I run a casino in the immortal realm.

With the equipment sorted out, the next step is to find a place to live.

Zheng Yifei thought to himself that the shantytown was Zhao's territory, and Haozi lived there too.

If you rent a house in the Zhao family's jurisdiction, the news will easily leak out, so you must look in the Wang or Liu family's territory.

He chose the Wang family.

There are two reasons: First, both the Wang family gambling den and the Liu family gambling den are located here, making it convenient to come and go;

Secondly, he already has money deposited at Wangji Money Shop, so it will be convenient for him to withdraw and exchange money in the future.

House rentals in the market are registered with each management office, but there are also many small courtyards rented out privately, which do not need to be registered with the market. You just need to negotiate the price with the landlord.

Zheng Yifei spent most of the hour circling around the area under the Wang family's jurisdiction, and finally found a secluded courtyard in a quiet alley on the east side of the market.

The courtyard is small, with a main house, a side room, and a small courtyard. The courtyard wall is more than a meter high, and the gate is a solid wooden door that can be bolted from the inside.

Most importantly, the alley is secluded, with neighbors far apart, so coming and going doesn't attract attention.

The landlady was an elderly woman in her fifties with a cultivation level of the third level of Qi Refining. She was widowed and lived alone, making a living by renting out her house.

"Auntie, how much is this courtyard for rent?"

"Four hundred spirit coins a month, one month's deposit in advance, you can move in anytime."

"Can you make it cheaper?"

The old woman looked him up and down and said, "Young man, this price is already very fair. If you live in the shantytown, it will cost two hundred spirit coins a month. Outside the market, it's very chaotic. My place is quiet and safe. Four hundred spirit coins is not expensive."

Zheng Yifei didn't actually bargain; he was just reacting like a normal tenant. If he had readily agreed, it would have aroused suspicion.

He pretended to hesitate for a moment, and finally "reluctantly" took out eight hundred spirit coins to pay for two months' worth of fees.

The old woman gave him a key and a token to enter and exit the alley, gave him a few instructions, and then left.

After closing the courtyard gate and bolting it, Zheng Yifei let out a long breath.

Finally, I have a space of my own where I won't be disturbed by anyone.

He first hid three sets of clothes and five masks under the bed board in the side room, covering them with a loose floor tile. Then he took out the masks from his pocket, chose the magic artifact-grade mask of a thirty-year-old square-faced middle-aged man, and stuck it on his face.

A cool sensation spread from his facial skin, and the mask seemed to come alive, automatically conforming to the contours of his face.

He walked to the water vat and looked down at his reflection.

The reflection on the water showed the face of a middle-aged man with a square face, thick eyebrows, and slightly dark skin, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the sixteen-year-old Zheng Yifei.

Zheng Yifei changed back into his dark blue cardigan, tied his hair back up, and took one last look at the water tank.

perfect.

He wouldn't recognize a mouse even if it stood right in front of him.

Although he was rather thin, the loose-fitting short-sleeved shirt, combined with the visual change brought about by the mask, completely transformed his demeanor.

At sixteen, his frame wasn't too small; he could easily pass for a thin, middle-aged rogue cultivator.

Zheng Yifei paced back and forth in the courtyard a few times, getting used to the feeling of the mask.

The magic-grade mask is extremely thin and does not affect facial expressions at all. Even if you open your mouth to laugh, the mask will not wrinkle or become misaligned.

He nodded in satisfaction.

The process became clear from then on: every morning, they would start from the shantytown, first sending their younger siblings to school, and then changing clothes and makeup in this small courtyard to enter and exit various gambling dens under different identities.

After winning money, they would deposit it in a money exchange, return to their original clothes and appearance, and go back to the shantytown, where no one would know.

More importantly, with these masks, he was finally able to go up to the second floor of the gambling den.

The gambling tables on the first floor are priced in spirit coins, with a cap of five spirit stones per person. Even if you win a lot, you can only win two or three thousand spirit coins a day. If you win any more, you will attract attention.

The second floor is different; it's where you bet on spirit stones, with a minimum bet of one spirit stone.

Playing for half an hour, the profit on the second floor is more than ten times that on the first floor.

Of course, the gamblers on the second floor are of a higher level, with many being cultivators in the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining. They have sharper observation skills, and the risks are also greater.

But with masks and costumes, he could go in and play a few rounds each day with a different face and then leave, never lingering in battle or being greedy.

Zheng Yifei took off the mask and put it away, then changed back into his own clothes.

I don't plan to go to the casino this afternoon. Appearing at three casinos in a row is already the limit. It's time to stop.

He took out the two Rejuvenation Pills he had bought that morning from his pocket, put them away, and prepared to take them home to give to his father.

After leaving the courtyard and locking the door, Zheng Yifei followed the quiet path back to the shantytown.

Walking along the ridges of the fields, the late spring breeze blows across the lush green rice paddies, carrying a faint scent of earth and spirit in the air.

The outline of the Black Mountain Range in the distance stretches across the horizon, with one or two birds occasionally flitting across the mountains.

Zheng Yifei took a deep breath.

Having only been in this world for four days, he had won nearly six thousand spirit coins, equivalent to sixty low-grade spirit stones. This amount was almost the entire family's income for more than two years.

But that's far from enough.

The Spirit Gathering Array Plate costs 100 spirit stones, but I haven't bought it yet.

My father's Rejuvenation Pill costs three spirit stones a day, which adds up to ninety spirit stones a month.

The Spirit Gathering Pills, Barrier Breaking Pills, and Spirit Stones needed for his own cultivation are a bottomless pit.

To break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining and enter the Qingyun Sect within two years, he would need astronomical amounts of resources.

The spirit coin gambling tables on the first floor of the casino are almost reaching their efficiency ceiling.

Starting tomorrow, we should move to the second floor.

The teahouse next to Zhao's gambling den.

Mouse, Scarface, and the others sat in a private room on the second floor.

"What happened, Scarface? Three people couldn't beat a mere Qi Refining Level 1 trash, and they even got injured?"

Mouse stared at Scarface in disbelief.

"Brother Mouse, that kid is a bit strange. He doesn't use spiritual power or magic to fight, but he beat us all up with weird and tricky moves. We didn't even have a chance to fight back."

"That's impossible. I watched that kid grow up. I know his capabilities very well. He's been cultivating for six years and he's still only at the first level of Qi Refining. He can't even cast spells."

"But the three of us really can't beat him."

"I don't believe it. I'll test him tomorrow."

"Brother Mouse, you're definitely at the third level of Qi Refining, you can handle that kid. But Brother Mouse, is that kid really that good at gambling?"

Mouse nodded: "This kid has been acting a bit strange lately. He borrowed money from loan sharks twice and paid it off easily both times. He even bought a Rejuvenation Pill for his father, which means he won a lot of spirit coins at the casino. You know, a Rejuvenation Pill costs three hundred spirit coins."

"In that case, let's all attack together, subdue him, and make him spit out all the spirit coins he won."