A journey through immortal realms begins with a phantom tale.

The universe is vast and boundless, and the path to immortality knows no time.

Luo Cheng traveled alone through the stars, time seemingly losing its meaning. He passed through ten teleportation arrays without encountering a single living person, and endless loneliness enveloped him.

Fortunately, he had already reached a state of enlightenment—one who has attained enlightenment can cultivate the Tao; cultivation begins after enlightenment. This solitary journey, on the contrary, allowed his spiritual realm to gradually improve without him even realizing it.

Until one day, he discovered that he was about to run out of spirit stones.

Standing beside the teleportation array, Luo Cheng probed the array plate with his mind and saw an invisible line connecting countless points of light. Based on the star map he obtained on Apocalypse Star, he would need to teleport four to five more times to reach Heavenly Court Star, while Fengyuan Star was even more distant.

After weighing the options, Luo Cheng decided to head to a pale green planet ahead for a temporary rest.

When Luo Cheng arrived on this planet, he only had a few dozen immortal stones left. After taking out two to replenish his energy, he began to explore the surroundings.

To his surprise, intelligent life existed on this planet.

Looking around, most of the area is desert, with no ocean and only scattered saltwater lakes. The fact that life can survive in such a harsh environment makes Luo Cheng marvel at the wonders of the universe.

Luo Cheng landed on an oasis of about 100,000 square kilometers—one of the largest oases on the planet known locally as "Saturn Ring Star."

"God!" A group of dark-skinned sand people, who were only covered by leaves, knelt down and kowtowed when they saw Luo Cheng descend from the sky.

As soon as Luo Cheng landed, he sensed the presence of several natural formations, which surprised him once again. It was these natural formations that allowed this oasis to form.

What delighted him even more was that he sensed a fluctuation of spiritual energy—there were spirit stones here!

"God!" the Sandman cried out, still kneeling on the ground, not daring to get up.

Luo Cheng released his true energy, gently lifting hundreds of people. The sand people felt this power and their awe grew even stronger.

Luo Cheng walked up to the leader, lightly touched his forehead with his finger, and quickly grasped the language of the sand people through telepathy. For a cultivator, this was not a difficult task.

The sand people warmly offered him their best food, but when Luo Cheng saw the "delicacy" cooked with skin and internal organs and without any seasoning, he couldn't help but twitch his lips and ultimately did not taste it.

This showed him what it meant to "drink hair like blood," but it also sparked his curiosity.

So Luo Cheng stayed with the Sandman tribe for a month. He left behind hemp weaving techniques, found some local seasonings to teach cooking methods, and finally left behind a simple Qi cultivation method.

To his relief, he found some mid-grade immortal stones in the tribe, enough to sustain his journey. Luo Cheng guessed that a cultivation civilization might have once existed here, but he didn't want to delve into it.

When Luo Cheng left, the Sandman tribe's records added a new entry: "In the first year, a god descended, conveyed a divine decree, and left behind the methods of divine cultivation."

But Luo Cheng quickly put this experience behind him.

After five teleportations, Luo Cheng finally arrived at Tianting Star. He couldn't help but exclaim, "That was truly an ordeal!"

He looked around but didn't see the stone tablet, thinking that there should be more than one teleportation array on Tianting Star. Without thinking too much, he took to the air and found a city.

Having just arrived from Saturn, the sudden sight of human civilization evoked a strange sense of familiarity. Luo Cheng pondered to himself, "So that's it. Although cultivators don't like interacting with mortals, they feel lonely when they're away from the mortal world for extended periods. The mortal realm is the foundation of the cultivation world; only in the mortal realm can one's Dao heart gradually reach perfection."

This city is called Jiujiang City. Since most of the residents of Tianting Star came from Blue Star, many place names were retained from the old names of the Xia Kingdom. It can be said that Tianting Star is the second home of the Xia people.

Upon learning the location of the capital, Luo Cheng flew directly there. Coincidentally, Li had just been appointed to an official position and was staying at the Holy King's Mansion.

Luo Cheng landed at the gate of the Holy King's Palace, and the guards were shocked, thinking that a foreign envoy had come to cause trouble.

"I'm looking for your Holy King and your Great General," Luo Cheng said calmly.

"What business do you have with the Holy King?" the guard asked warily.

"I am sworn brothers with your general."

The guard said sternly, "I'll go report."

Luo Cheng did not force his way in, after all, this was Hou Pijing's residence.

Li Qiang had just finished a court assembly when he heard that Luo Cheng was looking for him. He was overjoyed and strode toward the door, but he tripped and fell several times because his official robes were too long. In the end, he simply flew out close to the ground.

Upon seeing Luo Cheng, Li Qiang happily called out, "Brother Luo!"

Luo Cheng smiled broadly and said, "Brother, you've become a general! Congratulations!"

"Brother Luo, please stop making fun of me. I have no desire to be a general."

"You've achieved something that's equivalent to being granted a high-ranking official position. Others study hard for decades and still can't achieve that."

"Brother Luo, if you want to be the one, I'll give it to you."

"No." Luo Cheng resolutely refused, "Being a great general is nothing compared to the carefree life of cultivating immortality."

"Yes, yes," Li Qiang nodded in deep agreement.

Luo Cheng joked, "I heard you have more than a dozen maids serving you while you bathe?"

"Brother, you're my own brother, let's not talk about this anymore."

"On our planet Earth, countless people envy you."

"If you're envious, I'll give you the position of Grand General. Also, I'll speak to the Emperor and have you appointed as Prime Minister."

"No." Luo Cheng quickly waved his hand. He was just saying it casually. He couldn't handle being a prime minister or a general. Even if he had beautiful women serving him, he wouldn't be used to it.

"Hahaha!" Li Qiang laughed. After chatting with Luo Cheng for a while, he also relaxed.

The guards and maids nearby pretended not to hear. The guards thought to themselves, "We'd be begging for this kind of thing, and these two completely look down on it, as if being a general is a terrifying prospect. People really can't be compared." The maids were also annoyed; they weren't poisonous insects or ferocious beasts, were they really that scary?

"Haha, it's Li Qiang's brothers!" A hearty voice rang out, accompanied by mysterious fluctuations of Yuan energy.

Luo Cheng immediately realized who had arrived.

"Brother Hou!"

Hou Pijing strode over: "As expected, they are the brothers of Li Qiang and Fu Shan. Not bad, not bad."

"Greetings, Brother Hou."

"You're not as uninhibited as Brother Li," Hou Pijing said with a smile.

Luo Cheng smiled without saying a word. He understood that in terms of interpersonal skills, he was far inferior to Li Qiang. Of course, in terms of comprehension, Luo Cheng was confident that he was much better.

Hou Pijing immediately noticed that Luo Cheng wasn't using a Foundation Establishment magic weapon and asked in surprise, "How long have you been cultivating?"

"Similar to Li Qiang."

"This is truly unbelievable." Hou Pijing knew that Li Qiang had used a Foundation Establishment magic weapon and experienced great ups and downs to quickly enter the Nascent Soul stage. But Luo Cheng didn't use a Foundation Establishment magic weapon, yet he entered the Nascent Soul stage in just a few years. What's even more astonishing is that he's only one step away from leaving the body.

Li Qiang also sighed, "In terms of talent, I really can't compare to Brother Luo." He knew that Luo Cheng didn't use any Foundation Establishment magic treasures, and even Fu Shan hadn't taught Luo Cheng. Under these circumstances, his cultivation level was actually higher than his.

Luo Cheng smiled and said, "Just lucky, just lucky."

Hou Pijing remarked with emotion, "Fu Shan has gained two good brothers."

After exchanging pleasantries, the three of them went to the inner courtyard of the Prince's Mansion for a chat, led by Li Qiang.

Luo Cheng asked, "Brother, what are your plans?"

"I'm going to the Frozen Source."

Luo Cheng thought to himself that he was probably taking Mei Jingjing home. This Li Qiang really had a way with women. But he didn't know that he himself was also quite popular with women—cultivators easily attracted the attention of the opposite sex.

"I'll go with you to the Frozen Source, and then we'll go back to Fengyuan Star together," Luo Cheng suggested. He came to Tianting Star mainly to find cultivation techniques, and he also needed to acquire some magical treasures for self-defense since he had too few.

Speaking of Fengyuan Star, Li Qiang became somewhat excited. He had been cultivating for so long, but had never been to Fengyuan Star before.

Hou Pijing felt bored and turned to leave. Having cultivated for a long time, he preferred to be alone. In fact, most cultivators are lonely, and those like Li Qiang and Fu Shan, who have friends all over the world, are truly rare.

The next day, Li Qiang left his official robes behind and flew out of the Holy King's Palace with Luo Cheng.

After leaving the capital, Luo Cheng said, "I've discovered a mysterious place. Shall we go explore it together?"

"Great!" Li Qiang had just started cultivating immortality. He was very curious and bold. Hearing Luo Cheng's words, he immediately became interested.