Recruiting New Members: Fang Zheng Surrounded by Enemies

A capitalist is still a capitalist, but Chen Yi liked to think he was at least a decent boss.

After all, he didn’t feed his employees empty promises—instead, he generously handed out daily red packets to invest in his group members.

Once he nurtured them into capable individuals, wasn’t it only fair to collect a little interest in return?

With that thought, Chen Yi felt at ease and cheerfully opened the free channel to see if there were any lost little treasures in need of a home.

And lo and behold, he actually found a massive, solitary treasure—one that no one else dared to take in!

......

Celestial Pivot Star Domain.

Yun Province.

Fang Clan’s Main Hall.

“Wang Teng of the Wang Clan lost fair and square—our young master defeated him despite being at a lower cultivation stage! Why should our young master pay with his life?”

“Our young master has the potential to become an Emperor! Given time, he’ll surpass even our ancient ancestors. We will never compromise!”

“Our Fang Clan has been in decline for far too long. Now that we finally have a glimmer of hope, they want to snuff it out? Do they really think we won’t draw our swords?”

“We’ve compromised again and again, and all it’s earned us is their escalating demands. This time... I’d rather fight to the death!”

“They’ve already gone to retrieve their Quasi-Emperor artifact. Once three days pass, our clan’s protective formation will shatter. Instead of waiting to die, why not charge out now and take a few of them down? Killing one is breaking even, killing two is pure profit!”

“As long as our young master survives, the Fang Clan lives on. He will avenge us!”

“......”

Clan Leader Fang Zheng listened to his clansmen’s furious outcries, his heart heavy.

Truth be told, he was also a transmigrator. In fact, his golden finger had arrived immediately—he was pulled straight into the Multiverse Crossers' Mutual Aid Chat Group.

But...

For some reason, the moment the group’s admin heard he was from the Celestial Pivot Star Domain, he was unceremoniously kicked out.

Later, he learned from the public channel’s information board that before him, another member from the Celestial Pivot Star Domain had triggered a mission related to the Dark Calamity. However, no one in the group had been strong enough to complete it, leading to mission failure and the group’s demotion. Since then, all group admins had avoided members from that star domain like the plague.

There was nothing he could do. Prejudice was like an immovable mountain—no kind-hearted admin would take him in.

Banished to the desolate free channel, he couldn’t use any of the chat system’s functions.

His golden finger might as well have been useless.

Fortunately, his transmigration identity wasn’t bad—he was the Fang Clan’s young master. Though his talent wasn’t exceptional, at least he didn’t have to worry about sudden death.

Later, he became clan leader, married a beautiful wife, and had a strong, healthy son. Life was blissful, and he felt no regrets.

But he never expected...

His son, Fang Fan, would be anything but ordinary!

At three years old, Fang Fan went missing, only to return on the back of a pure-blooded Qilin. From then on, he would disappear for months at a time, returning each time with earth-shaking improvements. At six, he stumbled into the inheritance grounds of the True Martial Emperor and obtained fragments of the "Demon-Slaying Scripture." At nine, he ventured into the Fallen Dragon Abyss and bathed in True Dragon’s blood to cleanse his meridians... By twelve, he had forged a Divine Bridge over his Bitter Sea, sweeping through Yun Province’s younger generation like a storm. He was the textbook definition of a protagonist!

And as everyone knew, the parents of protagonists were high-risk roles.

Fang Zheng was both proud and terrified of his son.

Proud, because Fang Fan had the makings of an Emperor—it was only a matter of time before he soared to greatness.

Terrified, because he knew his son’s brilliance would inevitably lead to his own sacrificial demise.

Sure enough, “tall trees catch much wind.” The Wang Clan, Yun Province’s foremost power, could no longer sit idle. In a secret realm, they attempted to ambush Fang Fan.

And his son? He was nothing short of spectacular.

With Divine Bridge cultivation, he had crossed realms to slay the Wang Clan’s young master—a Purple Mansion cultivator—along with his lackeys, before vanishing without a trace!

Given enough time, Fang Fan could elevate the Fang Clan to unimaginable heights!

But the Fang Clan was still too weak now.

Fearful, the Wang Clan surrounded the Fang estate, declaring that if Fang Fan did not surrender himself, they would slaughter the entire clan.

In three days, they would retrieve their Quasi-Emperor artifact and shatter the Fang Clan’s protective formation in an instant.

“Knowing Fan’er, if he hears of this, he’ll rush back to his doom...”

“Sigh... I never wanted to be sacrificed, but I can’t let myself become his weakness. Let this father be the first stepping stone on your path to invincibility.”

Fang Zheng sighed, steeling his resolve. He stood and strode out without looking back.

His clansmen fell silent, following their leader in solemn unity.

They all understood—compromise would never bring lasting peace. The only way to ensure their clan’s survival was to fight to the end.

Yet just then—

At the very front, Fang Zheng suddenly stiffened.

A translucent blue panel, visible only to him, appeared before his eyes for the first time in twenty years.

[‘TMD the Heavenly Tribulation is Still Chasing Me’ has invited you to join a group chat. Accept?]

“Yes!”

Without hesitation, Fang Zheng accepted.

Trapped in a hopeless situation, he couldn’t afford to ignore even the faintest glimmer of hope.

“Clan Leader? What is it?” an elder behind him asked in confusion.

Fang Zheng didn’t answer, his eyes fixed on the group admin’s displayed combat power—900 million.

How absurd was that?!

At the early Nurturing Spirit stage, his own combat power was a mere 300,000. The Fang Clan’s strongest ancestor barely surpassed a million. Even the Wang Clan’s arrogant Immortal Platform elder only had a little over two million!

Combined, they weren’t even one percent of the admin’s strength!

And the gap between realms was like an insurmountable chasm. Ten early Nurturing Spirit cultivators like him couldn’t hope to defeat a single second-stage Immortal Platform expert like the Wang elder.

So just how terrifying was this admin with 900 million combat power?

Could he be on par with the ancient Emperors?

Fang Zheng’s heart raced. If he could ask the admin for help, the Fang Clan’s crisis would be resolved in an instant!

[Multiverse Crossers' Mutual Aid Chat Group #108]

[Admin has invited ‘I Really Don’t Want to Be Sacrificed’ to join the group.]

[Runner-up in the Immortal Cultivation World: Huh? Admin, aren’t you in the middle of a tribulation? How are you still recruiting? That confident, eh?]

[TMD the Heavenly Tribulation is Still Chasing Me: Nothing special—just pure skill!]

[The God of Light is Unemployed: Admin’s a legend! But this guy doesn’t seem new—his profile says he registered 7,374 days ago and has a ‘removed from Group #36’ tag!]

[The Sword Immortal with Clean Hands: Dude, what’s your story?]

Fang Zheng’s heart sank as dark memories resurfaced. For a moment, he considered lying.

But then he reconsidered. This admin had 900 million combat power—far stronger than his previous useless admin. If he dared invite Fang Zheng in, he probably didn’t fear the Dark Calamity at all.

In fact, he might have invited Fang Zheng precisely to trigger that mission again!

With that in mind, Fang Zheng decided honesty was the best policy.

[I Really Don’t Want to Be Sacrificed: I was kicked from Group #36 because I’m from the Celestial Pivot Star Domain. I spent twenty years rotting in the free channel!]

【The Sword Immortal with Clean Hands: Celestial Pivot Star Domain? Looks familiar... Have I seen this somewhere before?】

【Runner-up in the Immortal Cultivation World: The world that suffered the Dark Calamity?】

【The God of Light is Unemployed: Holy shit, I remember now! Group Six—the one that got demoted so hard its numbering was revoked!】

【I Really Don't Want to Be Sacrificed: Exactly. The only failed mission world in the public regional channel. If your group’s also afraid of demotion… should I leave?】

Hearing this, Chen Yi raised an eyebrow. This guy’s putting on airs now?

Needs some discipline, huh?

【TMD the Tribulation’s Still Chasing Me: In that case, go ahead and leave.】

Fang Zheng instantly panicked.

Why isn’t the group leader playing by the script?

With power levels that high, shouldn’t he be domineeringly declaring there’s nothing to worry about?

I was just being polite—how did it turn into getting kicked out?!

Nooo!

.........