A journey through immortal realms begins with a phantom tale.

After comforting his friends, Luo Cheng turned to the several disciples of the Heavenly Melody City who had gathered around him, a friendly smile appearing on his face.

"Gentlemen, we're from the same hometown."

He spoke in Blue Star Mandarin, with a slight accent from the Jiangnan water towns, similar to the tone of the disciples from the City of Heavenly Sounds.

"what?"

The surrounding disciples were immediately shocked and looked at each other in disbelief.

Luo Cheng then asked in Chinese, "May I see your city lord?"

Hong Qian and Ku Bo, who were standing to the side, couldn't understand what Luo Cheng was saying at all, but they could see the shocked expressions on the faces of the cultivators around them, which meant that something surprising had happened.

"Come with me," a refined and gentle female cultivator said to Luo Cheng. Judging from the other disciples' attitudes towards her, she must be the senior disciple of Heavenly Melody City, holding an extraordinary position.

Luo Cheng pointed to his friends behind him: "These are all my friends, please entertain them."

"Alright!" The eldest sister nodded in understanding. She knew that the city lord came from an extremely distant place, and for thousands of years, he had almost never encountered anyone from his hometown. Now that a visitor from his hometown had appeared, it was indeed no small matter.

Encountering Han Chinese from Blue Star on Tanbang Star stirred a special feeling in Luo Cheng's heart—meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

Upon closer examination, Luo Cheng's cultivation time wasn't particularly long, less than ten years. But for mortals, ten years is a considerable amount of time. This made Luo Cheng truly understand the meaning of "time has no limits in cultivation."

If I were to return to Earth now, I wonder what my home planet would look like?

Thinking of his hometown, an overwhelming homesickness welled up inside him. Li Mengtian's image remained etched in his heart, and Lin Chen's smile still flashed in his mind. He wanted to go back, yet he dared not. Given Li Mengyi's personality, she should already be married, right? Perhaps Lin Chen was also settled down?

Led by his senior sister, Luo Cheng arrived at a spacious hall. Seated in the main seat was a woman of exceptional beauty, none other than the City Lord of Heavenly Melody City.

The eldest sister stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Master."

The city lord nodded slightly, his gaze falling on Luo Cheng.

Luo Cheng smiled brightly and said in Chinese, "Greetings, City Lord."

A look of surprise flashed in the city lord's eyes, followed by a complex and indescribable emotion.

The eldest sister asked softly, "Master, is he from the same place as us?"

The city lord said slowly, "To be honest, he and Ancestor Tianhong came from the same place."

With that, the city lord stood up and said, "Since we are friends, I will take you to see Ancestor Tianhong."

"Okay." Luo Cheng understood that the only true fellow countryman was Ancestor Tianhong. Most of the other disciples were his students and grand-disciples whom Tianhong had taken in on Tanbang Star, and some came from other planets.

Soon, the group arrived at a secluded courtyard. Master Tianhong was sitting in the pavilion, seemingly deep in thought.

The city lord said respectfully, "Master, I have brought a special person with me."

Tian Hong had already noticed Luo Cheng, his gaze sweeping over him like lightning: "Is it him?"

Luo Cheng smiled brightly and said in Chinese, "Greetings, Ancestor Tianhong."

Tianhong looked surprised: "You're from that place..." He seemed to have forgotten the specific name of his hometown.

"It's been too long, hundreds of years, thousands of years..." Tianhong exclaimed.

A strange emotion welled up in Luo Cheng's heart. Hundreds of years, thousands of years, were unimaginably long periods of time for him. The rise and fall of dynasties in the mortal world only lasted three hundred years, and a thousand years was enough to witness three or four dynasties rise and fall.

Luo Cheng nodded and said, "I come from Earth."

"Blue Star? When I left, the concept of planets didn't even exist." A look of reminiscence flashed in Tianhong's eyes. "That's right, it was a beautiful blue planet. When I left, I glanced back from afar, and that deep blue has always been imprinted in my heart."

After a moment of reflection, Tianhong asked, "How long have you been out?"

"Less than ten years."

Tianhong was even more astonished: "You've reached such a level in less than ten years?"

Luo Cheng smiled slightly: "Just lucky."

Tian Hong was speechless for a moment. Having cultivated for a thousand years, he had never heard of a cultivation level that could be improved solely through luck. Luo Cheng's cultivation level lessened his homesickness, but it made him take a deep breath and sigh softly.

"Which sect do you come from? Who is your disciple?" Tianhong asked again.

My older brother's name is Fu Shan.

"Chongbi? No wonder." Tianhong suddenly realized, "So he's Chongbi's brother. He's taken on a good disciple."

Luo Cheng explained, "Strictly speaking, I'm not a core disciple. The real core disciple is Li Qiang, who is also my junior brother."

"Your junior brother? How long has he been cultivating? What realm is he at now?"

"My junior brother and I have been cultivating for about the same time, and he is currently in the Nascent Soul stage."

Tianhong was speechless again.

The city lord and senior sister standing to the side were also somewhat bewildered. Thinking about how they had cultivated for hundreds of years to reach their current level, and then comparing themselves to the person in front of them, they suddenly felt that their so-called "genius" title was really laughable.

The eldest sister whispered to the city lord, "Master, you praised me as a genius before. Compared to them, what kind of genius am I?"

The city lord also looked bitter: "It's really incomparable, it hurts to think about it."

Luo Cheng and Tian Hong chatted about many things from their hometown, and time quietly passed.

Suddenly, the eldest sister received a message from a flying sword, reporting to the city lord: "Master, another group of people has entered."

"Go and take a look."

Luo Cheng stood up and said, "I'll go take a look too." He mainly wanted to confirm if Li Qiang had arrived. He had just learned from Tian Hong that Li Qiang had not yet arrived in Tianlai City.

Meanwhile, Li Qiang had indeed arrived at the outskirts of Heavenly City, and was feeling curious about this mysterious land of cultivation. As he was still pondering, he suddenly noticed a familiar figure standing in front of him.

"Senior brother!" Li Qiang exclaimed in surprise.

"Hahaha!" Luo Cheng burst into laughter upon seeing Li Qiang.

The eldest sister came forward and asked curiously in Chinese, "Are you also from that place?"

Surprised, Li Qiang instinctively replied in Chinese, "You're from that place too?"

"I am not from that place, but our ancestor came from that place."

Luo Cheng brought Li Qiang to see Tian Hong, who once again expressed his feelings, but this time his emotions were much calmer.

Li Qiang laughed and said, "I didn't expect to meet someone from my hometown here."

"yes."

After chatting with Tianhong for a while, Li Qiang and Luo Cheng went to see Nashan and his brothers, as well as Princess Lanqiu.

Luo Cheng reassured everyone, "It's alright, it's alright."

Princess Lanqiu smiled: "I knew everything would be alright."

Because they were from the same hometown, the disciples of Tianlai City took extra care of Li Qiang and his group. The happiest among them was Na Shan, who had never seen so many beautiful women before; he was both delighted and shy.

Luo Cheng joked, "Baldy, if you see someone you like, I'll help you find a wife."

"No, no, I'm a married man," Nashan quickly waved his hand.

Luo Cheng smiled. This man had a rugged appearance, but his emotions were delicate and devoted; he was a rare good man.

As everyone was chatting, a loud voice suddenly rang out: "New friend here? Anyone want to fight me?"

A disheveled man, looking like a madman, strode in.

"Old Crazy Uncle, they are the ancestors' friends, don't do anything rash!" the eldest sister shouted anxiously from behind.

When Li Qiang saw the old madman, he found it amusing: "Want to fight? I'll fight you."

Luo Cheng was speechless to himself, thinking that this was simply a case of weaklings fighting each other. To be honest, he really looked down on Li Qiang's fighting ability.

Despite being of a higher cultivation level, he often loses to cultivators of lower cultivation levels and frequently gets beaten until he coughs up blood—this is someone who has received the inheritance of the Heavenly Venerable! How can someone who has cheated be so weak? Luo Cheng didn't know how to complain.

Right now, the two chickens have started pecking at each other.

"Oh my, you actually have heavenly fire? No fun, no fun!" the old madman yelled.

Luo Cheng laughed and said, "How about I play with you for a bit?"

"You're in a distraction phase, I'm not playing with you."

"I can suppress my cultivation level, down to the Nascent Soul stage."

"Really?" The old madman immediately became interested. "A gentleman's word is his bond—"

"It's hard to chase a horse." Luo Cheng continued.

"Hehe," the old madman chuckled, "Here I come!"

He enjoyed the visceral feeling of punches landing, and charged straight at Luo Cheng.

Luo Cheng also became interested: "Martial arts? You're overthinking it." After cultivating immortality, he had mastered all the martial arts manuals he had read, and with the strength of a cultivator, he had already become a martial arts grandmaster.

"Take this!"

Dragon Elephant Skill, Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, Shaolin Long Fist... Luo Cheng used them with ease, his moves flowing like clouds and water.

Li Qiang was astonished. He had originally thought that martial arts were useless after cultivating immortality, but he never expected that they could be used in such a way. It could only be said that his knowledge was still too limited—Luo Cheng, as a long-time book lover, had read countless stories of powerful figures who had entered the Dao through martial arts.

Luo Cheng fought with great gusto, but the old madman grew increasingly frustrated: "You've improved your cultivation level?"

"No!" Luo Cheng said firmly.

"So what kind of martial art is this?"

"Oh, although I didn't improve my cultivation level, I did use a little trick."

"What little trick? Your whole body is like a block of iron, no, even harder than a block of iron!" The old madman's blows to Luo Cheng were like a mortal punching a block of iron, extremely painful.

Li Qiang discerned something: "Senior brother, did you use the restriction inside the prayer beads?"

"right!"

"I knew it."

Besides the restrictions imposed by the Buddhist prayer beads, Luo Cheng also possessed an extremely profound understanding of martial arts. With each punch and kick, he seemed to be able to influence the rules of heaven and earth.

"I'm not fighting anymore, I'm not fighting anymore!" The old madman retreated ten steps away, extremely frustrated. "You must have improved your cultivation level, this is too strange."

Li Qiang explained, "My senior brother did not improve his cultivation level."

"Then why are you so strong? And why are your moves so strange?"

Luo Cheng said calmly, "Your understanding of realms is too shallow."

"I knew it, you've improved your cultivation level," the old madman insisted.

Luo Cheng was too lazy to explain further. This old madman only knew how to pursue power and had no idea what realms were. In contrast, Li Qiang was more insightful. He excitedly said, "Senior brother, watching you fight has made me understand what the Dao is."

Luo Cheng nodded: "The Way lies in the simplest and most ordinary aspects of life."

"I understand," Li Qiang said, as if he had just realized something.

The old madman only felt dizzy.

Originally, Li Qiang had given up learning martial arts, but after watching Luo Cheng's battle, he regained his interest in martial arts—it turned out that this was the true way of martial arts.

Seeing that the battle was over, the eldest sister stepped forward and asked, "Brother Luo, did you use mortal martial arts?" She had obviously also learned mortal martial arts.

Luo Cheng nodded in agreement.

"Aren't mortal martial arts quite weak?"

"The martial arts are weak, but the principles are not."

"Martial arts? Dao?" Luo Cheng's words left a deep impression on the senior sister, prompting her to begin comprehending the supreme Dao.

Afterwards, Zhao Hao and his group surrounded Li Qiang and asked him about his recent experiences. Li Qiang gave a brief account.

With everything arranged, the next "dungeon" was about to begin—exploring the Zhenxuan Tower. Luo Cheng considered several ways to deal with the wandering immortals within the tower, only to reject them all. Ultimately, he decided to wait and see what happened once he reached the Zhenxuan Tower.