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

As Xuanweizi finished speaking, in the center of Black Dragon Lake...

Nine blue lotus seeds slowly rose from the heart of Chu Zhou's main body.

Each lotus seed has a soul pattern wrapped around its surface, purified by the Law of Tribulation.

After the lotus seed left its body, Chu Zhou's aura of law also weakened slightly.

The Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed cannot be infinitely condensed; each seed requires a large amount of life essence and the Azure Lotus Law.

For a short period of time, Chu Zhou can only maintain a maximum of nine ships.

Nine lotus seeds passed through the Azure Lotus Cave and landed on the Myriad Spirits Battle Merit Monument.

[The Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed has been added to the Battle Merit Exchange.]

Current quantity: nine.

[Exchange Requirements: 100,000 Ancestral Realm Battle Merits]

[Lowest level: Rank 7.]

The Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed can preserve a remnant soul and a portion of the target's life essence when the target suffers fatal damage.

The Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed cannot directly revive the deceased.

The goal is to reshape the physical body through the Pool of Rebirth of All Spirits.

[Physical reconstruction carries the risk of failure.]

After the battle merits exchange feature was introduced.

The nine Soul-Protecting Lotus Seeds were not immediately redeemed by individuals.

After discussing with Elder Ye, Qin Zhenyuan decided to prioritize distributing the first batch of lotus seeds to the most dangerous defense lines in the Ancestral Realm.

Three were left at the lunar base, three were sent to Kunlun Tianmen, and one was given to the Tokyo Bay Coastal Defense Corps.

One was left on the remnant star guarding the boundary, and the last one was placed in the Pool of Ten Thousand Spirits.

As a backup lotus seed for the first human experiment of physical reconstruction.

No one expected that this experiment would come so quickly.

Five days later.

At the lunar base, a captured Hunter's Court flagship is undergoing its third energy dismantling.

Shen Xinglan stood outside the ship, with the internal structure of the main ship's energy core floating in front of him.

This energy core was once contaminated by the Arbiter's Law of Theros. Most of the slave marks have been purified by the Azure Lotus, but in the deepest part, there is still a silver-black crack that cannot be detected by ordinary equipment.

When the main ship's energy was reactivated, the silver-black crack suddenly opened, and a surge of star marrow energy, compressed countless times, erupted from the core.

"Shut down the third energy valve!"

Shen Xinglan's voice echoed throughout the experimental area.

Hundreds of researchers quickly retreated, as the third energy valve was closest to the core.

The automatic shutdown system has been corrupted and destroyed by the laws.

If the energy is allowed to continue spreading, the entire main ship will explode inside the lunar base.

A seventh-level gatekeeper who was standing guard by the valve did not evacuate with the others.

He turned around and gripped the deformed mechanical valve with both hands.

"Zhou Ye, come back!"

Shen Xinglan immediately recognized the other party. Zhou Ye did not turn around, and all the power of the Star Pattern Armor flowed into his arms.

The previously stuck energy valve began to turn little by little.

At this moment, the silver-black cracks fully opened, and a beam of star marrow light pierced through the experimental area. Zhou Ye's star-patterned armor only lasted for a moment before it completely melted in the beam of light.

He still held the valve with both hands, and completed one last turn before his body collapsed.

Click!

The third energy valve was completely shut off, and the star marrow energy that was about to burst out of the main ship was forced back into the core.

Shen Xinglan mobilized external energy, and more than a dozen layers of sealing formations descended simultaneously.

The explosion of the main ship was prevented, but where Zhou Ye was, all that remained was a patch of metal ground scorched by star marrow.

His body, along with his star-patterned armor, vanished.

In the experimental area.

No one spoke until an extremely faint blue light shone from the metal ruins.

A soul-protecting lotus seed slowly rose into the air.

Numerous cracks have appeared on the surface of the lotus seed, but inside, a nearly transparent remnant soul is curled up.

Shen Xinglan immediately went to the front of the lotus seed.

"Detect vital signs."

Several psionic scans descended.

The target's physical body has been completely destroyed.

[Soul integrity level: 63%]

[Preservation rate of the essence of life: 41%.]

The Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed is collapsing.

[It is expected to last for twelve hours.]

Shen Xinglan said without hesitation, "Prepare to head to Black Dragon Lake."

The lotus seeds were placed in the Star Marrow Protection Chamber.

Lin Qingxue, on the other hand, built a tree root network.

Open a direct passage connecting to Heilong Lake.

Less than ten minutes.

The Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed was then sent into the Pool of Ten Thousand Spirits.

The ten lotus leaves of the Chu boat unfold.

The Pure Lotus Law of Purification resides in the lotus seed.

The parts of Zhou Ye's remnant soul that had been torn apart by the energy of the star marrow began to slowly reconnect.

Shen Xinglan sent all of Zhou Ye's past physical data into the Myriad Spirits Rebirth Pool.

Bones, flesh, blood vessels, nerves.

A large amount of life essence, with the remnant soul as the core, gradually reassembles into the body.

Halfway through the reshaping process, the new body within the Pool of Myriad Spirits suddenly showed signs of collapse.

Zhou Ye's remnant soul was too poorly preserved to support a seventh-tier physical body.

【warn! 】

The target's divine soul cannot bear the seventh-tier life essence.

[Continue shaping; the target's remnant soul may completely collapse.]

Chu Zhou did not forcibly retain Zhou Ye's seventh-tier power.

The roots of the blue lotus entered the pool of transformation, drawing out all the excess life essence.

"Lower the physical level."

Shen Xinglan immediately adjusted the Star Marrow infusion, and the aura of the newly formed physical body continued to decline from the seventh level.

Sixth rank, fifth rank, and finally stopped at the peak of fourth rank, Zhou Ye's remnant soul finally stabilized.

Seven days later.

In the center of the Pool of Ten Thousand Spirits.

A hand emerges from the pool.

Zhou Ye opened his eyes again.

Most of his memories remain intact.

He simply forgot the three months before he entered the main ship's testing area.

Having lost his strength from the seventh rank to the fourth rank, Shen Xinglan came to the edge of the pool.

"How are you feeling?"

Zhou Ye looked down at his hands, which had grown back.

He didn't first ask his body, "Has the third energy valve been shut off?"

"It's shut down." Zhou Ye breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "Did the main ship explode?"

"no."

"That's good."

After the news was made public.

For the first time in the world, the effects of the Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed have been truly witnessed.

It cannot bring people back to life without a cost.

Zhou Ye lost most of his strength and also lost three months of his memory.

During the process of physical reshaping, he almost failed completely, but he ultimately survived the explosion of the star marrow.

When Zhou Ye put on his Gatekeeper armor again and returned to the lunar base.

All the gatekeepers outside the experimental area bowed to him at the same time.

Zhou Ye did not return to the main combat legion, but instead went to the lunar engineering department.

With fourth-tier strength, he began his cultivation anew.

The number of applications to exchange for the Soul-Protecting Lotus Seed also increased to hundreds of thousands on this day.

However, the Wanling War Merit Stele still only showed eight, and Chu Zhou did not lower the exchange requirements despite the increase in the number of applicants.

Being able to preserve a remnant soul does not mean that death has no cost; the gatekeeper still needs to revere the starry sky.

……

On the twentieth day of the fifth spiritual resurgence, ancient ruins around the world began to open one after another.

The Siberian ice sheet.

Three hundred awakened beings from the Northern Bear Kingdom entered the Bone Jar of Ten Thousand Beasts.

Inside the bone jar, there were no treasures or ancient cultivation techniques, only the skeletons of hundreds of thousands of strange beasts in battle stances.

Some of the skeletons were as large as mountains.

Some were only half-body, and they all faced the deepest part of the bone jar.

As if still on guard against an enemy before his death, the commander of the Northern Bear Kingdom did not touch the remains, but instead took off his weapon and saluted the entire urn of bones.

"The future gatekeepers of the ancestral realm have come to take your place."

The sound faded.

The first beast soul rose from the corpse, followed by the second.

Hundreds of thousands of ancient beast souls opened their eyes simultaneously.

The beast souls did not rush towards the human bodies, but instead hovered around the awakened ones of the Northern Bear Kingdom.

An ancient giant bear with only one horn came before the commander of the Northern Bear Kingdom. It stretched out its sharp claws and pressed them onto the commander's star-patterned armor.

Thick animal patterns quickly covered the surface of the armor.

[The awakened ones of the Northern Bear Kingdom have gained the recognition of the Beast Legion.]

[Inherited: Beast Soul Armor.]

[Beast souls that voluntarily sign a contract with humans can be integrated into the Star-Patterned Armor.]

Beast souls and humans can share some of their senses and power.

[Warning: Forcibly enslaving beast souls will result in a backlash from the Beast Bone Jar.]

The Northern Bear Kingdom did not withhold the Beast Soul Armor technology; all data was sent to the lunar base that same day. In exchange, the Northern Bear Kingdom received the first batch of three thousand sets of Beast Soul Armors.

In the Alps, Cassian stood in front of the Heavenly Furnace, on the surface of the furnace's gate.

There was an axe mark that ran through the entire mountain range, and the Star-Splitting Battle Soul within him had just approached.

The axe mark then glowed with a dark red light. Cassian took out the Star-Splitting Battle Axe and, following the ancient axe mark, unleashed another strike.

Boom!

The gates of the Heavenly Furnace, sealed for 100,000 years, opened to both sides, releasing a golden flame devoid of temperature.

The flames surged from the furnace and touched the star-patterned armor, but instead of burning the metal, they gradually reduced all impurities on the armor's surface to ash.

At the deepest part of the Heavenly Furnace, three hundred and sixty-two pieces of ancient law-based metal float, next to each piece.

Each piece was engraved with complete smelting methods. Shen Xinglan led the human research team into the Heavenly Furnace, and the third upgrade plan for the Star Pattern Armor was officially launched on this day.

The upgraded Star Pattern Armor still cannot directly confront a tenth-tier opponent, but it allows seventh and eighth-tier awakened individuals to maintain their movements within the range of the Law's pressure.

In the Egyptian desert, a golden temple rises completely above the ground. At its summit stands a sun-gathering array, over a hundred miles in diameter, aligned with the ancestral sun.

A large amount of stellar energy converged along the golden array patterns, and repairing just one of the energy cores tripled the energy supply of the lunar base.

Old Master Ye stood in the main control room of the temple.

Looking at the ever-increasing energy data.

A long-forgotten plan was put back on the meeting table.

At the very top of the plan are only four words: Mars Gate. Humanity has already mastered most of the structure of the Orion Phase Engine.

It can also use the Jianmu Root Network to locate world nodes, which could allow large-scale legions to traverse the starry sky.

The energy required far exceeded the limits of the lunar base, after the Temple of the Sun appeared.

The last problem has finally been solved.

For the first time, humanity possessed the conditions to build a space portal.

……

South American rainforest.

The ancient tree of ten thousand spirits, which covers hundreds of miles, did not open its doors on its own like other historical sites.

All modern machinery that gets close to the tree canopy will be pushed back to the edge of the rainforest by the vines.

Several teams of awakened individuals entered.

It was also sent out by the tree roots.

The Ancient Tree of All Spirits has not harmed anyone, yet it refuses to communicate with humans.

South American countries eventually turned to the United Nations Defense Council for help.

Lin Qingxue built a tree root network.

It appears at the edge of the rainforest.

She did not move forward.

Instead, he held the pulse-listening stone tablet.

Close your eyes.

The sound of raindrops falling on the leaves.

The sound of insects and beasts crawling across the soil.

The sound of an underground river flowing.

Everything faded from her consciousness.

In the end, only an extremely slow heartbeat remained.

The Ancient Tree of All Spirits does not reject humans.

Its roots are covered with a large area of ​​hunting ground pollution.

The fifth spiritual revival awakens the ancient tree.

It also brought underground pollution back to life.

The Ancient Tree of All Spirits withdrew all its power.

This is precisely to prevent pollution from spreading throughout the rainforest.

Lin Qingxue did not request that the ancient tree be opened to the public.

She took out a blue lotus mark.

Place it on the edge of the rainforest.

"The Lord of the Azure Lotus can help you purify the pollution."

"Should we connect to Jianmugen.com?"

"It's up to you."

Lin Qingxue turned and left.

She had just walked a few dozen meters.

An ancient tree root extends from the ground.

Stop in front of the blue lotus mark.

The tree roots were not removed immediately.

Instead, it senses the resonance of all spirits emanating from within the mark.

There are no slave marks there.

There are no mandatory contracts.

Only eight world nodes actively converge to create the pulse of mountains and rivers.

The Ancient Tree of All Spirits remained silent for a long time.

The tree roots eventually landed on the blue lotus mark.

In Heilong Lake.

All ten lotus leaves on the Chu boat lit up at the same time.

The Pure Lotus Law of Purification follows the imprint.

Entering the South American rainforest.

Large amounts of gray-black pollution gushed from the roots of the ancient tree.

Polluted.

One after another, silver-black vertical pupils opened.

They attempted to infiltrate the Jianmu root network by following the principles of the Green Lotus.

Chu Zhou did not block the connection.

Instead, he took the initiative to activate the Qinglian Town Prison projection.

A dilapidated celestial monument appeared in the sky above the rainforest.

All the pollution from the Hunter's Court was absorbed into the Prison Projection.

They were sent directly to the first level of Qinglian Town Prison.

The Dragon Ancestor of Ten Thousand Calamities is sleeping in the Black Water.

A large amount of pollutants from the hunting grounds suddenly fell from the sky.

They all crashed onto the black dragon's skeleton.

The Soul Flame of the Myriad Calamities Dragon Ancestor suddenly blazed brightly.

"Pure Lotus of Dharma!"

"What do you take this place for?"

Chu Zhou's voice came from the Heavenly Stele.

"The First Level of Prison"

"Is there a problem?"

The Dragon Ancestor of Ten Thousand Calamities was just about to refute.

The nine dragon-suppressing rings tightened simultaneously.

It can only shake all the pollution from the Hunter's Court that has fallen on the skeleton into the black water.

The roots of the lotus immediately began to purify.

Each drop is a pure source of life.

It was formed from pollution.

Chu Zhou separated a drop.

It was delivered to the Dragon Ancestor of Ten Thousand Calamities.

The Dragon Ancestor of Myriad Calamities remained silent for a while.

Ultimately, it was absorbed.

In the South American rainforest.

The pollution at the roots of the Wanling Ancient Tree is decreasing.

The withered tree crowns have begun to unfurl.

Countless green lights rise from the rainforest.

Drifting along the mountains and rivers of our ancestral homeland to the world.

[Wanling Ancient Tree voluntarily joined the Jianmu Root Network.]

[Obtained the Ninth World Node: South American Rainforest.]

[Gain node ability: Nourish All Trees.]

The growth rate of all spiritual plants in the ancestral realm has slightly increased.

After the ninth node is completed.

The South American rainforest is not owned by any country.

The Ancient Tree of All Spirits allows awakened individuals from all countries to enter the rainforest for cultivation.

However, all entrants are required to abide by one rule.

We must not harm a life that is developing intelligence.

This rule was inscribed on the Monument of All Souls' War Achievements.

Anyone who violates this rule.

They will all lose their eligibility to enter the South American rainforest node.

……

The number of world nodes has increased to nine.

Countries have finally realized the true value of nodes.

Nodes can gain not only spiritual energy and resources.

It can also be jointly protected by Jianmu Root Network, Qinglian Pure World and Shanhe Town Boundary.

The White Eagle Nation proposed this.

The first prison is located in the Grand Canyon.

The Qinglian Town Prison node should belong to the White Eagle Kingdom.

The Northern Bear Kingdom hopes that the Bone Jar of Ten Thousand Beasts will become the tenth node.

The Europa League, on the other hand, demanded that the Refining World Furnace be connected to the Jianmu Root Network.

A small country with no ancient ruins.

They worry that they will never receive protection from the nodes.

The Second Joint Defense Conference of the Ancestral Realm.

The meeting was held at the lunar base.

The meeting lasted three hours.

Representatives from various countries still haven't reached a conclusion.

Until a shattered, phantom-like celestial monument appeared in the center of the conference hall.

Above the Heavenly Stele.

A ten-petaled blue lotus slowly unfolds.

Chu Zhou's voice reached everyone's ears.

"World nodes belong to the ancestral realm."

It does not belong to any country.

The representative of the White Eagle Nation stood up.

"Lord of the Azure Lotus".

"The First Prison is located within the territory of the White Eagle Kingdom."

"The United States of America assumed the responsibility of the blockade and also paid a lot of resources."

"We do not want to monopolize the nodes."

"I just want to retain primary management control."

Harrison sat next to him.

They did not wait for their own country's representative to continue.

"Once something escapes from the first level of prison..."

"It won't just be the White Eagle Kingdom that will be destroyed."

"It should never have belonged to any country in the first place."

The White Eagle representative looked at Harrison.

Ultimately, there was no rebuttal.

Chu Zhou formulated four rules.

First, a world node must possess a complete ley line core or an ancient relic capable of bearing the laws of nature.

Second, the countries where the nodes are located must assume the responsibility for their construction, maintenance, and defense.

Third, no country may prevent creatures from the ancestral realm from evacuating or receiving protection through nodes.

Fourth, resources produced by world nodes are distributed according to the merits of the ancestral realm.

Four rules appeared on the Wanling War Merit Monument.

It was then projected onto cities around the world.

The Northern Bear Kingdom did not continue to fight for ownership of the Ten Thousand Beast Bone Jar.

Instead, 30,000 construction workers were dispatched that same day, and the Europa Alliance also began repairing the ley lines near the Refining World Furnace.

In the past, countries were arguing about who owned the resources.

Now, they are competing to see who can complete the node construction faster.