I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Once everything was arranged, the violent machine of the Criminal Investigation Department immediately began to operate.

Wang Changsheng and Ouyang Zhan led two hundred Nascent Soul stage anti-smuggling officers, like two unsheathed sharp blades, directly into the counties most severely affected by the disaster.

Severe measures are necessary in times of chaos.

In the first two months of the reconstruction, Wang Changsheng beheaded more than thirty rogue cultivators who took advantage of the chaos to rob in Linhai County and hung their heads on the city wall for public display.

Ouyang Zhan then dismantled an underground gang in Qingshi County that was trying to hoard and resell building materials at high prices. He crippled the gang leader and dozens of core members and sent them to a quarry to perform hard labor.

Under the iron-fisted approach, public security in the disaster area improved rapidly, and reconstruction work was able to proceed smoothly.

Time flies like an arrow; half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past six months, Tanzhou County has undergone tremendous changes. With the support of 500 billion gold coins, the ten submerged counties have rebuilt their tall city walls and neat houses, the people have gradually returned, the farmland has begun to be cultivated again, and the shops have reopened.

The strength of the Criminal Investigation Department has also seen an explosive growth in the past six months.

Three months ago, Li Jianfeng and Night Owl were the first to emerge from seclusion.

When Li Jianfeng broke through to the Void Refining Realm, he stirred up the metallic spiritual energy within a radius of a hundred miles, and his whole body seemed to transform into a giant sword that reached the heavens and the earth, revealing its sharpness.

Night Owl's breakthrough was silent, but after he emerged from seclusion, he seemed to blend into the shadows, making it extremely difficult for even Zheng Yifei to detect his presence without carefully probing with his divine sense.

After they emerged from seclusion, the two immediately took over the work of Wang Changsheng and Ouyang Zhan.

Subsequently, Wang Changsheng and Ouyang Zhan entered a secret chamber for seclusion, and two months later, they both successfully broke through to the next level.

Immediately afterward, Su Wanqing took the top-grade Void Breaking Pill given to her by Zhao Ling and naturally entered the Void Refining Realm.

After her breakthrough, the power of her "Jade Maiden Mystic Ice Technique" greatly increased, and she could freeze an area of ​​a hundred feet in diameter with just a few gestures.

In addition, Ouyang Tian, ​​Murong Hao, Xu Tianyang, and Xu Zhenghai, who came from the Southern Wilderness Region, also went into seclusion one after another to break through to the Void Refinement Realm, thanks to Zhao Ling's continuous supply of pills.

In a short time, Zheng Yifei had eight experts at the Refinement Realm under his command, which was a force to be reckoned with even in the capital.

With all the core members having broken through to the next level, Zheng Yifei knew that his time had come.

He handed over all the affairs of the Criminal Investigation Department to Li Jianfeng and the other three, and then went to the Prefect's Mansion to formally ask Zhu Zhenbang for leave.

"Go ahead and go into seclusion in peace."

Zhu Zhenbang looked at the young man who had single-handedly brought Tanzhou County to its peak, his eyes full of expectation: "With me and the Ninth Prince handling the outside affairs, the sky over Tanzhou County won't fall down."

Once you've passed through the pass, I'll submit another petition to the Ministry of Personnel. This time, no one will be able to stop you.

After bidding farewell to Zhu Zhenbang, Zheng Yifei left the county town alone without anyone else, heading towards Cuiping Mountain, fifty miles to the west.

Cuiping Mountain is a place where spiritual veins converge within the territory of Tanzhou County. The mountain is steep and rarely visited by people. Zheng Yifei found a secluded natural cave halfway up the mountain and set up a series of restrictions and concealment formations as his secluded cultivation place for breaking through.

Besides the Void-Breaking Pill, Zheng Yifei's storage bag also contained a massive amount of mid-grade and high-grade spirit stones he had earned from the Southern Wilderness Gambling House over the past few years.

To achieve this breakthrough, he practically emptied half of his savings.

"call--"

Zheng Yifei exhaled a long breath, adjusting his state to its peak. Then, without hesitation, he uncorked the first jade bottle and swallowed a top-grade Void-Breaking Pill that emitted a rich fragrance and whose surface shimmered with five-colored light.

The elixir melted upon entering his mouth, transforming into a vast and pure energy that surged into his limbs and bones like a flood bursting its banks.

Zheng Yifei immediately activated the Five Elements Primordial Chaos Technique, guiding the medicinal power to cleanse the bottomless Five Elements Spiritual Roots within his body.

Breaking through the five spiritual roots is an extremely painful and lengthy process. Ordinary cultivators only need to compress and transform the spiritual power of a single attribute, but Zheng Yifei needs to maintain an absolute balance of the spiritual power of the five attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth at the same time, and compress and transform them simultaneously.

Any imbalance in any attribute will lead to death by exploding.

Time flew by during the tedious training.

One month... two months... three months...

Inside the cave, the mountain of spirit stones turned to ashes at a visible speed.

Five of the jade bottles in front of Zheng Yifei were now empty.

When he swallowed the sixth top-grade Void-Breaking Pill, the five elements of spiritual power in his body finally reached a critical point.

The originally gaseous spiritual energy, under extreme compression, began to transform into a viscous liquid. The five-colored spiritual liquid formed a perfect five-colored vortex in the dantian, endlessly circulating.

"boom!"

A powerful aura, far surpassing that of a Nascent Soul cultivator at the peak of his cultivation, erupted from Zheng Yifei's body, directly breaking through the cave's restrictions and soaring into the sky.

The once clear sky above Cuiping Mountain suddenly darkened.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a radius of hundreds of miles began to surge wildly, converging towards Cuiping Mountain. Thick black tribulation clouds rapidly condensed at the mountaintop, and within the clouds, purple lightning danced like wildly dancing silver snakes, emitting deafening roars.

The Refinement Tribulation Thunder descends.

For ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators to break through to the Void Refining Realm, they usually only need to undergo three tribulations, also known as the "Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulations".

This is a test from Heaven for cultivators who defy the heavens. If they can withstand it, they can shed their mortal form and enter the Void Refinement stage; if they cannot withstand it, they will be reduced to ashes under the tribulation of lightning.

Zheng Yifei flashed out of the cave and stood atop Cuiping Mountain, looking up at the churning tribulation clouds in the sky.

"bring it on!"

He didn't use any magic weapons or activate any defensive formations. Instead, he directly activated the Five Elements Primordial Chaos Technique, pushing his physical strength to its limit.

"Snap!"

The first lightning bolt crashed down. It was a bolt of purple lightning as thick as a bucket, carrying the power to destroy everything, and struck Zheng Yifei's head hard.

Zheng Yifei shuddered violently, and a layer of charred blackness instantly appeared on his skin.

But he did not back down; instead, he let out a long, triumphant roar.

Back in the Southern Wilderness, in order to help Ouyang Tian and Murong Hao forcibly break through, he used his physical body to withstand the lightning tribulation and comprehended the method of absorbing lightning energy with his physical body on the verge of life and death.

Now, his physical body has been tempered countless times and is many times stronger than it was back then.

Lightning entered his body, and the violent destructive power tried to tear his meridians apart, but it was instantly suppressed by the Five Elements Primordial Chaos Technique. It was then frantically absorbed by his greedy body and the five-colored vortex in his dantian.

"Boom! Boom!"

The second and third lightning tribulations followed one after another, each more powerful than the last.

Zheng Yifei's clothes had long since turned to ashes, and he was covered in blood, but he remained in mid-air like a nail, enduring all three lightning tribulations and absorbing nearly half of their lightning energy.

"happy!"

Zheng Yifei felt the powerful force surging within him and laughed loudly, looking up at the sky.

The three tribulations of lightning have passed. According to common sense, the tribulation clouds should dissipate, and heaven and earth should send down sweet rain to cleanse the physical body and complete the final transformation.

However, the tribulation clouds in the sky did not dissipate; instead, they began to churn violently, and a chilling dark red tinge appeared faintly in the originally purple lightning.