Vol 6 Chapter 20: Tomb of the Heavenly Emperor
"Misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding! Please spare my life, esteemed one!"
Seeing that his soul usurpation had failed and that Lin Jing actually had means to harm his immortal soul, the immortal's remnant spirit immediately begged for mercy.
His heart filled with bitterness - after finally awakening with such difficulty, how could he encounter such a deadly star right after waking up?
If it had been literally any other jade holder, his soul usurpation would have succeeded.
"Spare your life?" Lin Jing's expression remained impassive. "Give me a reason to spare you."
"A reason..."
"Your attempt to usurp my soul earlier was due to blurred consciousness and survival instinct, and since you caused me no harm, I could let that slide."
"But you made me waste immortal power to defend myself. You need to compensate for my losses, otherwise, I'll have to refine your remnant spirit into soul pills to recover my immortal power expenditure."
The immortal's remnant spirit finally understood.This deadly star before him simply wanted treasures.
The problem was... what treasures did he possibly have?
Lin Jing stared at this remnant spirit. Although he was an Earthling born and raised on Earth, he actually knew very little about Earth's secrets.
This immortal's remnant spirit was most likely a cultivator from the ancient Immortal Realm era, so he must know quite a bit about Earth's situation.
Perhaps he could pry some crucial information from him.
"Fellow daoist, look at my condition - what inheritance could I possibly still have?"
The remnant spirit spoke with sorrowful tone: "But I remember my father was very powerful. How about you take me to find my father? He would surely reward you handsomely..."
Lin Jing grabbed him and squeezed slightly, making the remnant spirit scream in pain.
"Who is your father?"
"I, I forgot. I've forgotten. But he should be very powerful. If we encounter him again, I should remember."
"Forgotten..." Lin Jing released him. That made sense since he was just a remnant spirit. However, considering even the last person to achieve immortality during Earth's age of magic decline had become an Immortal Emperor, this remnant spirit's father was probably long gone.
"What immortal techniques and divine abilities do you know?"
"Also forgotten..."
Lin Jing fell silent for a moment. Better to just refine him then.
"But don't be impatient, esteemed one! I still remember some things. When the age of magic decline came, most cultivators left. Do you know why I didn't leave? And how I managed to survive from such ancient times until now?"
"Speak."
"Heavenly Emperor's Tomb! The Heavenly Emperor's legacy! Would you be interested, esteemed one?"
"I know the location of a certain generation of Ancient Heavenly Court's Heavenly Emperor's tomb!"
"When the age of magic decline arrived, the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb lost its guardians. Affected by the world's energy, the various divine wonders of the immortal tomb itself would gradually weaken."
"The reason I didn't leave this world with the main group was because I wanted to gamble - gamble that the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb's defensive capabilities would become nearly nonexistent, and see if there were any treasures to be taken inside."
So he was a tomb raider...
"Wanting to rob the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb? You're utterly foolish. I assume you failed, as expected?"
"And now you're actually trying to trick me into following your failed path?"
"Hehe..." the remnant spirit hurriedly added: "I didn't fail! To be precise, I didn't completely fail!!!"
"Affected by the magic decline, the various divine wonders of the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb did indeed dissipate. For example, those giant divine puppets guarding the tomb outside all turned into scrap iron over time, no longer possessing any immortal divine power."
"Unfortunately, affected by the world's energy, my cultivation continuously declined. I could only self-seal. Before self-sealing, I took an expired immortal pill that allowed me to last this long. That immortal pill was a burial object I obtained from the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb!"
"Although I couldn't enter the main chamber, I did reach the peripheral areas!"
"But it seems too much time has passed. My physical body has decayed, and my soul is only left with this broken wisp."
This immortal's remnant spirit only remembered these things. It seemed that before self-sealing, his persistent tomb raiding had become an obsession, making him only remember related matters.
"Somewhat useful after all..." Lin Jing had been worried he might get nothing from this. He knew Earth must have many good treasures.
Heavenly Emperor's Tomb.
"However..."
"My cultivation isn't high. How could someone of my level dare covet treasures from the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb? Trying to send me to my death? Seems like I should refine you first."
Lin Jing had no intention of tomb raiding - mainly because he feared death. Even if the immortal tomb's divine wonders had disappeared, it was still a Heavenly Emperor's tomb. He hadn't even reached immortal realm yet. If anything went wrong, he would die without a burial place.
"Aiyo, no, please don't!" Seeing Lin Jing grab his remnant spirit again, on the verge of soul dispersion, the remnant spirit panicked.
"Sorry, sorry! I admit it! Earlier I wanted to harm you, to make you die in the tomb! I have safe methods to enter the tomb! Safe methods!!!"
"As long as you promise not to kill me and help me rebuild a physical body, I'll tell you the safe methods to enter the tomb!!"
Lin Jing continued squeezing.
"The immortal tomb has sentience. If it's an ordinary tomb raider, it will naturally exterminate them with full force."
"But during the Heavenly Emperor's reign, he had countless bloodlines and descendants. If it's the Heavenly Emperor's descendants who, in this age of magic decline, want to seek ancestor's protection and take some treasures out to help themselves survive the magic decline, the tomb's aggressiveness will greatly decrease!"
"I can only recall that my family had some kinship relations with the Heavenly Emperor's family. It was precisely because of this identity that I could obtain some peripheral burial objects and survive until now..."
"So......"
"So esteemed one, as long as you help me rebuild a physical body, I can go to the immortal tomb first to retrieve treasures on your behalf. We can split whatever we get fifty-fifty."
"Still scheming against me? Seems like you'd rather disperse completely."
"Ahhh... seventy-thirty! You take seventy, I take thirty!"
Lin Jing's only advantage over this guy right now was that he possessed immortal power that could make the other's immortal soul disperse, while the other party was in an extremely weakened state.
If he helped the other rebuild a physical body, with the other's realm being so much higher than his, he didn't know if the other might have backup plans to counterattack. So Lin Jing needed to keep the other in remnant spirit state permanently.
"There... there's another method! If you don't trust me, esteemed one, we can try our luck."
"If there are still Heavenly Emperor bloodlines in the world today, you could cultivate someone new and have them explore the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb. I have methods to help you distinguish whether someone's bloodline contains similarities to the Heavenly Emperor's bloodline."
"Even if their bloodline connection is as faint as a single thread, as their cultivation improves, this connection will grow stronger and stronger. The Heavenly Emperor had three hundred million beauties in his harem, with bloodlines spread throughout immortals and mortals alike. It's completely possible that..."
"We'll do it as you say. Work properly for me, and if we truly obtain supreme treasures, rebuilding your physical body will be a trivial matter."
"But before that, do you still remember the location of the Heavenly Emperor's Tomb? If you dare say you forgot, I'll directly refine your soul and search through your remnant spirit memories myself."
"I remember." The remnant spirit cried. Why did everything involve soul refinement?
After all these years, had the cultivation world's environment become so harsh?