Why do you leave my messages on read

"Ten thousand critical hits, ten thousand critical hits!!!"

The group owner's message instantly shattered the fragile hearts of the members.

Within the Western Sea Realm, Adolf Anlan mercilessly shoved the female clerk out the door, then slapped himself twice across the face, weeping bitterly as he cried out:

"Great Group Owner, I was wrong, I truly know my mistake now. Please, I beg you, lift my mute! I swear I’ll never flirt with female members again..."

Whether the group owner could hear him or not, Anlan kowtowed three times and bowed nine times in sincere repentance.

At the same time, in the Storage Hall of the Sacred Void Sect on the Azure Continent, the on-duty warehouse keeper Zhou Zheng suddenly rushed into an empty side chamber, tears streaming down his face:

"Great Group Owner, oh Great Group Owner, I was just joking back then, I swear I’m not a simp! I, Zhou Zheng, would rather starve to death, die out there, or jump off this building than ever simp for a woman again! Believe me, please believe me!!!"

In the residence of the second-ranked inner disciple of the Flying Steed Sect on the Ethereal Continent, the "Runner-up Brother" Chen Bo also sobbed uncontrollably:

"I’ll never simp again. How could women compare to cultivation? That bastard Fang Zheng won the group owner’s favor—when will I ever reclaim my runner-up throne?..."

Unlike these seasoned veterans, the newly joined Liu Ruyan, who had yet to experience the group owner’s greatness, was still sulking and drawing circles in resentment:

"Stupid group owner, rotten group owner! What’s wrong with me? Am I not pretty enough? Why won’t you date me? Are you even a man? Muting me—are you scared your Dao heart will waver? Dare you look me in the eyes? I refuse to believe you’re unmoved!..."

......

Unfortunately, no matter how desperately they pleaded, the iron-willed Chen Yi would never go back on his word. They could all sit tight and reflect for two and a half hours!

Closing the chat interface, he logged into the strictly hierarchical public zone.

This time, as the level 32 owner of Chat Group 108, he would no longer stay low-key!

Coincidentally, the owner of Group 98 was also online. Chen Yi promptly sent a friendly greeting.

["Hey trash, look at me—why do you leave my messages on read? —From the Level 32 Owner of Group 108."]

Meanwhile.

Deep within a secret realm on the Purple Star Continent.

Mu Chen, who had been attempting to comprehend the Dao insights left behind by the legendary Tribulation Sovereign, suddenly shuddered. Staring at the renewed greeting from the owner of Group 108, he fell into deep thought.

Is this guy cheating?

Ten levels in just three days? How is he this cracked?

His username is "The Damn Heavenly Tribulation Is Still Chasing Me"—could he be a Mahayana-stage powerhouse?

Wait, Group 108 was established way after I joined Group 98, right? How the hell did a fossil like him slip into a noob group?!

Oh no, I’ve messed up!

Mu Chen’s scalp tingled with dread.

As everyone knew, the public zone operated on a rigid hierarchy, where higher ranks exerted absolute dominance. Challenging one’s superiors was sheer idiocy!

Higher-level group owners held greater authority. They might not help you succeed, but they could absolutely ruin your day!

Back then, he’d been naive, underestimating this so-called "small fry" from Group 108. Now that the guy had outleveled him, he was the fool stuck in the loser bracket!

Realizing this, Mu Chen immediately switched gears, dropping his aloof act and even initiating a private chat.

["Back Turned to the World (Owner of Group 98): Fellow Daoist, my apologies. I’ve been immersed in cultivation lately and missed the public zone notifications. I hope you can forgive me."]

"Heh..." Chen Yi responded with nothing but a cold laugh.

["The Damn Heavenly Tribulation Is Still Chasing Me: Unread means you missed it. Leaving me on read? Explain yourself."]

"Tch, can’t you just take the out I gave you? Why push it?" Mu Chen was sweating bullets now.

But there was no way around it—the public zone’s rules were absolute.

High-rank group owners were kings; low-rank owners were peasants.

No one could guarantee their group wouldn’t face an unsolvable mission. If such a task got uploaded to the public zone and this guy decided to sabotage it, it’d be game over.

The consequences of mission failure were dire. One group had already demonstrated this—their group number was revoked, and afterward, not a single owner dared recruit members from the Ursa Major Starfield!

Wait—

Come to think of it, wasn’t that member abandoned by Group 36 into the free channel recently picked up by someone? Could it have been this guy?

If he dared take that member in, it meant he wasn’t afraid of failing the "Dark Upheaval" mission—which also implied his combat power was at least 80 million or above!

Holy hell, so he really is a Mahayana-stage fossil?!

That said, Mu Chen did know one Mahayana-stage expert—a fellow transmigrator who’d risen meteorically over 800 years, breaking through to Mahayana in just a century before spending the next seven centuries surviving 81 clashes with the Heavenly Tribulation, earning the title "Tribulation Sovereign."

Yes, the very Dao insights he was studying now were left behind by that legend.

If that guy didn’t have some cheat-like system, he’d most likely also joined the Transmigrators’ Chat Group Across Infinite Worlds—and might even be one of the old monsters lurking in Group 1!

He recalled a Group 1 member with the handle "Tribulation Celestial"—highly likely his alias!

"Fine, you won’t take the easy way out? Then don’t blame me for dragging him into this!"

With a flash of inspiration, Mu Chen decided to borrow the tiger’s might.

["Back Turned to the World (Owner of Group 98): No particular meaning, just testing the waters. By the way, might you know the Tribulation Sovereign, Chen Yi?"]

Chen Yi: ???

Hold up—did you just dox me?!

......

["In the autumn of the 108th year of the Tribulation Era, the Tribulation Sovereign Chen Yi left three poetic couplets’ first lines, declaring that whoever could compose matching second lines to his satisfaction would earn a favor from him. Scholars across the land flocked to attempt it, yet none could move the Sovereign.

The three opening lines were:

Odd changes, even remains—

Heavenly King covers the Earth Tiger—

Where lies the best excavator tech—"]