I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Zheng Yifei cleaned the rental house in less than half an hour.

After checking the hidden compartment three times to make sure there was nothing that could trace his identity, Zheng Yifei threw the key on the bed board and pushed the door open to leave.

The landlord lived next door, and Zheng Yifei paid off the remaining rent and gave him an extra 100 spirit coins as hush money.

After leaving the east alley, Zheng Yifei walked briskly home along the paddy field ridge.

It was almost dark when I got home.

My mother was cooking at the stove, and my father, carrying a hoe, had just returned from the fields and was rinsing the mud off his feet by the water vat in the yard.

The younger brother, Zheng Yiming, was writing on the doorstep, while his younger sister, Zheng Xiaoyu, sat beside him grinding ink. The two little heads were huddled together, chattering away.

Zheng Yifei stood at the gate of the courtyard for a moment.

This family is poor, but at least it's all tidy and organized.

What he wants to do is to ensure that this "orderliness" is maintained and not broken by anyone.

"Dad, I have something to tell you after dinner."

Zheng Dashan looked up at his son and nodded.

Dinner was spirit rice porridge with pickled vegetables, plus spirit peaches that Zheng Yifei had bought. The two little ones each held a spirit peach and ate them with juice flying everywhere, their faces full of smiles.

After finishing his meal, Zheng Yifei sent his younger siblings back to their rooms to sleep, and then closed the courtyard gate.

Inside the main room, the oil lamp cast a dim yellow light.

Zheng Dashan and Lin Wan sat at the table, looking at their son's expression, and vaguely felt that tonight's matter was not insignificant.

Without saying a word, Zheng Yifei reached out and peeled off the breath-concealing talisman that was stuck to the inside of his left chest.

In an instant, the air in the entire main room changed.

The spiritual energy fluctuations of the fourth level of Qi Refining were released without any concealment, like an invisible heat wave, causing the oil lamp flame on the table to flicker violently a few times.

The teacup in Zheng Dashan's hand clattered against the edge of the table.

Lin Wan covered her mouth.

"Qi Refining... Level 4?"

Zheng Dashan's voice was dry. He stood up, walked to his son, raised his hand and placed it on Zheng Yifei's wrist, probing it with his spiritual energy.

His pulse was steady, his Qi Sea was abundant, and the spiritual energy in his five meridians surged like a stream, several times more abundant than that of someone at the third level of Qi Refining.

Level 4 Qi Refining, genuine product.

Zheng Dashan's hands were trembling.

He released his son's wrist, took a step back, his lips trembled, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a sentence.

"Xiaofei, what happened...when did you...?"

"I broke through a few days ago, but I haven't dared to tell you."

Zheng Yifei carefully put away the concealment talisman and said calmly, "Cultivation with five spiritual roots is indeed slow, but it's not impossible. It just requires many times more spirit stones than others."

He did not explain the origin of the spirit stone.

My father knew he worked at the Zhao family's gambling den and that he had some savings, but there was no need to explain exactly how much or how he earned it. Some things, if said aloud, would only worry my parents.

Tears streamed down Lin Wan's face. She wiped them away, her voice a mix of sobs and laughter: "Fourth floor... one floor higher than your father..."

Zheng Dashan fell silent.

He was at the third level of Qi Refining, and it took him more than 20 years to reach this level. He relied on the foundation he had built up when he was young and his hard work day after day.

And this son with five spiritual roots, who was sentenced to death by his whole family, went from the first level of Qi Refining to the fourth level of Qi Refining in half a year.

He didn't ask his son why he was making such rapid progress.

A father doesn't need to know all the answers; he only needs to know that his son is better than him.

"Father, I want to go to Sujiafang Market."

Zheng Dashan raised his head.

"Black Mountain Market is too small. The amount of resources I need for cultivation is too large. Staying here will not lead to any progress. Su Family Market is the territory of a Foundation Establishment family. The market is ten times larger than Black Mountain Market, and there are many more opportunities."

Zheng Yifei said "opportunity," but didn't specify what kind of opportunity it was.

Zheng Dashan looked into his son's eyes, which were calm and resolute, completely different from the timid boy he had been six months ago.

"How long will it take?"

"It's hard to say, it might take a year or two."

"Is it safe on the road?"

"I'm traveling with the Zhenwei Escort Agency's escort team, led by a head escort at the ninth level of Qi Refining. There shouldn't be any problems along the way."

Zheng Dashan remained silent for a long while before finally nodding.

"Go."

He patted his son's shoulder; his hand was rough and the force was heavy.

"You're more promising than your father. Even if you can't reach the Foundation Establishment stage, if you cultivate to the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining, we won't have to rely on the Zhao family to farm anymore."

Zheng Yifei responded.

He didn't tell his father that his goal wasn't to reach the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining, but to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

It is the Golden Elixir.

It means that the Zheng family will no longer have to bend over and cultivate other people's fields.

Three days later, before dawn.

Zheng Yifei stood in the courtyard of Zhenwei Escort Agency, carrying a gray cloth bundle on his back.

The bundle wasn't large; it contained a change of clothes, two magic-grade masks, a spirit-gathering array plate, twelve talismans, and one hundred and twenty-six low-grade spirit stones—this was all he had.

A number of people had already gathered in the courtyard.

Eight bodyguards stood at the front, all dressed in leather armor and short boots, with swords at their waists. Leading the group was Chief Bodyguard Zhou, a dark-faced man in his early forties, not tall but extremely sturdy, with the aura of a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator contained within him, like a low volcano ready to erupt at any moment.

There were a few more independent cultivators joining the escort team than when they signed up three days ago. Zheng Yifei counted them: twelve people. Adding the eight bodyguards, there were a total of twenty people.

Among the twelve rogue cultivators, the one with the highest cultivation level was a middle-aged woman carrying a heavy sword. She was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, had a cold gaze, and didn't speak to anyone.

The two with the lowest cultivation levels were a brother and sister, about fifteen or sixteen years old, both at the third level of Qi Refining. They were well-dressed and were probably children of businessmen in the market.

Zheng Yifei stood at the back of the crowd, with a concealment talisman on his body, suppressing his aura to the second level of Qi Refining.

It's not the first floor; if it's too low, it'll be too conspicuous. Where would a piece of trash at the first level of Qi Refining get twenty spirit stones and a dart?

"Set off!"

At Zhou the镖头's command, three carts pulled by donkeys drove out of the courtyard first. The镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) were divided into three groups, one in front, one in the middle, and one in the back, with the independent cultivators accompanying the镖师 sandwiched in the middle. The group marched out of the north gate of Black Mountain Market and headed south along the official road.

As he left the market, Zheng Yifei glanced back.

In the morning light, the earthen ramparts of Heishanfang Market slowly shrink in view.

Outside that wall were the shantytown where he had lived for sixteen years, three acres of rice paddies, three mud-walled and thatched-roof houses, and his family waiting for him to return.

He turned around and strode to catch up with the group.

The first day's journey went smoothly.

The official road wound along the southern foothills of the Black Mountain Range, flanked by dense thickets of mixed trees. Occasionally, the howls of wild beasts could be heard from the depths of the forest, but no monstrous creatures approached. Chief镖头 Zhou led the way at the head of the group, at a moderate pace.

They set up camp at dusk. Zheng Yifei ate a couple of bites of dry rations and then crawled into his bedding roll to sleep. With bodyguards patrolling, he felt very safe.

The next day, the situation changed.

At 9:00 AM, as the group passed through a dense forest, the bushes by the roadside suddenly burst open.

A serpentine beast covered in blue scales shot out of the bushes, moving so fast that Zheng Yifei only saw a blue blur.

"Iron-Scaled Serpent! Mid-Tier 1!"

The镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) ahead reacted swiftly, both drawing their swords simultaneously, channeling spiritual energy into their blades, and slashing at the snake's head from the left and right. The Ironscale Serpent twisted to dodge the first strike, but the second strike landed on its tail, sending sparks flying and leaving only a white mark on its scales.

The iron-scaled snake, in pain, turned and coiled around the leg of one of the bodyguards, its mouth wide open, revealing its venomous fangs.

Zhou, the镖头 (bodyguard), flashed from the front of the group and struck the top of the snake's head with a palm, unleashing pure Qi Refining Level 9 spiritual power.

The iron-scaled snake's head was slammed into the mud, and after struggling for a couple of moments, it stopped moving.

The entire process took less than ten breaths.

The rogue cultivators who were escorting the goods breathed a sigh of relief, but their joy didn't last long.

In the afternoon, three more came.

Two iron-scaled snakes and a gray-haired mountain ape attacked simultaneously from different directions. The镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) split up to meet them, their blades flashing and the sounds of spiritual energy exploding echoing through the mountains and forests.

The grey-haired ape, larger than a human, slammed its fist into the truck's deck, shattering the wooden planks instantly. A novice repairman hiding behind the truck was cut in the face by a shard of wood and screamed as he ran backward.

Zheng Yifei stood in the middle of the group, his hand on the Vajra talisman on his chest, without making a move.

It's not that I'm afraid, it's that there's no need.

The bodyguards acted swiftly, and the three demonic beasts were all killed in less than a quarter of an hour.

But the rogue cultivator who had been scratched was so frightened that his face turned pale, his legs trembled, and he could not even stand up straight.

She is the younger sister in that brother and sister pair.

Zheng Yifei watched this scene with an unusual calm in his heart.

The escort fee of twenty spirit stones is something that a spirit farmer in a shantytown could never save up in a lifetime.

If you can't save up, you can't leave the market. If you can't leave the market, you'll be stuck in those three acres of land forever, planting spirit rice your whole life, paying rent your whole life, and bending over your whole life.

For cultivators at the bottom to rise in rank, the difficulty isn't talent or hard work, but rather the inability to even afford the ticket to leave the village.