There Is Indeed a Master in the Chat Group—But It Seems to Be Asleep

What is the true nature of a chat group?

A tool!

And a tool with an owner, no less!

Chen Yi's faint divine sense slipped through the backdoor of the chat group, evading layers of protective barriers resembling the gaze of the Heavenly Dao, and finally infiltrated the true core region.

This was a bizarre space filled with dazzling radiance. Instead of the imagined mountains of immortal cultivation resources, there were only dense, crisscrossing fiber-optic threads, nearly every one of which was linked to a world, as if weaving a vast net enveloping the myriad realms!

At the center of this enormous fiber-optic web, a compass exuding an ancient and timeless aura slowly rotated.

The moment Chen Yi glimpsed it, an inexplicable surge of information flooded his mind.

The Primordial Chaos Creation Compass!

"Heaven has no fixed destiny, the Dao bends and twists, and mortals follow karma."

"Primordial Chaos Creation defies logic and subverts the natural order!"

Hiss...

Though he didn’t fully comprehend it, Chen Yi was utterly awestruck.

If nothing went wrong, the imagined troves of immortal cultivation resources were likely stored within this treasure!

What a fantastic find!

Unfortunately, it was already claimed. On the Primordial Chaos Creation Compass lay a mark of will, and judging by the fluctuations emanating from it... this was no ordinary artifact!

The aura it exuded was overwhelmingly profound, giving Chen Yi the sensation of standing at the source of the River of Time, gazing backward across endless epochs, witnessing the weight of eternity itself.

Just a single mark of will nearly caused Chen Yi’s infiltrating divine sense to collapse. If its true master were to appear in person...

Hiss!

This thing likely belonged to some supreme immortal realm powerhouse. The odds of defeating it were slim, and the chance of escape was probably only... 98%!

Not ideal, not ideal!

Yet Chen Yi wasn’t deterred, nor did he abandon his ambitions for the Primordial Chaos Creation Compass and retreat.

There was only one reason: he noticed that the mark of will seemed to be dormant, not actively controlling the compass but allowing it to operate autonomously.

Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?

If the owner had been awake, Chen Yi would’ve respectfully backed off without hesitation.

But since the master was asleep, how could the Primordial Chaos Creation Compass, bound by its preset rules, resist Chen Yi’s relentless and insidious probing?!

Heh, naturally, he’d claim it right under its owner’s nose. Once it was his, the vast treasures stored within its vaults... would also be his!

Having made up his mind, Chen Yi immediately maneuvered his resilient divine sense to latch onto the compass!

The Primordial Chaos Creation Compass visibly trembled for a moment before stabilizing.

At the same time...

In an unknown realm.

A pair of eyes, deep as if containing infinite universes, slowly opened.

"A moment ago, I sensed a flicker of unpredictable variance..."

"Alas, no longer do I govern the heavens and earth. Now, even a mere variable eludes my grasp. No matter. Since I’ve awakened, I might as well check on the progress of the lower realm’s immortal general cultivation project..."

"Hmm? Not bad. In less than ten thousand years, the Creation Compass has consumed one hundred-millionth of its reserves and produced fifty True Immortals, with three even reaching the Mystic Immortal stage. Impressive..."

"Excellent! All fine seedlings from the Ancient Land of Origins. Very good, truly very good!"

"However, progress in the lower realm is still too slow. I’ll wait until the first Golden Immortal emerges before activating the Immortal Realm Trial Module for them."

"Chuckle Wuji, that seat has always been mine. Your foundation is too shallow—you can’t hold it."

"When I raise a new army, you’ll realize just how grave a mistake it was to abandon the lower realms!"

"I have the accumulation of nine epochs. What do you have to challenge me?"

"In terms of explosive power, I may not match you, but in endurance... you are far beneath me!"

"Sigh Time is still on my side. Back to sleep."

After venting his grievances with satisfaction, those profound eyes slowly closed once more.

Meanwhile...

Chen Yi was drenched in cold sweat.

What the hell was that?!

Waking up just like that?!

Thank the heavens I reacted fast!

Almost got caught!

It had been ages since he last felt this heart-pounding thrill. So exhilarating, so intense!!!

Back in the Illusory Star Cave Heaven, Chen Yi’s true body burned with anticipation. Only after the mark of will settled back into dormancy did he cautiously reactivate the strand of divine sense now perfectly adhered to the Primordial Chaos Creation Compass.

This time, he decided on a different approach. No more attempting to quietly erode the original owner’s infused soul power on the compass.

That was too risky.

The owner was merely asleep, not dead. No matter how careful he was, any tampering would eventually provoke a reaction.

Once or twice might go unnoticed, but if it happened too often, the owner would undoubtedly investigate thoroughly!

Thus, he resolved to start from the outermost branches and work his way inward—a strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside!

The main body of the Primordial Chaos Creation Compass was untouchable, directly controlled by its original master. But the sprawling fiber-optic network branching out from it had far fewer restrictions.

With a thought, Chen Yi detached a wisp of spiritual light from the compass’s main body, silently merging it into one of the primary fiber-optic strands.

Soon, his ever-resourceful probing uncovered a stream of information.

[No. 4 Demon-Slaying Trial Grounds.]

[Overseer: Group 4 Admin ‘Tea Star Block’]

[Subordinate Dungeons: No. 10, 11, 12 Evil-Purging Instances.]

[No. 10 Evil-Purging Instance: Remaining Water-Sealing Law Fragments—99.66%]

[No. 11 Evil-Purging Instance: Remaining Life-Spring Law Fragments—99.74%]

[No. 12 Evil-Purging Instance: Remaining Profound-Water Law Fragments—99.91%]

[Current Status: No. 12 Evil-Purging Instance active, continuously spawning Profound-Water Specters...]

[Participants: Group 4 Members ‘Humanity Shall Fall’, ‘No Lewding Allowed’, ‘Illusion Heart Shattered Dream’, ‘I Tread Upon Moonlight’]

[Difficulty: Normal.]

"Oh? So this is how the immortal law fragments in the Evil-Purging Instances are generated. Fascinating. Let me take a closer look..."

Chen Yi’s eyes gleamed as he directed his divine sense into the dungeon’s backend.

Meanwhile...

Inside the No. 12 Profound-Water Evil-Purging Instance.

On a vast azure ocean.

"Tian Tian, be careful! That Profound-Water Specter isn’t normal!"

Zhao Yu, clad in flamboyant crimson robes and sporting a nearly depleted health bar under the alias ‘No Lewding Allowed’, called out a warning. His combat power was an impressive 1.3 billion.

On the other side, Tian Tian (Illusion Heart Shattered Dream), drenched and her curvaceous figure accentuated by her clinging garments, twisted her supple waist and thrust her vermilion-tasseled spear with a fierce shout.

"Returning Dragon Thrust!!!"

With an heroic cry, the spear shot forth like a raging dragon, its overwhelming intent piercing through the air and instantly obliterating the distorted, humanoid Profound-Water Specter’s skull!

"Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!" Zhao Yu licked his lips, admiration gleaming in his eyes. "But your thrusting posture is still off. I think some... private tutoring is in order."

"Thanks, but no thanks!" Tian Tian rolled her eyes, twirling her spear to flick out the immortal law fragment dropped by the specter.

"Don't be so cold. It's not like you've cultivated the Path of Emotionlessness..." Zhao Yu flicked his flowing hair, flashing a devilishly charming smile.

Further away on a rocky outcrop, the other two exhausted male group members twitched their lips in irritation.

"Damn it, this guy's just a pervert! He didn’t even glance my way when I got ambushed!" Ma Dabiao (aka "I Came Under the Moonlight") cursed under his breath.

"Next time, I’d rather team up with a noob than..." Mo Wushuang was mid-sentence when his peripheral vision caught something. His body stiffened, and he stammered, "Holy shit, how did another twenty—no, thirty... fifty Xuanwater Fiends just appear?!"

Ma Dabiao shuddered. "Didn’t we pick normal mode?!"

"Since when is this normal mode?!"

"Run!!"

"We’re screwed, they’ve surrounded us!!"

The Xuanwater Fiends swarmed in, not just fifty in number, and far exceeding the standard power level of normal mode’s one billion combat rating.

In an instant, the health bars of all four group members were wiped out.

[Ding!] x4

[Passive Fateweaver effect triggered—Veil of Darkness descends!]

[All members have failed this trial. Rewards cleared, 2 billion points deducted. Initiating return sequence.]

"Bullshit! I refuse to accept this—this can’t be normal mode! I’m reporting this, I swear!!"

"My points!! Damn it!!"

"I’m gonna lose my mind!!"

"..."

No matter how much the four members protested, they were forcibly ejected from the dungeon.

At the same time, Chen Yi quietly switched the backend settings from Hell Mode back to Normal Mode before immediately going dormant to avoid detection.

A second later.

The monitoring system, having detected the anomaly, descended instantly.