I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Sun Liang's figure disappeared at the alley entrance.

Zheng Yifei closed the courtyard gate tightly. He checked the operation of the defensive array plate; the light from the eight low-grade spirit stones was stable.

Back in the main room, he lifted the hidden compartment under the bed. He took out the mask depicting a thin face with high cheekbones. He applied spiritual adhesive to the edges and attached it to the face.

He changed into a drab gray robe.

He pushed open the door and went out.

Time is of the essence, and Sun Liang will definitely investigate Zhenwei Escort Agency. He must gather all his defensive trump cards before the lies are exposed.

The first step is to make money.

South District, Wan Jin Casino.

At late afternoon, the gambling den was packed with people. The smell of sweat mingled with the stench of cheap cigarette smoke.

Zheng Yifei squeezed up to the second floor and chose a table for playing "spirit dominoes".

The spirit bone tablet is similar to the dominoes of the previous life. It is made of the bones of a first-level demon beast and can isolate divine sense.

The dealer was a gaunt old man, at the seventh level of Qi Refining. His hands were covered in calluses, and he shuffled the cards with incredible speed. The dominoes clinked against the table, making a crisp sound.

Zheng Yifei pulled out a chair, sat down, and took out a bag of low-grade spirit stones.

He didn't place a large bet immediately, keeping his eyes fixed on the old man's hand.

When the old man cuts the cards, he habitually presses down on the two cards at the bottom of the deck with his left little finger, which is an extremely subtle card-making technique.

Zheng Yifei saw through it, but didn't expose it.

He can remember the position of every card clearly, and he can win money even without cheating by changing his cards.

He wouldn't dare cheat in this place; if he got caught, he'd be dead. The gambling den could kill him as easily as crushing an ant.

Without cheating, he won money by relying on his exceptional memory, and the gambling den wouldn't say anything; they would just say he was lucky.

If you get a high card, bet thirty dollars. If you get a low card, bet five dollars.

His facial expressions were perfectly controlled. He had won, and a greedy smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He lost, his brow furrowed, and he grumbled.

One hour. A full hour.

Zheng Yifei placed fifty bets at the gambling table, maintaining a precise winning rate of 60%.

When the chips in front of him piled up to two hundred and sixty low-grade spirit stones, he decisively stood up.

"What bad luck, I'm not playing anymore."

He deliberately lost the last round, kicked the chair away, and went straight downstairs.

The old man glanced at him, then looked away. A rogue cultivator who won a little money and ran away wasn't worth paying attention to.

After leaving the gambling den, Zheng Yifei circled the dark alleys of the southern district three times.

Make sure the area behind you is clean.

Heading straight to the central district, to Su Family Wanbao Building.

The main hall was filled with shimmering light, and various magical artifacts and elixirs were displayed in glass cabinets.

Zheng Yifei walked to the talisman counter.

"Five first-grade superior Vajra Talismans, five first-grade superior Swiftness Talismans."

Zheng Yifei's voice was hoarse.

The young manager was checking the accounts when he looked up at him.

"A superior-grade Vajra Talisman costs five spirit stones, and a superior-grade Swift Travel Talisman costs eight spirit stones. In total, there are sixty-five low-grade spirit stones."

Zheng Yifei counted out sixty-five spirit stones and pushed them over.

The shopkeeper put away the spirit stones and turned around to take out ten talismans from the sandalwood box behind him.

The talisman paper is a pale gold color. The vermilion array patterns on the surface are brimming with spiritual energy.

Zheng Yifei reached out and took it, his fingertips tracing the edge of the talisman. It was full of spiritual energy, with continuous and flawless array patterns.

Keep it close to your body. A Vajra talisman for protection, a Swiftness talisman for escape—this is the ironclad rule for independent cultivators surviving in the marketplace.

After leaving Wanbaolou, Zheng Yifei headed towards the North District.

SF Express Inn.

The two-story wooden building, with its somewhat worn signboard, is Zhenwei Escort Agency's regular location in Sujiafang Market.

Eight square tables were set up in the lobby. Groups of two or three laymen were drinking.

Zheng Yifei walked through the lobby and stood in front of the counter.

The shopkeeper was a fat man, at the third level of Qi Refining. He was fiddling with an abacus.

Zheng Yifei bent his finger and tapped the counter.

"Stay at a hotel or have a meal?"

The shopkeeper didn't even look up.

"Looking for Zhou, the head镖师 (bodyguard) of Zhenwei镖局 (Zhenwei Escort Agency)."

The shopkeeper stopped using his abacus and looked up to examine Zheng Yifei.

"Zhou, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), is not here. The next shipment is estimated to arrive in three days."

Zheng Yifei then took out ten more spirit stones. The ten spirit stones were arranged in a straight line.

"I am Zhou Biaotou's nephew, named Zheng Yifei. I am new to Suzhou and live in the third house in Wutong Lane in the West District."

Zheng Yifei stared into the shopkeeper's eyes and spoke calmly: "He has arrived. Please tell him to come see me immediately. It's urgent. These ten spirit stones are for your tea."

With a wave of his chubby hand, the spirit stones on the table disappeared.

"Don't worry, Brother Zheng. I'll make sure to deliver the message as soon as Chief Escort Zhou lands."

The shopkeeper couldn't stop smiling.

"Money makes the world go round," Zheng Yifei nodded, then turned and left.

The first step of the closed loop of lies has been completed.

Back to Wutong Lane.

It was already dark. The alley was deathly silent.

Zheng Yifei pushed open the door to Zhang Biao's house, where Zhang Biao was practicing boxing.

Zhang Biao, his face covered in sweat, asked, "You're back?"

Zheng Yifei handed over two Vajra Talismans, two Golden Sword Talismans, and two Swift Travel Talismans: "Brother Zhang, these talismans are for you. You should be able to use them when you're hunting."

Zhang Biao took the talismans and was greatly surprised: "Brother, these are all top-grade talismans, worth dozens of spirit stones, and you're giving them to me?"

"Yes, Brother Zhang, we hit it off immediately. You've helped me a lot, and I have nothing to repay you with, so please accept these talismans."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony, brother, have a seat, let's have some more drinks."

Zhang Biao stuffed the talismans into his pocket. These talismans were extremely rare. When he went hunting in the mountains, he only dared to buy low-grade talismans because he couldn't afford the mid-grade and high-grade ones.

"Brother Zhang, I'm done drinking. Could you teach me a few spells instead?"

Spells are sold at Wanbaolou. Zheng Yifei figured that Zhang Biao was a hunter, so he must know a lot of attack and defense spells. He thought that if Zhang Biao taught him personally, he could learn faster.

"No problem, what spell would you like to learn?"

"I've heard that fireballs are very powerful."

Zhang Biao scoffed, "What kind of magic is this? It's common stuff. If you want to learn, I'll teach you."

He jumped into Zheng Yifei's yard.

Extend your right hand. Bring your index and middle fingers together.

"Watch closely. The spiritual energy flows through the Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian, passes through Yangchi, and exits through Guanchong."

As he spoke, a crimson fireball condensed at his fingertips. The surrounding air instantly became scorching hot, and with a wave of his hand, the fireball flew ten meters away, igniting a piece of rotten wood.

Zhang Biao explained the methods and techniques of the fireball technique in detail.

Zheng Yifei closed his eyes and mobilized the spiritual energy in his dantian.

The fire elemental root within his body circulated, and spiritual energy surged along his meridians to his right hand.

He gritted his teeth and forcefully pushed his spiritual power to his fingertips.

"puff."

A tiny flame appeared. It flickered twice and then went out.

Zhang Biao shook his head: "If it's not working smoothly, practice a few more times, and you'll get better at it."

Zheng Yifei remained silent and continued trying.

Failure, failure, failure again.

tenth time.

The spiritual energy finally flowed smoothly through the Guanchong acupoint, and a fireball the size of a fist took shape at the fingertip.

He flicked his wrist. The fireball shot out and smashed against the courtyard wall.

"Bang."

A patch of scorched earth remained on the blue brick wall.

Zhang Biao was shocked: "My goodness, how come your spiritual power is so strong? It's almost as strong as my spiritual power at the seventh level of Qi Refining."

"Brother Zhang, have I learned it?"

"You've learned it! You're a genius. It took me three days to learn this. The main problem is that your spiritual power doesn't match your cultivation level. The spiritual power of a fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator is comparable to that of a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator."

Zheng Yifei chuckled: "Maybe it's because I have five spiritual roots, so I can gather more spiritual power. Brother Zhang, this fireball technique has a drawback, which is that it takes several breaths to gather spiritual power each time it is cast, which is too slow."

Zhang Biao nodded: "Yes, that's because your spiritual power is not enough. To cast spells instantly, you need to be at least at the Foundation Establishment stage. So this spell is pretty useless. It's okay for setting fire to corpses, but it's not very good for combat."

"It's not as good as the three close-combat moves you taught me. They're extremely effective. I tried them out outside the city today, and I took down a Qi Refining Stage 8 cultivator with a single throat lock, without even using any spells."

"Are there any more powerful spells?"

"Let me teach you my most secret technique, called the Spirit Rhinoceros Finger. I found a fragment of a manual in a hermitage of a rogue cultivator years ago and practiced it for ten years."

Zhang Biao raised his right hand and extended his index finger.

There was no firelight, and no obvious fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Suddenly, a finger pointed out.

Ten meters away, a hole the size of a finger appeared silently on the bluestone beside the well.

The edges of the hole were perfectly smooth. It was bottomless.

Zheng Yifei's pupils contracted.

"Spiritual energy is highly compressed, not a single drop leaks out, and it explodes instantly."

Zhang Biao explained the training method for the Spiritual Rhinoceros Finger in detail: "This move consumes a lot of spiritual energy. I'm at the seventh level of Qi Refining, and I can only use it three times in a row at most. You're at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and you'll probably empty your Qi Sea after using it once or twice. Don't use it unless it's for your own survival."

Zheng Yifei walked to the well. He ran his fingers over the hole in the well.

Its destructive power is astonishing. It is extremely difficult to detect and defend against.

This was practically a killer move tailor-made for him.

In his previous life, as a top-notch con artist, his greatest skill was fingertip micromanagement, controlling every tremor of his muscles and every change in force.

Now, let's switch to controlling spiritual energy. The principle is exactly the same.

"Thank you, Brother Zhang."

Zheng Yifei turned around and solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute.