I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Xuantian Sect, Main Peak Hall.

The hall was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood. The Grand Elder Qin Cang sat cross-legged on a white jade lotus platform with his eyes slightly closed.

Zeng Feng, the head of the Enforcement Hall, stood bowing at the bottom of the steps and presented a jade slip with both hands.

"Elder, battle report from the Blood Soul Valley front."

Zeng Feng said respectfully, "Zeng Ming reported that the Qingyun Sect suffered heavy losses in the first battle, with 58 dead and over 300 seriously wounded. Most importantly, 25 leaders from various branches, including Li Jianfeng and Wang Changsheng, were captured alive by the Blood Fiend Camp of the Heavenly Demon Sect, and their whereabouts are unknown."

Two more battles followed, each resulting in nearly a hundred casualties. Two years later, it's estimated that the Qingyun Sect's 5,000 members will have lost 70-80% of their original strength.

Qin Cang slowly opened his eyes, took the jade slip, and glanced at it.

"Once bound by the Crimson Chains of the Heavenly Demon Sect, there is absolutely no chance of survival."

Qin Cang toyed with the jade slip, his voice calm: "This batch of elites from the Qingyun Sect is essentially useless. What's Su Chenyuan up to?"

"They cower in their shells, constantly complaining about being poor and begging for supplies."

Zeng Feng sneered: "Zeng Ming checked and found that the foundation was indeed depleted, and even the low-level magic artifacts self-destructed."

"Give them to them."

Qin Cang tossed the jade slip onto the table: "As long as the people of Qingyun Sect are still bleeding in Blood Soul Valley, what's a few pills? Xu Tianyang, that old fox, wants to cultivate a successor? I'll make sure he doesn't even have a root left."

Zeng Feng nodded, then stepped forward and lowered his voice: "Elder, the Qingyun Sect is easy to deal with, but that Zheng Yifei... there's still no news of him, and the Tianmo Sect has no information on his appearance either."

Qin Cang's eyes turned cold.

"Are the more than one hundred members of the Zheng family still hanging in the square?"

"Yes. It's a waste of food every day, so we might as well just kill them and hang their heads outside the mountain gate."

Qin Cang stopped knocking, and the hall fell into a deathly silence.

After a long pause, Qin Cang shook his head.

"Killing more than a hundred low-level cultivators will only tarnish the reputation of the Xuantian Sect and give others ammunition to criticize us."

Zeng Feng clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Please enlighten me, Elder."

"Send all of Zheng's family members, more than a hundred people, to the front line of Blood Soul Valley."

Qin Cang's tone was chilling: "The women will go to the wounded soldiers' camp to do hard labor and wash blood-stained clothes, while the men will be assigned to the cannon fodder battalion to be at the forefront and scout ahead."

Zeng Feng's eyes lit up.

"Make it public that the Xuan Tian Sect is magnanimous and is giving the sinners a chance to redeem themselves. Spread the news into the territory of the Heavenly Demon Sect. If Zheng Yifei were alive, could he bear to see his grandparents, uncles, and brothers being slaughtered by demonic cultivators as cannon fodder on the front lines?"

"The Grand Elder is wise!"

Zeng Feng cupped his hands in greeting: "This disciple will take care of it immediately and personally escort them to Blood Soul Valley!"

Three days later, Blood Soul Valley.

A black flying boat bearing the sword seal of the Xuantian Sect landed outside the camp gate.

Su Chenyuan, accompanied by several stewards, quickly came out to greet them.

The hatch opened, and Zeng Feng, dressed in a black robe, was the first to step off the airship.

"Master Zeng, your presence is an honor; I have failed to greet you properly."

Su Chenyuan cupped his hands in greeting, his gaze sweeping over Zeng Feng's back.

A group of people, dressed in tattered clothes and withered-looking faces, were driven off the flying boat by the Xuan Tian Sect's law enforcement disciples. There were more than a hundred of them, men, women, young and old, with the highest cultivation level being no more than the third level of Qi Refining, and most of them being at the first or second level of Qi Refining.

They wore heavy steel shackles and shivered in the cold wind of Blood Soul Valley.

In the middle of the group, two elderly people with gray hair were supporting each other, walking with difficulty. They were Zheng Yifei's grandparents.

Su Chenyuan's gaze sharpened, suppressing the shock in his heart, but a look of doubt appeared on his face: "Hall Master Zeng, this is...?"

"Elder Su, the First Elder, out of compassion for the Qingyun Sect's heavy losses at the front, has specially sent you a batch of reinforcements."

Zeng Feng pointed at the group of elderly, weak, sick and disabled people, a sneer on his lips: "These people are Zheng Yifei's relatives. Zheng Yifei colluded with the demonic path, and his crimes are unforgivable."

The Grand Elder showed mercy and allowed them to come to the front lines to atone for their crimes. The women were assigned to logistics, and the men were formed into the suicide squad. In the next attack, they will be at the forefront.

Upon hearing this, the faces of the Qingyun Sect deacons behind Su Chenyuan turned ashen.

Why send elderly people and women and children with no cultivation to attack the demonic cultivators' territory?

This is blatant murder!

Su Chenyuan raised his hand to stop the stewards from doing so.

He stepped forward, bowed deeply towards the direction of the Xuantian Sect, and said in a loud voice, "The entire Qingyun Sect is grateful for the Grand Elder's compassion! I will accept these people and ensure they play their 'due' role on the battlefield, living up to the Grand Elder's expectations!"

Zeng Feng stared at Su Chenyuan's face, trying to find a trace of dissatisfaction or anger.

But he was disappointed. Su Chenyuan's expression was perfect, showing only absolute obedience to the Xuantian Sect.

"Very good, Elder Su is a sensible man. Zeng Ming will keep an eye on them and make sure they don't try to do anything improper."

Zeng Feng didn't linger. He turned around, boarded the flying boat, and soared away into the sky.

Su Chenyuan straightened up and looked at the Zheng family members shivering in despair in the cold wind. He immediately ordered, "Take them into the camp and settle them in the logistics camp first."

Late at night, in the commander's tent.

The soundproof and privacy-prevention array is now fully activated.

Zheng Yifei, wearing the face of "Xu Zhengyuan," strode into the main tent.

"Fifth Elder, you were looking for me?"

Zheng Yifei had just finished his seclusion, and his aura was even more composed and profound than it had been half a month ago.

Su Chenyuan looked at him with a complicated expression and pointed to a list on the table.

"Zeng Feng came today and brought 176 people."

Su Chenyuan's voice was low: "They are all your Zheng family relatives, your grandparents, and your uncles and aunts' families, they are all inside."

Zheng Yifei paused for a moment.

He walked to the table, picked up the roster, and glanced at the familiar names on it.

The tent was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Su Chenyuan observed Zheng Yifei.

He knew that this was an extremely cruel test for any young person, whose loved ones were sent to the meat grinder as cannon fodder, and whose fate would be death.

"Qin Cang's move is vicious; he wants to use the lives of my Zheng family to force me to show myself."

"What are you planning to do?"

Zheng Yifei walked to the sand table, looking at the Heavenly Demon Sect's camp on the other side of the Blood Soul River with a cold gaze.

"We will never acknowledge each other."

Zheng Yifei uttered four words.

Su Chenyuan was taken aback: "You won't acknowledge them? They're your blood relatives! Zeng Ming is keeping an eye on them; next time the war starts, he'll definitely force them to the front lines. Are you just going to watch them die?"

"Fifth Elder, if you were Qin Cang, would you have sent Zeng Ming alone to keep an eye on these people when you sent them to the front lines?"

Zheng Yifei turned around, his eyes blazing: "There are definitely high-level spies from the Xuantian Sect hiding in or outside this camp. As long as I show any special care for the Zheng family or reveal my identity to save them, Qin Cang will immediately suspect my identity."

"At that time, all five thousand people in the Qingyun Sect, including me, will die."

Su Chenyuan gasped; he had almost overlooked this point.

"So what are you going to do with them? Should we add them to the 'prisoners of war' list and have Tu Gang's men 'capture' them and take them to the Heavenly Demon Sect when the next war breaks out?"

"Absolutely not."

Zheng Yifei decisively refused: "The capture of Li Jianfeng and the others can be interpreted by the Xuantian Sect as a sign that the Qingyun Sect's combat strength is insufficient."

But if a group of old, weak, sick, and disabled people were deliberately captured by the Demonic Sect on the battlefield instead of being killed directly, it would be strange if Qin Cang didn't become suspicious.

This is tantamount to telling the Xuan Tian Sect that we are putting on an act with the Demonic Sect.

Su Chenyuan fell silent; Zheng Yifei's rationality alarmed him.

"Leave them in the camp." Zheng Yifei tapped his fingers on the table. "Fifth Elder, this matter requires your intervention. As the commander-in-chief, handle this officially. Assign the women to wash bandages and brew medicine, and the men to move supplies. On the surface, it will be hard labor, but don't assign them any dangerous tasks."

"As for my grandparents..."

Zheng Yifei closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, his eyes were filled with absolute coldness: "Arrange the most remote tents for them, secretly give them some clean food and water, do not give them any pills, and do not give them any preferential treatment."

"Can you really bring yourself to do this?"

Su Chenyuan sighed.

"Only if I live will the Zheng family have a chance to turn things around."

Zheng Yifei lifted the curtain and disappeared into the night of Blood Soul Valley.