I run a casino in the immortal realm.

The night wind howled, and a crimson rainbow in the sky above Falling Star Valley instantly tore through the void.

"Trying to run away?!"

Su Chenyuan was furious, and the crimson spear in his hand transformed into a hundred-foot-long fire dragon, roaring as it plunged into the void rift.

However, the spatial turbulence generated by the self-destruction of the Xuan Yin Pearl was too violent. The fire dragon only managed to tear off a few pieces of bloody rags in the void before being torn apart by the violent spatial force.

The Grand Elder sheathed his cyan longsword, his face grim as he stared at the slowly closing void rift: "A late-stage Golden Core cultivator's Blood Escape Technique can't be stopped. He self-destructed his natal magic treasure; even if he survives, his cultivation level will drop, so he's nothing to fear."

The most urgent task is to report to the sect leader immediately.

Half an hour later, at the main peak of Qingyun Sect, in the council hall.

"Bang!"

Xu Tianyang slammed his hand on the armrest of the purple-gold dragon throne, and the violent pressure of the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage swept across the entire hall like a tsunami, forcing several deacons on duty in the hall to kneel on the ground, trembling.

"Well done, Hu Lie! Well done, Fourth Elder!"

Xu Tianyang laughed in fury, his eyes filled with such intense killing intent they seemed to drip water: "He hijacked my sect's flying boat, killed my inner disciples, and now he's even resisting arrest and escaping! Does he really think that just because he has a ancestor who's a direct disciple of the Xuantian Sect, I won't dare to touch him?!"

Xu Tianyang suddenly stood up, his voice as cold as ice from the depths of hell: "Issue the sect master's decree! Fourth Elder Hu Lie has colluded with the demonic path and intends to overthrow the sect. He is to be removed from his position as elder immediately, and a top-level 'Bloody Wanted Order' is issued, with a reward of one million spirit stones for his head!"

The Enforcement Hall and the elite Sword Peak troops are to assemble immediately and seal off all teleportation arrays within the main peak's jurisdiction!

"Sect Master, what about the Hu family..."

The elder stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

"Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots, leave no one alive!"

Xu Tianyang waved his hand and uttered eight words without any mercy.

The struggles in the cultivation world are never tender and affectionate. Once the pretense of civility has been broken, it's a fight to the death.

However, when the head of the Enforcement Hall led five hundred murderous Foundation Establishment stage sword cultivators to surround the Fourth Elder's dojo and the Hu family's secular residence like dark clouds, they found that the most central secret chambers were already deserted.

Deep within the Hu family's Taoist temple, an ancient teleportation array hidden beneath an artificial hill was emitting a gradually dimming spiritual light.

Hu Jinpeng, the eldest son of the Hu family who usually appears to be a playboy but is actually extremely shrewd, had already prepared for the worst the moment Hu Lie decided to take action personally.

He knew Zheng Yifei's almost superhuman scheming ability, and that his grandfather's trip was somewhat risky.

So, half an hour before the sect's army surrounded them, he decisively abandoned his entire family, took away the most core top-grade cultivation techniques, land deeds, and millions of spirit stones from the Hu family's treasure vault, and escaped with a few absolutely loyal confidants through this one-way teleportation array known only to the successive heads of the family.

"Search! Dig three feet into the ground and find that little bastard Hu Jinpeng!"

The head of the Enforcement Hall was furious when he saw the broken teleportation array.

Hu Jinpeng fled, but the remaining members of the Hu family faced the cruelest end in the cultivation world.

The Hu family, one of the nine great families, has thrived for thousands of years. Its direct descendants and collateral relatives number more than 300,000.

That night, the sword light of the Qingyun Sect illuminated half the sky.

There is no trial, no defense; in the world of cultivation, the will of the strong is the law.

The sword formation of the Enforcement Hall was like a merciless meat grinder, crushing everything from one end of the Hu family's territory to the other.

The piercing screams, desperate pleas for mercy, and the booming sounds of clashing magical artifacts intertwined, creating a chilling elegy.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator was killed on the spot, and his head was hung high on the flagpole in the market.

The Qi Refining cultivators were driven to the depths of the mine, and with the roar of several exploding talismans, tens of thousands of people were buried alive underground, becoming fertilizer at the very bottom of the spirit mine.

Three hundred thousand people vanished overnight. The heavy stench of blood lingered over the Qingyun Sect's territory for three days and three nights.

After the Hu family was destroyed, what was left behind was a huge piece of fat meat.

The three medium-sized spirit stone mines, two spirit herb gardens, and dozens of markets controlled by the Hu family instantly sparked a frenzy among the remaining eight major families.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xu Tianyang demonstrated the iron fist of the sect leader. With lightning speed, he transferred the Hu family's most core spirit stone mine and spirit herb garden to the main peak, greatly enriching the foundation of the Xu family lineage.

The remaining assets were divided up completely by the eight major families like hungry wolves.

Yesterday's fellow disciples were calling each other brothers, but today they are feasting on the corpses of the Hu family.

This is the jungle law of the cultivation world—cruel, bloody, yet incredibly real.

The bloodshed within the sect did not hinder an even larger-scale harvest of wealth.

With the downfall of the Hu family, no one dared to interfere with the issuance of lotteries anymore.

Under Zheng Yifei's meticulous command, the "Qingyun Welfare Lottery" craze swept through every corner of the entire jurisdiction.

It lasted a full ten days.

It wasn't that Zheng Yifei didn't want to continue selling, but rather that the pockets of the 1.5 billion low-level cultivators in the entire Qingyun Sect's territory had been completely emptied.

The spirit stones that were originally used to buy fasting pills and low-level talismans, and even the life savings that rogue cultivators had kept hidden away, were all squeezed clean by that illusory "Foundation Building Dream".

On the morning of the eleventh day, when the last bill was delivered to the main hall, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

In the center of the main hall, there was no longer a floating Water Moon Illusion Mirror, but a real mountain of spirit stones! The spiritual energy, so dense that it had become tangible, even condensed into a thin layer of spiritual rain above the main hall, which fell down in a drizzling manner.

"Sect Master, the accounts have been verified and are correct."

Fifth Elder Su Chenyuan's hands trembled violently. He had been in charge of the sect's finances for a century and had never seen such terrifying wealth. "After deducting all the costs of the prizes, logistics losses, and commissions paid to the disciples... in these ten days, we've netted... 1.83 billion low-grade spirit stones!"

"hiss--"

A chorus of gasps filled the hall.

The First Elder plucked out his prized long beard; the Seventh Elder, Li Zhan, exaggeratedly clutched his heart, his eyes rolled back, and he almost fainted from happiness.

Eighteen billion!

This is equivalent to the total tax revenue of the Qingyun Sect in the past year!

Xu Tianyang sat upright on the dragon throne, his face flushed and his chest heaving violently.

He suddenly stood up, threw his head back, and let out a hearty laugh: "Hahahaha! Good! Good! Good! With this huge sum of money, the sect's crisis is over."

The deadlock has been completely broken.

Xu Tianyang's position as sect leader is as secure as Mount Tai.

"By my decree, today we will reward those who have rendered meritorious service!"

Xu Tianyang waved his hand, exuding heroic spirit.

Soon, hundreds of inner disciples involved in the lottery issuance were summoned to the main peak square.

When the gleaming spirit stones were distributed to them as commissions, the entire square erupted in excitement. Each Foundation Establishment disciple received anywhere from several thousand to tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones, equivalent to several years' worth of cultivation resources.

Inside the main hall, the bestowal of rewards continued.

Where is Xu Jian of Qifeng?

Xu Tianyang's gaze was authoritative.

With huge dark circles under his eyes, hair like a bird's nest, and looking noticeably thinner, Xu Jian walked forward unsteadily and knelt down with a thud: "Disciple...disciple is here."

For the past ten days, he and the artisans of Qifeng worked day and night to carve anti-counterfeiting arrays, not even bothering to wipe away the blood they coughed up, and managed to withstand the terrifying production capacity of hundreds of millions of lottery tickets per day.

"You deserve immense credit!"

Xu Tianyang looked at him and announced loudly, "Effective immediately, Xu Jian is promoted to Deputy Peak Master of the Weapon Peak, awarded 100,000 low-grade spirit stones, a high-grade Xuan-rank magic weapon, and granted the privilege of selecting a cultivation technique from the main peak's scripture pavilion!"

"Thank you... thank you for your great kindness, Sect Master!"

Xu Jian was so excited that he trembled all over. After kowtowing once, his eyes rolled back and he fainted from exhaustion, which caused a burst of good-natured laughter in the hall.

As each award was bestowed, the atmosphere in the main hall reached its peak.

However, when everyone's attention finally focused on the young man in the Qi Refining stage who stood calmly in the corner from beginning to end, the atmosphere suddenly became subtle.

Zheng Yifei.