Vol 6 Chapter 42: Packing Luggage
After the silver-haired female corpse incident, Lin Jing made a decisive choice: he would leave his incarnation on Earth to serve as the new era's gatekeeper and suppress the remnants of the Old Era.
If something similar happened to Lin Lan and the others, relying only on Gu Grandma's Gu and the Gu descendants would be basically useless.
But with the incarnation present, there would undoubtedly be many more possible responses.
Once he made that decision, many chain reactions followed.
For example, Lin Jing, who had originally planned to spend more time on Earth to be with his family, now intended to return earlier to prepare for the coming battles, leaving his incarnation behind to fulfill that duty.
Earth was important, but the safety of the Tianyuan Realm was equally vital.
And since that decision had been made, what awaited Lin Jing next... was packing luggage!
The incarnation’s mission was also arduous. He couldn't just leave a person behind—various resources had to be left as well.
On the other side.Unable to contact the one who had solved Silver Hair Disease and quietly taken credit, Uncle Fang and Aunt Fang could only call domestically to thank Lin Jing's father and mother.
Meanwhile, Lin Jing began preparing pills and magical treasures for his incarnation.
He dumped all the miscellaneous low-grade pills and artifacts onto the incarnation—
Not because he treated the incarnation like a trash dump, but because these items would be useless to him back in the Tianyuan Realm. Conversely, on Earth, where spiritual energy had only recently revived, these low-grade goods were treasures. They would allow the incarnation to "turn trash into treasure" and trade with various factions for ancient artifacts.
Besides that, he left a fair number of low-grade immortal artifacts to the incarnation too. Aside from crucial items like the Thunder Dao Immortal Banner, he practically threw everything else at the incarnation.
Although some items might not suit the incarnation, any immortal artifact in hand could always unleash greater power. If things got desperate, he could use them as bombs—self-detonating immortal artifacts could serve as a trump card.
As for high-grade immortal artifacts, Lin Jing did not leave any for the incarnation—mainly because the incarnation couldn't control them.
Even for himself, it might require sacrificing life-force to use the Beast Taming Path divine arts, with the Mechanized Turtle assisting, before there would be even a slight chance of mastery.
However, Lin Jing planned to leave the Immortal King skeletal remains from the Emperor's Tomb to the incarnation.
He had a feeling that this finger bone could help the incarnation push the Heavenly Demon Finger technique further.
With these items left behind, combined with the incarnation's Heavenly Demon bloodline and Heavenly Demon Physique, Lin Jing was confident that as long as Earth did not produce an immortal realm or an alliance-level expert, the incarnation would have few rivals.
Regarding mid-grade immortal artifacts that sat between low and high grade, Lin Jing also did not leave them to the incarnation.
Functionally, he felt the two mid-grade artifacts he had found might be more useful than high-grade ones—their effects were just too alluring.
High-grade artifacts were indeed powerful, but their biggest drawback was how hard they were to control.
And whether it was that immortal sword or the red scarf—one for offense, one for control—their effects beyond combat were limited.
But functional artifacts like the Wordless Plaque were different.
They could be used in battle with an inscription like "Invincible in Battle," or in daily life inscribed with "Rapid Progress" to aid cultivation and boost strength.
Although their upper limit might not be as high as high-grade artifacts, and their ultimate destructive potential smaller, their advantage was ease of control.
Besides the Wordless Plaque, there was another mysterious bronze mirror.
It had been obtained externally from the Xiao family.
During the months Lin Jing waited outside the Emperor's Tomb, Dragon Carp had repaired the mid-grade Wordless Plaque and the mysterious bronze mirror using top-grade immortal energy.
Once repaired, the mysterious bronze mirror was no longer mysterious and proved to be useful both in combat and daily life. Its effect was absorption and enhanced reflection.
It could absorb attacks into the mirror surface, then amplify and reflect them back multiple times—acting as both offense and defense.
In ordinary use, it could absorb healing or auxiliary divine arts, then double their effects upon reflection. In short, it was an immortal artifact that strengthened spell effects.
Such a treasure, Lin Jing decided, he would not leave to the incarnation. After all, Earth might still hold many treasures; the incarnation could slowly acquire them. Instead, Lin Jing needed these items to face the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Since the incarnation would remain on Earth, Lin Jing chose not to bid farewell to his parents—he'd just act as if he never left. After packing, Lin Jing produced a jade pendant and crushed it with a palm.
Not long after, the Emperor's Servant reappeared.
"Are you ready to go back?"
"Yes. Senior, I want to ask you something: how did the Emperor move us from Earth to the Cultivation World, and then send us back from the Cultivation World to Earth?" Lin Jing asked the Emperor's Servant.
"Are you asking whether you can come back?" The Emperor's Servant shrugged helplessly.
"Probably not. It's not that the Emperor doesn't want you to return, but even for him, performing that whole operation isn't easy. He relied on a certain treasure—and that treasure's energy is limited. If you want to come back... unless the Demon Lord no longer uses the Barrier Dao Treasure to seal the Lower Realm, then the Emperor moving you from the Cultivation World to Earth will be very simple. At that point, even relying on your own power, you might have a chance to return."
"I see." Lin Jing sighed. He had already anticipated such possibilities—if people could be transported back and forth without limit, the Immortal Emperor would not have chosen so few.
"All right, then take us back to the Tianyuan Realm."
"Got it... Wait, you left your incarnation on Earth? Are you sure? You didn't hear what I said just now? Once you leave this time, it may be very difficult to come back. Even if you resolve the Heavenly Demon Realm in the Lower Realm, the Demon Lord in the Immortal Realm may not stop sealing the Lower Realm!"
"Without the incarnation's combat power, you'll be missing a key portion of your force when you confront the Heavenly Demon Realm!"
"No problem. Didn't I just contract a new pet beast on Earth? It will make up for the combat capacity I lose without the incarnation."
The Emperor's Servant was speechless. That reasoning made no sense—wouldn't leaving the incarnation behind decrease combat power even more?
"Why is there a cultivator body with you that you didn't contract, who isn't quite dead nor fully alive?!"
"Forget it—it's in such a broken state that its quality can be ignored. Barely enough to take with you." The Emperor's Servant cursed as they teleported.
..........
Cultivation World, Tianyuan Continent.
After hundreds or nearly a thousand years, Lin Jing returned to his original place of cultivation. But upon returning his brow furrowed.
The world strength of the Tianyuan Realm had declined compared to the Ancient Immortal Realm; his Immortal Physique's perception instantly sensed the distribution of seeking-the-Dao combat power throughout the Tianyuan Realm.
So little time had passed, yet the number of Dao-seeking monsters from the Origin Realm in the Tianyuan Realm had already surpassed native Tianyuan cultivators. Across most territories within the Tianyuan Realm—except the Ancient Kingdom and the Demon Court—the lands of other factions were nearly all compressed by Dao-seeking monsters.