I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Zhao Wenyuan, Zhang Biao, and others won prizes one after another, with real spirit stones and magical artifacts displayed on the table.

The eyes of the independent cultivators below the stage were all red.

Give me ten!

A gaunt rogue cultivator bid twenty spirit stones, his hand trembling as he scraped off the coating.

"One bottle of mid-grade Spirit Gathering Pills!"

A gong sounded on the stage, and a bottle of pills was shoved into his hand.

The gaunt, rogue cultivator laughed heartily, "I've broken even! I've been stuck at the fourth level of Qi Refining for three years, just one bottle of pills away! Ten more, please!"

At this point, the onlookers completely abandoned their rationality.

"Don't push! I'll buy fifty!"

"Get out of my way, I was here first!"

Long queues instantly formed in front of the ten ticket booths in Qingyun Square. The threshold of two low-grade spirit stones was too low, so low that even the lowest-level spirit farmers could take out a few to try their luck.

Zheng Yifei sat in a grand chair behind the high platform, holding a teacup, looking calmly at the constantly changing sales ledger.

"Director, this is insane."

Su Tong wiped the sweat from his brow. "In just half an hour, we've sold 300,000 tickets at Qingyun Square alone!"

"This is just a warm-up."

Zheng Yifei put down his teacup. "The real show is yet to come."

Three poles in the sun.

Although first, second, and third prizes were awarded frequently, the grand prize, "Low-Grade Foundation Building Pill," never appeared.

A sense of unease began to creep into the crowd.

Is there a grand prize?

"Is this a scam?"

Just then, a middle-aged monk with gray hair and wearing a faded robe squeezed into the ticket booth number three.

His name is Li Changgeng, he is sixty years old this year, and he is at the third level of Qi Refining. He has extremely poor talent, and he has spent his whole life cultivating spiritual fields. All his savings have been used to buy cultivation resources for his son.

Li Changgeng touched his emptied storage bag; only two low-grade spirit stones remained. This was the money he had planned to use to buy seeds.

He glanced at the Foundation Establishment Pill radiating an alluring glow on the light screen behind the platform and swallowed hard.

"Buy one."

Li Changgeng placed the two spirit stones on the table, his voice hoarse.

The Foundation Establishment disciple selling tickets handed him a lottery ticket.

Li Changgeng walked to the corner and used his rough fingernails to scrape away the array coating little by little.

The first character: 特.

Li Changgeng stopped, held his breath, and scraped away the words on the back.

Special Prize: Low-grade Foundation Building Pill.

Li Changgeng stood frozen in place.

The surrounding noise vanished instantly, leaving only those seven words in his mind.

"I...I won?"

Li Changgeng's voice trembled as he gripped the paper tightly, his nails digging deep into his flesh.

A sharp-eyed rogue cultivator nearby glanced over, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, and let out a high-pitched scream: "The grand prize! There's a grand prize winner here!"

"boom!"

The entire Qingyun Square erupted in chaos.

Countless eyes were fixed on Li Changgeng.

Greed, envy, madness.

Several nearby cultivators, their eyes flashing with ferocity, reached for the magical artifacts at their waists.

"Protect the formation!"

Zheng Yifei's voice resounded throughout the venue through the amplification array.

Ten fully armed Foundation Establishment stage inner disciples descended from the sky in an instant, surrounding Li Changgeng. Ten flying swords were drawn, their sword energy crisscrossing, forcing the restless crowd around them back three zhang.

"Anyone who dares to step forward will be killed without mercy!"

The leading swordsman shouted sternly.

On the high platform, twelve earth-shaking drums sounded simultaneously.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The sound of the drums made everyone's blood boil.

Zheng Yifei strode onto the high platform, picked up the megaphone, and his voice echoed for miles around: "Congratulations, fellow Daoist! You've won the first grand prize in the Qingyun Welfare Lottery—a low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill!"

With a wave of his hand, Zheng Yifei summoned a sandalwood box that floated in mid-air and slowly opened.

The rich fragrance of cinnamon instantly filled the entire venue.

Li Changgeng was escorted up to the high platform by two Foundation Establishment disciples. His legs were so weak they were like noodles, and he was practically carried up.

"Fellow Daoist."

Zheng Yifei looked at him. "Do you want this low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, or do you want 150,000 low-grade spirit stones in cash?"

150,000 low-grade spirit stones!

A collective gasp rippled through the audience.

Li Changgeng's lips trembled, and tears streamed down his face.

He's stuck at the third level of Qi Refining, so giving him Foundation Establishment Pills would be a waste. But his son is thirty years old and at the fourth level of Qi Refining, which is exactly when he needs resources, so he won't need Foundation Establishment Pills in the short term.

"I...I want spirit stones!"

Li Changgeng shouted out.

"good!"

Zheng Yifei snapped his fingers.

Su Tong, who was behind, immediately led several disciples to carry out three large iron boxes and opened them with a "bang" in front of tens of thousands of people.

The piles of white, low-grade spirit stones were so bright that they were blinding in the sunlight.

"A full 150,000 low-grade spirit stones, paid on the spot!"

Zheng Yifei raised his voice: "The top-grade flying boat from Shunfeng Logistics is ready, and four Foundation Establishment sword cultivators will escort you home! We guarantee you won't lose a single hair!"

Li Changgeng knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly towards the direction of the main peak, wailing, "Thank you, Sect Master! Thank you, Qingyun Sect! My Li family's ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke!"

He cried his heart out, a mixture of the bitterness a lowly cultivator had suppressed for half a lifetime and the ecstatic joy of finally turning his life around.

This scene completely shattered the rational defenses of all the rogue cultivators present.

If the previous acts of entrusting others were just acting, then Li Changgeng, this poor, down-on-his-luck old farmer, is a living example.

Two spirit stones were exchanged for 150,000!

"Sell them to me! I want a hundred!"

"Get out of my way, you in front! I'll pay double for the seat in front of you!"

"I'm out of spirit stones! I'll pawn this low-grade Xuan-rank flying sword for 500 spirit stones, and you can exchange it all for lottery tickets!"

The entire square descended into an unprecedented frenzy.

The cultivators, their eyes red, pushed forward, not caring even if they lost their shoes. The railings broke in the crush, and if it weren't for the disciples of the Enforcement Hall desperately maintaining order, the ticket booth would have been overturned long ago.

Those who hadn't brought enough spirit stones frantically ran out to get their belongings back.

Some people set up stalls on the spot, selling off their materials and magical artifacts at low prices, just to exchange them for a few spirit stones to buy lottery tickets.

On the periphery of the crowd.

One of the Hu family's stewards, witnessing this scene, cracked the communication jade slip in his hand.

"They've gone mad...they've all gone mad..."

He muttered to himself.

He saw the usually stingy rogue cultivator smashing spirit stones on the ticket table like trash.

He saw a cultivator who had just won the third prize scratch card convulse with excitement and faint.

This isn't selling paper, it's outright robbery! And people are practically begging and pleading to stuff money into the Qingyun Sect's pockets!

"Sir, shall we... shall we buy a few to try?"

A spy from the Hu family standing nearby swallowed hard: "What if it works?"

The Hu family steward turned his head sharply, about to reprimand them, but when he saw the mountain of spirit stones and the constant stream of big prizes, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

"Go...go to line up! Buy one hundred tickets! No, buy five hundred! Put it on the family tab!"

Main Peak Hall.

Xu Tianyang stood in front of the Water Moon Illusion Mirror, watching the images transmitted back simultaneously from the ten major markets.

Every scene was filled with crowds of people, and rogue cultivators frantically waving spirit stones.

The numbers on the edge of the Water Moon Illusion Mirror are jumping wildly at a breathtaking speed.

Ten million... fifty million... one hundred million...

It's only noon on the first day!

The First Elder, Fifth Elder, and Seventh Elder stood behind Xu Tianyang, all dumbfounded, their breathing heavy like bellows.

"Is Zheng Yifei... a devil?"

Li Zhan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling.

Xu Tianyang laughed heartily, his laughter echoing throughout the hall.

"A devil? He's the God of Wealth of the Qingyun Sect!"

Xu Tianyang whirled around: "Pass down the order! Open the treasure vault! All alchemists on Dan Peak, stop everything you're doing and focus all your energy on refining prize pills! Weapon Peak, continue printing more lottery tickets! We absolutely cannot run out of stock!"

"Yes, sir!"

The elders responded in unison, their eyes filled with fervor.

A tribute of one billion?

At this rate, let alone 1 billion, even 2 billion is not out of the question!

At this moment, in the secret council chamber of the Fourth Elder's dojo.

"Bang!"

Hu Lie slammed his hand down and smashed the stone table in front of him.

"Lottery? Two spirit stones? Daily turnover exceeding 100 million?"

Hu Lie's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water, and his golden core aura was raging, making Hu Jinpeng, who was kneeling on the ground, unable to breathe.

"Grandpa, Zheng Yifei's move was too vicious!"

Hu Jinpeng gritted his teeth: "He's tied all the independent cultivators in the entire jurisdiction to his war machine. Now, anyone who dares to cause trouble will be cutting off the 1.5 billion yuan source of income for those independent cultivators and will be torn to pieces!"

Hu Lie closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He had planned everything meticulously, but he never expected Zheng Yifei to use such unbelievable methods to amass wealth.

The deadlock of demanding a billion in tribute was about to be broken by this Qi Refining stage ant.

"We can't let him raise a billion."

Hu Lie suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with murderous intent.

He took out a jet-black jade slip from his storage bag.