The star before him was slightly smaller than the homeland of Chu Zheng's past life as he remembered it.
At a glance, vast dense jungles dominated the landscape, with oceans covering less than half, all radiating with vibrant Life Yuan Qi.
"Lucky us, this star is quite young. Even just a small part of it will be enough for us to use for a hundred years," he said.
Watching the nearby star, Nie Longhu displayed a satisfied look. His incarnate body was ordinary, but a hundred years was enough time to step into the Golden Core Realm.
Upon reaching the Golden Core Realm, one would possess the basic capability to survive in the universe. Through the Method of Qi Absorption, one could barely manage to survive without relying on a battleship.
Chu Zheng parked the battleship on a nearby dead star, placing the armor, evolution liquid, energy core, and other portable items into the foldable space.
Then, the two of them boarded a small patrol ship and, through the main ship, opened a gateway to another space.
The Tianyao Federation's space transition technology had matured considerably; opening a fixed-point space portal was not difficult.
Relying on their current cultivation levels, physically crossing the starry skies still presented some difficulties, mainly because it required a lot of time.
A gigantic portal of light abruptly appeared beside the star. The patrol ship slowly moved out and silently entered the atmospheric layer.
The moment they entered the star, Chu Zheng felt a slight fluctuation in the repair panel. He glanced at it and saw the daily repair count had risen from zero to three.
The concentration of energy on this star was relatively high.
Soon, the patrol ship landed between mountain ranges. The loud rumble of the heavy engines startled countless birds and elicited roars of groups of animals.
After disembarking from the patrol ship and looking around, Chu Zheng suddenly had a change in expression. "Fellow Daoist Nie, I'll go and scout around."
"There are signs of human settlement over there; I'll take a look. We'll meet back here later," Nie Longhu replied, pointing beyond the mountains. In the next instant, his figure had already disappeared.
Chu Zheng looked in the direction he had gone and could faintly see a city over a hundred miles away, judging from the concentration of Yuan Qi, it was not small.
However, at the moment, he was preoccupied with other matters and took out a set of Fifth Order armor.
[Tianyao War God Series Armor (Fifth Order): The sixth generation modified version from the Tianyao Federation's God of Destruction series... The surface has some minor flaws, not detrimental, repairable (0/2)]
The two sets of armor he had collected; only one set was brand new, the other had been used before.
There were just some minor scratches on the surface, which did not affect its usage, so he had not worried about it.
Chu Zheng took a deep breath, pulled up the panel, and used today's refreshed counts on the armor.
The armor instantly restored to its pristine condition, and simultaneously, a stream of information flooded into his mind from the panel.
[As your experience increases, your repair skills have become more expertly refined. Now you have become a Fifth Order Repair Master. Years of accumulation have significantly improved your perceptiveness.]
[Cultivation: Golden Core Realm Initial Stage (Fourth Order)]
[Cultivation Technique: Eternal Calamity Treasure Record]
[Divine Skills: Five Thunder Righteous Law (Sixth Order), Riding the Clouds and Driving the Mist (Fourth Order), Heavenly Divination Technique (Fourth Order), Object Control (Fourth Order), Transmute Stone to Gold (Fourth Order)...]
[Repair Master: Fifth Order (0/4000)]
[Remaining Repair Counts for Today:1]
[Current Repairable: None]
Watching the changes on the panel, a gleam of excitement that he could not suppress flashed through Chu Zheng's eyes.
The upgrading of the panel was not limited to his own cultivation base. If it were so, through the avatar undergoing trials, he could have the rank of the Repair Master advanced ahead of time.
Once the Repair Master's level was sufficient, he could begin to repair the accumulated Immortal Treasures and fragments of Immortal Pills, and then feed them back to his original body to rapidly increase his cultivation level.
The enhancement of the Repair Master rank had further strengthened Chu Zheng's Spiritual Eye, allowing him, indistinctly, to begin seeing the crevices in the void.
Crossing these gaps would allow for traversing space silently, with a speed far greater than flying.
The roaring sound of tearing through the sound barrier, at any time, was very conspicuous.
The great divine skill 'Shrinking Earth into Inches', accessible only to cultivators at the Refine Spirit Realm, was already vaguely perceived by Chu Zheng who had just entered the Golden Core Realm.
Collecting his thoughts, Chu Zheng searched around.
Within the entire mountain range, there were several beasts nearing demon transformation. Their strength was not formidable, with the strongest being just on par with a cultivator of the Spirit Spring Realm. However, they had already grasped the essence of absorbing the essence of sun and moonlight, taking their first glimpse into the cultivational methods of the Demon Race.
Soon, he returned to the battleship, silently waiting for Nie Longhu to return.
An hour later, Nie Longhu finally returned, his expression slightly solemn:
"This place should be a land nourished by incense and spirituality, belonging to a deity named 'Yin Yang Xuan Ling Demonic Sanctioning Great Holy Celestial.' To dare use the title of Great Saint Heavenly Venerable, this Incense Fire God in its true form must possess strength that could at least rival a Mysterious Immortal."
Upon hearing the term Mysterious Immortal, Chu Zheng was taken aback, as Nie Longhu was merely a Heavenly Immortal.
A Mysterious Immortal was only below a Golden Immortal, and many Immortal Venerables and Immortal Kings within the Immortal Alliance were of this realm.
In a Great Realm such as the Cangyun Realm, an Immortal King's word could determine life and death.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Chu Zheng still decided to investigate this deity's background.
He employed the Earth Element Divine Skill, burying the patrol ship underground, and then followed Nie Longhu towards the city to explore.
On the main street, it was bustling, with shouts and calls of vendors overlapping each other.
As noon approached, wisps of cooking smoke rose in the sky, and the fragrance of grains permeated every corner of the streets and alleys.
The thick air of daily life mixed with the noisy crowd was extremely lively.
Standing at the street corner, Chu Zheng felt somewhat dazed for a moment.
On the Heaven Sent Star, he rarely interacted with others; in the silent expanse of space, he could only see Nie Longhu.
Such bustling humanity, he had been away from it for nearly thirty years. At this moment, he could not help but feel somewhat emotional.
Nie Longhu noticed the unusual expression on Chu Zheng's face and could not help but shake his head, his eyes slightly dim.
Chu Zheng, after all, had too little experience, and his emotions were easily stirred, a feeling he had not experienced in a long time.
Cultivators who reach the Supreme level forget emotions, not because they are heartless, but because they have experienced so many things that there are fewer and fewer things in this world that could provoke their emotions.
It is the same with ordinary people; apart from some who never progress, the older ones usually have much stronger composure than the younger, getting used to life and death, they can often remain calm in the face of changes.
Just like himself, accustomed to life and death, it was difficult for many things to provoke an emotional response anymore. For cultivation, this was a good thing, but it was also not so good.
Being overly rational could mean missing many opportunities for emotional touchpoints, and moments of enlightenment often hide within these opportunities of emotional fluctuations.
Chu Zheng slowly progressed, brushing past vendors and pedestrians, the air of someone detached from worldly concerns gradually fading.
In the blink of an eye, he had completely blended into the bustling crowd in Nie Longhu's eyes, disappearing without a trace.
After making a round along the main street, Chu Zheng stopped in front of a dumpling stall, had a simple bowl of dumplings, sat for a moment, and then walked towards the center of the city.
Even across half of the city, Chu Zheng could easily see the rising plumes of incense smoke there.
In the center of the city, a magnificent temple stood, resplendent in gold and jade, indescribably opulent.
Chu Zheng activated the Invisibility Technique and entered the temple silently.
The divine statue on the high platform was lifelike, about thirty years old, with a tall posture, a purple gold crown on his head, and each strand of hair clearly visible, draping over his shoulders. His eyes were deep, demeanor solemn, and aura calm.
The statue was draped in an ornately long robe, the craftsmanship extremely delicate, obviously with much effort put into it.
Chu Zheng looked up at the divine statue, a faint spiritual light flashing in his pupils. After seeing the information above the statue, his expression turned pale in an instant.
[Spirit-Awakened Divine Statue: A high-grade True God's Golden Body, which, after years of consuming incense, has become spirit-awakened, possessing mystical powers, titled 'Yin Yang Xuan Ling Demonic Sanctioning Great Holy Celestial.' Invoke its true name: 'Zhao Tingxian' to summon and activate the divine statue.]