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

The master of the First Hunting Court did not make another move.

After the thirteenth-order law projection was severed, the black-gold vertical pupil slowly closed in the distant starry sea. The hunting ground aura remaining outside the Ancestral Gate of All Realms was also gradually refined by the Dao Fire Returning to Origin.

Wanling Starport did not lower its guard as a result.

Gu Tianheng left behind 6,000 First Guardian Army soldiers to garrison the three Golden Gates and the ancestral root of Jianmu. Ning Yue also had the Ninth Guardian Army soldiers take turns entering the Soul Domain to repair the souls that had been eroded by the laws of time.

Chu Zhou simultaneously unfolded his three lotus bodies representing all realms.

The first body remained at Wanling Starport, guarding the 361 newly liberated worlds.

The second one landed on the remnant star of the Guardian Realm, responsible for maintaining the road between the seven human star cities and the ancestral realm.

The third Dharma body then returned to Earth along the ancestral gates of all realms.

[The boundary-opening process is activated with a single thought.]

[Target coordinates: Ancestral Realm, Lunar Newt, Mars Gate.]

A temporary world portal is being established.

The ancient, verdant root slowly rose from the center of the Myriad Spirits Starport.

A blue road with a diameter of over 10,000 miles crossed the Civilization Ritual Road, which originally took twelve days to traverse, and appeared directly on the far side of the moon.

There is no golden contract on the Star Road.

There was no determination of what kind of offerings were made.

All warships preparing to return to the ancestral realm only need to register their coordinates with the Wanling Starport to enter on their own.

The first to pass through the passage were not the Triumphal Legion.

Instead, it was a homecoming ship carrying the remains and identification tags of the fallen.

None of the warships had their celebratory lights on; only a quiet blue lotus pattern marked their origin from the Fifth Hunting Court Star Region.

Inside the lunar base, all staff members stood in advance on both sides of the docking port.

There was no music, and no cheering.

One by one, the storage pods were carried off the warship, and their identification tags were checked one by one by designated personnel. The location of the sacrifice was no longer filled in with vague extraterrestrial space, but was instead recorded in full as the coordinates of the All-Spirit Starport, the Civilization Sacrifice Road, and the Fifth Hunting Court Altar.

Zhou Zhenshan stood at the very front of the list.

The three incubators that were sent out initially also returned to the moon along with the first batch of wounded soldiers.

The box had several scratches, but it had been wiped very clean. There was also a note left by Xiao Jinbao stuck on the top.

"All three boxes, not one missing."

Another line was added below.

"Not all the people came back, but they brought their names back with them."

Zhou Zhenshan stared at the note for a long time without saying a word.

Old Ye stood to the side, took the paper off the box, and carefully folded it.

"Take it back to the General Administration's archives."

"Put it together with the list of the dead."

The second batch to return were the wounded soldiers from the expedition who had completed their rotation.

Qin Zhenyuan's chest was wrapped in heavy bandages, and he only had half a black knife left in his hand. Gu Tianheng did not return with him, but remained at Wanling Starport to oversee the defenses.

Lu Zheng and the young goalkeeper whose armor had been partially dismantled were also among the wounded.

This time, the young man did not continue to hold onto the railing.

He carried the repaired communications box on his back and walked down the dock step by step until his feet were truly on the ground of the lunar base, at which point he let out a long breath.

"team leader."

"The box has been brought back."

Lu Zheng glanced at the newly installed metal plate next to the communication box.

The name of the fallen communications officer is engraved on it.

"After we get back, we'll get the repair costs reimbursed first."

The young goalkeeper paused for a moment, then laughed: "I wasn't the one who dismantled the armor this time, so I should be rewarded."

Little Jinbao, who returned last, carried the most things.

It was followed by twelve unmanned transport vehicles.

The first vehicle was loaded with bronze scraps salvaged from the unmarked clock face.

The second vehicle contained the wreckage of the Fifth Hunting Court's main ship.

The third through seventh vehicles were all filled with registered law metals.

The remaining five vehicles contained gifts from 361 worlds to the ancestral realm.

Those things were not considered tribute.

Next to each document is an explanation written by the corresponding civilization.

Someone sent me blue seeds that can grow in a vacuum.

Someone sent me a transparent crystal that preserves the seawater of the mother world.

There was also a small civilization that had just broken away from the Hunter's Court. It couldn't afford any high-level resources, so it made 108 handmade lamps and sent them to the Soul-Guiding Mothership.

Little Jinbao stayed close to the transport vehicle the whole time.

Whenever someone approached, it would proactively emphasize: "The first seven carts are spoils of war, and the last five carts are gifts; they cannot be counted together."

The staff member in charge of the inventory couldn't help but ask, "Where are your things?"

Little Jinbao patted the storage bag on his chest, which was about half the size of his body.

"Mine have already been divided."

As soon as he finished speaking, a small tear suddenly appeared at the bottom of the storage bag.

Several pieces of the overly heavy Hunting metal fell out and smashed into the lunar surface, creating several shallow craters.

Little Jinbao's expression changed, and he immediately lay down at the edge of the pit, stuffing the metal pieces back in one by one.

Qin Zhenyuan passed by and glanced at it.

"There are also many transport ships at Heilong Lake."

"I can carry it."

Little Jinbao hugged the storage bag: "It's just that the bag is of poor quality."

Before returning to Earth, Chu Zhou did not directly open a global portal.

All warships, as arranged by the Ninth Bureau, entered the near-Earth orbit of the Ancestral Realm in batches through the Fire Star Gate.

As the first red-gold warship passed through the lunar stargate in modern satellite footage, countless people around the world were already waiting in front of the live broadcast.

No one knows exactly how big the Fifth Hunting Grounds are.

But they all saw the civilization altar that covered the starry sea, and they also saw the twelfth-tier peak Sky Patrol King fall at the Myriad Spirits Starport.

more importantly.

This time, the Ancestral Realm Legion did not barely hold the city after the enemy arrived at their doorstep.

They deliberately crossed the sacrificial path and destroyed the entire hunting grounds.

No large-scale triumphant parade was held in the Dragon Kingdom.

Only three lists were released in the ninth inning.

The first one is for the fallen.

The second document is for the wounded.

The third group consists of those who remain at Wanling Starport to this day, participating in its subsequent construction and defense.

At the end of the list, there was only one sentence.

"The Fifth Hunting Court has been destroyed."

"Welcome home, all expedition members."

Chu Zhou's main body remains rooted in Heilong Lake.

However, when the lotus body of all realms returned to the ancestral realm, the entire lake began to undergo new changes.

The once calm lake waters dropped silently.

It's not that the water volume has decreased.

Instead, the space beneath Heilong Lake is expanding deeper.

Areas of water that did not exist before appeared at the bottom of the lake, and the old water veins, guided by the twelve world nodes, extended to more distant mountains and rivers.

Xuanjia was the first to sense the changes in the earth's veins.

It carried the Armored Cave Heaven on its back, slowly swimming from the shallow bay towards the center of the lake. The wounds left by the carving knife of time had already healed, but a large amount of twelfth-order origin energy had accumulated inside the armor patterns and had not yet been fully absorbed.

The Black Tiger King stood at the highest point on the shore.

The patrol array patterns continued to extend outwards, and the boundaries of the mountains and forests that could originally be clearly sensed were receding at an extremely fast speed.

The vine roots that Qingfeng had planted between Zhenhai Relic Island and Heilong Lake also trembled at the same time.

Thousands of roots penetrate the root network of the Jianmu tree and actively grow into newly emerging ley lines.

[The host has completed the twelfth life evolution.]

[The core node of Heilonghu is undergoing simultaneous expansion.]

[Current range of the Qinglian Forbidden Zone: 500 kilometers.]

[Expected expansion range: 1,000 kilometers.]

[Modern cities, transportation routes, and a large number of ordinary living beings have been detected within the expanded area.]

[Should it be directly covered by the domain of laws?]

Chu Zhou's divine sense swept across a range of one thousand kilometers.

It is not just mountains and wilderness.

There are also county towns, villages, railways, reservoirs, and residential areas rebuilt after the fifth spiritual revival.

If the Lotus Realm of All Heavens were to directly cover the area, all regions would become part of the Azure Lotus Forbidden Zone.

Chu Zhou certainly possesses the power to do so.

But the people living there never agreed to hand over their homes to Heilong Lake.

"The existing boundaries of the city will be maintained."

"The newly added restricted area is accommodated by folding space."

"Roads, villages, towns, and farmland must not be forcibly included in the core area."

The system prompts will change accordingly.

[The expansion method of the Qinglian restricted area is being adjusted.]

The actual coverage area for mountains and rivers has been increased to 1,000 kilometers.

The core restricted area will undergo spatial folding through the Lotus Realm of the Heavens.

Modern cities retain their original administrative and residential order.

The Forbidden Zone Law only provides protection for the earth's veins, pollution warnings, and interception of external enemies.

[Without authorization, do not interfere with the consciousness and actions of ordinary beings.]

The ninth inning quickly received data on the expansion of Heilonghu.

After inspecting the new border, Zhou Zhenshan did not immediately order the evacuation of residents.

"Confirm all folding entrances."

"Dual identification arrays are set up near railways and highways."

"Ordinary vehicles must not be allowed to enter the restricted area."

"Residents who originally lived in the mountains and forests may stay if they wish. If they are affected by the migration of spirit beasts, the Ninth Bureau will provide a relocation plan."