I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Early morning, Qingyun Main Peak Square.

A superior flying boat, ten zhang long, was docked in the center of the White Jade Square.

Zheng Yifei stood on the deck, wearing a brand-new inner-gate brocade robe, with a jade plaque symbolizing the two powerful department heads hanging at his waist.

He stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the crowd seeing him off. Three Foundation Establishment cultivators stood beside him; these were the ones Xu Zhengkun had arranged to protect him.

Su Tong stood on the left with key personnel from the Information Department, all smiles.

Su Qingwan led the people from the Inspectorate to stand on the right, her expression cold.

Not far away, there were many inner sect deacons and disciples watching the spectacle pointing and whispering.

"Director, have a safe trip! Return soon!"

Su Tong shouted at the top of his lungs.

Zheng Yifei nodded slightly and waved his hand. The flying boat emitted a deep roar, and the defensive light screen rose up.

The enormous ship rose from the ground, stirring up a gust of wind, and transformed into a streak of light, heading straight for the Black Mountain Market outside the main peak's jurisdiction.

Everyone looked up, watching the streak of light representing the newly crowned God of Wealth of the Qingyun Sect disappear into the horizon.

The Grand Elder stood on the terrace of the Inner Sect Council Hall, withdrew his gaze, and sneered: "The behavior of a nouveau riche will never amount to anything."

Half an hour later.

The main hall of the Law Enforcement Hall.

As the hall master Zhao Gang was reviewing the files, the communication jade slip at his waist suddenly trembled violently and burst out with a dazzling red light.

This represents the highest level of distress signal.

Zhao Gang crushed the jade slip in one swift motion, and from it came the mournful scream of a Foundation Establishment stage sword cultivator who was responsible for escorting Zheng Yifei.

"Enemy attack! Golden Core cultivator undergoing tribulation! The flying boat formation is broken! Director Zheng, he..."

The sound abruptly stopped, leaving only the sickening cracking of bones and the deafening roar of exploding magical artifacts.

Zhao Gang suddenly stood up, knocking over the teacups on the table. Tea spilled all over the floor.

"Assemble! All elite troops of the Enforcement Hall are mobilized! Target: 300 miles north of Falling Star Valley!"

Zhao Gang roared, his voice echoing throughout the entire law enforcement hall.

In less than half an incense stick's time, hundreds of sword lights shot into the sky, rushing towards the scene of the incident with murderous intent.

Noon, 3:45.

The gathering drum in the main peak square was struck, the dull drumbeats resounding nine times in a row, a death knell for the core figures of the sect.

The entire Qingyun Sect was in an uproar.

Countless disciples and deacons dropped what they were doing and rushed frantically toward the main peak square.

In the center of the square lay four charred corpses.

The air was filled with a pungent, acrid smell and lingering, violent spiritual energy fluctuations.

"Get out of the way!"

A loud shout came from the sky.

Sect Master Xu Tianyang transformed into a golden light and crashed onto the plaza. His violent, perfected Golden Core aura swept across the entire area, forcing thousands of disciples around him to kneel down in unison.

Xu Tianyang's eyes were bloodshot, and his chest heaved violently. He stared intently at the four charred corpses on the ground, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Eight inner sect elders followed closely behind.

Seeing the horrific scene on the ground, the First Elder's expression changed, while Su Chenyuan gasped in shock.

Zhao Gang, the head of the Enforcement Hall, knelt on one knee in front of Xu Tianyang, his forehead pressed against the ground, his back soaked with cold sweat.

"Reporting to the Sect Master! When your subordinates arrived, the flying boat was completely destroyed and crashed into the valley, causing a fire."

The scene still lingered with unfamiliar Golden Core stage spiritual energy fluctuations. Three guard disciples died on the spot, and Director Zheng Yifei... was struck through the heart meridian and then burned to ashes.

His storage pouch, including the one hundred million low-grade spirit stones bestowed upon him by the sect leader, was completely stolen!

Zhao Gang's voice echoed across the square.

The entire room fell silent.

"Let's fly!"

A piercing wail shattered the silence.

Zheng Dashan and his wife, Wang, along with Zheng Yifei's younger brother and sister, stumbled and pushed through the crowd as they rushed over.

Wang threw herself onto Zheng Yifei's charred corpse, clutching the blackened flesh with both hands, crying her heart out, and fainted on the spot.

Zheng Dashan knelt on the ground, pounding his fists on the bluestone slab, his forehead bleeding profusely from the impact.

"My son! You're only eighteen! Heaven, you're blind!"

The heart-wrenching cries touched those around her.

Su Tong's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, covering his face and wailing.

Dozens of people from the Information Department knelt down, their cries shaking the heavens. They were not only crying for Zheng Yifei, but also for the fact that the powerful figure they had just latched onto had been broken.

The atmosphere in the Inspectorate was extremely tense.

The deacons had red eyes and remained silent with their heads down.

Su Qingwan stood at the front, her eyes fixed on the charred corpse.

She didn't cry.

She took two steps forward and squatted down.

The charred corpse's face was completely destroyed, and even the bones were burned to a crisp.

The remaining fragments of clothing on his body were indeed the inner-school brocade robe that Zheng Yifei had worn that morning. The jade pendant at his waist, which signified his status as a director, was also broken in two and lying to the side.

Everything fits together perfectly.

But Su Qingwan's brows furrowed even more deeply.

It's too clean.

This ambush was almost too clean and efficient.

Using a Golden Core cultivator to deal with a Qi Refining cultivator and three Foundation Establishment cultivators is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

And it just so happens that it happened at this crucial moment when Zheng Yifei took away 100 million spirit stones.

What bothered her most was Zheng Yifei's attitude during the meeting last night.

Would that man, who is so calculating and manipulative, really go out and act as a target with a hundred million spirit stones just to show off when he returns home?

Su Qingwan stood up, retreated into the crowd, and suppressed all her doubts.

She knew that saying anything now would be futile.

Xu Tianyang suddenly turned around and kicked Zhao Gang, sending him flying more than ten feet away.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

Xu Tianyang, his hair standing on end in fury, spoke with a voice infused with spiritual power that made everyone's eardrums ache: "On my turf, the God of Wealth of the Qingyun Sect was murdered! One hundred million spirit stones were stolen! And your Enforcement Hall didn't even catch a ghost!"

The Grand Elder stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Sect Master, please calm down. This matter is suspicious. A Golden Core cultivator is no ordinary person. It is highly likely that other sects are jealous of our lottery profits and have secretly committed this act. It's even possible that Hu Lie's remnants hired someone to kill him."

"Investigate! Seal off the entire Qingyun territory! Dig three feet into the ground and find this Golden Core cultivator!"

Xu Zhengkun stood behind Xu Tianyang, head down, shoulders trembling slightly.

Outsiders thought the young sect leader was overwhelmed with grief.

Only Xu Zhengkun himself knew that he was desperately trying to suppress his laughter.

He stared at the charred corpse on the ground, inwardly cursing: "That bastard Zheng Yifei is too ruthless." The body was one of a similarly built death row inmate he had personally retrieved from the cell last night.

Zheng Yifei personally shattered the death row inmate's heart meridian, put on his own clothes, hung the jade pendant on him, and then burned him beyond recognition.

As for the corpses of the three guards, they were prepared in advance.

Xu Zhengkun looked up at his furious father.

Xu Tianyang was genuinely furious because Xu Zhengkun hadn't told him about the fake death plan at all. Only if his father's anger was real would the Xuantian Sect's envoy believe that Zheng Yifei was truly dead.

"Give Zheng Yifei a proper burial."

Xu Tianyang took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said, "He will be posthumously honored as an honorary elder of the inner sect. His family will be supported by the sect and granted the same treatment as inner sect disciples."

After saying that, Xu Tianyang turned and left.

That night, no one in the Qingyun Sect slept.

The next morning.

The Qingyun Daily was released on time.

The usually colorful layout has been completely replaced by glaring black and white today.

The front page headline didn't feature eye-catching red text, but only a single line of extremely solemn, enormous bold text:

"Heaven is jealous of talent! The God of Wealth of Qingyun has fallen in Falling Star Valley! The Sect Master is furious and has offered a reward of ten million spirit stones for the capture of the true culprit!"

The newspaper detailed the attack on Zheng Yifei, as well as his achievements in establishing the Tax Bureau's Inspection Department and the News Bureau, which earned the sect 1.8 billion spirit stones.

Su Tong personally penned the script, using extremely emotional language to portray Zheng Yifei as a tragic hero who devoted himself to the sect until his death.

Newspaper boys carried newspapers and shuttled between various markets and outer areas.

"Newspapers for sale! Director Zheng has been murdered!"

"The Qingyun Sect's greatest loss! Director Zheng was murdered by a raider!"

The 1.5 billion independent cultivators in the entire Qingyun Sect territory were completely stunned when they saw the newspaper.

The man who gave them the dream of Foundation Establishment and drove them crazy for ten days, just like that, is dead?

In teahouses, taverns, and market squares, all the discussions revolved around this earth-shattering case.

"Have you heard? It was caused by a hundred million spirit stones!"

"Bullshit! It must have been done by the nine major families! Director Zheng's tax investigation touched their lifeline!"

"My cousin works in the Enforcement Hall, and he said there was residual spiritual energy from a Golden Core cultivator at the scene! It's definitely the work of a major sect!"

Public opinion exploded. Anger, regret, conspiracy theories—all sorts of emotions spread wildly within the Qingyun Sect.

Zheng Yifei's name was etched forever into everyone's memory in an extremely tragic way.