A journey through immortal realms begins with a phantom tale.

Ning Zhe recounted some amusing anecdotes about ordinary people, and Luo Cheng silently assessed Lin Mingxing's social structure from these snippets of conversation.

Like most major cultivation planets, this place lacks a national political system and is instead composed of clusters of cities.

A city is often controlled by several sects. Mortals revolve around these sects, and their greatest wish is to cultivate immortality—only by cultivating immortality can they escape their mortal status and gain respect.

After listening for a while, Luo Cheng casually asked, "Why do you want to cultivate immortality?"

"I don't want to be looked down upon." Ning Zhe's answer was the same as most people's. He wanted to transcend the mortal class and become a carefree immortal.

Major cultivation sects open their gates to recruit disciples every so often, which is the greatest opportunity for mortals.

As they were walking, a boy of about ten years old suddenly ran over and shouted when he saw Ning Zhe, "Brother, I knew you were here." He was panting as he spoke, clearly having run all the way here.

Ning Zhe frowned slightly: "Is something the matter?"

"Brother, Dad has arranged a marriage for you. Come back with me and let's take a look."

"I'm not going!" Ning Zhe's tone was stubborn, and his face showed his resistance to the marriage.

"Brother, do you know how old you are this year?"

"I know!"

"I think you don't realize you're forty; it's time to face reality!"

Luo Cheng was somewhat surprised to hear this. He released his divine sense to examine Ning Zhe's bone age and realized: he really was forty, or more precisely, forty-one years old. But he looked only around twenty.

Luo Cheng suddenly thought of a crucial question: "By the way, how long can mortals live?"

Although Ning Zhe found it strange that the immortal asked such a common-sense question, he still answered seriously: "Immortal, the lifespan of mortals in Linming Star is roughly between one hundred and fifty and two hundred years. If one does not cultivate, living to two hundred years old is considered a long life."

"Oh?" Luo Cheng was slightly surprised and secretly speculated on the reason: perhaps the marriage between mortals and cultivators improved their genes, or perhaps the spiritual energy in the city nourished them, which allowed their lifespan to be extended.

Ning Jiangxing looked at his brother and advised, "Brother, this time we're introducing the daughter of the Zhou family outside the city. She's thirty years old and very beautiful."

"I don't want to get married." Ning Zhe still disagreed; all he wanted to do was cultivate immortality.

"Brother, we're just ordinary people. Although the Zhou family line has ended, we still retain some martial arts skills..."

"Alright!" Ning Zhe waved his hand. "I still need to accompany the immortal. You should go back first."

Upon hearing the title "Immortal," Ning Jiangxing looked at Luo Cheng with a hint of fear and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Immortal!"

"It's alright." Luo Cheng felt a surge of curiosity. "Could you take me to your house?"

The two brothers hesitated for a moment. Cultivators almost never go to mortal residential areas, and if they do happen to pass by, they will usually instinctively cover their noses and leave in a hurry.

Ning Zhe pondered for a moment: "If the immortal doesn't mind, I'll take you there."

"Lead the way."

Led by the Ning brothers, Luo Cheng arrived at an old town area. Nestled against a rocky mountain, the naturally formed stone walls served as city walls, reinforced with defensive formations. Beyond the mountain lay the outer city.

Qilong City is divided into inner and outer cities: the inner city is inhabited by cultivators, while the outer city is a place where ordinary people live, with only a few ordinary people allowed to live on the edge of the inner city.

The Ning family lived on the hillside of a rocky mountain, where some simple houses were piled up. When someone saw Ning returning, they greeted him from afar.

"Ning Zhe, off seeking immortality again?"

"Ning Zhe, you're over forty already, give up! Even if you get a cultivation technique, you won't reach the Nascent Soul stage!"

Ning Zhe remained silent the entire way, a stark contrast to the lively and talkative person he had been when he first met Luo Cheng.

Soon, the three arrived at a two-story stone house on the hillside. A middle-aged woman outside saw the two brothers and sighed to Ning Zhe, "Son, this is our fate."

"Mom, I refuse to accept my fate."

"Sigh..." the woman sighed softly. What else could she do but defy fate? She had lived for over a hundred years and had long since seen through it all: mortals without spiritual roots could not cultivate immortality.

In Luo Cheng's view, even without spiritual roots, one can still cultivate immortality. It's just that Linming Star has existed for too long, and its resources have long been exhausted. Many major sects rely on extraterrestrial spiritual stones for cultivation and are very cautious when recruiting disciples.

Ultimately, it comes down to "not being able to afford to raise them"—if someone can only cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage, then they are not worth nurturing.

At this moment, the people around him also noticed Luo Cheng. However, he concealed his aura and slightly changed his appearance, looking like an ordinary person. In addition, cultivators almost never came to the mortal living area, so no one thought of it that way.

Ning Zhe said a few words to his family, then quickly introduced, "Mom, this is a celestial being."

"A celestial being?"

Upon hearing this, everyone around immediately turned their gaze to Luo Cheng, their faces filled with surprise—no one had expected that a cultivator would come to such a place.

"Immortal!" Ning's mother called out, standing there fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, looking completely at a loss.

Luo Cheng smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, I just came to check on things." He then asked, "What do you usually eat?"

"Reporting to the Immortal, we eat rice, wheat, and some wild fruits, and occasionally we go hunting outside the city."

"Hmm." Luo Cheng glanced at the people around him. Everyone looked healthy, and their lives were clearly better than those of ordinary mortal planet residents. The outer city also had protective formations that could gather spiritual energy, making it easier to grow crops.

Luo Cheng remained silent, and no one around him dared to utter a sound.

He then asked, "May I come to your house?"

"Sigh..." Ning's mother was a little flustered, afraid that the house was too messy and that she would neglect the immortal.

Ning Zhe quickly said, "Mom, the immortal has arrived, we should treat him well."

"Yes, yes." Ning's mother quickly led Luo Cheng into the house.

The living room, less than ten square meters, was neatly arranged despite its small size. Ning's mother grew increasingly uneasy, fearing Luo Cheng's anger, and only dared to whisper, "Immortal, please sit!"

Luo Cheng sat down casually, gesturing for them to sit as well.

Ning's mother poured a glass of water with a leaf in it, the leaf exuding a touch of spiritual energy.

When Ning Jiangxing saw the leaf, a hint of heartache flashed in his eyes—clearly, this leaf was very precious to them.

Luo Cheng took a sip and found the water to be sweet and refreshing.

Just then, a commotion arose outside: "Fairy Murong has arrived!"

Upon hearing this name, Ning Zhe disregarded Luo Cheng and rushed out the door, standing there stunned, gazing at the girl on the stone path who looked like a fairy in a painting.

"Why are you here?"

Murong Qiu stood on the stone path, looking at him with a complicated expression: "Forget about me."

"I..." Ning Zhe had a thousand words in his heart, but he couldn't say a single one.

Luo Cheng went outside to eat melon seeds; it was clear that there was a story between the two.

Murong Qiu said, "The Zhou family's daughter has a good personality and is beautiful. Why don't you marry her?"

"No!" Ning Zhe retorted, his neck stiff. "I must cultivate immortality!"

Murong Qiu remained silent for a moment, then took out a jade slip: "This is a cultivation technique I obtained during my travels. It can be cultivated to the Spirit Void stage." As she spoke, she used her true essence to push the jade slip into Ning Zhe's hand.

Ning instinctively raised his hand to catch it.

Murong Qiu added, "The path of cultivation is more difficult than you imagine." After saying that, she rode the wind and disappeared into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

The people around Ning Zhe looked at the jade slip in his hand with different expressions, some envious, and others with barely concealed greed.

Luo Cheng watched all of this unfold, wondering to himself: What exactly does this woman mean?

At first glance, it seems like a well-intentioned act, but giving a jade slip to a mortal in public is practically pushing him to his death—just look at the greedy eyes around you, and you'll understand.

Ning's mother hurriedly said, "Son, quickly throw away the jade slip! We can't keep this!"

Ning Zhe gripped the jade slip tightly, refusing to let go. This was his only chance.

Meanwhile, Murong Qiu returned to the sect and happened to run into her master.

"Qiu'er, did you give the jade slip to that Ning Zhe?"

"Yes."

"Since you've already given it to him, don't go see him again."

"Okay, Master."

At the Ning family's gate, Luo Cheng spoke up, "Ning Zhe, we can't accept this jade slip."

Ning Zhe listened to Luo Cheng's words and quickly asked, "Why?"

"Look at the people around you."

Ning glanced around and suddenly realized what was going on.

Although Qilong City has rules set by its city lord, such as cultivators not being allowed to kill mortals and that murderers must pay with their lives, these rules are very weak. In Linming Star, there is only one true rule: might makes right.

Just like now, if someone steals Ning Zhe's jade slip, the Cultivation Association won't intervene. This is similar to the rules of the Immortal Realm: Immortals cannot steal the treasures of other immortals, but they can steal the treasures of cultivators.

In Linming, cultivators cannot steal the treasures of other cultivators, but they can steal the treasures of mortals. From the cultivators' perspective, stealing the treasures of mortals is actually to protect them.

With such rules in place, the only way for mortals to cultivate immortality is to join a cultivation sect.

Ning Zhe clutched the jade slip, his heart filled with immense pain. This was his only hope, yet he had to give it up—like winning five million dollars, only to be told the next minute that the money wasn't his.

Luo Cheng looked at him: "Can you tell me about you and that female cultivator?"

"Okay." Ning Zhe took a deep breath and slowly said.

The story is actually quite simple: the two were childhood sweethearts and lived together in the Black Stone Community. When Murong Qiu was sixteen, she was chosen by the Misty Pavilion and became a core disciple. But she valued loyalty and would visit Ning Zhe every year, bringing him treasures used by cultivators, hoping he could embark on the path of immortality.

After listening, Luo Cheng was puzzled: Murong Qiu didn't seem like a heartless person, so why did he give the jade slip in public and put Ning Zhe in danger?

Seeing him pondering, Ning Zhe suddenly said, "Immortal, I think I understand what she means."