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

Several transport vehicles were parked outside Heilong Lake. After being inspected by the Qinglian array pattern, the sealed boxes were opened one by one.

The gray-silver metal gleamed faintly in the sunlight, and the original hunting marks on its surface had been completely worn away.

Little Jinbao circled the box once, its nose twitched slightly, and it immediately stretched out its paw: "Master, there are still impurities in these things. I can help Xuanjia refine them first."

Chu Zhougen pulled a piece of metal from the box and placed it in front of it: "Keep all the main materials that have been refined, and the remaining scraps are yours. Don't count the complete materials as scraps."

Little Jinbao's eyes, which had just lit up, paused slightly before it puffed out its chest and said, "When did I ever do such a thing?" As soon as it finished speaking, it ran towards the lake with the box in its arms.

Dark golden light flowed from its claws, covering the entire piece of Soul Ship metal.

As the tiny impurities were peeled away layer by layer, the originally mottled metal gradually became clear, revealing streaks of silver spatial patterns inside.

Instead of directly covering the back of the Xuanjia armor with metal, Chu Zhou first used his roots to probe into the armor's patterns, finding the seven most unstable edges of that space, and then sending the refined materials in one by one.

Seven silver lines slowly closed along the tortoise shell, and the space, which was originally only about ten feet in size, began to expand outwards.

The mud and sand at the bottom of the lake trembled, and strands of spiritual energy from the water and soil were drawn into the back armor by the Xuanjia.

It did not swallow the entire lakebed; it only took the rocks and soil from the area designated by Chu Zhou.

After the soil and rocks entered the armor pattern, they were repaved into low stone ridges, and a shallow pool of water gathered between the ridges.

The Black Tiger King lay on the shore, controlling the array patterns to separate the surging lake water.

Several curious young animals had just poked their heads out when it used its tail to pull them back to safety one by one.

After refining the last piece of metal, Little Gold Treasure hurriedly climbed onto the back of the Xuanjia armor.

It found its treasure cave, but discovered that although the entrance was right in front of it, it had been running for a long time and still hadn't reached it.

"Master, why is my hole moving backward?"

Little Jinbao stopped and looked back at the shore.

The lake, which was originally just a few steps away, is now separated by a newly appeared grassy slope.

Chu Zhoulianye swayed gently: "It's not that the cave is retreating, it's that the space on the back of the Xuanjia is unfolding."

"Go out first, wait for the nail pattern to stabilize, then you can go back in and count your things."

The roots of the blue lotus wrapped around Little Golden Treasure's hind legs and lifted it back to the shore.

The black armor sank into the lake, leaving only seven silver lines that continued to flow in the dark water.

For the next three days, the water level of Heilong Lake did not change significantly, but a dull echo could be heard from the center of the lake.

That wasn't the sound of battle, but rather the rock strata within the armor's space gradually harmonizing with the Xuanjia's own spiritual power.

On the morning of the fourth day, a circle of gentle waves rose on the lake.

The Xuanjia armor emerged from the water. Instead of an exaggerated palace, there was only a dark blue light curtain covering several seemingly ordinary stone ridges.

Chu Zhou's divine sense passed through the light curtain, only to see a world far wider than it appeared.

The rocky ridge, the pool, and the flat land are connected to each other, and the outermost part is still shrouded in a thin mist, not yet fully stable.

[The Xuanjia has completed its bloodline evolution, obtaining its evolved form: the Abyss Xuanjia.]

[The armored cave has begun to take shape, capable of stably supporting water, soil, buildings, and low-level life forms.]

Currently, the grotto-heaven relies on the main body for maintenance and does not yet possess the ability for independent interstellar travel.

Xuanjia slowly stretched out its limbs and swam around the center of the lake. The water in its shell did not ripple, and even the round ore piled up by Little Gold Treasure at the cave entrance did not roll.

Little Jinbao immediately jumped into the light curtain and headed straight for the treasure cave. Black Tiger King followed behind, stopped on the grassy slope, and tried pressing the ground under his feet, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes.

"In the future, when there is a flood, the young beasts can also hide here." The Black Tiger King looked at the distant stone ridge and began to consider which place would be suitable for those little creatures that cannot swim to temporarily settle down.

Little Jinbao ran back with the ore in his arms and pointed to a large flat area outside the cave: "Can this place also be mine? I can bring back lots of things when I go out in the future."

Chu Zhou's roots descended from above the light screen, marking out several areas on the flat ground: "This area is for repairing the soul chambers, and that area is for building the sanatorium. Your cave will remain, but we can't continue piling up ore outside."

Little Jinbao looked down at the newly expanded area, then at Chu Zhou, and couldn't help but mutter, "I provided the materials, so how did it end up being everyone's space?"

Xuanjia slowly turned its head and reminded it, "Master contributed the most; you contributed three pieces." Little Jinbao opened its mouth, but in the end, it carried the ore back to the cave and tidied up the entrance a bit more.

That afternoon, engineers from the Ninth Bureau arrived at the lakeside. Instead of moving heavy, large structures, they first laid out the array-patterned base and assembled the lightweight pavilion and the support frame that could secure the treatment chamber.

Chu Zhou planted a branch of a green lotus in the center of the cave, connecting it to the Soul-Protecting Lamp Array. This place can only accept a limited number of wounded for now; all costs must be calculated in advance to avoid affecting the Xuanjia's own growth.

When the first group of wounded soldiers climbed onto the turtle's back, many thought they had entered a floating resort. It wasn't until they heard a low rumbling sound outside the window that they realized the entire land beneath their feet was moving.

"Hold on tight, we're about to pass a sluice gate." Xuanjia's voice came from the pavilion, calm as if it were a weather warning, but the Back Armor Cave Heaven did not show any obvious shaking.

Lu Zheng lay in the treatment pod, gazing at the receding riverbank outside the window, his gaze lingering for a long time. The young gatekeeper beside him, whose armor had been partially dismantled, had already stood up, leaning on the railing.

On the bank, a convoy of vehicles traveled in the same direction as them. The figure of the Black Tiger King occasionally flashed through the mountains and forests, while several aquatic beasts scouted ahead, pushing floating deadwood to both sides of the river.

The young gatekeeper watched for a long time, then suddenly laughed: "Captain, you don't need to lead this part of the way. Once we reach the Ancestral Realm, it's our turn to find our way."

Lu Zheng looked down at his bandaged shoulder and slowly released the short knife that had been pressing against his side. He didn't reply, but simply pulled the curtains next to the treatment pod open a little further.

After several trips by Xuanjia, a stable waterway was finally established between Heilong Lake and the Guijie Port. The Ninth Bureau set up supply points along the shore, and several previously closed docks were reopened.

This air route is just a small part of the recent changes in China. As the power supply at the nodes stabilizes, news of roads reopening has begun to emerge from counties that were previously separated by the Fusu Mountains.

On the outskirts of Beishan, a freight convoy that had been out of service for a long time re-entered the mountain road. The driver saw the giant ape standing by the roadside, instinctively slowed down, and then noticed that it was wearing a blue lotus pass around its neck.

The giant ape didn't stop the convoy; it simply moved the fallen log blocking the road and pointed ahead to the guardrail that was being repaired. Two Ninth Bureau personnel stood nearby, waving to signal the convoy to proceed slowly.

Outside the Changbai Mountain spiritual plant area, the reopened training sites were packed with applicants. Some had awakened their senses, while others could only control a small amount of soil; neither of them had been favored by the combat departments in the past.

Now, the former can learn to identify diseased spiritual plants, while the latter can assist in repairing spiritual fields. As long as they pass the assessment, they can join the construction team and accumulate combat merits and cultivation resources through their work.

In a newly built soul-protecting room, the elderly father, separated by a blue light curtain, finally heard his son's faint voice. The gatekeeper who had died in the Ghost Realm two years ago could not maintain a complete soul form for long, but he could already recognize his family.

The doctor did not promise to bring the deceased back to life immediately, but only told the elderly man that he could visit regularly in the future. The elderly man nodded repeatedly, and as he left the room, he neatly folded the appointment slip and put it into his breast pocket.

For the first time, the monthly report received by the Ninth Bureau Headquarters listed "non-combat system achievements" separately. The figures for transportation, spiritual plants, medical treatment, and array pattern repair are increasing rapidly.

After reviewing the report, Elder Ye did not order all the new recruits to go to the front lines. Instead, he wrote a comment on the last page: "The more roads that can be repaired in the rear, the fewer times the supply lines will be cut off at the front."

On his first day back at work at the Ninth Bureau of Linjiang City, Lu Cang stopped in his tracks in the lobby. Where the map of the Mysterious Domain used to hang, three new service signs now stood.

There were queues at all three windows: registration for returning souls, extraterrestrial affairs, and passage for intelligent beasts. Among them, an elderly man dressed in old-fashioned armor was repeatedly explaining his birth year to the staff.

Instead of asking him to rewrite the year, the staff pulled up an ancient dating table and carefully checked it. Nearby, a strange ape-like creature carrying a bag of materials sat quietly on a bench, waiting for its number to be called.

Lu Cang turned to look at Su Wan, and after a long while asked, "I only stayed in the hospital for a month?" Su Wan put a stack of new regulations into his arms, indicating that he should not stand in the doorway blocking the way.

"These things can't stop while you're recovering," Su Wan said, pointing upstairs. "The office is all set up, but the doctor said you can only handle official business for half a day at most each day."

Lu Cang flipped to the top document, but instead of an emergency city lockdown, he saw calculations of the reception capacity for three new air routes. He was silent for a moment, then finally showed his first smile since waking up.

As order is gradually restored across the Dragon Kingdom, the changes deep within the Earth's veins have not ceased. The power accumulated from the fifth spiritual energy revival is seeping into even deeper, more enclosed spaces.

In the western desert of Egypt, dozens of stone pillars carved with sun patterns emerged from the ground after a sandstorm that lasted all night.

Between the pillars, a golden sacrificial path, buried for countless years, leads straight underground.

The investigators sent by the Temple of the Sun went deeper into the path and saw a temple guardian sitting in front of a stone gate at the end.

The first thing the other person said after opening their eyes was to ask about the current human calendar.

In the depths of the North Sea, a circular stone gate hundreds of meters high emerges from the seabed.

Ancient war songs echoed from within the stone gate. The nearby fleet did not rush in, but instead deployed detection devices on the outside, waiting for further confirmation.

In the southern rainforest, several ancient pyramid-shaped platforms light up simultaneously.

The stone wall, which originally only had incomplete text, began to show new patterns, as if someone was redrawing the ancestral world map on the other side.

Countries soon discovered that what had awakened this time was not merely the ruins of those who had lost their owners. In certain secret realms,

They have even preserved their complete ethnic group, army, and ancient ruling system.

In western Europe, outside the city of Saint-Ville, the bell tower of an abandoned church suddenly began to ring on its own.

A pure white crack appeared in the afternoon sky, revealing layers of suspended steps that descended from the clouds to the ground.

At the end of the stairs lies an ancient city suspended in white light.

The city walls are entirely white, with six towers surrounding each other, and a bright white halo hanging in the center that is not actually the sun.

The spatial rift expanded too quickly, and the investigation team that entered the church first was trapped near the collapsed bell tower.

A dozen or so awakened individuals held up the barrier, watching the rocks falling from above, preparing to break through by force.

Just then, a golden spear fell from the white light.

The spear tip didn't touch anyone; it merely swept lightly through the air, splitting the turbulent spatial currents into two streams that flowed away from both sides of the clock tower.

Immediately afterwards, a man clad in platinum armor walked down the steps.

Six pure white wings slowly unfolded behind him, each feather edge flowing with a bright law.

The investigation team leader looked up and involuntarily tightened his grip on the communicator.

The live streaming equipment was still working in the distance, and the six-winged figure appeared on major platforms around the world almost simultaneously.

"An angel! An angel emerged from the secret realm!"

The reporter's voice was somewhat distorted, and despite the camera zooming in, it was still unable to capture the distorted light surrounding the man clearly.

The six-winged man did not look at the camera, but instead looked down at the city below.

Roads, buildings, power towers, and elevated transportation lines came into view one after another, causing him to frown.