I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Space distorted without warning.

Ye Tianqiong, clad in a black robe, appeared out of thin air without alerting any of the surrounding security formations.

"Ready?"

Ye Tianqiong's voice was deep and resonant.

Zheng Yifei opened his eyes and stood up: "You can leave anytime."

He took out a costly sculpted substitute puppet from his storage bag, placed it on the futon, and infused it with his life essence.

Under the cover of the formation, even a Golden Core cultivator using their divine sense would only assume that he was in seclusion.

Outside the door, Su Wanqing held the account book, her eyes fixed on the heavy stone door.

She knew Zheng Yifei was leaving tonight, heading to the treacherous heartland of the demonic path where death was a near certainty. She didn't stop him, but instead gripped the hem of her clothes tightly and prayed silently in her heart.

With a wave of his sleeve, Ye Tianqiong enveloped Zheng Yifei in black mist, and the two vanished from the secret chamber in an instant.

Tens of feet above Yingxian Lake, a fierce wind raged.

A streamlined, dark gold-colored, shuttle-shaped flying boat broke through the clouds and sped silently southward.

The interior of the airship is extremely spacious and luxuriously furnished.

Ye Tianqiong leaned back on the soft couch in the main seat and gestured to the long table opposite him. "Sit."

Zheng Yifei took his seat. Two white jade wine cups were placed on the long table, the wine emitting a rich aroma.

"You've kept your composure for half a year."

Ye Tianqiong picked up his wine cup and took a sip: "Is everything ready?"

Without wasting any words, Zheng Yifei directly pushed two dark red high-level storage rings to the center of the table.

"The one on the left contains a hundred printing presses with core components made from deep-sea sunken silver, along with a complete set of assembly drawings and ink formulas."

Zheng Yifei pointed to the one on the right: "The one on the right is worth two hundred million low-grade spirit stones."

Ye Tianqiong paused, holding the wine cup, and raised his eyelids, staring sharply at Zheng Yifei.

One hundred sets of machines were expected, but two hundred million spirit stones were an unexpected surprise.

Even if he is a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, two hundred million low-grade spirit stones is not a small amount.

"What do you mean by that?"

Ye Tianqiong's tone was flat, revealing no emotion.

Zheng Yifei met his gaze calmly: "Investment."

"The Heavenly Demon Sect is a large and powerful organization with numerous factions. Although I know a little about business, I am new here and have not yet made any contributions."

"As the deputy sect leader, it's bound to give others cause for criticism if you bring an outsider back to build a gambling den and run a newspaper. Since we're cooperating, we need to show sincerity. These two hundred million spirit stones and the printing press are my investment funds for the gambling den."

Ye Tianqiong stared at Zheng Yifei for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, the sound causing the defensive array inside the flying boat to vibrate.

"Good lad! You know the rules and how to behave!"

Ye Tianqiong grabbed the storage ring, scanned it with his divine sense, and looked at the mountain of spirit stones piled up inside, his smile widening.

"I was originally thinking about how to shut up those other old guys when I got back. This amount of spirit stones should be enough to shut them up."

The demonic path operates directly and prioritizes self-interest.

Zheng Yifei did not act recklessly because of the oath of Heaven. Instead, he took the initiative to pave the way with real money. This shrewd way of doing things made Ye Tianqiong very pleased.

The airship sped along, while outside the window, a sea of ​​clouds churned.

After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became much more harmonious.

Zheng Yifei put down his wine cup, his expression becoming serious. "Senior Ye, now that I'm on your ship, I should share my knowledge with you."

Ye Tianqiong looked at him with great interest.

"My real name is not Xu Zhengyun."

Zheng Yifei stared straight at the night sky: "My name is Zheng Yifei. I am the former Chief Inspector of the Qingyun Sect's Tax Office."

Ye Tianqiong raised an eyebrow slightly. The Heavenly Demon Sect's intelligence network was naturally well aware of the tax reform turmoil within the Xuan Tian Sect.

The genius of Qingyun Sect who proposed a tax reform plan that shook the Southern Wilderness Region, and was subsequently ambushed and killed by bandits, was actually the person in front of us.

"Fake death to escape?"

Ye Tianqiong reacted instantly.

Zheng Yifei nodded and briefly recounted how he was targeted by the Hu family of the Xuantian Sect, how he faked his death and went into hiding, and how he established the Mirage under the alias Xu Zhengyun.

Ye Tianqiong tapped his fingers on the table, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes: "You're telling the truth now, firstly to clear the Qingyun Sect of suspicion of colluding with the demonic path, and secondly to create the illusion that you're controlled by the demonic path, making the Xuantian Sect and the Hu family hesitant to investigate further?"

"Your senior is wise."

Zheng Yifei cupped his hands in greeting.

"Insidious, and vicious."

Instead of being angry, Ye Tianqiong praised, "With your scheming, you've manipulated those self-proclaimed righteous old foxes of the Xuantian Sect. Staying in the Qingyun Sect is truly a waste of your talent. The Tianmo Sect is where you should be."

Ye Tianqiong didn't care that Zheng Yifei had used the Heavenly Demon Sect to set a trap.

In his view, only those who are useful deserve to negotiate terms. Zheng Yifei can bring huge wealth to the Heavenly Demon Sect, so what's wrong with taking the blame for him?

The flying boat passed through a thick thundercloud, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth ahead suddenly became violent and dense.

"Look below."

Ye Tianqiong raised his chin.

Zheng Yifei walked to the porthole and looked down at the earth.

Below was no longer the beautiful mountains and rivers of the Xuantian Sect's territory, but rather a continuous black mountain range, a bottomless canyon, and vast primeval forests radiating strange light.

The city and fortresses are scattered like stars in the sky, and are of a grand scale. Groups of flying monsters and heavy warships often fly overhead.

The prosperity and martial spirit here far surpass those of the Xuantian Sect's territory.

"This is the border between the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Profound Heaven Sect."

Ye Tianqiong walked to his side.

"It's not quite the same as what I've heard."

Zheng Yifei answered truthfully. In the Qingyun Sect's records, the demonic territory was a scorched earth, a hellish place where mortals and low-level cultivators lived worse than dogs.

Ye Tianqiong sneered: "What else can those hypocrites from the Xuantian Sect do besides write books and slander people? It's all about the winner taking all."

He stood with his hands behind his back, his voice deep and resonant: "The Southern Wilderness is vast and boundless. North of the Ten Thousand Mountains belongs to the Xuan Tian Sect; south of the Ten Thousand Mountains, all the way to the Endless Sea, is the territory of my Heavenly Demon Sect."

In terms of area, the Heavenly Demon Sect is 30% larger than the Profound Heaven Sect; in terms of subordinate small and medium-sized sects, we have nearly a thousand, far exceeding the more than three hundred affiliated sects of the Profound Heaven Sect.

We have the spiritual fields and mineral veins that the Xuantian Sect has; we also have the deep-sea secret realms that the Xuantian Sect doesn't have.

Zheng Yifei was shocked. He had always known that the Heavenly Demon Sect was strong, but he hadn't expected its foundation to be so profound.

"Then why...?"

Why do outsiders always think of us as heretics and evil forces?

Ye Tianqiong interrupted him, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes: "Because we don't cultivate hypocrisy. Cultivating immortality is about defying fate and fighting for destiny, where the strong prey on the weak."

The Xuantian Sect is controlled by powerful clans and families, treating lower-level cultivators like expendable resources, yet they still try to maintain a facade of legitimacy as a righteous sect. My Heavenly Demon Sect doesn't care about such things.

Ye Tianqiong turned to look at Zheng Yifei: "In the Heavenly Demon Sect, as long as you can fight, kill, and seize resources for the sect, you are the boss."

Whether you're a rogue cultivator, a half-demon, or a wanted criminal, as long as you have the ability, you can rise to the top.

Zheng Yifei remained silent. This naked law of the jungle, though cruel, was, in fact, a form of absolute fairness for low-level cultivators without any background.

"The Xuantian Sect, fearing our expansion, spread rumors throughout the Southern Wilderness, portraying us as bloodthirsty demons."

Ye Tianqiong sneered, "The two sides have been fighting on the border of the Ten Thousand Mountains for over a thousand years, with each side having its victories and defeats. The Xuan Tian Sect only has the advantage of that fourth-order spiritual vein, and has slightly more high-level cultivators. If a full-scale war were to break out, my Heavenly Demon Sect could flatten their mountain gates."

Zheng Yifei quickly processed this massive amount of information.

The Heavenly Demon Sect's territory, population, and resources, coupled with its extensive management model that reveres power, make it a natural blue ocean for business.

Without red tape and hidden constraints, as long as the higher-ups are appeased, Mirage's expansion speed here will definitely be ten times faster than in the Xuan Tian Sect!

Two days later.

The airship slowed down and landed slowly in a city that was even larger than Xuantian Market.

This is the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Sect, Heavenly Demon City.

The hatch opened, and a gust of wind rushed in.

Ye Tianqiong walked ahead without turning his head and said, "We've arrived. But I must remind you that the Heavenly Demon Sect does not support idlers. The sect leader is in seclusion all year round, and the sect affairs are managed by me and the other two vice sect leaders."

"Those two hundred million spirit stones and one hundred sets of machines can only ensure your safe landing."

My two colleagues, 'Bloody Hand' Li Hun in charge of the Enforcement Hall and 'Thousand Faces' Yu Luo Sha in charge of the sect's spirit stone mines, are both the type to act only when they see a clear benefit.

If you want to gain a foothold in the Heavenly Demon Sect, you have to get past them first.

If they think you're a good-for-nothing who freeloads, you'll get beaten up.

Zheng Yifei straightened his collar, stepped out of the cabin, and showed no fear in his eyes. Instead, a crazy ambition ignited within him.