I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Ouyang Tian remained silent for a few moments.

Looking at the young man in front of him, who was only in his early thirties, he felt a complex mix of emotions.

He cultivates all five elements simultaneously, possesses five Nascent Souls within him, wields a heaven-defying treasure of unknown origin, employs unpredictable business tactics, and dares to gamble his life on the Nascent Soul Tribulation...

Are there really such things as "chosen ones" in this world?

Ouyang Tian did not believe in fate.

He fought his way up by being more ruthless and more resilient than anyone else.

But looking at Zheng Yifei now, he felt for the first time that perhaps some people are born with some kind of unreasonable luck, reaching the heights that people like them have cultivated for hundreds of years before they are even thirty years old. No one would believe it if they told others.

Associating with this kind of person can only bring benefits, not harm.

"Sect Master, how is the project progressing?"

Zheng Yifei didn't dwell on this topic and went straight to the important matter.

Ye Tianqiong bent down to pick up the list from the ground and cleared his throat: "The site selection and preliminary geological exploration have been completed, and the basic framework of the formation is being laid. The progress is three days ahead of schedule."

The sect's first batch of funding, one billion spirit stones, has arrived. So far, 120 million have been used, mainly to purchase black iron and space stabilizing stones.

How much of a gap is left?

"According to the sect leader's design standards, we are still short of four billion in materials for the basic array patterns alone."

Ye Tianqiong's expression was somewhat grim: "Including the subsequent reserves of array source driving force... the total shortfall is over five billion."

Zheng Yifei nodded, his face showing no sign of backing down.

"Give me three months, and I'll bring back five billion from the gambling table at Xuantian Sect."

"Mirage".

Zheng Yifei sat down on a nearby rock and crossed his legs: "Qin Cang imitated Xiaoyao Palace and set up a gambling den. It's quite large. According to my intelligence network, the daily turnover is around 500 million."

I've figured out the casino's house rake rules. They copied the framework of my Xiaoyao Palace, but they haven't fixed the core risk control loopholes.

"I'll take Su Wanqing and Li Jianfeng with me."

Zheng Yifei held up two fingers: "Wanqing and Jianfeng are both sword cultivators, and their combat power far exceeds that of their peers. If something happens, the three of us at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm can easily escape unscathed."

He turned to look at Wang Changsheng, who was listening silently to him: "Changsheng, you stay."

Wang Changsheng was taken aback: "Boss, I..."

"You have a good talent for array formations."

Zheng Yifei patted him on the shoulder: "Learning formations by the sect leader's side is an opportunity that many people would kill for. You participated in the entire construction of the teleportation array and mastered the skills of a fifth-tier formation master. This will be your foundation when you go to the Eastern Divine Continent."

Wang Changsheng opened his mouth, then nodded emphatically: "Understood."

"Ling'er will remain at Xiaoyao Palace."

Zheng Yifei looked at Zhao Ling: "Your combat strength is not suitable for charging into battle, but your alchemy is the lifeblood of our entire team. Go into seclusion to refine pills, especially recovery pills and pills that enhance cultivation. Prepare as many as possible, and try to have five hundred Golden Pills when we leave the Southern Wilderness."

Zhao Ling obediently responded.

After making the arrangements, Zheng Yifei looked at Ouyang Tian again.

"Sect Master, I have a favor to ask."

"explain."

"Could I borrow the intelligence network that the Heavenly Demon Sect has planted within the Xuan Tian Sect's territory?"

Ouyang Tian raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Ye Tianqiong.

Ye Tianqiong pondered for a moment: "It's possible, but some deep eyeliners have been applied for decades and will be ruined after just one use. Think it through before you use it."

"Don't worry, I won't waste it. I only need Mirage's internal operational data: daily turnover, the list of participants in large-scale gambling games, the upper limit of the bookmaker's fund pool, and their risk control trigger mechanism."

Ye Tianqiong nodded: "I'll give it to you within three days."

"That's all."

Zheng Yifei dusted off his backside, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ouyang Tian, ​​and said, "Sect Master, focus on building the array. Leave the spirit stones to me."

He turned to leave, but Ouyang Tian suddenly spoke up: "Wait."

Zheng Yifei turned around.

Ouyang Tian took out an ancient-looking black token from his sleeve and tossed it over.

"The Heavenly Demon Decree"

Ouyang Tian said calmly, "Whoever holds this token is equivalent to my personal presence. Within the Southern Wilderness, as long as you don't actively attack the Xuan Tian Sect's protective formation, you can freely mobilize all the resources and manpower of the Heavenly Demon Sect."

Furthermore, this token contains a clone of myself that can suppress a Nascent Soul cultivator for thirty breaths; it can save my life in a critical moment.

Zheng Yifei took the token, his fingers tracing the cold lines on it, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Also, I know your strength has increased dramatically and you are full of confidence. But I still have to remind you, that old man Qin Cang is at the late stage of Nascent Soul, and he has been at this level for more than a hundred years. You can't imagine how deep his trump cards are. Don't underestimate him."

"rest assured."

Zheng Yifei put the token into his storage ring, his smile vanished, and his eyes turned cold: "I won't fight him head-on. I'll use what he's most proud of—spirit stones—to crush him."

Ouyang Tian watched Zheng Yifei's departing figure and remained silent for a long while.

"The Sky".

"Your subordinate is here."

"This kid..."

Ouyang Tian turned back and continued to look down at the teleportation array construction site: "Your future achievements may not be inferior to mine."

Ye Tianqiong's lips twitched, but he didn't reply.

He wanted to refute it, but thinking about what Zheng Yifei had done over the past year, he couldn't really say anything against it.

three days later.

The secret room on the third floor of Xiaoyao Palace.

The intelligence sent by Ye Tianqiong was spread out in front of Zheng Yifei.

The dozen or so thin jade slips contained all the operational data of the Xuan Tian Sect's Mirage Gambling House: daily turnover fluctuation curves, the frequency of large-scale gambling games and the identities of the participants, the upper limit of the banker's capital pool, the threshold for triggering risk control, and even detailed records of the personality traits and personal preferences of the gambling house manager.

Zheng Yifei read through them one by one, his expression shifting from calm to amused, and finally he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"These idiots."

He tossed the last jade slip back onto the table and leaned back in his chair: "They really copied my model exactly, down to the exact same pumping ratio. But they made a fatal mistake."

Su Wanqing sat opposite her, waiting quietly.

"Xiaoyao Palace's core competitiveness has never been gambling itself, but 'people.' I have a financial genius like Zhao Wenyuan in charge of risk control, and a comprehensive big data monitoring system that can detect any abnormal betting patterns immediately. But Mirage doesn't have that."

He tapped on the table: "Their risk control trigger mechanism is purely based on numerical thresholds. If a single person wins more than five million spirit stones in a single day, it will trigger an investigation. As long as you don't cross that line, you can win as much as you want without anyone noticing."

"Five million a day, that's fifty million in ten days."

Li Jianfeng quickly did the mental calculations beside him, "150 million a month... still not fast enough."

"Who says only one person can win?"

Zheng Yifei raised an eyebrow: "And who said we can only win small amounts? There are five of us going this time: Wanqing, Jianfeng, Chen San, Lin Bao, and Tieshan and his men from Xuantian Market. Ten people go in to gamble each day. How much do you think we can win in a day?"