I run a casino in the immortal realm.

After Zhang Biao left, Zheng Yifei bolted the courtyard gate, confirmed that the formation was functioning normally, and returned to the inner room of the main house.

The spirit-gathering array plate was placed in front of his knees, with all four spirit stone slots filled.

One night of cultivation consumed twenty spirit stones.

As dawn broke, Zheng Yifei opened his eyes and sensed the changes in his Qi Sea.

There was growth, but it fell far short of his expectations.

A low-grade first-order spirit gathering array can only barely maintain the most basic cultivation speed. If you want to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining in a short period of time, you must replace it with a high-grade array as soon as possible.

He threw off the covers, walked to the Lingquan Well, and washed his face.

I pushed open the courtyard gate and peeked into the alley.

No exception.

The Iron Fist Clan is unaware that three members are missing.

This is normal. The management style of the lower-level gangs is very rough. It is common for a small leader to take a few men out to "do business" and not return for three to five days. No one will immediately notice that something is wrong.

The window of opportunity is limited, so we need to hurry.

Zheng Yifei went back to his room, changed into a round-faced mask, and headed straight for the East District.

The gambling den, second floor, has a table for guessing odd or even numbers.

Today's dealer has changed again, a taciturn one-eyed man at the sixth level of Qi Refining, with an old scar on his left eye.

The method was clean; there was no cheating.

Zheng Yifei sat down and used the same trick again.

Wins and losses alternate naturally, and bets are allocated precisely to the single digit.

When winning, bet thirty or forty; when losing, bet five or ten. In the middle, deliberately lose two hands in a row, showing a pained expression on your face, which will attract good-natured laughter from the gamblers next to you.

After an hour, he got up and left.

I made a net profit of 208 yuan.

I went out, took a detour, and made sure no one was following me.

Wanbaolou.

"A first-grade, high-quality spirit-gathering array plate." Zheng Yifei placed a spirit ticket and one hundred spirit stones on the counter.

The young shopkeeper was noticeably more enthusiastic than yesterday. He personally took out a bronze and wooden box from the inner treasury, opened it, and inside lay a jade disc slightly larger than the palm of his hand. The array patterns were as fine as a spider web, and the spiritual light was restrained. Its quality was more than one level higher than the inferior piece in his hand.

"A first-grade high-level spirit gathering array, covering an area of ​​one zhang, with a spirit gathering efficiency five times that of a low-grade array plate, requires ten spirit stones to activate."

Five times.

Zheng Yifei put the array plate into his inner bag, turned around and left Wanbaolou.

Back in the rented room, I changed my mask. This time, I wore the long, thin face mask.

In the afternoon, instead of going to the Grand Casino, he went to the "Ten Thousand Gold Casino" of the South District Viper Gang.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket; this is a basic common sense principle for diversifying risk.

Winning money repeatedly at the same casino, even if the amount is small each time, will eventually attract attention when accumulated.

Wan Jin Casino is about the same size as Da Tong Casino, but the average cultivation level of its gamblers is higher, with many at the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining.

The minimum bet on the second floor is two spirit stones, and gamblers are more generous, resulting in a larger turnover of spirit stones.

Zheng Yifei examined the three tables and chose one for playing Pai Gow.

The dealer was a seasoned veteran with over a decade of experience. His shuffling technique was more sophisticated than that of the dealers at Datong Casino, but the position of his index finger when cutting the cards revealed the pattern of the card sequence.

In an hour and a half, I made a net profit of 253 yuan.

Before leaving, he deliberately lost the last big hand, letting a few gamblers next to him get the benefit. When he left, he sighed and shook his head, looking exactly like a sucker who had lost too much.

I returned to Wutong Lane just as dusk was falling.

Zheng Yifei closed the courtyard gate, took out the newly purchased high-grade spirit-gathering array plate, and replaced the old array plate on the bed.

The moment the spirit stone was embedded and its spiritual power was activated, the concentration of spiritual energy in the room suddenly increased.

It's not even in the same league as a low-grade array plate.

Spiritual energy surged in from all directions, was drawn in by the array plate, compressed, and injected into the meridians. With all five meridians operating simultaneously, the efficiency of absorption and release was at least tripled.

Zheng Yifei closed his eyes and began his seclusion.

He set a ten-day plan for himself.

He stayed indoors for ten days, didn't go to the gambling den, and didn't see anyone.

There are two reasons.

First, the Iron Fist Sect will eventually discover that someone is missing. At that time, Wutong Lane will be a key area for investigation, so we must keep a low profile during this period.

Secondly, now that I have obtained the superior-grade Spirit Gathering Array Plate, I should seize the opportunity to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

He had considered moving and finding a different place to live.

But then I thought again, and decided against it.

Three members of the Iron Fist Sect died near Wutong Lane. At that moment, the residents of the lane suddenly moved away, which was tantamount to writing "The murderer is here" directly on their foreheads.

It would be better to remain still and focus on self-cultivation.

A rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining began his seclusion on the second day after moving in, and hasn't left his room since.

There are plenty of people like this in Sujiafang City, who would doubt it?

West District, Iron Fist Gang stronghold.

A burly man with a face full of scars slammed his fist on the table with a deafening roar.

"Where are those three old smokers? It's been three days, and not a single one of them has returned!"

The burly man was named Sun Liang. He was at the eighth level of Qi Refining and was the head of the Iron Fist Sect's western district, in charge of the area from Wutong Lane to Baiyang Street.

Old Smoker was the squad leader under his command. He and two brothers went to Wutong Lane to "collect gifts from new tenants." They had done this job countless times and had never made a mistake.

He hasn't come back for three days, nor has he sent any messages.

"Could he have gone to some gambling den? That old smoker is a gambler; there have been times when he wasn't home for two or three days straight."

"A skinny man with a short mustache said."

"fart."

Sun Liang spat: "That Ah Liu under him is my cousin. Even if he's a gambler, he wouldn't not keep in touch with me for three days."

He pulled a single-edged sword from the wall and shouted at the door, "Ergou, Maqi, come with me to Wutong Lane."

The three left their hideout, passed through two alleys, and arrived at Wutong Alley.

The alley was quiet and lifeless, just like always. Sun Liang walked along the alley; the ground was clean, without bloodstains, signs of a struggle, or even a scrap of cloth.

"Go door to door and ask."

Sun Liang's face was grim.

The first house was opened by an old woman, a Qi Refining Stage 3 cultivator. She trembled as she said she didn't know anything, that she hadn't heard anything, and hadn't seen anything.

The second house was empty, just a bare courtyard.

The third family were alchemists, at the fourth level of Qi Refining; they lacked the ability and time to commit the crime.

The residents of Wutong Lane maintained a highly consistent state of deafness and muteness, regarding the Iron Fist Sect members as if they were plague gods, wishing they could shrink their heads into their necks.

When he reached the middle of the alley, Sun Liang stopped in front of a wooden door with peeling paint.

"Is this a new household?"

"Yes."

Ma Qi flipped through the booklet in his hand: "Rented five days ago, Tongda Pawnshop's records, named Zheng Fei, Qi Refining Level 4, a rogue cultivator from Black Mountain Market."

Sun Liang raised his hand to knock on the door, but as soon as his palm touched the surface of the wooden door, an invisible spiritual force rebounded and made his tiger's mouth go numb.

"Is there a formation?"

Sun Liang's expression changed.

A rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining, who had only been here for half a month, had already installed a first-grade high-level protective formation.

Go knock on the door.

Ma Qi stepped forward and patted him a few times.

No one answered.

He slapped it a dozen more times, so hard that the wooden door frame was shaking.

Still, no one answered.

"Hey, you guys inside! Open the door! Iron Fist Gate is on business!"

Sun Liang shouted at the top of his lungs.

A rough voice suddenly came from the other side of the courtyard wall.

"What are you yelling about? Are you slaughtering a pig in the middle of the night?"

A disheveled head peeked out from the neighboring courtyard wall. It was Zhang Biao. He squinted, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, looking annoyed at being woken up.

Who are you?

Sun Liang frowned.

"I'm Zhang Biao, Boss Sun. Don't you remember me?"

"Oh, it's you! With your scruffy beard, I almost didn't recognize you. See Old Smoker?"

Zhang Biao is a long-time resident, and Sun Liang is very familiar with him. He also has a good relationship with Lao Yanqiang and the others, so he can be ruled out.

"Old Smoker? I haven't seen him. As soon as Xiao Zheng from next door came, he closed the door and went into seclusion to cultivate. I go in and out of this yard every day, and I can hear him circulating his spiritual energy through the crack in the door. He eats, drinks, and relieves himself all inside the house. Not even a dog has ever come out."

Zhang Biao yawned, took the blade of grass from his mouth, and pointed at Zheng Yifei's courtyard wall: "A poor kid at the fourth level of Qi Refining, the kind who cultivates recklessly. What do you want with him? Does he owe protection money? He just arrived; the debt hasn't been settled with him yet, has it?"

Sun Liang stared at Zhang Biao for two breaths.

"Hasn't left the house for five days?"

"I'll stake my life on it."

Zhang Biao spat a blade of grass onto the ground: "The hunting dog in my yard has a better nose than yours. If anyone from next door were to come or go, it would be barking like crazy. But it's been so quiet these past three days, not even a fart."

Sun Liang glanced at the impenetrable array barrier again and remained silent for a few moments.

Even with a protective array, a rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining couldn't possibly kill Old Smoker and his two companions. Old Smoker was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, while the other two were at the fifth and sixth levels.

"Walk."

Sun Liang sheathed his knife and led the two men out of the alley.

Zhang Biao pulled his head back and disappeared behind the wall.

At the alley entrance, Sun Liang glanced back at the tightly closed courtyard gate, his doubts still lingering.