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

The moonlight shone down, turning the world into a silvery expanse.

Above Heilong Lake, the magnificent phantom of the Moon Palace still floats, as if it has existed since time immemorial.

In the center of the lake, a five-meter-wide azure-silver demon lotus quietly took root in the water, its leaves shimmering with divine light, and faint silver patterns appearing and disappearing.

Chu Zhou felt the changes within his body.

If we consider the second tier, he was merely a hunter with home-field advantage.

So now he has truly begun his transformation into the overlord of the lake.

"This is the third tier?"

Chu Zhou's consciousness trembled.

The next moment, an unprecedented mental fluctuation spread out from him.

The entire lake seemed to awaken in my mind.

Within a 300-meter radius, every movement was clearly visible.

The silt at the bottom of the lake was churning.

A strange black-scaled fish, hidden in a crevice in the rocks, swayed its tail.

In the grass by the riverbank, a gray rabbit was nibbling. Even the breathing of the birds sleeping in the treetops could be detected.

The most outrageous thing was that Chu Zhou discovered he could even see spiritual energy.

Where spiritual energy is abundant, life force is vigorous. Where dangerous fluctuations exist, everything becomes exceptionally clear.

"After the enhancement of spiritual water perception, it has already begun to develop in the direction of domain?"

Chu Zhou was overjoyed.

This is no longer just detection, but a perception domain. Within this range, he can detect any living being that approaches in advance.

A sneak attack? That's highly unlikely.

At the same time, a new piece of information about an ability surfaced in my mind.

[Moonlight Nourishment]

[Can absorb the essence of moonlight to continuously strengthen its own and allies' lives]

[Improved efficiency in restoring the moonlit environment]

[Increased plant growth rate]

[Increased probability of spiritual birth]

Chu Zhou's eyes lit up: "Holy crap? A support-type ability?"

Am I planning to take the farmer's route from now on?

Establishing a spiritual plant base?

However, he soon discovered that this ability was far more abnormal than he had imagined.

As the moonlight nourishment automatically activated, all the surrounding plants began to change.

The little green sapling at the bottom of the lake was the first to benefit; its body, which was originally about one meter long, grew even larger. Its leaves became longer and more slender, and faint bluish-silver veins appeared on the edges of the blades.

The entire aquatic plant actually emitted a spiritual light, and even more surprisingly...

Its consciousness had clearly grown. A mental fluctuation, much clearer than before, suddenly came.

"Master, Nuannuan... likes it."

Chu Zhou was stunned: "You can say it in a more complete way now?"

The little green cat shakes its leaves, like a child being praised: "Happy, I'll protect my owner!"

As it spoke, it actually extended several thin vines, gently wrapping them around the area near Chu Zhou.

Like a loyal little dog guarding its owner.

Chu Zhou couldn't hold back any longer and said with a laugh, "You're quite an interesting guy."

At the same time, large patches of aquatic plants at the bottom of the lake began to change.

What were originally ordinary algae gradually darkened in color, even revealing a highly resilient fibrous structure.

Some aquatic plants even grew tiny barbs, clearly beginning to transform into lower-level spiritual plants.

Even the trees by the lake were growing wildly in the spiritual tide.

The trunk thickened, the branches and leaves became lush, and its vitality was significantly enhanced.

Some wildflowers even bloom in the dead of night, emitting a faint fragrance.

The entire Black Dragon Lake Valley is beginning to take shape as a sacred place.

The changes were even more pronounced in the animals, with the black-striped bees being the first to break through.

The bee, which was originally the size of a fist, swelled up again, becoming almost the size of a baby's fist.

The wings were adorned with pale silver patterns, and the tail needles gleamed with a cold light.

It was so fast that you could only see afterimages.

More importantly, they have become intelligent.

"Buzzing~"

A swarm of bees circled around Chu Zhou.

There was a clear sense of intimacy and dependence in their emotions.

They even started building nests in nearby ancient trees, making their home here.

A system notification appears.

[The formation of secondary life forms has been detected]

Black-striped Spirit Bee (Low-level Spirit Insect)

Loyalty: Friendly

【Features: Gathering Spiritual Honey, Reconnaissance, Group Attacks】

Chu Zhou's lips twitched. Was this guy starting to build up his power base?

Plant-type little brothers, bird-type little brothers, and now even insects are included. Thinking of this, Chu Zhou shook his head and laughed.

At that moment, a small golden figure descended from the sky.

"Chirp!"

Little Jinbao landed on the edge of the lotus leaf. Chu Zhou was stunned. On the night of the third-level spiritual tide, the little guy had changed so much.

What was once a tiny sparrow, no bigger than the palm of a hand, has now grown to nearly the size of a hawk. Its feathers have changed from light gold to a true pale gold.

Its tail feathers are long and slender, and its eyes are exceptionally bright and lively. There is even a faint aura surrounding its body.

The flight speed increased significantly, and a system notification appeared.

[Target: Kampar]

[Level: Tier 2]

[Race: Golden Feathered Spirit Bird]

[Ability: Gale Dive]

[Status: Highly Close]

Chu Zhou was immediately envious: "Damn, Little Jinbao, you level up faster than me?"

Little Jinbao fluttered and flew to the edge of Chuzhou's leaf.

He nuzzled his head, and a much clearer consciousness came through.

"Master...protect! Bad bird...attack!"

Chu Zhou understood; this little guy still remembered that golden eagle, and might even be holding a grudge.

"Okay." Chu Zhou couldn't help but laugh: "When we find it later, we'll give it a good beating."

Little Jinbao instantly became excited and flapped its wings.

While Chu Zhou was in a good mood, he also discovered that his newly acquired [Mental Fluctuation] ability was beginning to take effect.

Previously, he could only perceive vague emotions. Now, he can engage in simple mental communication.

Chu Zhou even tried to release a wisp of consciousness, attempting to transmit his will to nearby life forms.

"Protect this place."

As the command was given, the lakeside plants swayed and swarms of bees buzzed and circled.

The entire small area of ​​Heilong Lake responded simultaneously.

"Protect the master."

"To protect this place...home..."

Feeling the messages conveyed by these little guys, Chu Zhou was also somewhat dazed. The moonlight shone down, and the valley was quiet.

In her past life, she was alone and sacrificed herself for her country. In this life, she has been reborn and has become a lotus flower.

And inexplicably, he gained a group of followers.

If I'm not mistaken, the world should have been destroyed by the catastrophe in my past life, otherwise I wouldn't have been reborn.

In this life, no matter what, I must never let tragedy repeat itself.

"Keep absorbing spiritual energy." With that thought, Chu Zhou continued to adjust his breathing and absorb the spiritual energy brought about by the anomaly in the Moon Palace.

He needs to become stronger, because only by becoming stronger can he possess absolute power in the future.

Just as Chu Zhou settled in Black Dragon Lake and frantically absorbed spiritual energy.

The whole world is in complete chaos.

Kyoto, 2:47 AM. The once quiet night sky was completely dyed silvery-white by the eerie moonlight.

On the street, countless people opened their windows and looked up in horror and shock.

"Oh my god, what is that?"

"Why has the moon gotten so big?"

"Is there a palace in the sky?"

"Take a picture! Take a picture quickly!"

Social media exploded, with countless videos trending on social media within just ten minutes.

A gigantic, phantom-like image of the moon has appeared globally!

[A paranormal event? Or a mirage?]

[A global simultaneous sighting, science cannot explain it!]

Some were excited, some were terrified. Some even knelt on their balconies, frantically kowtowing to the moon.

"A miracle! This is a miracle!"

However, the state apparatus reacted even faster than ordinary people.

Kyoto, Ninth Investigation Bureau.

Three hundred meters underground, in a top-secret base, piercing alarms blared throughout the entire facility. Red lights flashed frantically.

[Highest-level anomaly]

Code Name: Moon Palace

[Danger Level: Unknown]

The conference room door was pushed open, and a group of people in military uniforms and other uniforms walked in quickly. The atmosphere was very serious.

On the giant electronic screen, live footage of the world is being displayed, including Antarctica, the Arctic, all continents, and all locations.

In the sky, the same lunar projection appeared everywhere, without time difference or regional variation, synchronized globally.

In the center of the conference room, an elderly man with gray hair spoke up: "Is it confirmed?"

The researcher next to him said somewhat nervously, "It's confirmed. It's not projection technology, nor is it an astronomical phenomenon, and it also rules out any country's weapons test."

"The satellite cannot be resolved."

"All detection equipment has malfunctioned."

"The strangest thing is the moon palace phantom; it's impossible to pinpoint its distance."

"It seems to exist on the moon, yet it also seems not to exist in real space."

The conference room fell into a deathly silence. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances; this was all too bizarre. A middle-aged military officer said in a deep voice, "A supernatural event?"

No one present knew how to explain it.

"Chief!"

A young researcher rushed into the conference room, pale-faced and breathing rapidly, saying, "Something's happened! Monitoring stations across the country are showing anomalies simultaneously!"

"Psionic Index skyrockets!"

Upon hearing his words, the conference room instantly erupted in commotion.

The Psionic Index is a special monitoring system established by the Ninth Bureau ten years ago. Originally, it was only used to study geomagnetic anomalies, biological anomalies, and ionospheric changes, and was considered a peripheral project.

Today, for the first time, it actually worked, and the researchers quickly brought up the screen.

The next second, everyone's pupils contracted slightly. The curves on the screen were surging wildly. The previously stable values ​​were skyrocketing as if they were going mad.

Double, twice, twenty times, and still rising!

"How is that possible?"

Has the air composition changed?

"No, the oxygen ratio hasn't changed."

"Some unknown energy is entering Earth!"

Just then, the conference room screen flickered again, and reports of anomalies began to appear from all over the country.

[Qinling Mountains]: Wild animals attacked a village; a wild boar grew to three meters in size and destroyed a house.

[Mount Mobei]: A large, unidentified bird of prey with a wingspan exceeding six meters has been spotted, capable of easily overturning vehicles...

The meeting room was completely silent as the report was sent from above.

After a long while, the old man in the main seat stood up. He looked up at the illusory image of the moon palace on the screen and began to issue orders: "From now on, the Ninth Investigation Bureau enters a state of first-level combat readiness."

"Initiate the 'Spark Project'."

"All unusual events nationwide have been recorded."

"Key areas of investigation: animal mutations, human awakening, and plant anomalies. Military intervention will be necessary if required."

He paused, his eyes sharpening for the first time: "Remember, starting tonight, the old era may be over. Our duty is to increase our strength as much as possible so that we can withstand any crisis in the great catastrophe to come."

Inside the meeting room, everyone tensed up.

At dawn, sunlight streamed through the mountains and forests. The global moonlight surge of last night had gradually subsided.

Black Dragon Lake Valley. The once ordinary forest is now lush and verdant, with a damp and fresh scent of grass and trees filling the air.

The lake was shrouded in mist, with pale blue wisps of fog floating on the surface.

Chu Zhou took root in the center of the lake. The enormous blue-silver lotus leaves quietly unfurled, absorbing the remaining spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

After breaking through to the third rank overnight, his cultivation speed increased dramatically. The surrounding spiritual energy seemed to be drawn towards the center of the lake.

At the bottom of the lake, Xiao Qing was quietly absorbing spiritual energy, clinging to the roots of Chu Zhou. Xiao Jinbao, meanwhile, hovered high in the sky, surveying the area. After last night's strange events, the little guy had clearly taken a liking to flying.

"Um?"

Chu Zhou's heart stirred, and a blurry yet dense wave of life suddenly entered his perception range.

His consciousness instantly expanded, creating a 300-meter domain. He frowned, surprised that someone had actually come.

Three hundred meters from Heilong Lake, six figures were scrambling through the forest. Branches tore their clothes, and mud splattered all over their trousers.

Everyone looked terrified, and most importantly, they were all holding guns.

Homemade hunting rifles, crossbows, and modified rifles.

They were clearly not ordinary tourists, but a group of poachers who had been lurking in the deep mountains for years.

The leader was a burly man in his forties with a scarred face. He had a hideous scar on his left cheek, which stretched from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth.

He had broad shoulders and a thick back, with a fierce look in his eyes. Most strangely, he was carrying a wild boar carcass weighing nearly 200 pounds in one hand.

And surprisingly, he didn't seem to be struggling at all. A skinny young man next to him swallowed hard and couldn't help but say, "Brother Dao, you're really amazing now. That wild boar must have weighed at least two hundred pounds, and you lifted it with one hand?"

The scarred man cursed, "I don't know what happened either."

As he spoke, he clenched his fist, and his knuckles cracked. After the strange phenomenon at the moon palace last night, he woke up in the middle of the night with a sudden, intense fever. The pain was like being burned alive, and when he did...

His strength surged, and he could shatter stone with a single punch. Just now, a mutated wild boar pounced out. He smashed its head open with the butt of his rifle.

Even now, I find it absurd. A middle-aged man next to me lowered his voice and said, "Brother Dao, do you think the world has really changed?"

"The moon last night, and that palace."

"It's like the resurgence of spiritual energy in mythology, it's so damn weird."

The skinny monkey nodded quickly, "Yes, could all those stories about cultivating immortality, demons, and gods from before be true?"

"How else can we explain last night? And look at the animals in these mountains, they're all fucking crazy."

At this point, his face paled, as if recalling a terrifying experience: "Damn it, did you guys see that monkey last night? It was smarter than a human, it could throw stones, and it almost blew my head off!"

A man nearby also cursed, "Don't even mention it, I just saw a snake, it was as thick as a water bucket."

"This mountain is truly haunted!"

"All the animals mutated overnight."

The scarred man sneered, "What's there to be afraid of?"

He patted his gun, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "Animal mutates, and so do humans. I can kill someone with one punch now."

"Maybe it will be our turn to get rich in these mountains someday."

Everyone was taken aback.

Get rich?

The scarred man grinned and said, "Didn't you guys notice that wild boar yesterday? There was a warm feeling in its meat."

"After eating it, my whole body felt warm."

"These things might all be treasures."

"From now on, we'll focus on fighting mutant animals."

"They sell the meat, the hides, and even sell them to government research."

"You'll definitely make a killing."

Everyone's eyes lit up instantly.

Yes, disasters are dangerous, but they also present opportunities.

As they were talking, the woods ahead suddenly thinned out. A damp, cool breeze wafted over them, and everyone instinctively looked up, only to freeze in place.

"Holy crap, where am I?"

A lake came into view. Morning light shone down, and mist swirled around its surface. The air carried a certain comforting scent.

Just one breath was enough to dispel much of my fatigue. Wildflowers bloomed by the lake, and the trees were tall and lush. I could even see a faint, ethereal glow.

The entire area and the eerie, dangerous mountains outside.

It was like two completely different worlds. A young hunter stared wide-eyed: "Brother Dao, have we somehow stumbled into a fairyland?"

The skinny monkey's breathing quickened: "There's definitely treasure in this place!"

As they spoke, their gaze fell on the center of the lake, and everyone froze.

In the center of the lake, an enormous azure-silver demon lotus quietly took root.

Five meters of lotus leaves spread across the lake's surface, their petals resembling jade. Pale silver patterns flowed gently, and a bluish-silver flower bud swayed softly in the center.

It radiated an otherworldly glow in the morning light, like a legendary rare treasure. The comforting aura in the air clearly emanated from it.

The skinny monkey's voice trembled: "Brother Dao... this isn't some kind of elixir of immortality, is it?"

The middle-aged hunter beside him had red eyes: "It's definitely a treasure!"

"That kind of thousand-year-old elixir from TV dramas!"

"Will eating this grant immortality?"

The scarred man stared intently at the center of the lake, his eyes burning with fervor. Even his breathing became heavy.

He just awakened his powers last night, and now he's encountered something like this.

What does this mean? It means I'm destined to be rich.

He licked his lips, raised his gun, and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't move, this treasure is mine."