"Damn it, I'm really screwed this time!"
Mu Chen stared at the task he had triggered, feeling nothing but bleak despair for his future.
There was an unwritten rule in the public server zones: no matter which group caused the mess, if you wanted to ask experts from other groups to fix it, you had to pay the corresponding price!
The 2 billion points weren’t too bad—the system could front the cost for now. With the 98th Group earning nearly 10 million points per month, tightening their belts for the next two or three decades would eventually cover the debt.
But the 200 million group experience was a death sentence. After over thirty years of building the group, they had barely scraped together 20 million experience. The system would likely deem them incapable of repayment and wipe out their entire experience bar, disbanding and reassigning the 98th Group—just like what happened to Group Six back in the day.
What would become of him, the incompetent leader of the 98th Group?
After causing such a disaster, low-level groups wouldn’t dare take him in, and high-level groups would look down on him. He’d probably end up tossed into the dark, lawless free channels...
Would Brother Yi lend him a hand?
But they were in the same world, and the value Mu Chen could offer was extremely limited. In fact, after handing over those 2 billion points, his worth would already be drained. Would Brother Yi really waste a precious group slot on him?
No, he had to believe it was possible. Brother Yi wouldn’t want otherworldly transmigrators causing trouble on the Purple Star Continent, so he definitely wouldn’t abandon Mu Chen to the free channels!
Besides, Brother Yi had promised him something once. There was still hope!
"You two old bastards just wait," Mu Chen thought viciously. "Once the big shot who accepted the task arrives—or better yet, once Brother Yi gets here—I’ll make sure you learn exactly why flowers bloom so red!"
With that resolve, Mu Chen, currently being refined by Zhang Kuang, steadied himself. No longer panicked, he even dared to glare fiercely at Zhang Kuang.
"Oh? This little outer-demon’s got some nerve, huh? Giving me the stink eye?" Zhang Kuang raised a hand, ready to teach him a lesson, but suddenly sensed an eerie fluctuation emanating from Mu Chen’s body.
The next second—
A dazzling spatial vortex erupted, unleashing an overwhelmingly powerful aura in an instant!
"Look out!"
Xuanxuzi, sensing danger from behind, rushed forward despite the crushing pressure, yanking Zhang Kuang out of his stunned paralysis.
At the same time, Chen Yi, who had been assisting the Purple Star Heavenly Dao in deducing laws, suddenly paused. His gaze pierced through countless miles, locking onto the scene of the disturbance.
"Heh. Daring to cause trouble in my territory... What audacity."
The Purple Star Heavenly Dao, its perception blocked by the chat group’s shielding, asked in confusion, "Brother Yi, what’s wrong? Did something happen?"
Chen Yi shook his head slightly. "Don’t worry about it. Keep working."
"Ah, okay." The Heavenly Dao didn’t press further, obediently refocusing on its task.
Chen Yi, too, acted as if nothing had happened, calmly continuing to refine the details.
But in an unnoticed corner, one of his immortal-body clones silently vanished from the Illusory Star Cave Heaven.
Meanwhile—
A crushing pressure sealed the space for miles around, forcing the two fleeing Heavenly Dao loose immortals down into a cerulean lake.
Mu Chen, bloodied and battered, slowly approached, his expression shifting as he watched Xuanxuzi and Zhang Kuang floating on the water’s surface.
Behind him stood a young man clad in black Daoist robes.
The man hovered midair, his silver hair cascading over his shoulders. His delicate features carried an air of aloof indifference, as if the world itself was beneath his notice.
From his restrained aura and his body’s lack of resonance with the world’s spiritual essence, it was clear—this man had tempered an immortal body. He was none other than the veteran from Group Two, "Just a Bit of Hardship," who had accepted the task to aid Mu Chen, boasting a combat power of 1.25 billion!
"Kid, what’s the task objective? I’m in a hurry—let’s wrap this up so I can leave."
Mu Chen hesitated. "Senior, the task requires killing these two loose immortals... but they can’t die."
"Oh?" The black-robed pseudo-immortal glanced at him sidelong. "And why’s that?"
After a long pause, Mu Chen answered, "Because if they die... you might not make it back in one piece."
The pseudo-immortal’s eyes sharpened. "What do you mean? With this world’s level of law stability, even if the Heavenly Dao intervened, it couldn’t touch me. Explain why killing them would prevent my safe departure."
Mu Chen fell silent again, longer this time—until a private message arrived. Relief washed over him as he exhaled slowly.
"Senior... my apologies. But whether you kill them or not now, you’re not leaving."
"What?" The pseudo-immortal’s brow furrowed, a sudden unease gripping him. "What are you talking about?"
The next moment, a calm voice answered in Mu Chen’s stead.
"Nothing much. Just making a point."
"Who—? Who’s there?!" The pseudo-immortal’s heart lurched as he whirled around.
A man in dark blue Daoist robes stood not far behind him, his presence equally restrained. He had appeared without a sound.
Instantly, the pseudo-immortal’s instincts screamed. His soul trembled uncontrollably.
Heavens above!
How could a world at this stage of law evolution produce such a monster?!
If this man could slip behind him undetected... didn’t that mean he could assassinate him with ease?!
I’M DONE FOR!!!
At the same time, the task system’s alert chimed in his mind:
[WARNING! You have been detected by a native powerhouse. The system judges you incapable of defeating him. Mission failed. Return now?]
YES!
Without a shred of hesitation, the pseudo-immortal chose to retreat.
This man was terrifying. He needed to get out—now!
But escape was no longer an option.
As a fellow traveler, Chen Yi was all too familiar with the chat group’s methods.
The moment the return portal began forming, he lunged forward, seized the pseudo-immortal, and tore through the void, hurtling straight into the depths of the outer cosmos!
Left behind, Mu Chen stood frozen, unable to process what had just happened.
Logically, "Just a Bit of Hardship" had come to help him. Betraying the man like this weighed heavily on his conscience.
But...
He had no choice.
Mu Chen lifted his head, gazing at the azure sky as he whispered, "I’m sorry... but Chen Yi is my brother. Senior from Group Two, you’ll have to endure this injustice."
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
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