A journey through immortal realms begins with a phantom tale.

The incident with Green Star was just a minor episode in the journey.

About ten days later, Li Qiang arrived at the teleportation array and saw that Luo Cheng was already waiting for him there.

"Senior brother, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!"

"Where have you been these past few days?" Luo Cheng asked with a smile.

"I just wandered around," Li Qiang replied.

Luo Cheng knew that Li Qiang liked to interact with ordinary people and had excellent interpersonal skills; he could get along with anyone, no matter who he met.

"What has Senior Brother been doing these past few days?"

"I'm going to listen to music."

Li Qiang's eyes widened in shock: "Senior brother, you actually went to listen to music?"

"Don't overthink it," Luo Cheng said helplessly.

"I wasn't thinking anything!" Li Qiang quickly waved his hand, but a mischievous glint was hidden in his eyes.

Luo Cheng said no more, walked to the teleportation array and checked it: "Let's go."

"it is good."

The teleportation array lit up with a dazzling light, and when the light faded, the two figures had disappeared from the spot.

When they reappeared, they were far from Green Star, having landed on a desolate, uninhabited planet. The planet had a thin atmosphere, making it uninhabitable for mortals.

In the vast universe, many teleportation arrays are located on uninhabited planets with harsh environments—that is why one must reach at least the Nascent Soul stage to train on other planets.

In the days that followed, Luo Cheng and Li Qiang once again entered "frenzied teleportation" mode, traveling from one planet to another. They only rested briefly on one uninhabited planet before continuing their journey.

After running like this for two years, when they recalibrated the star map, the two were already not far from the Purple Star.

Li Qiang couldn't contain his curiosity: "Senior brother, we're almost at Purple Star. What exactly is on this planet?"

"You'll know when you get there," Luo Cheng said, still keeping everyone in suspense.

Li Qiang felt a strong urge to do something about it, but there was nothing he could do.

Luo Cheng was pondering something else—in the original story, both Li Qiang and Chi Ming received the inheritance mark of the Primordial Celestial Venerable, and a set of Celestial Venerable spiritual treasures was divided equally between them, but ultimately Li Qiang obtained the complete inheritance. Now that Chi Ming wasn't here, could he obtain the Celestial Venerable's mark?

The Celestial Venerable's Mark has one advantage: it prevents the triggering of attack restrictions when venturing into the Ancient God's Treasury, essentially granting the user the key to open the door. Luo Cheng has always held the Celestial Venerable's abilities in awe.

After two more teleportations, the two finally arrived at Purple Star. Looking from the planet's surface, they could see another purple planet not far away—Purple Star and War Soul Star were a pair of twin stars.

To put it simply, the Purple Star is like the gateway to the War Soul Star. By teleporting through here, one can directly reach the War Soul Palace, the palace of the Primordial Celestial Venerable.

Despite being called Purple Star, it is actually a barren planet. A peculiar energy permeates the planet, giving it a purple halo when viewed from space.

Stepping onto the Purple Star, the two felt a peculiar sense of oppression. After determining their direction, Luo Cheng moved towards the temple ruins, with Li Qiang following closely behind.

Upon arriving at the temple ruins, both felt a strange sense of familiarity. This temple bore some resemblance to the Temple of Athens on Earth, but was far more magnificent—its colossal columns soared into the sky, a truly awe-inspiring sight. The entire temple was constructed of an unknown material, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura, with cryptic patterns carved into the columns.

"Senior brother, you came to Zixing just to see this temple?" Li Qiang asked curiously.

"Um."

Li Qiang was about to step forward for a closer look when Luo Cheng stopped him: "Be careful, this place was built by the gods."

"god?"

Although the two were cultivators of gods, they had not truly become gods. Luo Cheng was very cautious. He first carefully observed the layout of the temple and deduced the divine array based on the information he had obtained. However, with his current cultivation level, facing the divine array was like a mayfly looking up at the blue sky.

"Junior brother, let's go in."

"it is good."

The two cautiously explored the temple, and the moment they stepped into the inheritance area, terrifying pressure descended upon them.

"Oh no!" Li Qiang was shocked. He had never felt such terrifying pressure before.

"Junior brother, don't resist!" Luo Cheng said in a deep voice. He knew that this was the palace of the Primordial Celestial Venerable. With their cultivation level, they were not even ants in the eyes of the Celestial Venerable. Resisting would only bring more terrible backlash.

Li Qiang relaxed his body as instructed, and sure enough, the invisible pressure immediately weakened considerably.

"Release the power of the Divine Chess," Luo Cheng said again.

"it is good."

After the two released their divine power, the surrounding purple energy gradually subsided.

Suddenly, a spatial force enveloped the two of them, instantly transporting them to War Soul Star.

There was also a temple on War Soul Star, guarded by many people. These guards were not surprised to see Luo Cheng and Li Qiang appear; they were clearly used to similar situations.

"Another new recruit?" one of the guards asked.

Li Qiang asked in confusion, "What newcomer?"

"Aren't you new here?"

"Where is this place?"

"This is the Hall of War Souls, a place where the God of War is worshipped."

Li Qiang then realized that this was a place for worshipping gods, and turned to look at Luo Cheng: "Senior brother, do you know the details of the War Soul Hall?" After all, it was Luo Cheng who suggested coming here, so he guessed that his senior brother must know something.

Perhaps because Chi Ming wasn't there, the War Soul Hall didn't unleash any violent energy this time. Luo Cheng said, "Take us to see the God of War."

"Alright." According to the rules, the newly arrived guardian must indeed pay homage to the God of War.

Led by the guards, the two arrived at the main hall of the War Soul Hall. In the center of the main hall stood a statue hundreds of meters tall, but in Luo Cheng and Li Qiang's eyes, the statue seemed to extend infinitely, like Pangu with his head reaching the sky and his feet firmly planted on the earth.

As the two gazed at the statue, a voice suddenly resounded in their hearts: "Fated ones, you have arrived."

Meanwhile, in a corner of the divine realm, two middle-aged men sat facing each other, a chessboard between them. The man in black robes was picking up a chess piece when he paused, saying, "Something's strange."

The middle-aged man in white robes also looked puzzled, and the two of them simultaneously turned their gazes to the Hall of War Souls below. After a moment, they withdrew their gazes and continued placing their pieces, as if the strange movement had never occurred.

The statue in the Hall of War Souls suddenly lit up, and two streams of light shot out, disappearing into the space between Luo Cheng and Li Qiang's eyebrows.

A flood of information rushed into their minds, and the two felt a sharp pain, unable to help but groan.

After a long while, the information was absorbed, and a star-shaped mark appeared on the foreheads of both of them. Upon closer inspection, the starlight shifted and changed, sometimes forming a triangle, sometimes a pentagon, and sometimes a nine-pointed star, symbolizing the evolution of the Great Dao.

These starlight rays were none other than the Celestial Venerable's mark. After obtaining the mark, the two focused their gazes on the four divine artifacts in front of the statue.

Luo Cheng said, "Junior brother, you should take all of these."

"Senior brother, let's each take two items."

"This is a set; you can carry it yourself."

Li Qiang wanted to persuade him further, but Luo Cheng laughed and said, "Alright, we're brothers, don't be so formal. Once we get to the Ancient God's Treasury, you can help me find a few more divine artifacts."

"Alright!" Seeing his senior brother's insistence, Li Qiang stopped refusing, used the hand seals to collect the divine artifact.

As the two turned to leave, they were stopped by the guards.

"Hand over the treasure!" A guard stopped the two.

Luo Cheng was speechless for a moment. Looking at the group of ignorant guys in front of him, he said indifferently, "Junior brother, let's go. Don't waste your breath on idiots, it's contagious."

"it is good."

The two used teleportation to arrive outside the temple. Suddenly, the temple behind them trembled violently, releasing divine rhythms, before vanishing into the void. The guards who hadn't had time to leave were taken away by the temple.

Since there was no teleportation array on War Soul Star, the two used the Void Great Teleportation to return to Purple Star, and then left through Purple Star's teleportation array.

On the way, Li Qiang couldn't help but ask again, "Senior brother, what exactly are those marks on our foreheads?"

After pondering for a moment, Luo Cheng decided to tell Li Qiang something: "This is the mark of the Heavenly Venerable. Possessing the mark of the Heavenly Venerable allows one to obtain the inheritance of the Heavenly Venerable."

"Celestial Venerable?" Li Qiang looked bewildered.

"The Celestial Venerable is the ruler of the Divine Realm, and his status in the Divine Realm is equivalent to that of the Azure Emperor in the Immortal Realm."

"Uh..." Li Qiang was completely dumbfounded.

After a long while, he murmured, "No wonder my senior brother insisted on coming to Purple Star..." Then, he remembered something else, "But can the Heavenly Venerable's inheritance be passed on to two people?"

"The Celestial Venerable's legacy can ultimately belong to only one person."

"Then, senior brother, I'll pass on the inheritance to you!" Li Qiang said without hesitation.

Luo Cheng turned to look at him and teased, "Junior brother, I told you, this is the Heavenly Venerable's inheritance. Are you really willing to part with it?"

"We're brothers, there's no need to be so formal about this."

"I've seen generous people, but I've never seen anyone as generous as you," Luo Cheng chuckled.

"Speaking of generosity, how can I compare to my senior brother? You didn't want a single one of those four divine artifacts just now," Li Qiang said with admiration.

Back in the Heavenly Court era, the appearance of a single divine artifact would cause countless cultivators to scramble for it, and even immortals would fight over it. Yet, just now, with four divine artifacts placed before him, Luo Cheng didn't even blink.

"Junior brother, those four are exclusive divine artifacts of the Heavenly Venerable. Apart from those who have obtained the complete inheritance, no one else can unleash the full power of these artifacts," Luo Cheng explained.

"But it's still a divine artifact, after all. Even if it can't unleash its full power, it should still significantly boost your strength, right?"

"That's true, but I have more faith in my own abilities."

Hearing this, Li Qiang finally understood—Luo Cheng not only didn't want the divine artifact, but he also didn't want the Heavenly Venerable's inheritance.

Luo Cheng added, "Although the Heavenly Venerable's inheritance is the highest inheritance, it is also a kind of constraint."

At this moment, Li Qiang was still unable to grasp the profound meaning of these words, let alone understand just how difficult it was to cultivate from an ordinary deity to a Celestial Venerable. Looking across the entire Divine Realm, there were only two Celestial Venerables.

Little did he know that Luo Cheng's words were overheard by the two Celestial Venerables who were playing chess.

In the divine realm, the middle-aged man in black robes chuckled, "Who is this kid?"

The middle-aged man in the white robe also seemed quite interested: "His origins are unknown, yet he knows many secrets."

"You've got quite the nerve. With such meager cultivation, you dare to say that the Heavenly Venerable's inheritance is a hindrance?" The black-robed man's tone was laced with disdain—in their eyes, Luo Cheng's actions were nothing short of ignorant and arrogant.

In the lower realm, Luo Cheng said to Li Qiang, "Let's go back to Fengyuan Star first to refine a batch of Seven-Gathering Pills, and then we'll go to the Ancient God's Treasury."

"Okay!" Li Qiang thought to himself, once we get to the Ancient God's Treasury, I must help my senior brother find some useful artifacts.