I run a casino in the immortal realm.

After Hu Lie's death, the Qingyun Sect was leaderless and completely paralyzed, leading to riots as families from various regions fought for territory.

When the news reached Xuantian Sect, Qin Cang sat in the main hall of Qingfeng Cliff, looking at the area representing Qingyun Sect on the sand table, and remained silent for a long time.

Zhou Hong suggested sending an elder to take over immediately and stabilize the situation, but Qin Cang rejected the suggestion outright.

"Take over what? Take over an empty shell?"

Qin Cang said coldly, "Xu Tianyang has looted the Qingyun Sect's treasury, and all the high-ranking members are dead. The remaining vassal families and rogue cultivators are now like frightened birds. Whoever takes over will have to bear the huge cost of appeasement and reconstruction."

The Xuantian Sect is currently lacking resources and manpower; it doesn't have the energy to fill this bottomless pit.

Qin Cang's gaze fell on the insignia of the two sects adjacent to Qingyun Sect: "Send orders to the Blazing Fire Sect and the Beast Taming Sect, telling them that Qingyun Sect's territory is to be divided between the two sects. But there is one condition: next month's tribute must be paid on time, and it must be doubled."

The moment these two orders were issued, the entire eastern part of the Southern Wilderness was in an uproar.

Upon receiving the message, the sect leaders of the Blazing Fire Sect and the Beast Taming Sect mobilized almost their entire forces.

In a struggle for control of a small spiritual vein and several herb gardens left behind by the Qingyun Sect, disciples from both sects even clashed on the border, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries.

In just half a month, the Qingyun Sect, which was once a dominant force in the eastern part of the Southern Wilderness, was completely divided up. Even the bluestone slabs in front of the mountain gate were pried off and used by the Liehuo Sect to pave their own main hall.

The name Qingyun Sect was completely erased from the map of the Southern Wilderness.

Xu Tianyang and his son, who were the instigators of all this, seemed to have vanished into thin air, making no response to the blazing fire sect and the beast-taming sect's opportunistic looting.

Time flew by and it was already the third day of the next month, the day when the Xuantian Sect would collect its annual tribute.

At dawn, a huge black transport airship took off from the market of the Blazing Fire Sect and slowly flew towards the Xuantian Sect.

On the surface, the flying boat appeared to have only two deacons at the early stage of the Golden Core realm leading the team, along with about twenty Foundation Establishment stage guards and disciples.

But in reality, four elderly men with auras as deep as the ocean were sitting cross-legged in the lower deck of the flying boat.

Zhou Hong, Zhao Changfeng, Li Qingyuan, and Wang Chongshan. These four Nascent Soul elders of the Xuantian Sect changed into gray linen robes and suppressed their cultivation to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Between the four of them was an ancient array plate, covered with dense golden runes. It was the Xuan Tian Sect's fourth-order "Dragon Trapping Array".

"Cheer up, everyone."

Zhou Hong closed his eyes, but his divine sense had already radiated outwards from the bottom of the flying boat, covering an area of ​​ten miles in radius: "We are almost at Sunset Valley. The terrain there is long and narrow, and divine sense is limited, making it the best place for an ambush."

"If Xu Tianyang dares to show himself, immediately activate the array plate to seal off the space, giving him no chance to escape."

The other three Nascent Soul elders nodded slightly, their spiritual energy already circulating to its maximum in secret.

The flying boat slowly entered Sunset Valley. The towering cliffs on both sides blocked out the sunlight, and the miasma that permeated the valley year-round made visibility extremely blurry.

The flying boat slowed to its minimum speed, and the Foundation Establishment disciples on the deck gripped their magical artifacts tightly, watching their surroundings warily.

Half an hour passed.

The flying boat traveled to the deepest part of Sunset Valley. Suddenly, the miasma ahead churned violently, and a pack of second-tier demonic beasts, wind wolves, pounced down from the cliffs on both sides.

"Enemy attack!"

The Golden Core steward on the deck shouted and drew his sword to meet the enemy.

Inside the lower deck, Zhao Changfeng suddenly opened his eyes, his palm already pressed on the array plate.

"Don't move!"

Zhou Hong grabbed his wrist, his face grim: "It's just an ordinary demonic beast. Xu Tianyang didn't come out. Let his people handle it. We absolutely cannot reveal our presence."

The battle on the deck lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. More than twenty wind wolves were killed, and the flying boat, bearing several claw marks, continued to fly forward.

Even after the flying boat had completely left Sunset Valley and the sunlight shone on the deck again, the expected earth-shattering sword light still did not appear.

Looking at the intact tribute box, Zhou Hong felt no relief, but rather a deep chill.

Xu Tianyang was too composed. The most terrifying thing was that a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was determined to hide.

The entire process of collecting the tribute was successfully completed, and the ambush plan was completely aborted.

For the next year, Xu Tianyang remained silent.

The Xuantian Sect dispatched a large number of spies, who searched almost the entire outer perimeter of the Ten Thousand Mountains, but they couldn't even find a trace of Xu Tianyang.

Qin Cang ultimately ordered the withdrawal of the search party.

He knew very well that Xu Tianyang had plundered the Hu family's accumulated wealth from the Qingyun Sect's treasury. Those spirit stones, high-grade pills, and magic artifacts were enough for him and his son to cultivate without any worries for a year or even longer deep in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

There's no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days; the Xuantian Sect must shift its focus to dealing with the border pressure from the Tianmo Sect.

Two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The area outside Xuantian Market was originally a barren plain, but now a magnificent and resplendent building stands there.

The building is nine stories high and is made entirely of white marble, with its roof covered with shimmering glazed tiles.

The building was surrounded by a three-layered, fourth-order defensive array, its spiritual light shimmering, protecting the entire structure completely.

Above the main gate hangs a huge sandalwood plaque with four large characters carved on it in a flamboyant style: "Mirage".

This is a super gambling den built by the Xuantian Sect after much painful reflection, taking more than two years and investing massive amounts of manpower and resources, completely replicating the model of the Qingyun Sect's Mirage. Its scale is even larger than the Xiaoyao Palace of the Tianmo Sect.

To build this gambling den, Qin Cang even mobilized half of the sect's array masters and weapon refiners to work day and night.

In the lobby on the first floor, two thousand modified "slot machines" were neatly arranged.

To prevent cheating, the chief array master of the Xuantian Sect personally inscribed the "Absolute God Array" on every gambling table and every machine.

This formation can completely block divine sense detection. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would not be able to see through the numbers in the dice cup with their divine sense.

For the first two weeks after its opening, the Xuantian Daily went into overdrive, with its front page headlines every day featuring promotions of the "mirage."

"The largest money pit in the Southern Wilderness, Mirage, is about to reopen!"

"For the first three days after opening, all spirit tea and spirit fruit will be provided free of charge, and each person entering will receive ten low-grade spirit stones as a token!"

"Xuantian Sect guarantees your reputation; you can take your winnings with you, and you'll get a 5% rebate if you lose!"

The overwhelming publicity, coupled with the official endorsement of the Xuantian Sect, instantly ignited the enthusiasm of cultivators in the Southern Wilderness Region.

Not only rogue cultivators, but even the patriarchs and elders of various families secretly prepared spirit stones, intending to try their luck.

Qin Cang stood on Qingfeng Cliff, looking at the latest issue of the "Xuantian Daily" in his hand, a cold smile appearing on his lips.

In the past two years, due to the siphon effect of the Heavenly Demon Sect's Free and Easy Palace, a large number of spirit stones in the Xuan Tian Sect's territory have flowed to Heavenly Demon City, causing the Xuan Tian Sect's finances to be stretched thin.

Now that the mirage is finally completed, he intends to use this gambling den to earn back double the lost spirit stones.