I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Zheng Yifei slowly opened his eyes, a colorful light flashing in his deep eyes, and the air in the entire underground chamber seemed to become heavy at that moment.

He stood up, casually clenched his fist, and his knuckles made a popping sound like popping beans.

Liquid spiritual energy circulates in the meridians, and the powerful, transparent feeling is completely different from that of the Qi Refining stage.

If the spiritual energy of the Qi Refining stage is a stream, then the liquid spiritual energy of the Foundation Establishment stage is a rushing river.

Because he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator with five spiritual roots, the amount and purity of spiritual energy in his body were at least five times that of an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"This is the Foundation Establishment Realm..."

A satisfied smile curved Zheng Yifei's lips.

He pushed open the heavy stone door of the secret chamber, and as soon as he took a step, an aura of power belonging to a Foundation Establishment cultivator uncontrollably emanated from him.

Tie Feng, Chen Shan, and Lin Bao, who were guarding outside the door, were shocked. They felt the extremely pure spiritual pressure of the Five Elements and their eyes immediately lit up with fervent joy.

Although they were at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, three small steps higher than Zheng Yifei, they still felt a faint sense of oppressive pressure when facing him.

"Congratulations, Director! Congratulations! You have successfully laid the foundation; the path to greatness is now within reach!"

Tie Feng and the other two clasped their hands in a salute, their voices loud and clear, revealing their heartfelt excitement.

Zheng Yifei's ability to reach the Foundation Establishment stage means that their small team now has a true leader, and it also means that Zheng Yifei's previous promise of "forming a Golden Core" is no longer an empty promise.

"Get up, you've all worked hard this past month."

Zheng Yifei concealed his aura and casually tossed out three storage bags filled with spirit stones: "Take these and buy some wine. Relax for a couple of days. We still have a tough battle ahead of us."

After seeing the three off, Zheng Yifei returned to the secret room, took out the communication jade slip that connected with Zhao Ling from his pocket, and infused it with spiritual power.

Although his cultivation level had broken through, Zheng Yifei's mind remained exceptionally clear.

Foundation Building is merely the true starting point in the world of cultivation.

A moment later, the jade slip glowed faintly, and Zhao Ling's clear and melodious voice came through, carrying a hint of undisguised joy: "Brother Yifei! You've finished your seclusion? Did you succeed?"

"Yes, I just broke through."

Zheng Yifei responded with a smile, then asked, "How's it going on your end? Judging from your voice, it sounds like you've got good news too?"

"Brother Yifei, I reached Foundation Establishment a month earlier than you!"

Zhao Ling's voice carried a hint of pride: "Moreover, my master personally tested me, and I am now the youngest third-tier alchemist in the Xuan Tian Sect's Pill Pavilion! I can independently refine pills for Foundation Establishment cultivators!"

"A third-tier alchemist? Well done!"

Zheng Yifei's eyes lit up, and he was overjoyed.

Alchemists are also divided into levels. First-level alchemists can only refine low-to-medium grade pills for the Qi Refining stage, while second-level alchemists can only refine high-grade pills for the Qi Refining stage and low-grade pills for the Foundation Establishment stage.

A third-tier alchemist can refine high-grade pills for the Foundation Establishment stage.

Only fourth-level alchemists can refine pills for the Golden Core stage. They can refine top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, top-grade Golden Core Formation Pills, and Breakthrough Pills, but the success rate is very low, mainly depending on the alchemist's comprehension.

The Qingyun Sect has a fourth-level alchemist with average comprehension. His success rate in refining top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills is very low, only three or four per year. As for top-grade Golden Core Pills and Breakthrough Pills, the success rate is even lower, depending on luck. It may take five or ten years to produce one.

Xu Zhengkun was able to break through to the Golden Core stage only because the sect had accumulated a Golden Core and a Breakthrough Pill over ten years.

This is also why the Xu family and several other major families send their children to the Xuantian Sect for further study, because the Xuantian Sect not only has one fifth-level alchemist, but also several fourth-level alchemists.

He originally thought Zhao Ling would need at least another six months to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, but he didn't expect that the girl's talent in alchemy would boost her cultivation, and with the resources from the Xuan Tian Sect's Pill Pavilion, she would actually be one step ahead of him.

"but……"

Zhao Ling's tone quickly dropped again, tinged with helplessness: "Brother Yifei, although I've become a third-tier alchemist, I've encountered a huge problem when I want to refine a large number of Foundation Establishment stage pills."

"What happened?"

Zheng Yifei frowned slightly.

"It's a materials issue."

Zhao Ling sighed and explained, "The pills needed for Foundation Establishment stage cultivation, such as the 'Condensing Essence Pill' and the 'True Essence Pill,' have extremely precious main and auxiliary ingredients, often requiring spiritual herbs that are hundreds of years old."

The Pill Pavilion has extremely strict control over spiritual herbs of grade three and above. The materials allocated by the sect are only enough for me to open two batches each month for practice.

If I wanted to refine more materials privately, the sect would absolutely not allow the materials to leak out.

"If I were to buy them at the market, the price of those materials would be outrageously high. The spirit stones I have simply cannot support the large amount of refining required."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yifei showed no concern; instead, he chuckled softly.

"I thought it was something serious. Problems that can be solved with spirit stones aren't problems to me."

Zheng Yifei spoke in a relaxed tone, yet with an undeniable air of dominance: "Ling'er, remember this: from today onward, all you need to do is stay in the Pill Pavilion and refine pills to improve your alchemy skills and cultivation."

As for the materials needed for alchemy, no matter how rare the spiritual herbs or how expensive the auxiliary medicines, I will take care of them all!

"Not only that, I'll also cover all the resources you need for your cultivation, as well as the expenses for purchasing alchemy furnaces and formations!"

Zhao Ling gasped at the end of the jade slip: "Brother Yifei, this...this is too wasteful of spirit stones! The materials for third-tier pills, if we were to refine them at will, would cost at least a million low-grade spirit stones every month!"

"What's a million? If you can refine it, I can afford to spend ten million."

Zheng Yifei leaned back in his armchair, his fingers lightly tapping the table, his eyes deep and thoughtful.

His willingness to take on so much was not out of a desire to show off, but rather stemmed from profound strategic considerations.

The cultivation of the Foundation Establishment stage is far more brutal than that of the Qi Refining stage.

This realm is divided into four stages: early stage of foundation building, middle stage of foundation building, late stage of foundation building, and great perfection of foundation building.

There may seem to be only four steps, but the amount of spiritual energy required to take each step is astronomical.

Many ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, even if they spend their entire lives and exhaust all their wealth, still find it difficult to advance from the early to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

They are stuck at the bottleneck of resource scarcity, watching helplessly as their lifespan runs out.

Zheng Yifei's situation was even more desperate than that of ordinary cultivators.

He possesses all five elements but is a useless spiritual root!

The advantage of the Five Elemental Roots lies in their unparalleled combat power at the same level and their inexhaustible spiritual power, but their disadvantage is equally fatal: they are a bottomless gold-devouring behemoth!

Others need ten bottles of Qi Condensation Pills to advance a minor realm, but he needs at least fifty or even hundreds! Without a massive amount of top-tier resources, he would be stuck at the early Foundation Establishment stage for the rest of his life, unable to make any progress.

Purchasing finished, top-grade Tier 3 pills in the market is not only easy to attract attention, but also difficult to find even if there is a price.

The best approach is to control a production line yourself.

Zhao Ling is his perfect "exclusive alchemist".

"Ling'er, I'm doing this not only for my own cultivation, but also for our future."

Zheng Yifei's voice turned serious and was clearly transmitted to Zhao Ling's ears through the jade slip: "You should now understand very well how terrifying the resource monopoly in the cultivation world is."

"To break through from the Foundation Establishment Realm to the Golden Core Realm, one must use the Barrier Breaking Pill and the Golden Core Formation Pill. These two strategic-level pills are absolutely unavailable in any market. They are all tightly held by those major sects as bargaining chips to control their subordinate forces and lower-level cultivators."

As a rogue cultivator, even if I had mountains of gold and silver, I couldn't buy a single Golden Core.

"The Zhao family are also independent cultivators. Your eldest brother needs to establish his foundation and form his core. I also have three guards who are at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. They also need to form their cores. If we expect the Xuantian Sect to be merciful and reward us, it's nothing short of wishful thinking."

Therefore, we can only rely on ourselves!

Zheng Yifei paused, his tone resolute as if he had nothing to lose: "You were born with two top-grade spiritual roots in one element, possessing superior aptitude, and you also have the personal guidance of the Pavilion Master of the Pill Refining Pavilion. As long as resources are plentiful, you can definitely break through to the Golden Core Realm and become a fourth-tier alchemist in the shortest possible time!"

"Once you become a fourth-level alchemist, you will have access to the formulas and refining techniques for the Breakthrough Pill and the Golden Core Pill. At that time, I will be responsible for procuring rare and precious materials, and you will be responsible for setting up the furnace and refining the pills."

Only in this way can we break the monopoly of those major sects and truly take our destiny into our own hands!