I run a casino in the immortal realm.

The second floor of Wang Family Gambling House.

Zheng Yifei stepped onto the last step, and a bright and clear view suddenly appeared before him.

It's a completely different world from the first floor.

The floor was covered with spirit wood, and when you stepped on it, a faint spiritual energy seeped into your skin. Luminous pearls hung around the perimeter, casting a soft, even light that was not dazzling.

A faint sandalwood scent filled the air, mixed with the sweet aroma of the spiritual fruit.

There are two gambling tables, one for guessing big or small, and the other for guessing odd or even. The tables are made from a single piece of spirit wood, with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

There weren't many gamblers, only about twenty, but each of them was dressed several levels better than those on the first floor. They wore brocade robes, jade belts, and silk linings, and many of them had storage bags hanging from their waists. They were clearly wealthy cultivators in the mid-to-late stages of the Qi Refining realm.

Two female attendants dressed in long turquoise dresses moved among the crowd, carrying spirit tea and spirit fruit. They were slender, beautiful, and had polite smiles.

Zheng Yifei glanced at it, didn't linger, and went straight to the gambling table where people guessed whether to bet big or small.

His dark blue, button-down shirt, though not luxurious, was not shabby either. Paired with the mask of a middle-aged man with a square face, he looked like a traveling merchant who was not particularly conspicuous on the second floor.

Nobody gave him a second glance.

Zheng Yifei found a spot in the middle of the gambling table and stood there.

The rules on the second floor are the same as on the first floor: the dealer shakes the dice cup, and the gamblers bet on big or small. The only difference is that everything is settled in spirit stones here. The minimum bet is one spirit stone, and if you win ten spirit stones, you have to hand over one spirit stone to the gambling house.

"It's starting, put your hands down."

The dealer was a lean man in his forties, who made no attempt to conceal his Qi Refining Level 6 aura. He held the dice cup with both hands and clattered it twice.

Zheng Yifei's ears twitched slightly.

The sound of the dice hitting the cup was difficult to hear in the noisy environment of the first floor, but the second floor was much quieter. The Spiritwood floor produced almost no noise, which made it easier for him to hear.

Left die: bounces three times, rolls one and a half times, stops. Three points.

Right die: bounces twice on the wall, rolls twice, stops. Six.

Nine o'clock, big.

Zheng Yifei took out five spirit stones from his inner pocket and placed them on top of the character "大".

A fat man in a brocade robe glanced at him and also bet on big.

"Banker win! Three and six, nine points, big win!"

The dealer uncovers the dice cup, and the dealer pays out the winnings.

Five spirit stones in hand, plus interest, ten more.

It takes half an hour to win 500 spirit coins on the first floor, but here you can win it all in one go.

Zheng Yifei remained expressionless as he gathered the spirit stones he had won in front of him.

The second one.

The ears are twitching.

The left die shows two dots, the right die shows one dot, three dots, and it's a low score.

He bet two spirit stones on the large character.

lose.

The third one.

He took out eight spirit stones and placed them steadily on the character "大" (big).

"Banker win! Five and four, nine points, a big win!"

Eight pieces became sixteen pieces.

Zheng Yifei carefully put away the spirit stones, a moderate amount of joy appearing on his face—not too much, not too little, just the expression one would expect from an ordinary gambler with good luck.

In the fourth round, he deliberately bet three spirit stones on the small side and lost.

Zheng Yifei continued to make moves at his own pace.

You win two rounds and lose one, with small losses and large wins each time.

Sometimes when he wins, he'll shake his head and mutter, "Not bad luck." Sometimes when he loses, he'll slap his thigh and curse, "Bad luck!"

The acting was superb.

In less than half an hour, he had already hidden fifty low-grade spirit stones in his pocket.

If this number were on the first floor, he would have to work for three consecutive days to earn it.

That's enough, know when to stop.

After going downstairs and leaving the gambling den, Zheng Yifei turned into an alley and walked quickly toward Liu's gambling den. His steps were unhurried, his breathing steady, but his mind was racing with calculations.

Fifty spirit stones, half an hour.

This is the difference between the first floor and the second floor. To put it bluntly, it's the difference in capital, just like on Earth—in a casino, the poor can never turn their fortunes around because they can't place big bets.

Of course, betting big results in even bigger losses. Aside from a small group of people who know when to quit while they're ahead and professional cheaters, almost everyone in the casino loses money. "Even a god can lose in the long run"—this is no joke.

The layout of the second floor of Liu's gambling den is similar to that of Wang's.

Same technique, same rhythm.

In half an hour, sixty low-grade spirit stones were collected.

The combined profits from the two gambling dens on the second floor today amounted to 110 low-grade spirit stones.

One hundred and ten yuan.

Even if their whole family farmed for four years without eating or drinking, they still couldn't save that much money.

Zheng Yifei showed no signs of arrogance. The most important thing about making money is to spend it and turn it into strength, because strength is the only true hard currency in this world.

After leaving Liu's gambling den, he went straight to Wanbaolou.

"Gathering Spirit Array Plate, give me one."

Zheng Yifei greeted him in a deep voice.

The young woman selling the goods didn't recognize him and took a disc-shaped object off the shelf.

The Spirit Gathering Array Plate was smaller than he had imagined, less than a foot in diameter and about two inches thick. It was made of some kind of grayish-white mineral, with fine lines as thin as hair densely engraved on its surface. There was a groove in the center and a square hole the size of a spirit stone in each of the four corners.

"It's very easy to use."

The young woman placed the array plate on the counter and pointed to the four square holes, saying, "When activating it, place a low-grade spirit stone in each of these four array eyes, and the array plate will operate automatically, gathering the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth to form an area above the array plate with a spiritual energy concentration about three times that of the outside world."

"Do spirit stones need to be replaced frequently?"

"No need. Once activated, the array plate will operate on its own. However, an array plate can only be used for a maximum of two years."

Zheng Yifei paid one hundred spirit stones and bought two Rejuvenation Pills.

It was already afternoon when I returned to the shantytown with my belongings.

My mother was spinning cloth in the yard; my younger siblings hadn't come home from school yet.

Zheng Yifei first fed his father a Rejuvenation Pill, then went into his room and bolted the door.

He placed the spirit-gathering array plate on the ground in front of the bed, took out four spirit stones from his inner bag, and embedded them into the four array eyes one by one.

The moment the last spirit stone was placed—

"Buzz".

The array plate emitted a deep hum, and the engravings on its surface lit up with a faint white light. At the same time, the four spirit stones emitted a soft halo.

Then, Zheng Yifei sensed it.

The surrounding air has changed.

To be precise, the concentration of spiritual energy in the air is rising rapidly.

The spiritual energy, which was originally so thin as to be almost non-existent, seemed to be gathered from all directions by an invisible hand, converging above the array plate.

In less than ten breaths, the entire room was enveloped in a thin layer of spiritual mist.

Zheng Yifei sat cross-legged in front of the array plate, circulating the Five Elements Technique.

All five meridians open simultaneously.

The speed at which spiritual energy surged in made him shudder.

It's on a completely different level from before.

Previously, I cultivated in the shantytown, where the spiritual energy in the air was pitifully thin. Even with my five meridians open, I couldn't absorb much, and most of my cultivation results depended on consuming pills.

Now, the array plate has gathered and concentrated the surrounding spiritual energy three times over, and the five meridians are operating at full capacity, increasing the speed at which they absorb spiritual energy several times over.

Zheng Yifei then took out two more spirit stones from his pocket, holding one in each hand.

Upon handling the spirit stone, it felt cool and smooth, and the pure spiritual energy contained within flowed directly into the meridians through the pores in the palm.

The Five Elements Technique divides the spiritual energy in the spirit stone into five parts: metal flows through the lung meridian, wood through the liver meridian, water through the kidney meridian, fire through the heart meridian, and earth through the spleen meridian. With the five meridians advancing together, the spiritual energy rushes into the dantian like a flood bursting its banks.

The first six years were wasted.

Zheng Yifei had only one thought left in his mind.

For those six years, without elixirs, array plates, or spirit stones, I practiced a common, low-quality "Eternal Spring Technique" and meditated every day in a shantytown with scarce spiritual energy.

That cultivation speed? It would be a miracle if it were fast.

This is the correct way to cultivate in the world of immortal cultivation. It involves four methods: cultivation techniques, elixirs, array plates, and spirit stones.

Those scions of powerful families cultivate like this from a young age; no wonder they can reach the Qi Refining Perfection stage or even Foundation Establishment stage in their twenties.

It's not a difference in talent, it's a gap in resources.

The spiritual energy of the two spirit stones was completely absorbed within a quarter of an hour, turning into powder that slipped through their fingers.

The dantian's dantian expanded once more.

Zheng Yifei opened his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips.

At this rate, with elixirs, spirit stones, and array plates working simultaneously—

Reaching the third level of Qi cultivation takes at most three months.

Seventh level of Qi Refining, fifteen months.

It's still possible to enter the Qingyun Sect before the age of eighteen.

He closed his eyes again, took out two spirit stones, and continued cultivating.