I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Heishanfang Market.

Zheng Dashan brought the last pot of spirit rice porridge to the table and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

The Zhao Family Restaurant hadn't even started its evening service yet, but the kitchen staff had been busy all afternoon, and he was making the last batch of braised pork.

Although their eldest son held an official position in the Qingyun Sect, and the family received dividends from the restaurant and 200 spirit stones every ten days from the Tianyuan Gambling House, making their income very high, they still lived frugally.

"Honey, you take a break, I'll take care of the rest."

His wife, Zheng, leaned over from the other side of the stove, holding a spatula in her hand, her face reddened by the fire.

"It's alright."

Zheng Dashan waved his hand and took off his apron, hanging it on a hook: "I'm going to pick up the child. You watch the fire."

He walked out of the back door of the restaurant and headed east along the main street of the market.

The streets of Black Mountain Market weren't bustling in the evening. Vendors on both sides began to pack up. An old man selling spirit fruits piled the unsold, lower-quality fruits at the bottom of his basket, covering them with a layer of better ones, intending to sell them again tomorrow. An apprentice at the repair shop swept the floor at the entrance, spirit dust billowing up in the twilight.

Zheng Dashan walked slowly, nodding to acquaintances he encountered along the way.

The school was at the end of East Street, a two-story wooden building with two locust trees planted at the entrance. When Zheng Dashan arrived, Zheng Shi had also finished her work and rushed over.

Zheng Ermei and Zheng Chongtian were already standing at the door waiting.

"Father! Mother!"

The second sister ran up to him, looking up at him: "The teacher taught us the multiplication table today! I've memorized it all! Three times seven is twenty-one, four times eight is thirty-two!"

"4832".

Zheng Dashan chuckled and patted his daughter's head: "Not bad, Second Sister is very smart."

"Dad, I heard that my eldest brother made this multiplication table, is that true?"

"It's true, your older brother is amazing."

Zheng Dashan looked proud; he was happy to have such an outstanding son.

The family of four walked back along the same route.

Darkness fell quickly, and the streetlights gradually came on, their light shifting from warm yellow to cool white, casting long shadows. Zheng Dashan walked to the alley entrance and turned into the narrow lane he had walked countless times.

The alley was not long, only about thirty feet long, with residential courtyard walls on both sides and several clotheslines hanging overhead, with neighbor's bed sheets hanging on them, swaying slightly in the wind.

Zheng Dashan pushed open the gate to his own courtyard.

There were four people standing in the courtyard.

Their faces were covered with black cloth, revealing only their eyes. They wore ordinary gray short-sleeved shirts and had no obvious magical artifacts hanging from their waists, but the aura of each person was overwhelming for Zheng Dashan's breathing.

They were all cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining.

Zheng Dashan's foot was nailed to the threshold.

His first reaction was not fear, but to shield his wife and children behind him.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

The masked leader raised his hand, signaling his companions to make their move.

The movements were very casual.

In their eyes, Zheng Dashan, who was at the third level of Qi Refining, was no different from an ant on the ground.

But just as the hand was halfway raised, everyone heard a voice.

hum-

An extremely fine and sharp sound swept past the top of the courtyard wall, so fast that the naked eye could only catch a silver line.

The silver line traced an arc between the four masked men.

At the instant the arc closed, all four heads simultaneously separated from the neck.

There was no blood. The flying sword was too fast, and the spiritual power instantly burned and sealed the wounds. The four headless bodies stood in place for two full breaths before falling down one after another. The knees hit the ground first, then the body, and finally the face down, crashing onto the muddy ground with one muffled thud after another.

Four heads rolled away, the black veils covering their faces fell away, revealing four unfamiliar faces, their expressions still showing the nonchalant attitude they had before the attack.

"ah--!"

The second sister screamed and buried her face in her mother's arms. Chongtian froze for a moment, then burst into tears, his shrill voice audible throughout the entire alley.

Ms. Zheng hugged her two children tightly, her face pale and her lips trembling, but she remained relatively calm.

Zheng Dashan's hand was still in the position of pushing the child backward, his whole body stiff, and the veins on his forehead throbbed a few times.

A figure descended from the courtyard wall.

The middle-aged man was lean and fit, wearing an inconspicuous blue robe. He was slowly retracting a three-foot-long flying sword into his sleeve, and there was not a drop of blood on the sword.

"Don't panic."

Gu Jianhua's voice was calm, just as it was when he was on guard duty at the entrance of the Inspector's Building: "I am the Chief Inspector's personal bodyguard."

Zheng Dashan was stunned for three breaths before he found his voice.

"You...you're Yifei's..."

"Yes, he sent me."

Gu Jianhua glanced at the four corpses on the ground, squatted down and rummaged through the storage bag of the leader. Inside was a roll of rope, three spirit-sealing talismans, and a bottle of sleeping powder.

A complete set of tools used for kidnapping.

"We're not here to kill people, we're here to arrest people."

Gu Jianhua put away the storage bag, stood up straight, and looked at Zheng Dashan: "Brother Zheng, your son has offended some people in the sect. Since they can't touch him, they've set their sights on you."

Zheng Dashan opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again.

He wasn't a clever person in the cultivation world, but he was a father and understood the meaning of those words.

"Is Yifei...is he alright?"

"He's in the sect; nobody can touch him."

Gu Jianhua's tone carried an undeniable certainty: "But it's not safe for you to be out there."

At this moment, Madam Zheng spoke, her voice still trembling, but her words were clear: "Who exactly did he offend?"

Gu Jianhua glanced at her.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Let's go inside and I'll tidy up the place."

Zheng Dashan quickly pulled his wife and children into the main room.

Gu Jianhua used a fireball spell to burn the four corpses to ashes, and with a wave of his hand, they vanished into thin air.

Then he sent a message to Zheng Yifei, reporting the situation on the ground.

The communication talisman lit up and flew towards the northeast.

Qingyun Sect, Inspectorate.

Zheng Yifei was cultivating, and the mid-grade spirit stone in his palm emitted a soft light.

The communication talisman vibrated twice.

He opened his eyes and picked it up to look at it.

Gu Jianhua's handwriting was concise: "Four masked men, late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, have been killed. They were carrying spirit-sealing talismans and sleeping powder. It's undoubtedly a kidnapping. Your family is safe. Awaiting instructions."

Zheng Yifei placed the communication talisman on the table.

His expression remained unchanged.

Four masked men at the late stage of Qi Refining—this setup was neither too strong nor too weak, just enough to subdue a Qi Refining civilian family without arousing the high alert of the Su family's patrol team.

The person who did it was very experienced; they knew how to do dirty work in the market.

Li family.

Aside from the Li family, no one would dare to harm his family at this time.

Zheng Yifei picked up a pen and wrote a line of text on the communication talisman.

"Bring my entire family to the Qingyun Sect."

After finishing writing, he paused for a moment and added another sentence.

"Take good care of the two children on the way; they've never seen anything like this before."

The message talisman flew out the window and disappeared into the night.

Zheng Yifei stood up and walked to the window.

A night breeze blew in, carrying the crisp scent of the spiritual veins from the direction of the main peak. His fingers rested on the window frame, tapping unconsciously twice.

He glanced at the draft proposal for the newspaper office piled on the table, then at the purple-gold box containing the top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill in his storage bag.

The situation on the chessboard is becoming increasingly clear.

The Li family has already taken action. The first kidnapping attempt failed, and they won't try again anytime soon. By alerting the enemy before making their move, they're essentially telling everyone who's behind it all.

But they won't stop.

If kidnapping doesn't work, they'll try other methods. They'll suppress him in the business world, sabotage him within the sect, and even impeach him directly at the elders' council.

He needs more leverage.

Newspaper offices, transport planes, and Tianyuan Casino are his chess pieces, but no matter how many pieces he has, if the player's skill is insufficient, the chessboard will be overturned with a single slap.

Foundation building.

The foundation must be laid as soon as possible.

Zheng Yifei returned to the futon, gripped the mid-grade spirit stone in his hand, and closed his eyes.

Spiritual energy surged into the meridians once more, and the viscous vortex of energy slowly compressed within the dantian.