I run a casino in the immortal realm.

Zheng Yifei returned to the inspector's building.

He took off his outer robe, draped it over the back of the chair, poured himself a glass of cold tea, and drank it all.

He took out a communication talisman from his storage bag, wrote a few words, and with a flick of his wrist, the talisman turned into a streak of light and flew out the window.

Half an incense stick later, footsteps could be heard in the hallway.

The door was pushed open, and Su Qingwan walked in. She was wearing the standard long robe of the Inspectorate, her hair was tied up with a jade hairpin, and she carried the dust and grime of having just returned from an inspection.

"The chief inspector wants to see me."

She walked to the table and stood still.

Without wasting any words, Zheng Yifei pushed the order bearing the official seal of the General Affairs Office and the clan leader's vermilion approval to the edge of the table.

"have a look."

Su Qingwan lowered her head, her gaze sweeping over the words on the warrant.

Her gaze swept quickly over the words "Information Department", "One Million Spirit Stones", and "Director Zheng Yifei", finally settling on the bottom line of annotations.

Deputy Chief Inspector, Su Qingwan.

Su Qingwan's fingers gripped the edge of the warrant. She didn't look up immediately, her breathing becoming erratic.

The Inspectorate is in charge of overseeing tax and merchant irregularities across its entire jurisdiction—a truly lucrative position.

Zheng Yifei previously held absolute power, suppressing the seventeen Class A merchants. Now, he has shared half of that power.

It's even more than half.

"The establishment of the Information Department requires all my energy."

Zheng Yifei leaned back in his chair and looked at her: "From today onwards, you will have full authority over all the daily affairs of the Inspection Department, including inspections and penalties. You will be able to directly dispatch the ten inspection teams, including filling your vacancy."

Su Qingwan raised her head.

"You're handing over the Inspectorate to me?"

She stared into Zheng Yifei's eyes: "The Su family took 40% of the transshipment business, and now you're even giving me the real power of the Chief Inspector. Zheng Yifei, what are you after?"

"I'm hoping your Su family can guarantee I'll live to the Foundation Establishment stage."

Zheng Yifei spoke in a flat tone.

Su Qingwan was stunned for a moment.

"The sect leader approved the news department's request and allocated one million spirit stones. This money is a hot potato."

Zheng Yifei stood up, walked to the window, and looked in the direction of the main peak: "The Seventh Elder's spiritual material shop and the Ninth Elder's elixir shop used to make a fortune by exploiting information gaps. With the establishment of the Information Bureau, all the market conditions in various places will be laid bare in the sunlight. This will cut off their source of income."

He turned around and looked at Su Qingwan.

"I'm just a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivator, and I have evidence of tax evasion against seventeen Class A merchants. Now I'm going to ruin their livelihoods. The Seventh Elder can easily find an excuse, or arrange for a few assassins outside the sect to crush me."

"So you need the Su family to act as a shield for you."

Su Qingwan continued the conversation.

"This is an exchange of benefits."

Zheng Yifei walked back to the table and tapped the order with his finger: "The Su family has taken over the real power of the Inspectorate and the profits of the transport plane. They have to shield me from the pressure at the Elders' Meeting. Your great-grandfather is a smart man. He knows how to choose."

Su Qingwan looked at the seventeen-year-old young man in front of her.

He laid all his cards on the table, without a single wasted word or any attempt to conceal anything, calculating every single detail clearly.

This absolute rationality, ironically, stirred a strange emotion within Su Qingwan.

She remembered what her great-grandfather had said: "It's not impossible for us to become Daoist partners."

"Zheng Yifei".

Su Qingwan put the warrant into her storage bag, but didn't leave immediately. Instead, she looked at him and asked, "Besides allies and business partners, haven't you considered any other relationships?"

Zheng Yifei's hand, which was pouring tea, froze in mid-air.

He looked up and his gaze fell on Su Qingwan's face. Su Qingwan did not look away.

"I haven't considered it."

Zheng Yifei put down the teapot, his voice flat: "Talking about feelings during the Qi Refining stage is like asking to die too soon. Without Foundation Establishment, in the eyes of those Golden Core and Foundation Establishment experts, I'm just an ant that can be crushed at any time."

He pointed outside the door.

"My family members were just assassinated by people sent by the Li family."

My current situation is such that one wrong step could lead to utter ruin. I want nothing more than Foundation Establishment or even Golden Core. Deputy Chief Inspector Su, go and handle the handover.”

Su Qingwan pursed her lips.

She didn't ask any more questions, turned around and walked out of the office. As the door closed, she took a deep breath.

The more cold and clear-headed Zheng Yifei was, the more terrifying she found him, and the more reliable she also found him... to be.

Half an hour later.

Qinglan Peak is located on the west side of the main peak.

Su Chenyuan sat in the main hall of the dojo, looking at Su Qingwan standing in front of him.

After listening to Su Qingwan's report, Su Chenyuan put down his teacup. Instead of getting more tea, he dipped his finger in the tea on the table and drew a circle.

"Information Department, newspapers."

Su Chenyuan stared at the water stains on the table: "Collect, review, print, and distribute information from various places in a unified manner."

He looked up at Su Qingwan.

"Wan'er, do you know what this thing means?"

"make money?"

Su Qingwan answered tentatively.

"Money is nothing."

Su Chenyuan sneered, stood up, and paced around the hall twice: "This kid wants power! A knife without bloodshed!"

Su Qingwan was puzzled.

"Think about it, if the entire sect has over a billion independent cultivators, and all they can read every day is the newspaper issued by the News Bureau. If it says that the price of spiritual materials is rising, the independent cultivators will rush to scramble for spiritual materials; if it says that there are demonic beasts in a certain place, the independent cultivators will stay away from that place."

Su Chenyuan's speech quickened: "Whoever controls the newspapers controls the minds of these billions of rogue cultivators!"

Su Qingwan's back was covered in a layer of cold sweat.

"The sect leader intends to use him to completely eliminate the privileges of the elders in the sect."

The Qingyun Sect may seem like a monolithic entity, but it is actually a coalition of various families. In particular, the nine elders each have a powerful family behind them. They are essentially the representatives of their families within the sect, and sometimes they even sideline the sect leader.

The sect leader clearly wanted to break this stalemate, and Zheng Yifei's appearance gave him an opportunity.

Su Chenyuan stopped in his tracks: "This kid dumped the Inspectorate on you because he knew he couldn't withstand the subsequent backlash and wanted to drag our Su family down with him."

"Should we accept the call or not?"

Su Qingwan asked.

"Answer it! Why aren't you answering!"

Su Chenyuan slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup bounce: "If the Su family hides in the back during this once-in-a-millennium event, we won't even get a taste of the soup later."

If he dares to offer it, we dare to accept it!

Su Chenyuan paced back and forth in the hall, his mind racing.

"Seventh Brother (Li Zhan) is definitely going to go crazy. His Li family's spiritual materials business relies entirely on information asymmetry. With the news bureau's announcement, his Li family's profits will be cut in half at least. He will definitely try every means to kill Zheng Yifei."

Su Chenyuan stopped and looked at Su Qingwan.

"I will visit the First Elder, Second Elder, and Eighth Elder first thing tomorrow morning."

Su Qingwan was stunned: "Why would you want to see them?"

"Form an alliance."

Su Chenyuan's tone was shrewd: "The boss is in charge of criminal punishment and is incorruptible, but his faction is most lacking in reputation among the lower classes. Have Zheng Yifei put a special page in the newspaper to report on the Enforcement Hall's deeds of eliminating evil and upholding justice. The boss will be very happy."

"The second brother is in charge of passing on the martial arts techniques. He has always wanted to popularize the basic martial arts techniques of the Qingyun Sect, but he has no way to do so. The newspaper has a 'Mastery Transmission Column' for him."

"Old Eighth is in charge of the clan's protective array, which consumes the most spirit stones. The Su family gives him 10% of the profits from the transfer machine business as maintenance fees for the array."

Su Chenyuan snorted coldly.

"Bring these three families on board. If Seventh Brother wants to touch Zheng Yifei at the Elders' Council meeting, he'll have to ask the four of us old guys for permission first!"

Su Qingwan was terrified. Zheng Yifei's single action had triggered an unprecedented political reshuffle within the Qingyun Sect's upper echelons, the likes of which hadn't been seen in millennia.

"Great-grandfather, Zheng Yifei's most urgent task right now is to establish his foundation."

Su Qingwan warned, "He said that if you don't establish your foundation, you could be killed at any time."

"He's a sensible person."

Su Chenyuan nodded: "The sect leader gave him a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, but the spiritual energy required for a five-elemental root to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage is extremely terrifying, and even a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill may not be able to guarantee his safety."

Su Chenyuan took a purple-gold storage bag from his waist and tossed it to Su Qingwan.

"There is a 300-year-old nine-leaf purple fungus here, which can protect the heart meridian, and there is also a set of Xuanbing array plate, which can keep the soul stable and prevent it from going astray."

"Deliver it to him personally. Tell him that the Su family not only helped him establish his foundation, but also guaranteed his core formation!"

Su Qingwan took the storage bag, her palms slightly warm.

She knew that the nine-leaf purple fungus was left by her great-grandfather to prolong his life. Now, the entire burden rested on an outsider at the ninth level of Qi Refining.