I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Tianyuan Casino.

Zheng Yifei wrote the two characters neatly on the cover of the proposal, blew the ink dry, and put them into an envelope along with the long letter to Zhao Wenyuan.

The letter was a full sixteen pages long, detailing everything from the casino's location requirements and internal layout design to the dealer training process and the rules and odds for each type of gambling game.

He even drew a floor plan—the entrance would have a reception area and a recharge counter, the left side would be the general gambling area with twelve gambling tables, the right side would be medium-sized private rooms, the innermost part would be a VIP room, and the middle would have an open area for roulette and the future puppet machine.

The spacing between each gambling table, the angle of the dealer's position, and the direction of the lamp's illumination were all clearly marked.

After writing the letter, he also drafted a task list for Zhang Biao.

When it comes to security matters, Zhang Biao is more knowledgeable than anyone else.

Having lived in Sujiafang City for many years, he knew better than any textbook what kind of gamblers would cause trouble, how to deal with them when they got out of control, and when to take action and when to persuade them to quit.

With everything prepared, Zheng Yifei put away the documents and then arranged for a subordinate to bring Zhang Biao over.

It was evening, at the tax inspector's building.

A subordinate's voice drifted up from the stairwell: "Brother Zhang, come on up. The Chief Inspector is waiting for you on the second floor."

"Chief Inspector?"

Zhang Biao's voice was clearly filled with confusion.

Footsteps echoed upstairs.

The door was pushed open.

Zhang Biao stood at the door, stunned.

After not seeing each other for more than a month, the scene before him completely exceeded his expectations.

The second-floor office was spacious and bright, with a long, polished spiritwood table. Neatly arranged documents and a strange metal pen he had never seen before were laid out on the table. A map of the Qingyun Sect's territory hung on the wall, divided into ten regions by red lines, each densely marked with numbers and symbols.

A row of spirit wood cabinets stood under the windowsill, with category labels affixed to the cabinet doors.

Zheng Yifei sat behind the table, a storage bag hanging from his waist, and a silver token on his left.

Zhang Biao's gaze fell on the token, which was engraved with the words "Chief Inspector of the Tax Bureau".

His mouth opened and then closed.

"Brother Biao, come in and have a seat."

Zheng Yifei raised his hand and pointed to the chair opposite him.

Zhang Biao walked in, his steps much stiffer than usual. He sat down in the chair, but only half of his buttocks were on the floor, as if he were ready to stand up at any moment.

"What are you doing...?"

Zhang Biao's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He pointed to the token, then to the four walls of the office, and finally to the storage bag at Zheng Yifei's waist.

"Is that a storage bag?"

"Um."

"The kind that only inner disciples have?"

"Um."

Zhang Biao's expression went through three stages—first shock, then bewilderment, and finally a complex, bitter smile.

"More than a month."

His voice was a little dry: "You stayed at the Qingyun Sect for more than a month."

"almost."

"I've been staying at an inn outside for over a month, eating the cheapest spirit rice every day. My spirit stones are almost gone, and I'm thinking about whether I should go to the market to find some manual labor."

Zhang Biao rubbed his face, wiping away a wry smile: "You've already risen to—what kind of official is that?"

"The Chief Inspector of the Tax Bureau is in charge of tax supervision over all merchants of the Qingyun Sect."

Zhang Biao fell silent.

He didn't quite understand what tax supervision meant, but he understood the phrase "overseeing all merchants of the Qingyun Sect".

He knew how large the Qingyun Sect was. Not to mention anything else, it took them more than a month to travel from Heishan Market to here, and its territory covered an area of ​​five thousand miles.

This kid is in charge of all the merchants within a radius of five thousand miles. How much power does he have? What kind of official is he?

Zhang Biao instinctively wanted to call out his name, but after glancing at the silver token, he swallowed the title: "Inspector Zheng."

"Just call me by my name, there's no one else here."

Zhang Biao breathed a sigh of relief, but his posture remained tense.

Everything in this office reminded him that the seventeen-year-old boy in front of him was no longer the rogue cultivator who made money through gambling in Sujiafang City.

Just over a month ago, they were traveling together, sleeping in the same inn, eating the same pot of spirit rice porridge, and fighting together against rogue cultivators and demonic beasts.

More than a month later, a group leader sat in his private office, issuing orders and managing ten Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Another person was squatting in the hermitage, counting spirit stones and worrying about next month's rent.

Zhang Biao wasn't a particularly cunning person, but such a sudden and unexpected turn of events took even this burly man a moment to process.

Zheng Yifei noticed his unease, took out two bowls of spiritual tea from the drawer, and pushed one of them towards him.

"Have some tea and let me get down to business."

Zhang Biao took the teacup, took a big gulp, and the scalding hot spiritual tea slid down his throat, carrying a faint warmth of spiritual energy, which was more than ten times better than the bland and cheap spiritual tea at the inn.

"How many spirit stones do you have left at the inn?"

Zhang Biao's face flushed slightly: "Seventy-three yuan."

A little over a month ago, Zheng Yifei gave him three hundred yuan, which he spent almost all on food, drink, and lodging.

Zheng Yifei took out one hundred spirit stones from his storage bag and stacked them on the table.

"Take it first."

Zhang Biao stared at the stack of spirit stones, but didn't move his hand.

He's not a pretentious person.

"Let's get down to business."

Zheng Yifei pushed the letter and proposal to Zhao Wenyuan over, and then pulled out the task list for Zhang Biao separately and placed it on top.

"I want to open a gambling den in Sujiafang City, and I'll call it Tianyuan Gambling Den."

Zhang Biao was a little surprised: "Opening a gambling den in Sujiafang Market? You're going back?"

"I'm not going back. You go back. Hand over the entire operation of the gambling den to Zhao Wenyuan. He has a business mind and can manage it."

You're in charge of security, from greeting guests at the entrance to patrolling the premises inside—you're in charge of everything related to security.

With the Su family protecting them, there shouldn't be any major trouble in Sujiafang Market, but minor squabbles are inevitable. Gamblers who lose all their money will smash tables, overturn chairs, and even physically assault the dealers. You've seen more of these scenes than I have.

Zhang Biao nodded, his fist clenching involuntarily. He had indeed seen far too many things like this.

He hesitated for a moment, then rubbed his palms together.

"Yifei, could I... stay in Qingyun Market?"

Zheng Yifei did not respond immediately.

Zhang Biao's voice lowered by half an octave: "I mean, working for you is fine too. This is the Qingyun Sect, the spiritual energy here is much more abundant than outside. I'm already at the ninth level of Qi Refining, if I can cultivate here, I might be able to touch the threshold of Foundation Establishment. And—"

He looked up at Zheng Yifei: "Don't you have ten inspection teams under you? My cultivation level isn't much lower than those team leaders, so being a team member shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Zheng Yifei leaned back in his chair and silently tapped his fingers twice on the table.

He understood Zhang Biao's thoughts.

Qingyun Market is a large city with a spiritual energy concentration more than three times that of Sujia Market, not to mention the difference between the independent cultivator inn and Sujia Market.

Staying by Zheng Yifei's side not only allows you to benefit from the Qingyun Sect's cultivation environment, but also provides you with spirit stones and pills that Zheng Yifei casually gives you.

To put it bluntly, eating meat with the boss is much more comfortable than going out to gnaw on bones.

This is human nature.

But Zheng Yifei shook his head.

"Zhang Biao, you can't stay in Qingyun Market."

Zhang Biao was stunned for a moment.

"First, all ten inspection teams under my command are established inner or outer disciples. You are not a Qingyun Sect disciple, so you can't be squeezed in. Forcing your way in would not only violate the sect's rules, but would also give my opponents something to use against you."

Zhang Biao's mouth moved slightly, then closed again.

"Secondly, do you think I, as the Chief Inspector, have a very secure position?"

Zheng Yifei's voice dropped by half a octave.

He picked up the silver token from the table, turned it over, and the seal of the General Affairs Office gleamed with a cold, hard luster in the light.

"This token was given to me by the Golden Core Hall Master, but he gave me this position not because he likes me, but because I can help him collect more taxes."

The invoice system and whistleblower reward system I'm implementing now affect the interests of thousands of merchants in the entire Qingyun Market. Behind these merchants are the relatives of the inner sect elders and peak masters.

I wasn't cutting the flesh of the merchants, I was cutting the wallets of those big shots.

Zhang Biao's expression changed.

"The hall master can protect me for a while, but he can't support me all the time. If I don't have enough financial resources to back me up, I won't be able to stay in this position for more than half a year."

The tax office's monthly salary is two hundred spirit stones, which sounds like a lot, but my cultivation with five spiritual roots consumes five times more than others.

"It takes 30,000 spirit stones to make pills for the ninth level of Qi Refining, and 100,000 spirit stones to make pills for the Foundation Establishment stage. Can you calculate how long I can save up with my monthly salary?"

Zhang Biao opened his mouth, but couldn't figure it out.

"Tianyuan Casino is my lifeline."

Zheng Yifei placed the token back on the table. His voice was not loud, but each word was like a spirit stone hitting the table: "If the gambling den doesn't take off, I'll be nothing but an empty shell in the Qingyun Sect. My cultivation won't improve, and I'll be kicked out sooner or later."

"At that point, let alone the Chief Inspector, even the outer disciples might not be safe."