I run a casino in the immortal realm.

"My elder brother said that the cultivation technique is for you to save your life and kill enemies, not for you to use to express gratitude."

Long Yuan pressed down on Zheng Yifei's shoulder, his eyes more serious than ever before: "Yifei, you saw what happened at the White Tiger Hall just now. Hu Qi isn't providing troops or supplies. Pengcheng is now an isolated city, but you must defend this isolated city!"

Long Yuan walked to the map and pointed to the location of Pengcheng: "If Pengcheng is lost, the Western Rong army will advance unimpeded, and the entire Qizhou will be ruined."

At that time, the third prince will definitely instruct the Censorate to launch a massive impeachment against me in court, saying that I lost an important town as soon as I arrived in the Western Frontier, thus betraying the country and disgracing the nation.

My father values ​​military merit most and despises incompetence most. If he becomes angry, not only will I lose my princely title, but my elder brother will also be implicated and accused of "unjustified recommendation."

"Therefore, Pengcheng must not fall. Even if we fight to the last man, we must keep the Western Rong army pinned outside the city!"

Long Yuan turned to look at Zheng Yifei, his eyes filled with a hint of apology and determination: "Yifei, this burden is too heavy, but I can only entrust it to you."

Zheng Yifei stared at the red dot representing Shenzhen on the map and remained silent for a moment.

"Your Highness, I'll tell you the truth."

Zheng Yifei raised his head and looked directly into Long Yuan's eyes: "I fought my way out of the Southern Wilderness with my sword and my cunning. I have never read any military books, I don't know anything about troop deployment or the interplay of orthodox and unorthodox tactics."

"If you asked me to command tens of thousands of troops in battle, I might not be as capable as the generals under Hu Qi."

Long Yuan was stunned, and his heart sank.

"but."

Zheng Yifei abruptly changed the subject, his tone revealing a chilling murderous intent: "I know how to kill."

"In the end, war isn't about formations, it's about ruthlessness. Whoever has the sharpest blade and the toughest life will survive."

Zheng Yifei said coldly, "If Hu Qi doesn't give me troops, I'll use the troops Pengcheng has. If he doesn't give me food, I'll rob them. Aren't the Western Rong orcs afraid of death? Then I'll kill them until they're afraid."

Zheng Yifei took a step back, clasped his hands together, and bowed deeply to Long Yuan: "Your Highness, rest assured, now that I, Zheng Yifei, have accepted this fourth-rank general's seal, as long as Pengcheng exists, I will exist; if Pengcheng falls, I will die."

As long as I have a breath left, the Western Rong army will not be able to cross Pengcheng even a single step.

Looking at the murderous man before him, Long Yuan felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

He forcefully lifted Zheng Yifei's arm: "Good brother! I'm in Bingzhou, I'll do everything I can to procure supplies for you. Go ahead and do it, and if anything happens, I'll protect you with my lifeline!"

The talks have concluded.

Zheng Yifei did not linger in Bingzhou. Time was of the essence; the Western Rong army would be at the city gates in three days, and he had to get to Pengcheng as soon as possible to take over the defenses.

Stepping out of the study, Su Wanqing, Zhao Wenyuan, and Zhang Biao were already waiting in the courtyard.

"Yifei, how's the situation?"

Su Wanqing stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

"It's bad, but manageable."

Zheng Yifei patted the back of her hand, then looked at Zhao Wenyuan and Zhang Biao.

"Wen Yuan, Zhang Biao, you two don't need to come to Pengcheng with me, just stay in Bingzhou."

Zheng Yifei quickly explained.

Zhao Wenyuan was taken aback, then became anxious: "Yifei, there's going to be fighting at the front lines, aren't you taking us with you?"

"You went to the front lines, but you couldn't be of much help."

Zheng Yifei's expression was serious: "War is expensive. Hu Qi will definitely cut our military pay. Wen Yuan, take the order from the Prince of Pingxi and set up the Southern Wilderness Trading Company and the Southern Wilderness Gambling House in Bingzhou City as quickly as possible."

"Don't worry about the local chamber of commerce's reputation. If anyone dares to stop us, let the Prince of Pingxi's personal guards confiscate their property."

Zheng Yifei stared at Zhao Wenyuan: "I need you to gather a large amount of spirit stones, healing pills, defensive talismans, and materials for repairing formations in the shortest possible time, and then send them continuously to Pengcheng. This is our lifeline, understand?"

Zhao Wenyuan put away his usual playful demeanor and nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, when it comes to business and making money, I, Zhao Wenyuan, have never lost to anyone. Even if I have to turn Bingzhou City upside down, I'll still gather all the supplies for you!"

"Zhang Biao, you cooperate with Wen Yuan."

Zheng Yifei looked at Zhang Biao: "Take advantage of the fact that gambling dens are a melting pot of all sorts of people to build me an intelligence network. I need to know who Hu Qi meets every day, what he eats, and what he says."

The officials in Western Xinjiang are all corrupt; we can find dirt on them and use it against them later.

"no problem!"

Zhang Biao responded in a deep voice.

After everything was arranged, Zheng Yifei took Su Wanqing's hand and said, "Let's go."

A small military airship soared into the sky from the Prince of Pingxi's residence, transforming into a streak of light and heading straight for Qizhou County in the west.

On the airship, the wind howled.

Zheng Yifei stood on the deck, looking down at the desolate land rushing past. Su Wanqing stood beside him, straightening his collar which had been ruffled by the wind.

"Night Owl and Xu Qian set off ten days earlier and should have already taken over the Pengcheng camp."

Su Wanqing said softly, "With them here, the situation in Pengcheng shouldn't get too out of control."

"I hope so."

Zheng Yifei's eyes were deep. Xu Qian was resourceful, Night Owl was ruthless and skilled at gathering military intelligence, Ouyang Zhan was a formidable fighter, Wang Changsheng was adept at formations, and Xu Zhenghai was steady and reliable.

These five men are his sharpest weapons. If even they can't suppress the local bullies in Pengcheng, then the battles ahead are hopeless.

"Wanqing, go and protect me."

Zheng Yifei turned and walked into the cabin of the flying boat.

With half an hour's journey still to Pengcheng, he didn't want to waste a moment. He sat cross-legged in the center of the cabin and took out the "Five Elements True Essence Technique" from his storage ring.

As you turn the pages, an ancient and weathered aura washes over you.

Zheng Yifei closed his eyes and probed the ancient book with his divine sense. In an instant, a massive amount of information flooded into his mind.

The five elements generate each other: metal generates water, water generates wood, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, and earth generates metal, in an endless cycle; the five elements also restrain each other: metal restrains wood, wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, and fire restrains metal, in a continuous cycle.

The core of this cultivation technique is not to let the five spiritual energies fight each other, but to use the principle of mutual generation and mutual restraint to construct a perfect five-element cycle array in the dantian.

When the five spiritual energies flow to their extremes within this array, a qualitative change occurs, and they merge into a more advanced and purer power—True Essence.

The destructive and defensive power of true essence far exceeds that of ordinary single-attribute spiritual power.

More importantly, with true essence, cultivators with five spiritual roots no longer need to focus on balancing the five attributes when breaking through realms, because they are already an inseparable whole.

Zheng Yifei took a deep breath and, following the guidance of the cultivation technique, began to carefully mobilize the five-colored golden pills in his dantian.

As soon as he began to circulate his energy, he felt a tearing pain.

The five originally distinct spiritual energies were forcibly pulled together, resulting in a violent repulsive reaction.

However, guided by the profound path of the cultivation method, this repulsion gradually transformed into a peculiar resonance.

Time flies by during cultivation.

As the airship began to slow down and the sky outside the window gradually darkened, Zheng Yifei slowly opened his eyes.

A flash of multicolored light appeared in his eyes, then quickly disappeared.

Although he had only begun to comprehend the basics and had not yet fully transformed his true essence, he could clearly feel that his cultivation, which had been stagnant for a long time, was finally showing signs of loosening.

"arrive."

Su Wanqing pushed open the cabin door, her voice carrying a hint of solemnity.

Zheng Yifei stood up, walked out of the cabin, and came to the edge of the deck.

Looking into the distance, on the dim horizon, a massive city resembles a black behemoth lying on the Gobi Desert, exuding a heavy and oppressive aura.

That's Pengcheng.

Further west of Shenzhen, large swaths of blood-red clouds were churning in the sky, and a faint smell of blood and gunpowder could already be detected in the air.

That was the shadow of war brought by the 300,000-strong army of the Western Rong Kingdom.