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

Meanwhile, in Linjiang City, at the Ninth Bureau branch.

As night fell, the entire building remained brightly lit, and the atmosphere inside the conference room was so oppressive that it was almost suffocating.

On the huge electronic screen, real-time monitoring footage of the area surrounding Heilong Mountain was displayed. The fog swirled, the thermal imaging was intermittent, and large areas were completely cut off from communication.

At the conference table, Director Lu Cang stood with his arms crossed, his face grim. He was in his forties, with a buzz cut, a cold and hard face, and a strong military aura. Even when seated, he exuded a mountain-like sense of oppression.

Beside him, Captain Su Wan, dressed in a black combat uniform, stared at the constantly flashing data panel with a solemn expression.

Suddenly, the conference room door was kicked open. A soldier covered in mud rushed in, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

"Report!"

Everyone looked up instantly.

Lu Cang's gaze darkened: "Speak."

The soldier was breathing rapidly, and his voice was trembling.

"Something's happened. The outer perimeter of Heilong Mountain has been breached."

The meeting room fell silent instantly.

Su Wan's expression changed drastically: "Who broke through?"

The soldier swallowed hard: "Multiple powerful families and martial arts factions, including the Bajiquan, Qingcheng, and Longhushan branches, as well as some civilian awakened groups."

"They bypassed the blockade we set up and forced their way into the depths of Heilong Mountain."

Lu Cang abruptly stood up, his face grim. "Who allowed them to go in?"

The soldier's face turned pale.

"No one approved it. Those awakened members of the families said that the Ninth Bureau was deliberately blocking opportunities and preventing awakened members of the public from becoming stronger."

"Some people are also spreading rumors that spiritual fruits and springs have appeared deep in Black Dragon Mountain, and that ancient ruins may even exist there."

Su Wan's pretty face was icy cold: "Idiots, Black Dragon Mountain is not a resource area at all, it's a restricted area. These people are simply courting death."

Lu Cang didn't speak. He clenched his fists, recalling the fierce battle he had recently fought against the strange demonic lotus from Black Dragon Mountain.

He knew all too well how terrifying that demonic lotus was.

It was so terrifying that even missiles couldn't destroy it, that it was even reported to the Ninth Bureau headquarters, which designated Lingnan Black Dragon Mountain as the "Qinglian Forbidden Zone."

They even went so far as to deploy troops to blockade the area, but these powerful families, for the sake of resources, still managed to break in.

The soldier continued, "Also, the outer reconnaissance team just discovered numerous signs of battle in Zone 3."

"There was blood on the ground, broken weapons, and an identity token."

As he spoke, he placed a sealed bag on the table. Inside was a bloodstained token, the Eight Extremes Sect Steward's Token.

The air in the conference room froze, and Su Wan's pupils shrank sharply: "The people from the Eight Extremes Sect are dead, even a second-tier deacon is in trouble?"

The soldier nodded with difficulty: "And there were almost no bodies to be found. The scene looked like it had been cleaned up by something, leaving only a lot of blood and signs of fighting."

"Judging from the marks, it doesn't seem like an ambush."

"It was more like a one-sided massacre."

The conference room erupted in chaos. Some of the other awakened individuals from the Ninth Bureau branch, unaware of the specifics of the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone, paled in disbelief.

"How is that possible? The Bajiquan Sect sent Han Jianguo!"

"Isn't that guy a half-step third-tier cultivator? Is there anything in Linjiang City that can kill him?"

It's no wonder everyone reacted this way, after all, none of them had ever been to Black Dragon Mountain in Lingnan. Su Wan looked at Director Lu Cang, whose face was gloomy.

The meeting room fell eerily quiet for a moment.

Lu Cang raised his head and glanced at everyone. His usually cold and hard face now showed an undisguised solemnity.

"If Han Jianguo really went deep into Black Dragon Mountain, then he is most likely dead by now."

That demonic lotus was already at the fourth-tier beast life level. Even though I was only at the third tier, I couldn't escape unscathed from that fourth-tier demonic lotus. It was too powerful.

"What?"

"Chief, how is this possible!"

"Han Jianguo is a veteran powerhouse. Besides you, who in Linjiang City could kill him?"

Many people's expressions changed drastically, because in their understanding, a half-step third-tier fighter was already the top combat force in Linjiang City, a force to be reckoned with in any organization.

Su Wan was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "It wasn't a human who killed him."

She looked up at the swirling mist on the electronic screen and said solemnly, "It's something from within a restricted area."

The meeting room fell silent again, many of the newcomers looking bewildered: "A restricted area? Wasn't it supposed to be just a zone contaminated with spiritual energy?"

Su Wan looked at everyone and sneered, "Who told you that was still a contaminated area?"

She stood up and placed her long, slender fingers on the screen.

A blurry surveillance video was pulled up. In the video, a giant bird with its body ablaze with golden light was swooping down into the forest.

With a wingspan of over ten meters, a single talon strike caused an entire grove of trees to collapse. In thermal imaging, dozens of red dots vanished instantly.

Then, a dense mass of black shadows swept across the sky, silencing all life signals wherever they passed, and the conference room fell silent.

Some people couldn't help but swallow.

"What is this?"

Su Wan spoke up: "Third-tier exotic beasts, and more than one."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. Tier 3? There were hardly any Tier 3 individuals in the entire Linjiang City, yet Black Dragon Mountain had amassed a whole nest of them?

Lu Cang stood up and walked to the screen, his voice heavy: "Do you know why headquarters designated that place as the [Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone]?"

No one spoke; they all looked at Lu Cang. Lu Cang said, "That's because I personally led a team in there half a month ago."

"What's truly terrifying about that place isn't the strange beasts, but the demonic lotus in the core area. That mutated plant-type beast has already reached the fourth-order life level."

We previously dispatched a special operations team, flying a helicopter, to bombard it with missile fire, but it ultimately survived.

In the conference room, everyone gasped. Even a missile couldn't kill it? What a joke!

A young awakened individual couldn't help but ask, "Chief, could it be a misjudgment?"

"No matter how strong a plant-type alien beast is, it's impossible..."

Lu Cang whirled around, sneering, "Misjudgment? Do you think I'd joke around with the lives of hundreds of soldiers?"

He took a deep breath and said something that sent chills down everyone's spine: "That thing may have already developed intelligence, and its intelligence is no less than that of ordinary humans."

The conference room fell into complete silence. The beasts possessed intelligence? What did that mean?

It signifies domination, hunting, and organizational capabilities, and implies that a truly forbidden zone for life could be born at any time.

Just then, a piercing alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire Ninth Bureau building.

The red light was flashing wildly, and the technician jumped up from his seat, his face pale.

"Chief, the spiritual energy index of Black Dragon Mountain is out of control; the peak energy level has exceeded the warning line and is still rising!"

"Super third-order...super fourth-order fluctuations..."

"Moreover, the spiritual energy throughout the entire Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone is converging towards the central area!"

Su Wan's pupils contracted sharply, as if she had suddenly realized something.

"Oh no?"

She looked at Lu Cang: "Director, is that thing some kind of breakthrough?"

Lu Cang's expression changed completely. If that demonic lotus could withstand missiles anyway...

If they break through again, can Linjiang City still stop them?

He paused for a few seconds, then said, "Immediately notify headquarters and request Level A emergency support!"

"Furthermore, all blockade troops are ordered to retreat another twenty kilometers. From this moment on, no one is allowed to approach the Qinglian Forbidden Zone."

"Anyone who disobeys will be killed!"