reaching out to touch them.

"What is this?"

Lin Qingxue's expression was solemn, and she said in a deep voice, "Don't touch it."

The team member immediately stopped.

The next moment, the wood grain on the rock wall lit up, and a faint bluish-green light seeped out from the rock.

The spiritual energy within that team member calmed down on its own.

Du Feng said in a low voice, "It's not Abyss Erosion."

Chen Xueli nodded and said, "Judging from this, it doesn't seem to be an ordinary spiritual plant."

Just then, the blue lotus mark on Lin Qingxue's chest lit up.

It was as if something was existing across the entire North Mountain, echoing her.

After walking several hundred meters more, a huge landslide area appeared at the end of the mine tunnel ahead.

The rocks were piled up like a mountain, and there was a crack in the center of the landslide.

From the crack, an extremely rich emerald green light shone through.

The light was not dazzling, but it carried an ancient and vast life force. Lin Qingxue stopped and released the pulse-listening stone tablet, which flew out of her hand and hovered in mid-air.

A beam of earth-yellow spiritual light descended, causing the rubble on the ground to tremble.

Rumble!

The rocks blocking the mine tunnel rolled aside, revealing a natural stone chamber hidden underground in front of them.

The stone chamber was not large, and the surrounding rock walls were covered with dense, dark green wood grain patterns.

The wood grain resembled countless roots, spreading from the center of the stone chamber towards the entire northern mountain.

In the very center of the stone chamber, a stone, entirely emerald green, floats silently, about half a person's height.

It is crystal clear, with ancient tree rings on the surface of the jade.

Within the tree rings, a fist-sized, bluish-green seed was encased.

The surface of the seed has nine pale gold lines, like nine curled-up young roots.

At that moment, the blue lotus mark on Lin Qingxue's chest suddenly lit up.

hum!

A beam of azure-silver light flew out from within the Azure Lotus Mark.

The sunlight fell on the emerald green stones.

The entire stone chamber trembled instantly.

The pale green seed also twitched slightly.

Boom!

A dull thud.

It seemed to strike a chord in everyone's hearts.

Du Feng's expression changed.

"Is this thing alive?"

Lin Qingxue walked towards the emerald green stone.

Just as she got within three meters.

On the surface of that pale blue seed, a wisp of extremely fine green root suddenly pierced through the stone shell.

The roots wrapped around her wrist, and a strange and ancient image rushed into Lin Qingxue's mind.

She saw an indescribably giant tree.

Tree roots penetrate endless mountains and rivers, tree crowns support the shattered sky, and countless stars revolve around the branches and leaves.

She also saw immortals ascending to the treetops on sword light.

A demonic shadow leaped across the tree branches and soared into the sky.

The last colossal hand, covering the sea of ​​stars, descended from the edge of the sky.

A giant hand tore apart the tree canopy, the ancient tree collapsed, and countless burning branches and leaves fell to the ground. A blurry figure covered in blood, holding a seed, rushed into the ancestral realm.

"Live on, and wait until all the spirits in the ancestral realm are willing to protect you again."

The image suddenly shattered, and Lin Qingxue let out a muffled groan, taking several steps back.

Chen Xueli immediately helped her up and asked quickly, "Qingxue, what happened?"

Lin Qingxue looked at the seed, her voice trembling slightly: "It showed me a tree, a tree that supports the heavens and the earth."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xueli and the others' expressions changed.

A tree that holds up the heavens and the earth?

Could it be the legendary World Tree?

Since the resurgence of spiritual energy, people have confirmed that the myths and legends in the Classic of Mountains and Seas are not fictional.

Furthermore, those ancient secret techniques have been verified by many people and proven to be feasible.

This further convinced me of its truth.

So this was the first thing they thought of.

Meanwhile, at Heilong Lake...

The ten lotus leaves of the Chu boat unfolded simultaneously.

The Azure Lotus Mark within Lin Qingxue's body is connected to his origin.

That scene just now.

Chu Zhou saw it too.

On Heilong Lake.

The Emperor's Seal shook, trembling as he surveyed the mountains and rivers.

The Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Seal within the Imperial Seal also emitted a faint earthy yellow light.

"Tree…"

A childish voice came from deep within the Imperial Seal.

Chu Zhou and Lian Ye paused.

In the ancient underground city.

The strange stone noticed his unusual behavior: "Lotus Demon, what have you discovered this time?"

Chu Zhou did not answer.

He directly unfurled a blue-silver water mirror above the ancient city.

In the water mirror.

The scene in the Beishan mine cave appeared clearly, and when the strange stone saw the emerald green stone, the scarlet stone pattern suddenly froze.

The entire ancient town of Zhenyuan fell silent.

After a long while, the strange stone exclaimed in surprise, "It's actually a seed from the towering Jianmu tree!"

Chu Zhou's roots twitched slightly: "You recognize him?"

The strange stone stared at the water mirror, its voice trembling with barely suppressed emotion: "That is no ordinary spiritual plant. According to humans, it is the seed of the World Tree. In the post-Immortal Ancient Era, the World Tree was also known as the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu. Its roots penetrated all realms, and its branches and leaves could support the heavens."

"At its peak, all races of the heavens used the Jianmu tree to cross realms."

"After the war between immortals and demons broke out, the Jianmu tree appeared in the world for the last time. In that battle, immortals, demons and the forbidden beings from beyond the heavens were all fighting for the Jianmu tree. Later, the Jianmu tree collapsed, its roots withered, and even its seeds disappeared without a trace."

The strange stone stared at the pale green seed and said excitedly, "I never expected that there would still be a remnant of the Jianmu tree in the ancestral realm."

Chu Zhou looked towards the direction of the Pupil Gate in the North Mountain, and he was also somewhat excited. He asked, "Does the Moon Abyss Priest want to open the Pupil Gate because of this?"

The strange stone said in a deep voice, "It is possible. If the Moon Abyss Priest obtains the seed of the Jianmu tree, he can use the root system of the Jianmu tree to turn a small pupil gate into a boundary bridge connecting the two worlds."

"At that time, it won't need to stick a hand out through the crack; its true form may descend upon the Ancestral Realm."