I run a casino in the immortal realm.

"A self-destructing formation?!"

Xu Zhengkun's hand trembled violently, and the wine glass he had just picked up almost tipped over, spilling a few drops of priceless, millennia-old jade dew onto the table, radiating a rich spiritual aura.

Xu Zhenghai, who had been sitting next to Wan Tianxiang, stared wide-eyed at Zheng Yifei as if he were a madman: "Zhengyun, are you crazy? This mirage cost a full 1.2 billion low-grade spirit stones!"

Just the construction of this building, the setting up of the array, and the connection of the spiritual veins—how much effort did it take?

Are you going to plant a bomb in its heart now?

Even Wan Tianxiang, who had seen many storms, felt his eyelids twitch wildly at this moment.

He had lived for hundreds of years and had seen greedy and ruthless people, but he had never seen anyone so ruthless to themselves.

A 1.2 billion yuan industry, a treasure trove that makes money hand over fist, can be blown up at any moment?

"Zhengyun boy,"

Wan Tianxiang took a deep breath, calming the turbulent spiritual energy around him, and said in a deep voice, "What I just said was just to prepare you mentally. The sect leader's seclusion to break through to the Nascent Soul stage is dangerous, but there will definitely be no results in a short time."

In my estimation, it will take at least five years, and at most ten years. During this time, Qin Cang will absolutely not dare to openly break off relations. Why must you be so extreme?

Xu Zhengkun also realized what was going on and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Zhengyun, five years is enough time for us to earn back our investment, and we might even be able to accumulate an astronomical amount of resources."

"As long as my father can successfully break through to the Nascent Soul stage, our Qingyun Sect will have the confidence to protect ourselves. Even if Qin Cang makes trouble then, we will not be afraid of him!"

Zheng Yifei stood still, his back ramrod straight, his cold and arrogant face showing no sign of wavering.

"Five years? Ten years?"

Zheng Yifei's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes revealing a world-weary and resolute look: "Elder Wan, Brother Kun, who can say for sure what will happen in the cultivation world?"

What if the Xuantian Sect Master emerges from seclusion tomorrow?

What if he fails to break through tomorrow and goes into a state of demonic possession?

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looked down at Yingxian Lake, which was still brightly lit and bustling with people, and said in a voice that was cold and devoid of warmth: "The business world is like a battlefield. The worst thing you can do is to place your hopes on the kindness and luck of others."

We are making a lot of money now, but this is also our most fatal curse.

Qin Cang is a hungry wolf. He's dozing now, but when he wakes up, his first bite will snap our necks.

Zheng Yifei turned around, his gaze sweeping over the three of them like a knife: "What's 1.2 billion spirit stones? As long as we're alive and have the idea, we can make money again anytime!"

But if Qin Cang takes power and forcibly takes over Mirage, then we will have used our own hard work to feed our enemy!

They used the money we earned to buy magical artifacts and elixirs, and then turned around and killed our people!

"My rule, Xu Zhengyun's rule, is: what belongs to me, I'll give you if I want to. If I don't want to give it to you, and you dare to reach for it, I'll smash it to pieces! Nobody can eat this food!"

The resounding words echoed within the soundproof barrier.

The private room was deathly silent.

Looking at the fake cousin who was more than ten years younger than him, Xu Zhengkun suddenly felt a deep sense of awe.

This kind of ruthlessness and decisiveness, this ability to take things as they come and let them go, is something a twenty-two-year-old youth simply cannot possess.

Wan Tianxiang stared at Zheng Yifei for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Good! What a fine example of 'better to die a glorious death than live a shameful life'!"

Wan Tianxiang slammed his hand on the table, his eyes flashing with undisguised admiration: "I originally thought you were just a genius who was proficient in the ways of business, but I never expected that you would have such a crazy spirit hidden in your bones!"

In the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak. Without this ruthlessness, even mountains of gold and silver cannot be held onto!

Wan Tianxiang stood up and waved his sleeves: "Fine! I'll grant your wish today! Not only this mirage, but your printing factory, although it has low-level self-destruct formations under the machines, will be forcibly suppressed before it can even detonate when it encounters a Nascent Soul cultivator."

Tonight, I will personally set up the "Nine Nether Annihilation Array" deep within the earth's veins of the mirage and the printing factory!

"Once this formation is activated, it doesn't require spiritual energy to activate. Simply detonating the formation's core will instantly drain the spiritual energy of the earth's veins within a hundred miles, transforming it into a world-destroying explosion. Let alone a Golden Core cultivator, even a Nascent Soul cultivator who dares to force their way in will be severely injured!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yifei's eyes flashed with joy, and he immediately cupped his hands in a salute: "Thank you for your kindness, Elder Wan! The Qingyun Sect will never forget your grace today!"

That night, Wan Tianxiang did not alert anyone and quietly slipped into the depths of the mirage and the printing factory.

This top-tier fifth-order formation master of the Xuantian Sect spent three whole days burying two "time bombs" capable of destroying everything deep beneath the core assets of the Qingyun Sect.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of miles away, at the Xuantian Sect, in the Qingfeng Cliff Artifact Pavilion...

The vast main hall of the artifact pavilion was now shrouded in gloom and despair.

Countless discarded blueprints, broken metal parts, and charred array plates were scattered on the ground.

Ouyang Feng, the Pavilion Master of the Xuantian Sect's Weapon Pavilion and a peak fourth-tier weapon refiner, was currently sporting dark circles under his eyes and his hair was disheveled like a bird's nest.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the dismantled "transfer machine" in the center of the hall, his hands tugging at his hair in frustration.

Behind him, dozens of the Xuan Tian Sect's top weapon refiners and formation masters also looked as if they had lost their parents.

"Impossible... This doesn't conform to any common sense about weapon forging!"

Ouyang Feng muttered to himself like a madman, holding a gear and a drive shaft in his hand, trying to combine them with the spiritual energy hub of the cultivation world.

A month ago, Elder Qin Cang gave him the image stone of this transfer machine and printing press, ordering him to replicate them within a month.

Ouyang Feng initially scoffed, thinking that something produced by a mere affiliated sect couldn't possibly be that difficult.

But the nightmare began when he actually started dismantling the transfer machine.

The weapon-refining system in the cultivation world emphasizes array formations as its core and spiritual power as its driving force.

Why can flying swords fly? Because they are engraved with a wind-controlling formation.

Why can magical artifacts attack? Because they are engraved with attack formations.

However, apart from the outermost array used to shield divine sense and a few simple luminous image arrays, the inside of this transfer machine was actually a dense array of metal gears, levers, springs, and transmission belts!

This is entirely based on the mechanical and physical principles of Earth!

When designing these machines, Zheng Yifei cleverly used mechanical transmission to replace the expensive array operation. The spirit stones served only as the initial power source, and the rest relied entirely on precise physical interlocking.

What do Ouyang Feng and his fellow cultivators know about "gear ratio", "lever principle", or "cam mechanism"?

In their minds, how could two lumps of iron collide and produce regular motion? This is simply a dimensional blow to the common sense of cultivation!

"Master, the way the metal plates and wheels mesh inside this machine is too strange!"

A third-tier weapon refiner said with a mournful face, "We tried to force it with spiritual power, but the parts inside got stuck instantly."

As for the printing press inside the photographic stone, it's even more outrageous. With tens of thousands of interconnected parts, without the core blueprints, we couldn't even assemble the outer shell!

"Useless! They're all useless!"

Just then, a thunderous roar exploded outside the hall.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy bronze doors of the main hall were smashed open by a violent surge of spiritual power. Qin Cang, dressed in black robes, strode into the artifact pavilion, exuding boundless rage and terrifying pressure as a Nascent Soul cultivator.

thump! thump!

Ouyang Feng and dozens of weapon refiners were instantly forced to their knees, trembling all over.

"A whole month!"

Qin Cang's gaze swept across the parts scattered on the ground like a knife, and finally stared intently at Ouyang Feng: "I gave you a month and poured out all the resources of the sect, and this is what you show me?"

"The mighty Xuan Tian Sect's Artifact Pavilion, can't even replicate a toy from a subordinate sect?!"

Ouyang Feng was terrified and kowtowed repeatedly: "Elder, please calm down! Elder, please spare my life! It's not that we didn't try our best, it's just that the design of this machine is too bizarre! It doesn't use any profound formations at all, it relies entirely on the combination of mortal mechanical expansion techniques and tiny formations."

Without the original design drawings, or without knowing the interlocking mechanism, even if we had a year, we couldn't build it!

"An excuse!"

Qin Cang suddenly flicked his sleeve, and a wave of air sent Ouyang Feng flying, crashing heavily into a pillar and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Qin Cang's chest heaved violently, and the murderous intent in his eyes was almost tangible.

He was truly determined to kill, intending to personally go to the Qingyun Sect, capture Xu Zhengkun, and forcibly search his soul to seize the blueprints.