He raised both hands to the sky. Immediately, a blinding light spread outward. Liu Xing's black hair whipped back as the ground around his feet sank and cracked, spreading outward as it struggled to support his weight. From his outstretched hands, a concentrated bolt shot into the sky, forming a white pillar that pierced the sky, and an explosion erupted, unleashing a shockwave that spread in all directions. The lake in front of Liu Xing surged, creating a massive wave that crashed into the far shore, and the shockwave slammed into Bai Lin's hut, tearing off the roof, splintering and flying off walls, and Bai Lin himself would have been thrown off his feet if he hadn't desperately clung to a remaining wall.

Bai Lin's heart pounded against his ribs, threatening to burst, and adrenaline flooded his veins, making the world seem to slow down. His eyes were fixed on the pillar of light, reaching impossibly high into the clear night sky. Had there been clouds, they would have been torn apart, leaving a gaping hole in the sky. Then, his gaze dropped back to Liu Xing, who grinned and laughed with unrestrained glee.

Witnessing this, Bai Lin understood his grave misjudgment of Liu Xing. This young man was no ordinary disciple from one of the five great sects. He was a monster. A terrifying monster! And he had requested help as casually as if asking a favor of a relative.

Bai Lin began to shiver. If he had known the extent of Liu Xing's power, he would have shown far greater deference. Fortunately, Liu Xing hadn't seemed offended by his earlier behavior. Had he been, Bai Lin knew his life would likely be forfeit.

After a few moments, the immense power of the attack subsided. The howling wind and the turbulent waves on the lake gradually calmed. Liu Xing sighed deeply, as if he had just finished a very satisfying meal. He looked around, and when his eyes met Bai Lin's, Bai Lin's heart stopped. What would happen to him now? Had Liu Xing taken offense because he saw him experimenting with the technique?

But before Bai Lin could form an answer, Liu Xing clasped his hands together and bowed. Instinctively, Bai Lin straightened and returned the bow. He acted without conscious thought, his body moving on its own accord.

When Bai Lin looked up, Liu Xing had vanished, gone as if he were a phantom. His eyes darted to where the Red Lotus Staff had been, realizing the staff that had ensured his comfortable existence for decades was now missing.

Bai Lin sighed in relief. Liu Xing seemed to have departed. For a moment, he wished to never encounter Liu Xing again. He was too powerful. Too frightening. But then, he recalled Liu Xing's agreement to investigate Wei Yi and his promise to return within a month at the earliest.

Wei Yi was formidable, the strongest individual Bai Lin had ever met. And although Bai Lin couldn't be sure if Liu Xing's latest attack could defeat Wei Yi, he now understood that Liu Xing's talent was equal to, or perhaps even greater than, Wei Yi's.

Turning back towards his ruined hut, he saw that most of his belongings had been scattered by the blast, but the altar in the center of the room, bearing his grandson's painting, remained untouched.

***

Fleeing like a caught thief, Liu Xing ran as fast as he could. To his right and left, vast grasslands stretched out, a land ideal for galloping horses. The path Liu Xing was following cut through the grassland, splitting it in two.

"Man, I really trashed old man Bai Lin's house!" Liu Xing exclaimed aloud.

He had gotten carried away. The Thunderstrike Gauntlets had presented him with the perfect opportunity to replicate a famous technique from one of his favorite shows. Channeling qi from his gun, he could easily manipulate the attack, directing it as a focused strike or a wide-area assault. The previous strike had been an experiment to determine the gauntlets' bullet capacity. He had initially thought the strike's power could scale infinitely, but he now suspected the limit was eighteen bullets. Any more, and Liu Xing feared the gauntlets might shatter.

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Even so, when he unleashed that final attack, he hadn't anticipated such a dramatic result. The pillar of light had been immense, and the resulting shockwave had rattled everything around. Bai Lin's hut had been utterly demolished. Seeing the roofless structure, the missing walls, and Bai Lin's wide-eyed, trembling figure, he had worried Bai Lin might be suppressing his anger, prompting his hasty, undignified retreat.

Admittedly, Bai Lin was weak. But the old man had readily offered Liu Xing a Heaven Grade technique, so who knew how many more Heaven Grade Techniques he possessed, or if he was actually a powerful cultivator concealing his true strength.

Regardless, having obliterated Bai Lin's hut, it was definitely time to leave.

Looking up, Liu Xing noticed the moon still hung in the sky. It was likely still in the middle of the night.

"Now, what to do?"

He retrieved his token and accessed the interface. The list of nearby treasures remained largely unchanged. Seven treasures were still within reach, but upon closer inspection, he found they were all cultivation aids, herbs, pills, or miscellaneous items like the Gold Dragon Cauldron. In his pursuit to defeat Wei Yi and acquire a Heaven Grade Technique, he aimed to collect as many treasures as possible that would directly contribute to his strength in that confrontation. The Gold Dragon Cauldron and the other nearby treasures simply wouldn't serve that purpose.

Having confirmed his gun could amplify the effects of treasures, albeit indirectly, he resolved to equip himself with treasures that boosted his offensive or defensive capabilities, and since the nearby treasures didn't meet his specific needs, he decided to forgo retrieving them, leaving him with two options.

First, he could rest. Though he still felt energetic, rest was a valid choice. Rest would refresh his body and sharpen his mind. Or second, he could continue onward to his next destination.

After a moment's contemplation, he decided against resting, not wanting to waste any more time. While winning the race and becoming an inner disciple remained his primary objective, obtaining a Heaven Grade Technique was now equally important. These two goals were now intertwined, making the race slightly more challenging, as he needed to prioritize treasures that would specifically aid him in defeating Wei Yi.

Nodding in resolve, Liu Xing opened his interface and located the nearest item meeting his criteria, one that was located in a city called Second Gray Cloud City. He recalled that this city lay north of Mystic Moon City.

Adjusting his course accordingly, he cycles qi around his feet to increase his running speed. Although he wanted to reach his destination quickly, he decided not to run at full speed. His reasoning was that he wanted to read the Statue Summoning Technique. He was still unsure of the level of the technique, but he was confident that it would increase his strength, so it was unwise to delay studying it.

As he ran, he withdrew the book from his spatial bag. Holding it, he noted it was surprisingly thin, perhaps twenty pages or fewer. The cover felt rough, almost like cardboard, with fine, hair-like fibers he could feel beneath his fingertips.

Continuing his run, he opened the book and began to read the introductory chapter. As he read, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Instead of an introductory chapter, the first chapter was a short, mysterious paragraph.

"The joy of love is the joy of life. People cannot live without love, and yet, not all love is equal. My love for my parents is deep, but not as deep as my love for my creation. My love for my lover is meager, and she suffered because of it, and I want to fix it, but I cannot, since my heart is in the hands of my creation. When I lost all the people who loved me, I thought I would be okay, since I still have my creation. But then I realized that while I wholeheartedly love it, it would not return my love, because it's a creation. A being incapable of love."

Liu Xing reread the passage several times. He even recited it out loud, trying to decipher its meaning. He suspected that whoever wrote this paragraph was probably an artist. Given the name of the technique, Statue Summoning Technique, there was a strong possibility that he was a sculptor. A sculptor who was consumed by an all-encompassing love for his statues, to the point of neglecting his parents and his lover.

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