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

The moment the Black Tiger King lowered its head, the entire valley fell silent, and the surrounding beasts stared in disbelief.

They never dreamed that the Black Tiger King, who had dominated this mountain forest for so long, would actually be defeated.

And the defeat was so complete that Shan Kui scratched his head.

Seeing that its opponent had finally given in, it felt somewhat embarrassed to continue its attack. After all, its master had said that if it could be subdued, it should be subdued as much as possible. With that in mind, the mountain monster withdrew its fist.

"You should have said so earlier. If you had agreed sooner, you wouldn't have had to get beaten up so much."

Black Tiger King's lips twitched. If it could, it really wanted to swat this big guy to death with one paw, but it couldn't beat him, so it could only endure it. Mountain King didn't think that much. It waved its hand and said, "Let's go. Come with me to see the master."

Black Tiger King's pupils contracted slightly: "That being is in Black Dragon Lake?"

The mountain beast nodded proudly: "Of course, my master is the most powerful in the world, countless times more powerful than me."

The Black Tiger King fell silent. It knew the Mountain Demon was powerful, and now it had even broken through to the fourth rank. Just how terrifying was this being that could make such a monster willingly submit?

For a moment, a sense of unease arose in its heart.

Soon, Shan Kui led the Black Tiger King and hundreds of strange beasts from the valley away, heading towards Black Dragon Mountain in a grand procession.

Along the way, countless strange beasts retreated upon seeing the group. Two hours later, Black Dragon Lake finally came into view.

When the Black Tiger King saw the figure in the middle of the lake, its entire body suddenly froze.

In the center of the lake, a blue lotus, tens of meters tall, quietly takes root in the water, its blue light flowing and moonlight falling.

The entire Black Dragon Lake seemed to have become the center where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged. Even more terrifying was the vast pressure that permeated the area around the green lotus.

It was as if the entire world revolved around it.

Fifth rank!

The Black Tiger King's fur stood on end instantly; it finally understood why the Mountain Demon had submitted.

Faced with such an existence, let alone myself, even if ten more of myself came, it probably wouldn't be enough to kill it.

at the same time.

Ripples spread across the lake's surface, and black armor emerged from the lakebed, while countless green vines cascaded down from the trees.

Little Jinbao stood on the treetop, looking like a leader on an inspection tour.

"Hey, the Mountain Demon is back, and he actually caught a big one."

The Black Tiger King scanned his surroundings, growing increasingly alarmed with each glance.

A fourth-tier giant ape, a third-tier peak-level Xuan Turtle, a third-tier peak-level demon vine, and a golden-feathered spirit bird about to break through to the fourth tier.

This lineup is far beyond what is typical for a penalty area.

Just then, Chu Zhou awoke from his cultivation state, and a calm gaze fell upon the Black Tiger King.

With just one glance, the Black Tiger King felt his soul freeze, as if his life and death were in the hands of the other's single thought.

"Are you willing to submit?"

Chu Zhou's voice was calm, and the Black Tiger King, devoid of any arrogance, lowered its head directly: "Black Tiger, I am willing to follow my master."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire Black Dragon Lake fell silent.

Chu Zhou was very satisfied. It seemed that the Black Tiger King was quite sensible!

"Indeed, since you are willing to submit, I will naturally not treat you unfairly."

As soon as Chu Zhou finished speaking, a cyan light pattern flew out from Chu Zhou's body and landed directly in the Black Tiger King's brow.

boom!

Black Tiger King's body trembled, and a surge of powerful life energy instantly flowed into his body.

The injuries sustained in the great battle began to heal rapidly. Even his cultivation level increased significantly, causing Black Tiger King to show shock in his eyes.

"What kind of method is this?" Chu Zhou asked. "From this day forward, you are the fifth demon king of Black Dragon Mountain, ruling over the exotic beasts of the southeastern mountains. Do you have any objections?"

The Black Tiger King was shocked. The Fifth Demon King? It had thought it was just a prisoner, but it hadn't expected that the other party would directly give it the position of a commander.

Thinking of this, Black Tiger King willingly lowered his head.

"Your subordinate is willing to die for your master!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the hundreds of strange beasts behind the Black Tiger King also lay down on the ground.

The black wolf, the giant leopard, the tusked wild boar, and several large mutated mountain cattle were all trembling in fear, not daring to make a sound.

Chu Zhou glanced at it indifferently.

These strange beasts weren't particularly strong.

Most are between first and second order.

There are only a handful of Tier 3.

But this is already a good start.

Power is something that cannot be gained overnight.

Chu Zhou spoke: "Black Tiger."

"The Spirit Spring Valley that you originally occupied will now belong to Black Dragon Mountain. You will continue to guard it, but half of all the Spirit Spring's output must be handed over to us."

Without any hesitation, the Black Tiger King replied, "Yes."

In the past, it would never have agreed, but now it's different; it has witnessed how terrifying Chu Zhou is.

Moreover, after that blue lotus mark landed, it clearly felt that its injuries had recovered by more than half, and even the demonic power within its body had become more condensed.

What does this mean? It means that submitting to Chu Zhou is not a bad thing, but rather a tremendous opportunity.

Black Tiger King knew very well that if he relied solely on his own slow cultivation, it would take an unknown amount of time to break through to the fourth rank.

However, if it follows Chu Zhou, it might not be long before it can truly reach the fourth rank.

Thinking of this, the last trace of resentment in Black Tiger King's heart completely disappeared.

Little Jinbao stood on the treetop, his eyes darting around.

"Master, this black guy already has territory, shouldn't we get some benefits too, Bird Master?"

Chu Zhou glanced at it: "What do you want?"

Little Jinbao immediately perked up and excitedly said, "I want an air force! From now on, all the flying creatures in Lingnan will be under my command! Bird Master will establish the number one avian legion in Black Dragon Mountain!"

The mountain demon growled, its meaning clear: You?

Little Jinbao immediately bristled: "You big dummy, what do you mean? I'm already at the peak of Tier 3, almost Tier 4! Once I break through, I'll beat you up first!"

The mountain demon grinned, revealing its gleaming white fangs. Little Jinbao immediately shrank back. Was this a threat?

Chu Zhou didn't bother with those two clowns. He looked at Xuanjia and asked, "Xuanjia, how's it going on your end?"

The Xuanjia emerged from the lake, its tortoise shell shimmering with spiritual light: "Master, most of the downstream water system has been cleared. I've suppressed those mutated water snakes, but..."

At this point, Xuanjia's voice became serious. Chu Zhou's heart stirred, and he asked, "But what's wrong?"

Xuanjia said in a deep voice, "Downstream from Black Dragon Lake, there is an underground river, and deep within the river, there seems to be something."

Upon hearing this, Chu Zhou's consciousness trembled. An underground river? Below Black Dragon Lake, he suddenly remembered the underground cave at the bottom of Black Dragon Lake.

I recalled that ancient temple, and the stone well deep within it. Beneath the well, an extremely terrifying being was suppressed.

That guy once tempted me to sacrifice my flesh and blood.

They said that as long as you worship it, you can gain power, but Chu Zhou would never believe such nonsense.

Later, instead of making a sacrifice, he used the system and root system to continuously extract the spiritual energy leaking from the vicinity of the stone well.

The creature roared in anger several times, but it was never able to truly break free. Over time, Chu Zhou became too lazy to pay attention to it.

But now Xuanjia has suddenly discovered an underground river, which makes Chu Zhou realize...

What lies beneath Heilong Lake is probably far more complex than I imagined.