Cultivating Immortality: What kind of cheat can you use if you don't have money?

Chapter 174 The Zhenyang Tower, riddled with holes

Every step was like walking on thin ice, with life and death hanging in the balance.

"I see—" Li Qingyi said thoughtfully.

A hint of sadness flashed in Qi Xuanjia's eyes: "My immortal foundation was forged using a special method with the help of the Xuan Kingdom's dragon energy."

Although it is powerful and developed quickly, its foundation is too deeply bound to the dragon's energy.

When breaking through to the Purple Mansion, during the process of opening the Heavenly Gate, the dragon energy cannot directly propel the immortal foundation as before, and may even show signs of disintegration due to the immortal foundation leaving the body.

This means that when I first set up my immortal foundation to leave the sea and strike the giant tower, I would face the risk of running out of steam.

The chances of success are almost zero.

Li Qingyi remained silent.

He finally understood the source of Qi Xuanjia's deep-seated helplessness.

A seemingly smooth shortcut ultimately becomes a shackle that blocks the path to higher goals.

"But," Qi Xuanjia changed his tone, his voice becoming firm again.

"As I just said, one day I will find a way to break free from the shackles of the dragon's energy."

With my own strength, I will refine my immortal foundation and strive to attain the Great Dao of the Purple Mansion!

"Then I, Li, would like to offer my congratulations in advance to Commander Qi on his early fulfillment of his wish, breaking free from the shackles, and attaining his true self, the Purple Mansion!"

Qi Xuanjia accepted it calmly.

The atmosphere between the two seemed to have become more harmonious.

Just then, the battle above became increasingly dangerous, and the colors of the sky changed rapidly.

"Something went wrong."

"What accident?" Li Qingyi's heart tightened.

"An outsider has joined the battle." Qi Xuanjia lowered his voice: "They want to rescue the tomb keeper, but His Majesty and Xuanji are doing everything in their power to stop them, sparing no expense to keep the tomb keeper here."

Reinforcements? The forces behind the tomb keeper?

Li Qingyi's heart sank instantly.

His worst fears seem to have come true.

If this tomb keeper doesn't die, knowing that he has connections with Listening Rain Pavilion and the royal family, he will surely become a great threat in the future.

High in the sky, the battle had clearly escalated from a three-person fight to a four-person melee.

The full force of the collision at the Purple Palace level has begun to penetrate the outer heavens and manifest in the celestial phenomena of the present world.

In Qingling City, countless mortals were terrified by this apocalyptic celestial phenomenon and knelt down in fear.

We beg Heaven to calm its anger and not send down calamity.

Li Qingyi watched this scene through the window, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

He suddenly understood why there was a saying in the cultivation world that there was a distinction between immortals and mortals.

Why do high-level cultivators often live in seclusion or in blessed spiritual mountains, keeping their distance from mortal cities?

The difference in power levels is too great; the aftershocks of even the slightest movement can be a natural disaster for ordinary people.

Before long, Tianjue returned, carrying a large stack of thick account books and jade slips.

"Young Master, all the detailed accounts for the building in recent years are here."

Tianjue gently placed the account book on the table.

Li Qingyi composed herself, nodded, and instantly enveloped the large stack of account books and jade slips with her divine sense.

His spiritual sense, refined to the ninth level, combined with the sharpness of his newly formed sword embryo, allowed him to process information at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people.

The numbers and entries in the accounts flooded into his mind like a stream, where they were quickly categorized, summarized, and analyzed.

However, as she delved deeper into the investigation, Li Qingyi's brows gradually furrowed.

After a while, he withdrew his divine sense, his expression somewhat unpleasant.

Why is there so little left in the accounts?

Why is it that so few of the tens of thousands of spirit stones that are spent each month are ultimately retained?

Where did all those spirit stones go?

Tianjue looked troubled and said in a low voice, "Young Master, the former Master Beifeng was extravagant by nature."

Although he controlled Zhenyang Tower, he only used the minimum amount of spirit stones to maintain the basic operation of the tower and to distribute fixed salaries.

The vast majority of the remaining income was embezzled by him under various pretexts and pocketed by him.

Li Qingyi: "————"

He suddenly understood why Beifeng's clone could also achieve Foundation Establishment and why he could live such a luxurious life.

They were all taken from Zhenyang Tower.

Tianjue continued, "Moreover—before Beifeng ambushed you, Young Master."

He also withdrew a huge sum of spirit stones from the treasury in one go to bribe Lord Qingling City.

"Now, after deducting the salaries that must be paid to all levels of staff, guards, and employees this month, as well as some pre-signed payments for goods and materials that cannot be postponed—"

"We only have about two hundred usable spirit stones left."

Li Qingyi:

Looking at the enormous monthly turnover figures in the ledger, and comparing them to the pitiful surplus, Li Qingyi was at a loss for words.

Li Qingyi also noticed this as she quickly flipped through the accounts.

The monthly turnover of over ten thousand spirit stones at Zhenyang Tower seems astonishing.

However, after deducting procurement costs, the expenses for maintaining the operation of various formations, and the costs of bribing officials and various forces—

All things considered, the actual net profit is often only around 20%.

And a significant portion of these are done under the guise of bribery, profit sharing, and other similar schemes.

The money flowed to other prominent forces near Qingling City, including the Qi family, Zheng family, Chen family, and Wu family, who had just been driven out.

This is practically an unspoken rule in the gray area of ​​Qingling City.

If you don't give it to them, others will create obstacles for you in terms of supply, channels, and official channels, making it difficult for you to do business.

Li Qingyi noted all of this down, her eyes growing cold.

The north wind is a termite, and these forces that are sucking blood from Zhenyang Tower are no better.

Once he breaks through to the Foundation Establishment stage and gains a firm foothold, these scores—

Sooner or later, we'll have to settle everything one by one.

His money isn't so easy to take.

However, looking at the remaining two hundred spirit stones, Li Qingyi felt quite helpless.

If one were to directly ask Tian Jue for the last two hundred spirit stones, it would likely leave an impression of greed in his mind, just like that of Bei Feng.

The little prestige that has just been established will be completely destroyed.

After much deliberation, Li Qingyi finally spoke, her tone calm: "Bring me these two hundred spirit stones; I need them urgently."

Tianjue:

He paused for a moment, his eyes seeming to dim slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and bowed, saying, "Yes, Your subordinate will go and fetch it right away."

Qi Xuanjia, standing to the side, looked at Li Qingyi with great interest and asked, "Are you that short of spirit stones right now?"

Li Qingyi remained expressionless, gazing at the ever-changing sky outside the window, and said calmly, "A great trend is about to begin, and the vortex has already appeared."

I don't even have the Foundation Establishment cultivation level. Being in this situation is like being a small boat on a raging sea, where I could be smashed to pieces by a wave at any moment and die without knowing why.

Naturally, it's essential to make thorough preparations to prevent problems before they arise. Spirit stones are the foundation for many of these preparations.

"Where is your master?" Qi Xuanjia asked. "Since he chose you as his successor, he wouldn't just stand by and do nothing, would he?"

Li Qingyi said calmly, "What the Golden Core True Monarch faces is a higher level of competition and restraint."

There are some problems that I need to face and solve myself.

Even Li Qingyi herself didn't believe what she said.

But that's all he could say.

There's nothing we can do; this dog of a leader truly doesn't care about us at all.

"Is this your reason for betting with me?"

"Commander Qi is truly exceptionally intelligent."

Qi Xuanjia: "————"

"The battle is about to be decided," Qi Xuanjia suddenly said.

Li Qingyi's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately looked up.

Although he could not see the specific battle situation in the outer heavens.

But I could feel it.

The oppressive feeling emanating from the high heavens reached an unprecedented peak.