I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Several Li family guards drew their magical artifacts, and the spiritual power of the Foundation Establishment stage surged forth, instantly filling the Purple Bamboo Forest with murderous intent.

Zheng Yifei stood still, neither drawing his sword nor casting any defensive spells.

He simply stared at Li Xian silently, as if he were looking at a dead man.

Just as the Li family guards were about to pounce on Zheng Yifei, at the critical moment...

"Zheng—!"

A crisp, piercing sword cry tore through the night sky without warning.

A terrifying azure sword aura descended from the sky like a thunderclap, cleaving a three-zhang-long, bottomless scorched ravine between Li Xian and Zheng Yifei!

The violent sword intent was like a tangible hurricane, which shocked the three Li family guards at the forefront, causing them to cough up blood and fly backward like rag dolls, smashing through more than a dozen purple bamboo stalks.

The entire room fell silent.

A middle-aged man dressed in a gray robe and carrying a sheathed sword appeared silently beside Zheng Yifei like a ghost.

His face was expressionless, his eyes were as cold as ancient ice, and the pressure emanating from his body was clearly that of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, with his sword intent soaring to the heavens!

"Gu...Gu Jianhua?!"

When Li Xian saw the person's face clearly, his face turned ashen, his legs trembled violently, and he almost couldn't hold onto his sword.

Gu Jianhua, the bodyguard arranged by the General Affairs Department, was the one who rescued Zheng Yifei's family in Heishan Market last time, causing his plan to fail. Unexpectedly, he interfered again this time.

"The young sect leader gave orders before going into seclusion."

Gu Jianhua didn't even glance at Li Xian. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a knife, scraping against Li Xian's bones: "Anyone who touches Director Zheng is going against him. Does the Li family want to break ties with the young sect leader?"

Xu Zhengkun's men?!

Li Xian was completely stunned, his mind went blank, the young sect leader was actually openly supporting Zheng Yifei.

"Misunderstanding... Senior Gu, this is a misunderstanding..."

Li Xian swallowed hard, all traces of his previous arrogance gone. He knew very well that Gu Jianhua, a ruthless killer, would absolutely draw his sword if he wanted to kill him.

"roll."

Gu Jianhua coldly uttered a single word.

Li Xian felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He led his men and fled the Purple Bamboo Forest in a panic, not daring to utter a single harsh word.

Zheng Yifei watched Li Xian's disheveled retreating figure, then turned to Gu Jianhua and gave him a slight bow: "Thank you for your help, Uncle Gu."

Gu Jianhua slightly turned his body to avoid Zheng Yifei's greeting, his tone still stiff: "If you take someone's money, you have to do their bidding. The sect leader told me to protect you. As long as you don't betray the sect, no one in the Qingyun Sect can touch you."

After saying that, Gu Jianhua's figure flickered and disappeared into the shadows again, as if he had never appeared.

Zheng Yifei touched the 700,000 spirit notes in his sleeve, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Although Li Xian couldn't harm him at all tonight, given the kid's personality, he will definitely go back and complain to the Seventh Elder.

A political storm targeting him is about to break out.

Sure enough, after Li Xian fled back to the Li family, he rushed into the cave of the Seventh Elder, Li Zhan, that very night.

"Grandpa! That little bastard Zheng Yifei has gone mad!"

Li Xian knelt on the ground and recounted the events of the night with embellishments, emphasizing Zheng Yifei's gambling spree at Goldlion with a huge amount of spirit stones and Xu Zhengkun's support for him.

Li Zhan sat in a grand chair, holding two top-grade jade galls in his hands, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

"Gu Jianhua..."

Li Zhan snorted coldly, veins bulging on the back of his hand. With a "crack," the incredibly hard jade gall bladder was crushed into powder in his hand: "Xu Tianyang is truly determined to use this knife to cut our flesh!"

Li Zhan was a cunning old fox. He knew very well that the money Zheng Yifei used to go to the gambling den might not have been embezzled public funds, but that was enough to serve as an excellent excuse.

More importantly, he keenly realized that once the so-called "Information Bureau" was in operation, the Li family's monopoly on spiritual material information would be completely destroyed, which was digging up the Li family's roots!

"You may leave. I will handle this matter."

Li Zhan stood up, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "Since Xu Tianyang wants to play dirty tricks, then we'll crush this brat openly. Does he really think that having a young sect leader backing him means he can ride roughshod over the elders' council?"

The next morning, at the side hall of the Tianyuan Hall in the Qingyun Sect.

The Presbyterian Council meeting was held as scheduled.

Sect Master Xu Tianyang sat in the main seat, with the nine elders standing on either side below. The atmosphere seemed calm, but undercurrents were surging beneath.

The meeting had barely begun when the Seventh Elder, Li Zhan, was the first to launch an attack. He stepped forward and loudly proclaimed, "Sect Master! I have a petition to submit! I impeach Zheng Yifei, the Chief Inspector of the Tax Bureau and Director of the Information Bureau!"

Upon hearing this, the air in the hall seemed to freeze instantly.

Xu Tianyang remained expressionless, his gaze deep as he looked at Li Zhan: "Seventh Elder, Zheng Yifei has been working diligently to establish the Information Bureau recently. What grounds do you have for impeaching him?"

"Do your best?"

Li Zhan sneered repeatedly, raising his voice eight octaves: "The sect leader has probably been deceived by this brat! Last night, someone witnessed Zheng Yifei entering and leaving the Jinlilai gambling den in Qingyun Market, betting thousands of dollars and gambling recklessly!"

Where would a mere outer disciple at the ninth level of Qi Refining get hundreds of thousands or even millions of spirit stones?

This is clearly misappropriation of the one million yuan allocated by the sect to the Information Department for its establishment!

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Ninth Elder (who was in charge of the elixir business) stepped forward to agree: "The Seventh Elder is absolutely right! This boy is of bad character and addicted to gambling. If he continues to control the tax office and the news office, the sect's morals will be completely ruined!"

Furthermore, that so-called Information Bureau costs millions of spirit stones at a time, yet has not generated any revenue to date; it's clearly a bottomless pit of money!

The Fourth Elder followed suit and stepped forward: "Sect Master, Zheng Yifei is audacious and reckless, and his virtue does not match his position. I propose that he be immediately dismissed from his posts as Chief Inspector of the Tax Bureau and Director of the Information Bureau, and that his accounts be thoroughly investigated by the Enforcement Hall!"

At the same time, the establishment of the Information Department should be terminated to minimize losses!

The three elders joined forces and launched an attack, pressing forward relentlessly with terrifying force.

Some of the other elders in the hall closed their eyes to rest, while others watched coldly. The Fifth Elder, Su Chenyuan, sat in a chair with his eyelids slightly lowered, slowly sipping his tea, seemingly waiting for Xu Tianyang's reaction.

Xu Tianyang tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the dragon throne.

He knew that this was not an impeachment targeting Zheng Yifei alone, but a test and counterattack by the nine major families against the Xu family's concentration of power.

Embezzlement? Excessive gambling?

Xu Tianyang spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable authority: "Seventh Elder, do you have conclusive evidence to accuse the head of a department?"

"The Goldlion Casino is crowded and has many witnesses last night!"

Li Zhan stood his ground, looking directly at Xu Tianyang: "I request that the Sect Master order an investigation of the accounts of the News Bureau and the Tax Bureau's Inspectorate. The truth will surely come to light! If the accounts are correct, I am willing to apologize to them in person; if there are any discrepancies, I beg the Sect Master to punish them severely!"

The atmosphere inside the hall was tense, and everyone's eyes were focused on Xu Tianyang.

A storm, seemingly aimed at Zheng Yifei but actually concerning the power structure of the Qingyun Sect, has been completely ignited within the Tianyuan Hall.