Chapter 209: The Day Earth Opens

The Vacuum Great Tomb.

"Cultivation before the Void Realm was indeed simple. You've returned so quickly?"

Su Dianxia, clad in a black dress, sized up Lin Qing. "Do you plan to cultivate to the Yu Xingyuan Tenth Layer combat power in one go this time and become a Tomb Keeper? I must remind you that the Tomb Keeper's secret arts are extremely difficult."

Lin Qing asked thoughtfully, "Specifically, where lies the difficulty? Comprehension? Luck?"

"Both," Su Dianxia said. "You will understand when the time comes."

Lin Qing nodded slightly and said, "I will cultivate for half a year and then return. After that, I will use the temporary access pass to come back. At that time, I will attempt to become a Tomb Keeper."

"So urgent?" Su Dianxia raised an eyebrow slightly.

"On Earth, after the opening, there will be a delay of at most three to five years. Three to five years is not enough for me to cultivate normally to become a Tomb Keeper, so I must go out early and try other methods," Lin Qing said, shaking his head.

"Truly energetic," Su Dianxia sighed. "However, even if you become a Tomb Keeper, you must work hard to qualify to use the Vacuum Great Tomb's space-time power to hide Earth."

"I understand," Lin Qing nodded, feeling no surprise at all.

Using space-time power to completely hide an entire star field—what an incredible, mighty force is that?

Such power naturally cannot come without a price.

On the boundless, pure white plain.

"Earth's opening is still seven months away. I must return before it opens."

Lin Qing sat cross-legged on the ground, pondering carefully. "Seven months, which is about six years, is far from enough to cultivate a Divine Technique, but it can allow the Black Flame Clone to evolve into a Ultimate Star Creature, raising its genetic index to a level close to mine."

The Black Flame Clone cannot be advanced in advance, but as long as the method of evolution is known, the main body can advance the required energy essence.

Combined with the energy provided by the Star Origin Stone, it can quickly evolve into a Ultimate Star Creature in one go.

As long as the Black Flame Clone's life level also reaches Ultimate Star Creature, repeatedly fusing with the main body via the 'Fusion Art', the Black Flame Clone's genetic index can gradually rise to over twelve hundred times the universal standard.

There is no need for the Black Flame Clone to learn any Divine Technique; as long as its life level and genetic index are raised, he is confident he can kill the Blood Cauldron King of the Nine-Star Civilization.

"Divine Techniques won't make it in time, but the Holy Words are sufficient..."

The vertical eye on Lin Qing's brow moved, and the Black Flame Clone immediately flew out from the space channel.

The Black Flame Clone is currently only a High-Level Primitive Creature, with life force consumed very rapidly.

But once it becomes a Ultimate Star Creature and fully masters the Eighth-Level Black Flame, it can completely control the Black Flame, no longer suffering from short life and self-combustion. Moreover, combined with the supernatural abilities of the Black Flame Clan's bloodline, it can unleash ten times its strength when burning its life force.

As his knowledge gradually increased and his strength grew stronger, he finally understood—that the Eighth-Level flame was not what caused the Black Flame Clan's strength to increase so greatly, nor was it the cause of their fate of self-immolation.

It was the Black Flame Clan's bloodline.

—Or rather, that sliver of Demon Human bloodline.

The Divine Humans are a human race that merged with the Void Divine Clan's bloodline, while the Demon Humans are humans who merged with the Yu Xingyuan Demon Clan.

And the Black Flame Clan is one of the Demon Humans.

"Begin."

Lin Qing gazed at the Black Flame Clone and immediately began to cast the Fusion Art, which he had already successfully cultivated.

In the blink of an eye, two years passed.

More than two months had passed in reality. The Black Flame Clan Clone had long since evolved into a Ultimate Star Creature, and the nine sets of Eighth-Level Holy Words required had all been successfully inscribed.

The genetic optimization index also gradually reached over four hundred times the universal standard through repeated applications of the Fusion Art.

In another few years, the genetic index is estimated to approach that of the main body.

Although there is no time to cultivate an Eighth-Level Divine Technique, relying on such a powerful genetic optimization index and the Holy Words, plus the Black Flame Clan's tenfold strength when burning life, it is already the strength of the peak of the Yu Xingyuan Eighth Layer.

On this very day—

Lin Qing's consciousness, which was constantly maintained on the Second Universe Network, suddenly received a message from Chu Hongjun, asking him to meet in the subsidiary space.

"Dean Chu, what's wrong?"

Inside the living-room-like subsidiary space, Lin Qing sat on the sofa and looked at Chu Hongjun not far away.

"Trouble has appeared," Chu Hongjun said slowly. "The second round of human elite seeds for the Seed Plan, originally scheduled to board a spaceship today and enter the universe via route B to hide in the nearby Level 1.3 civilization, the Blue Shield Civilization, was suddenly destroyed just one hour ago, even though the spaceship had only left Earth by a few million kilometers."

"Destroyed?" Lin Qing frowned slightly.

"Not a single survivor," Chu Hongjun said. "The four hundred and thirty thousand people on board, along with the spaceship itself, were annihilated, including the escort puppets responsible for protection."

"Escort puppets?" Lin Qing's expression changed.

He had only brought two escort puppets out from the Vacuum Great Tomb in total.

The escort puppets themselves possess average combat power, only at the Yu Xingyuan Eighth Layer level, but they are extremely skilled at protection and entanglement. With the protection of escort puppets, even a peak Yu Xingyuan Ninth Layer expert would find them difficult to deal with; they can be said to be the best bodyguards.

But... they were annihilated along with the escort spaceship?

"Could it be..." Lin Qing frowned.

Chu Hongjun nodded slightly and said, "I fear a Void Creature from the Nine-Star Civilization has already arrived. It should currently be lurking in the Solar System, or even... possibly on the Moon, monitoring Earth."

"The second-generation Emperor of the Nine-Star Civilization? Or the Ancestor of the Nine-Star Civilization?" Lin Qing's brows knitted tightly.

"Uncertain, but it is highly likely the second generation," Chu Hongjun said. "Based on currently available intelligence, the Ancestor of the Nine-Star Civilization should be traveling and studying in some Level 2 civilization."

Lin Qing fell silent for a moment and said, "Can the Seed Plan no longer continue?"

Chu Hongjun said slowly, "That Void Creature is guarding the Solar System, and its actions were so cold and ruthless; it is clearly prepared to cut off our Earthlings' hope."

Lin Qing could not help but frown.

The Seed Plan, that is, the human inheritance plan of Earth civilization.

Not putting all eggs in one basket is basic common sense.

Therefore, after driving away the extraterrestrial civilizations, to avoid the total annihilation of Earthlings on some future day, Earth civilization formulated the Seed Plan to send out a portion of human elite talents in advance.

The ending of almost all civilizations is destruction; this is the fate of civilizations, as unavoidable as life and death.

As the ember sustaining civilization, it is of great importance.

"Is the first batch of embers sent out enough to sustain civilization?" Lin Qing asked.

"It's difficult," Chu Hongjun shook his head. "A group of genetically inferior initial humans are still far from achieving genetic awakening; even integrating into other civilizations and rebuilding is hard."

Lin Qing took a deep breath and said, "These Void Beings want to trap us to death…"

"Not necessarily to trap us to death," Chu Hongjun said. "For Void Beings capable of destroying planets, we such a weak civilization may not even matter—they merely made a slight move, just to intimidate us."

Lin Qing slightly narrowed his eyes.

Just to intimidate? A slight move erased hundreds of thousands from Earth as an ember?

"Also, the Nine-Star Civilization's massive fleet seems to have begun arriving at Mars," Chu Hongjun said. "It's not hard to imagine… on the day Earth opens, we will face the Nine-Star Civilization's strongest forces."

Lin Qing slowly nodded.

This was an inevitable outcome.

The Nine-Star Civilization's Seventh Imperial Prince discovered Earth's uniqueness decades ago and has been waiting for Earth's opening to launch a full-scale assault.

Even if Earth's civilization survives this wave, the Nine-Star Civilization will arrive swiftly.

"Are you prepared?" Chu Hongjun looked at Lin Qing.

"Almost."

Lin Qing nodded and said, "I'll complete it before Earth opens."

Chu Hongjun paused, then said, "Even if the Void Being comes, it won't matter—his power, though great, can only enter the Bronze Demon Mountain and the Silver Labyrinth."

Lin Qing gave a slight nod.

No error in any single word or content!

Of Earth's six ancient pre-civilization ruins, only the Bronze Demon Mountain and the Silver Labyrinth do not require native blood; the other four ruins require at least native origin to enter.

Even a powerful Void Being cannot forcibly enter a ruin.

"Pity…"

Chu Hongjun shook his head slightly. "If only we could borrow the influence of the Star Patrol Council—its influence on a single planet is ultimately limited. Only after gaining sufficient strength, and after the Star Patrol Council's intelligence actively applies for us to become a formal member of the Cosmic Star Patrol Alliance, can we borrow the Alliance's influence."

Lin Qing was momentarily startled. "Cosmic Star Patrol Alliance?"

During the Divine Son Trials, the Life Star God who served as supervisor mentioned the Cosmic Star Patrol Alliance to him.

"Yes, that's the background of the Star Patrol Council."

Chu Hongjun whispered, "It is said the Cosmic Star Patrol Alliance has established Star Patrol Councils on all life-bearing planets in the universe, but what it truly values is the Void Star Sea of the cosmic high dimensions—so the requirements to join are extremely high."

"Oh?" Lin Qing asked. "What requirements?"

Chu Hongjun said, "A Star Divine Officer with Yu Xingyuan Level Ten power."

Lin Qing was stunned, then shook his head slightly. "That's even higher than the Tomb Keeper's requirement—if I met this, I could become a Tomb Keeper myself."

"The difficulty is indeed high," Chu Hongjun nodded lightly.

"Regardless… I must first become a Tomb Keeper."

Lin Qing took a deep breath and asked, "Will the Blood Cauldron King of the Nine-Star Civilization come?"

"If the Blood Cauldron King learns of this news, he will certainly come," Chu Hongjun said. "The current Emperor of the Nine-Star Civilization likely also desires a new Void Being to emerge in this civilization, to escape the throne—he should pass the message to the Blood Cauldron King."

"I hope so," Lin Qing nodded slightly. "I'll continue my cultivation. I'll return on the day Earth opens."

…

Days passed one by one.

During these six years in the cultivation chamber, after finishing his training in Sacred Script, Lin Qing began training Divine Techniques.

Though he had no time to cultivate the Level Eight World God, or even master one of the Four Divine Techniques of the World God, mastering more now would let him repay future advances faster.

Earth time: May 19, 2126.

Inside the Void Tomb's cultivation chamber.

Upon the boundless pure white land, as endless energy dispersed and flowed back, Lin Qing, his body wreathed in faint black flames, his eyes dark and profound, quietly landed and slowly exhaled.

"Body Fusion Technique—World God fused with Primordial Annihilation—this is my current strongest state…"

Lin Qing activated his will; a phantom human figure of light detached from his body and instantly became a black flame avatar with weakened vitality.

The black flame avatar immediately ceased burning black flames, its aura rapidly returning to normal—though its lifespan had been severely depleted.

"The black flame avatar's gene index: one thousand and twenty times the cosmic standard."

Lin Qing gazed at the black flame avatar, his eyes thoughtful: "But due to the black flame tribe's bloodline, the avatar can burn its life to achieve tenfold power—and when I use Body Fusion Technique again, my own power nearly increases eight to nine times."

Body Fusion Technique combines both parties' base attributes; after multiple fusions, the avatar's gene index has grown close to his own.

If the black flame avatar burns its life before fusing with him, it effectively adds eight to nine times his base attributes!

Of course, under such astonishing power, the speed of life burning accelerates—he can sustain it for only about ten seconds before the avatar's life is fully consumed and Body Fusion Technique dissolves.

Yet for battles at this level, ten seconds is still very long.

Therefore…

In these six years, though Lin Qing made no progress in Divine Techniques, his power greatly increased because the black flame avatar's life tier and gene index improved.

"Pity… I still cannot pass Yu Xingyuan Level Ten," Lin Qing sighed.

He had already passed Yu Xingyuan Level Nine, and in fused state, he could easily sweep through Level Nine—he had even attempted Level Ten, but still failed.

There was no way: he still fell short of the minimum threshold for Level Ten, let alone with only ten seconds—so he could not pass Level Ten at all.

To pass Yu Xingyuan Level Ten, he must master the Level Eight World God.

"Hmm… maintaining peak Level Nine power for ten seconds is still good enough."

Lin Qing slowly clenched his fist, then glanced at the black flame avatar, commanding it to burn itself into nothingness, then recreated it with the Eternal Gate.

Immediately, his third eye glowed, sucking the restored black flame avatar into an alternate space.

"Though I still cannot resist the Void Being, once I master the Level Eight World God and pass the Star God Trials…"

Lin Qing took a deep breath, then left the cultivation chamber.

On the vast platform outside the cultivation chamber.

"Leaving?"

Host Dianxia sized up Lin Qing.

"Yes." Lin Qing nodded and said, "Tomorrow, Earth will open."

Host Dianxia nodded slightly and said, "If it becomes truly impossible, just flee back. Cultivate until you are strong enough, then go back and fight."

"If I am forced to, I will do so."

Lin Qing nodded, then waved his hand. "I'm leaving. The next time I come, it will be when I become a Gravekeeper."

"I look forward to that day," Host Dianxia said.

On May 20, 2126.

As the rule-based power that had merged with gravity suddenly vanished, the massive fleet, which had loomed like a sky-covering wall beyond the blue planet of the Solar System, surged toward Earth's atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)