I run a casino in the immortal realm.

As night deepened, tranquility returned to Tingfeng Pavilion.

Zheng Yifei took out two specially made long-distance communication jade talismans from his storage bag.

He forced out a wisp of spiritual energy from his fingertip, illuminating one of the jade talismans, and said in a deep voice, "Wen Yuan, Zhang Biao, hear me?"

A moment later, Zhao Wenyuan's voice, trembling with excitement, came from the other end of the jade talisman: "Brother Fei! You finally remembered us! Everything is going smoothly at Tianyuan Gambling House; last month's turnover has increased by another ten percent!"

Then came Zhang Biao's gruff voice: "Boss! Got some work to do? I've been sitting in Sujiafang Market every day, my bones are practically rusting!"

Hearing the two familiar voices, Zheng Yifei smiled slightly.

Tianyuan Casino was his first business in the cultivation world and the cornerstone of his business empire.

Zhao Wenyuan was a natural-born business genius. Under the influence of his own philosophy, he was well-versed in "probability" and "customer psychology" and mastered the marketing tactics of modern casinos.

Although Zhang Biao was a rough and uncultured cultivator, he was extremely righteous, knew the rules, and was a master at keeping order.

These two are his right-hand men who best understand and perfectly execute his business philosophy.

"Get ready, we're coming to Qingyun Market."

Without wasting words, Zheng Yifei directly issued the order: "I have already made arrangements with the higher-ups here. I want to open the largest gambling den in the Qingyun territory right under the nose of the Qingyun Sect."

This plate is more than ten times bigger than the Tianyuan Casino; I don't trust anyone else with it.

Yu Fu gasped, then burst into a wildly joyful exclamation.

"Brother Fei is awesome! We've been wanting to go to the main market for ages!"

Zhao Wenyuan shouted excitedly.

"What about the Tianyuan Gambling House in Sujiafang Market?"

Zhang Biao remained relatively calm and asked the key question.

"It will be handed over to the Su family, as well as my second uncle, Zheng Dajiang."

Zheng Yifei had already made arrangements: "My second uncle has been following you for the past six months and has become quite experienced. The rules and gameplay of the gambling den are already set, and now that the Fifth Elder Su family is backing him up, no one in the Su family market dares to touch Tianyuan Gambling Den."

"Settle the accounts clearly, and bring a few trustworthy and quick-witted men to meet me in Qingyun Market within three days."

"Understood! Don't worry, Fei-ge, I'll handle it perfectly!"

After cutting off the communication, Zheng Yifei breathed a sigh of relief.

With the gambling den's team in place, the next step was to focus on the crucial sect competition that would determine their survival.

The Qingyun Sect's Grand Competition is held on the first day of each lunar month and is the most anticipated event of the entire sect.

The competition is divided into an insider competition and an outsider competition.

All disciples of the sect, regardless of their background, must go on stage to make their appearance.

This is not only a touchstone for testing disciples' cultivation, but also an arena for major families and factions to redistribute resources at the grassroots level.

Zheng Yifei's identity is actually an anomaly in the Qingyun Sect.

Because of his great contributions to the reform of the tax bureau, he was promoted to an inner disciple by the sect leader Xu Tianyang, enjoying the same benefits as an inner disciple, and even became the director of the news department.

However, in the cultivation world, cultivation level ultimately matters, and his current level is still the ninth level of Qi Refining.

According to the Qingyun Sect's ironclad rules, Foundation Establishment cultivators can participate in the Inner Sect Competition, while Qi Refining cultivators can only participate in the Outer Sect Competition.

This means that Zheng Yifei, a dignified "senior" of the inner sect, has to be caught up in the same pool as those miserable outer sect disciples.

The competition in the outer sect tournament was even more intense than that in the inner sect tournament.

Because the number of outer disciples is so large, the minimum entry requirement for participation is the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Among this group, there are many ruthless characters like Zhao Kuang, who are stuck at the Great Perfection of the Ninth Level of Qi Refining or the Half-Step Foundation Establishment stage.

Why are they fighting so hard? For the prize money in the competition.

The top ten in the outer sect competition will be rewarded with generous amounts of spirit stones and magical artifacts.

The top three will be awarded a Foundation Establishment Pill by the sect!

For those lower-level disciples who lack family background and cannot afford Foundation Establishment Pills, this Foundation Establishment Pill is their only hope to defy fate and transcend social class.

For the sake of this elixir, stepping into the arena means truly risking one's life; broken arms and legs are commonplace.

Although Zheng Yifei had already obtained "top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills" through Xu Zhengkun and didn't have much need for ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills, if these things were auctioned on the black market, the starting price would be tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones. Who would complain about having too much money?

However, the rules of the competition are extremely strict.

To prevent wealthy and powerful family members from killing people with spirit stones, the use of any disposable items, including but not limited to talismans, array plates, and poisons, is strictly prohibited on the arena.

A cultivator can only rely on their own spiritual power, the spells they master, their physical strength, and the magical artifacts they wield. This is a pure clash of raw power.

"We can't use talismans, which cuts off the pay-to-win strategy."

Zheng Yifei sat in the chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table as he pondered his trump card.

He possesses five spiritual roots, making him widely recognized as a useless physique in the cultivation world.

But only he himself knows that because of the simultaneous cultivation of the five elements, coupled with the infusion of those free spiritual medicines, his current dantian capacity and meridian resilience are more than three times that of cultivators of the same level!

His spiritual power was so profound that it was comparable to that of a cultivator who had just entered the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, he was a gambling king in his previous life, had received professional combat training, and had gone through countless real battles, making him a combat master who had experienced life and death.

He perfectly transferred the killer's deadly fighting skills, muscle memory, and keen perception of killing intent into this body.

If it really came down to close-quarters combat, he was absolutely confident he could kill someone of a higher level.

The problem is that his current magical abilities are too limited.

Aside from his abundant spiritual power, the only spells he knows are the most basic "Fireball" and "Spirit Rain" used to irrigate his spiritual fields.

Facing a madman like Zhao Kuang, who has cultivated the Xuan-level body cultivation technique "Raging Bull Strength" and whose physical body is comparable to a second-level magic weapon, relying solely on fists, feet, and fireballs would have too low a margin for error.

"Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. Since the Hu family wants me dead, I have to prepare a big surprise for them."

Zheng Yifei stood up, pushed open the door, and strode towards the Qingyun Sect's Scripture Pavilion.

The Qingyun Sect's Sutra Repository is located halfway up the main peak and is an octagonal ancient pagoda with nine stories.

The surrounding area was covered with array patterns, and a terrifying killing intent lurked within.

Zheng Yifei arrived at the tower and showed the white-haired elder guarding the tower his purple token, which represented his status as an inner disciple.

The white-haired elder lifted his eyelids, his cloudy gaze sweeping over Zheng Yifei, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Clearly, he had also heard of "Director Zheng," who had recently been stirring up trouble within the sect.

"Inner disciples may enter the first three floors of the Scripture Pavilion and choose two cultivation techniques or spells of Yellow Rank or lower. The selection time is one hour. The originals must not be taken out; they can only be copied using jade slips."

The elder brother said matter-of-factly.

"Thank you, Elder."

Zheng Yifei cupped his hands in greeting and stepped into the tower.

The library was filled with the ancient scent of paper, ink, and sandalwood.

Rows of tall rosewood bookshelves were filled with all sorts of jade slips, bone fragments, and animal skin scrolls.

Zheng Yifei didn't bother to look at those fancy attack spells.

Fire, lightning, and sword techniques—while powerful, they require a long time to master. With only a few days until the competition, he simply doesn't have enough time to become proficient in them.

His goal was extremely clear—movement and defense.

Zhao Kuang is a body cultivator, characterized by terrifying strength and extremely high burst damage, but his weaknesses are also obvious: he is clumsy and lacks long-range means of attrition.

As long as he doesn't find a weakness and take you down in one fell swoop, you can wear him down until he dies.

Zheng Yifei walked around the first and second floors for a long time before finally stopping in front of two dusty wooden shelves in the corner.

He picked up a blue jade slip and probed it with his divine sense.

"Dragon's Steps" is a high-grade Yellow Rank movement technique. It imitates the movements of a loach and a dragon in the water, emphasizing quick and agile maneuvers within a small space. It is extremely energy-consuming, but once mastered, the body moves like a ghost, slippery and unpredictable.

"It's you."

Zheng Yifei's eyes lit up. Others complained that this technique consumed too much spiritual energy, but spiritual energy was the last thing he lacked in his dantian.

Combined with his close-combat footwork from his previous life, this "Dragon Step" can definitely achieve a synergistic effect greater than the sum of its parts.

Then he found a defensive spell on another bookshelf.

"Thick Earth Technique" is a mid-grade Yellow-rank earth-elemental spell that can instantly condense a layer of hard rock armor on the body's surface.

Although this spell is not of a high rank, it is excellent because it is extremely fast to cast, almost instantaneous, and its thickness can be infinitely increased depending on the amount of spiritual power injected.

"High evasion and high armor, let's see how you, Zhao Kuang, break through my defense."

Zheng Yifei smirked and took the two jade slips to the door, where he had the elder guarding the pavilion make a copy.

Back in the backyard of Tingfeng Pavilion, Zheng Yifei immediately activated the highest level of soundproofing and defense array for the public housing, and hung up a sign that read "Secluded Cultivation, Do Not Disturb."