I run a casino in the immortal realm.

After listening to Tie Feng's report, Zheng Yifei remained silent for a long time before letting out a helpless, bitter laugh.

"At the very least, one needs to be in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, and also requires a personal letter of recommendation from the sect leader..."

Zheng Yifei shook his head, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. "The rigid social hierarchy in the cultivation world is even more despairing than in the mortal world. Rogue cultivators who want to defy fate can't even get a stepping stone."

Tie Feng and the other two also looked somber.

Although they were in the late Foundation Establishment stage, they came from humble backgrounds. Without the nurturing of a behemoth like the Xu family, they probably wouldn't have even been able to reach the threshold of Foundation Establishment in their entire lives.

"However, there's no need to rush into it."

Zheng Yifei's eyes quickly regained their calmness, even showing a hint of composure: "I am only at the mid-stage of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and I still have a long way to go before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage."

Even if you put a letter of recommendation in front of me right now, I still won't be able to get into the Xuan Tian Sect. My most urgent task is to improve my cultivation level.

Zheng Yifei was well aware of how resource-intensive his five-elemental-root aptitude was. An ordinary cultivator could attempt to break through with just one low-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.

If he doesn't prepare five top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, forcibly attempting Foundation Establishment will only lead to his death.

Previously at the Qingyun Sect, the sect leader bestowed two top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills upon him, but the foundation establishment of a five-elemental root requires at least five pills, leaving a shortfall of three.

Top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills are extremely rare and expensive. In a place like Xuantian Market, you might be able to buy one if you have enough spirit stones, but it would be an astronomical sum.

"Two years."

Zheng Yifei set a deadline for himself: "I must obtain the remaining three top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills within two years."

If they really can't buy it, they can only ask Xu Zhengkun for help, or his younger brother Xu Zhenghai, who is a disciple of the Xuantian Sect.

But before that, I must have enough leverage to entice him.

And the bargaining chip is the spirit stone.

After a comfortable night at Yunshui Inn, Zheng Yifei and the three of them checked out the next morning and quietly headed to Liushu Hutong on the edge of the North District.

The courtyard that Chen Shan rented was indeed, as he said, in a remote location, surrounded by reclusive, down-on-his-luck cultivators who lived in seclusion and did not interfere with each other.

Pushing open the mottled wooden door, you are greeted by a two-section courtyard house. Although it is somewhat dilapidated and overgrown with weeds, it is spacious and well-hidden.

"The place is nice; it can be moved into after a little tidying up."

Zheng Yifei walked around the yard and nodded in satisfaction.

He turned around, pulled a bulging storage bag from his pocket, and casually tossed it to Tie Feng.

Tie Feng instinctively caught it, and a quick scan with his divine sense revealed a gasp that sent shivers down his spine. His hands trembled violently. "Chief...Chief, this...this is 100,000 low-grade spirit stones?!"

When Chen Shan and Lin Bao heard this number, their eyes widened in surprise.

One hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones! The three of them had served as assassins for the Xu family for so many years, and their combined annual salary was only a few thousand spirit stones.

"Take this money and do a few things."

Zheng Yifei spoke calmly, as if he had only thrown out a handful of coins: "First, go to the array pavilion in the market and buy a set of the best-concealed third-tier defensive array, and then buy a set of third-tier spirit-gathering array. Re-arm this courtyard. I don't want any divine sense to be able to detect what we're doing in there."

"Second, go to the human market and buy two absolutely reliable servants, preferably low-level cultivators who have signed a life-long contract and cannot speak, to take care of our daily needs."

"third."

Zheng Yifei looked at the three of them, his tone softening slightly. "Go buy some high-level cultivation resources. All three of you are in the late Foundation Establishment stage, only one step away from the Golden Core stage. Go buy pills suitable for your current stage of cultivation. Don't be afraid to spend money; pick the best ones."

"And while you're at it, bring me another batch of top-grade elixirs for improving your Qi Refining stage cultivation."

Tie Feng's hands trembled slightly as he gripped the storage bag, his eyes reddening. "Director, this...this is far too valuable. The lives of the three of us brothers belong to the Xu family. We are now ordered to protect you; how could we dare to waste such a huge amount of your resources?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Zheng Yifei frowned and adopted the authority of a superior: "Since you have followed me, you are my brothers. I am protective of my own. As long as you are loyal to me, I will eat the meat and you will definitely not just drink the soup."

In the cultivation world, strength reigns supreme. The higher your cultivation level, the safer I am. Go and do it!

Tie Feng and his two companions exchanged a glance, then clasped their hands in a deep fist salute: "The Director's kindness is as heavy as a mountain; your subordinates would gladly die for you!"

Watching the three figures disappear into the distance, Zheng Yifei secretly made his own plans.

As the backbone of this four-person team, he not only had to manage his own cultivation, but also bear the burden of the consumption of three late-stage Foundation Establishment sword cultivators.

This is absolutely a terrifying bottomless pit. 100,000 low-grade spirit stones may seem like a lot, but if you were to buy high-grade pills at will, it probably wouldn't last even a month.

The reason the three of them were willing to follow him so wholeheartedly was not only because of Xu Zhengkun's orders, but also largely because they valued his ability to make money at will.

"In this world, there is no eternal loyalty, only eternal interests. To make them wholeheartedly devoted, you must show them that following me means endless spirit stones and the hope of reaching the Core Formation stage."

Zheng Yifei took a deep breath: "We need to get this up and running quickly; making money is the only important thing."

Over the next two days, Tie Feng and his two companions demonstrated extremely high efficiency.

The third-tier defensive array and spirit-gathering array were quickly set up, and the entire courtyard in Willow Tree Alley was enveloped by an invisible wave. From the outside, it still looked dilapidated, but inside it was filled with spiritual energy and looked brand new.

The two mute female cultivators who had signed a death pact were also placed in the front yard, where they were responsible for serving tea and water and cleaning the courtyard.

Zheng Yifei secluded himself in a secret room in the backyard for two days, consuming the top-grade Qi Gathering Pill that Tie Feng had bought, and completely stabilizing his spiritual power, which had become somewhat agitated due to days of travel, at the mid-stage of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

On the evening of the third day after settling in, as the city lights began to twinkle, Xuantian Market entered its most extravagant and dazzling moment.

Zheng Yifei changed into a fine but understated blue robe, still wearing the Thousand Illusion Mask on his face, his appearance was ordinary.

He took Tie Feng and Chen Shan with him, leaving Lin Bao at home to guard the formation, and strode out of Willow Tree Alley.

"Director, where are we going?"

Tie Feng asked in a low voice.

"Go make money."

Zheng Yifei's lips curled into a familiar gambler's smile. "Go to the main street of the West District, Chang Le Fang."

Half an hour later, the three of them stood in front of the gate of Chang Le Fang.

This magnificent five-story building is made entirely of precious red spirit wood, with huge luminous pearls hanging from its eaves, illuminating the entire street as bright as day.

Two rows of beautiful and graceful female cultivators in the late Qi Refining stage stood at the entrance, dressed in matching light gauze skirts, smiling sweetly as they greeted guests from all directions.

"Tsk tsk, this is quite a spectacle. Compared to this, all the venues in Qingyun Market are just makeshift rural troupes."

Chen Shan couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

Zheng Yifei stepped onto the white jade steps with a calm expression. As soon as he entered, a peculiar smell, mixed with high-grade spiritual fragrance, cultivator's sweat, and hormones, wafted towards him.

The lobby on the first floor is several thousand square meters and contains hundreds of gambling tables.

The gameplay is very simple, mainly involving rolling dice to guess odd or even and big or small, and there is also Pai Gow.

Hundreds and thousands of cultivators surrounded the various gambling tables. Some shouted loudly with flushed faces, some collapsed to the ground after losing all their spirit stones, and others laughed arrogantly after winning money.

Here, no one cares whether you're a high-ranking sect leader or a rogue cultivator who lives on the edge of a knife; everyone has only one identity: a gambler.

Zheng Yifei did not rush to place a bet, but instead led the two of them to stroll around the hall in a seemingly casual manner, and took out a thousand spirit stones to have Tie Feng exchange them for spirit tickets at the gambling den counter.

The spirit tickets here are issued by the Xuantian Sect. The smallest denomination is ten spirit stones, and the largest is one hundred thousand spirit stones. Most people in the gambling den use spirit tickets to place bets, and spirit stones are only used to pay the water money.

Because the gambling dens here are the same as those in Qingyun Market, gamblers have to pay two spirit stones to the gambling den for every hundred spirit stones they win.

His calm eyes were like a sophisticated scanner, rapidly analyzing the rules and loopholes here.

The gambling dens in the cultivation world have extremely strict anti-cheating measures.

For example, the most common dice table uses a dice cup that is a mid-grade magic artifact engraved with a third-order isolation array, which even a Golden Core cultivator's divine sense cannot penetrate.

The dice inside are made of deep-sea submerged wood mixed with the bones of second-tier demon beasts, and are not contaminated with any spiritual energy fluctuations.

Every dealer at every gambling table was a female cultivator in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, and they were all quite beautiful.

"Director, this place is so well-defended that divine sense is completely useless."

Chen Shan secretly transmitted his voice, his tone somewhat worried.

"If divine sense is useless, then use your brain."

Zheng Yifei smiled faintly and walked to a very popular dice game table.