I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Zheng Yifei stood at the outermost edge of the dice table, his eyes slightly closed.

He completely shut out the surrounding noise, the gamblers' shouts and curses, and the female cultivator's coquettish laughter.

His auditory nerves were stretched to their limit.

The countless days and nights he spent in Macau and Las Vegas in his previous life had long since given his ears a muscle memory of the sound of bones colliding.

While the dice cup, a magical artifact in the cultivation world, can indeed isolate divine sense, it cannot isolate the subtle vibrations caused by physical collisions.

The dice, made of deep-sea submerged wood, are heavier than ordinary ivory dice. When they strike the inner wall of the ritual implement, they produce an extremely dull "thud" sound.

"Splash—"

The female dealer's wrists flickered, and the black dice cup left afterimages on the table.

Zheng Yifei's ears twitched slightly.

When the dot is pointing upwards, the sound is short and sharp; when the six o'clock is pointing upwards, the sound is hollow; when the three o'clock and four o'clock are pointing upwards, the friction surfaces during the tumbling are different, resulting in extremely subtle differences in the ending tone.

"Bang!"

The dice cup fell to the ground.

"Place your order now!"

The dealer drinks sweetly.

Zheng Yifei opened his eyes.

Four, five, six, fifteen o'clock, big.

He didn't move, quietly watching the gamblers around him place their bets wildly.

The dealer lifted the lid.

"Four, five, six! Fifteen o'clock big!"

A burst of ecstatic cheers and frustrated curses erupted from the crowd.

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Zheng Yifei's lips.

The female dealer was very skilled; she even used an extremely subtle force to alter the trajectory of one of the dice at the very last moment before it hit the ground.

But when faced with absolute sound-based location detection, such tricks are nowhere to be found.

He watched ten rounds in a row. He guessed correctly in all ten rounds.

"Director, shall we not place a bet?"

Seeing that Zheng Yifei had been standing there motionless for a long time, Chen Shan couldn't help but ask him telepathically.

"What's the rush?"

Zheng Yifei replied telepathically: "For spectators to win money, they must first understand how the bookmaker slaughters the pig."

The eleventh round begins.

After shaking the dice cup, the female cultivator slammed it heavily onto the table.

Zheng Yifei heard it clearly. One, two, three, six o'clock, small.

He pulled a hundred-yuan note from his sleeve and casually tossed it into the "small" area.

One hundred low-grade spirit stones is a low to medium stake on this table, and it won't attract anyone's attention at all.

Opening the pot. Six o'clock.

The compensation was one-to-one, and Zheng Yifei paid two spirit stones as payment for the water.

For the next hour, Zheng Yifei began placing bets in an extremely tedious yet highly routine manner.

He never bets every hand. If he doesn't hear the call clearly, or if the dealer deliberately uses underhanded tactics to disrupt the sound, he simply folds.

When placing bets, he strictly controls his winning percentage.

If you win three hands, you will deliberately lose two. When you lose, bet small, and when you win, bet big. Occasionally, you will hit a triple or a specific number, instantly boosting your profits.

His emotional control was impeccable; he didn't laugh when he won, nor did he get angry when he lost, just like a seasoned veteran who had spent his days in the casino.

Tie Feng and Chen Shan stood behind him, initially unaware of anything amiss.

But half an hour later, the two looked at each other and saw the horror in each other's eyes.

The spirit tickets in front of Zheng Yifei remained largely unchanged, but his act of secretly hiding them did not escape their notice.

One hour later.

Zheng Yifei has left the field.

I won 50,000 low-grade spirit stones.

Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and left the table.

"Change the channel."

Zheng Yifei said in a low voice.

The three of them went to the Pai Gow table on the other side of the hall.

The gameplay here is a bit more complicated, but the basic principles remain the same.

Zheng Yifei used the same method to first observe the dealer's shuffling and dealing techniques, and to remember the subtle differences in the texture on the back of each card.

A cultivator's eyesight far surpasses that of ordinary people, and combined with the card-counting skills he honed in his previous life, it's practically a game-changer.

Another hour has passed.

Zheng Yifei won 60,000.

"Walk."

Zheng Yifei tucked the spirit ticket into his pocket and walked straight toward the gate of Chang Le Fang without any hesitation.

Stepping out of Chang Le Fang, the cool night breeze brushed against my face.

Tie Feng and Chen Shan followed behind, their steps unsteady.

Two hours. 110,000 low-grade spirit stones.

This is making money faster than robbery.

The key point is that they watched Zheng Yifei place his bets the whole time and couldn't see any signs of cheating at all; he didn't even use any spiritual power.

It didn't attract anyone's attention.

Willow Tree Alley, a traditional courtyard house.

In the underground secret room.

Lin Bao stared wide-eyed at the neatly arranged spirit tickets on the table.

"110,000? Two hours?"

Lin Bao swallowed hard and looked at Tie Feng: "Brother Feng, did you guys rob the Jubao Merchant Guild's spirit stone cart?"

Tie Feng gave a wry smile: "No robbery can be as fast as the director's methods. The director just stands in front of the gambling table, throws in a few spirit tickets, and the spirit tickets go into his pocket by themselves."

Zheng Yifei picked up his teacup, took a sip, and remained calm.

"The waters of this Xuantian Market are very deep."

Zheng Yifei said, "Changlefang has powerful backers. My winnings of 110,000 today are just enough to put me on the line of their tolerance. If I had won a million today, the three of us would never have made it out of that street."

Tie Feng and the other two nodded in deep agreement.

In the world of cultivation, the strong prey on the weak, and casinos are places that devour people without spitting out their bones.

Without strong backing, winning too many times is tantamount to courting death.

"Director."

Chen Shan rubbed his hands together, a glint of fanaticism in his eyes: "Your methods are amazing! A magical artifact that even divine sense can't penetrate, how do you manage to be so certain? Could you... teach us brothers?"

Lin Bao and Tie Feng immediately perked up their ears.

If I can learn this unique skill, will I ever have to worry about lacking cultivation resources in the future?

Zheng Yifei put down his teacup and glanced at the three of them.

"Want to learn?"

Zheng Yifei asked.

The three nodded in succession.

"I can't learn it."

Zheng Yifei poured cold water on the idea without hesitation: "This isn't a cultivation technique, nor is it a secret art; it's talent."

Zheng Yifei pointed to his ears: "I was born with extraordinary hearing. The sound of dice colliding and rolling in the magical artifact, which sounds like a jumbled mess to you, is a clear picture to me. You don't have this talent."

Upon hearing this, the three of them immediately showed expressions of disappointment.

Zheng Yifei changed the subject, his tone becoming low and powerful.

"However, you don't need to learn it."

Zheng Yifei crossed his hands on the table, leaned forward, and stared at them: "You are sword cultivators. The essence of sword cultivation is the sword in your hand and your own realm. To learn gambling skills is to put the cart before the horse."

"Why are you following me? Is it for a few spirit stones, or to be a bodyguard running errands in this Xuan Tian Market?"

Tie Feng and his two companions were taken aback.

"I want to build a city."

Zheng Yifei's voice echoed in the secret room: "A super money pit that is a hundred times larger than Chang Le Fang and Bai Shou Zhai, the two hundred acres of land of Qingyun Sect is just the beginning."

One day, I will build this city right under the nose of the Xuantian Sect!

"At that time, what I need is a top-notch master who can keep order and cleave life and death with a single sword strike, not a few gamblers who can read dice."

Zheng Yifei pushed the 110,000 spirit notes on the table in front of Tie Feng.

"Use this money to buy pills. Top-grade Qi Gathering Pills, Yuan Strengthening Pills, Marrow Cleansing Liquid—buy whatever is most expensive."

Zheng Yifei's tone was resolute: "The three of you are currently at the late Foundation Establishment stage. I want you to reach the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment in the shortest possible time!"

Tie Feng looked at the huge sum of money in front of him, and his breathing became heavy.

"Director, is this... all for us to buy resources?"

Tie Feng's voice trembled slightly.

"This is just an initial investment."

Zheng Yifei leaned back in his chair and threw out the biggest bait of the day: "Once you reach the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, I will find a way to get each of you a Golden Core."

Golden Core Formation!

The moment those three words were uttered, the air in the sealed room seemed to freeze instantly.

Tie Feng, Chen Shan, and Lin Bao suddenly stood up straight, their eyes wide open, and their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Golden Core Stage.

That was the realm that countless cultivators in the Southern Wilderness dreamed of. For these assassins who had no background and no extraordinary talent, the Golden Core stage was an unattainable myth.

The Xu family has raised them for decades, and the highest promise they could make was to ensure they had enough to eat and wear during their Foundation Establishment stage.

The Xu family would never waste such a strategic resource as the Golden Core on themselves.

But now, Zheng Yifei casually tossed out this promise.

If anyone else had said this, they would have scoffed. But the person before them was a money-making genius who had amassed 1.8 billion spirit stones in ten days, a god of wealth who could win 110,000 spirit stones from Chang Le Fang in just two hours.

He said if he could get his hands on a Golden Core pill, then he definitely could!

"Thump!"

Tie Feng knelt down and kowtowed heavily.

"I, Tie Feng, can never repay the Director's life-saving grace! From this day forward, my life belongs to the Director. Wherever the Director's sword points, I, Tie Feng, will fight to the death!"

Chen Shan and Lin Bao also knelt down and shouted in unison.

"I would gladly die for it!"

Zheng Yifei looked at the three late-stage Foundation Establishment experts kneeling before him, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

Ten thousand spirit stones to settle down, eleven thousand spirit stones to buy resources, plus an empty promise of a Golden Core.

These three loyal followers, who originally only obeyed Xu Zhengkun, have now completely become Zheng Yifei's private army.