Standing on his shield, Liu Xing stroked his chin. Since his goal was to create a stepping stone, he imagined jumping and then materializing the shield under his feet to use as a temporary foothold. As he nodded at the idea, it brought a smile to his face and a rush of excitement coursed through him.

"Before I try that, I need to make sure I can summon the shield anywhere I want."

Leaping from the shield, he landed on the ground with a soft thud and dismissed the shield. Summoning the shield once more, he willed it to materialize in front of him, facing upward. Indeed, the shield appeared right before his chest in the correct position without fanfare, as if it had been invisible and then became visible. It hovered silently, its green gem glowing softly, which relieved Liu Xing. He realized he did not need to send qi from his bullets every time he summoned the shield.

He dismissed the shield again and tried to summon it behind him. Turning around, he found the shield floating lazily like a bubble.

He dismissed and summoned the shield several more times. He willed it to appear in front of him, behind him, at his side, and even above his head. He also attempted to gauge the range at which he could summon the shield, imagining he could materialize it wherever he pointed his sight. But after several attempts, he realized the shield would only materialize within about half a meter around him, which he considered quite useful.

"Now, for the final experiment," he muttered.

Excitement filled his chest. He cycled his qi around his feet, kicked the ground as hard as possible, and launched himself into the air. His hair and robe fluttered in the cool night breeze as the ground receded with each passing second. As gravity threatened to pull him down, he cycled his qi to summon the shield and willed it to appear directly beneath his feet.

For a moment, he fell, and then he stopped. Looking down, he saw the shield with its glowing green gem had become a floating platform holding him aloft. He chuckled, elation bubbling in his heart. It seemed he could indeed use the shield to replace Air Steps.

Liu Xing jumped higher into the sky, materialized the shield, and jumped from it again. He repeated this several times, turning the night sky into his playground. At first, he needed to concentrate on the shield's placement, but after a while, he felt he could trust the shield to appear exactly where he intended.

He began to maneuver more elaborately in the sky, sometimes flying vertically, sometimes horizontally, and even diagonally. The stars twinkled above him, seeming to dance in rhythm with his movements. Smiling, he decided to escalate his experiment. He summoned his gun, activated Lightning Cloak, and bounced around so fast he resembled a bolt of lightning ricocheting across the night sky. He started to laugh, feeling an adrenaline course through his body. With this technique, he felt stronger. After all, he could now move freely, whether on the ground or in the sky. Moreover, this was a shield. While useful as a foothold, its primary purpose remained defense.

Liu Xing ceased his fancy maneuvers and began jumping from shield to shield horizontally, as if crossing a wide river by leaping from stone to stone. He started moving north, deciding it was time to go to Second Gray Cloud City. He transitioned from the plain grassland into a forested area. Just then, however, the shield materialized beneath his feet, and when he stepped onto it, there was no resistance. Glancing at the shield, he realized the green gem was dark, and it plummeted like any ordinary shield would.

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Since the shield failed as a stepping stone, gravity asserted its dominance, pulling Liu Xing and the shield downward. Though high in the sky, he was not so high that the fall would injure him.

Grabbing the shield, Liu Xing reasoned it might require periodic recharging. From the start of his experiment until now, roughly half an hour had passed. He assumed the shield could float for approximately half an hour at a time. He recharged his gun and used the bullets to recharge the shield. The green gem shone brightly once more, and the shield arrested its fall. He grabbed the floating shield then pulled himself up until he stood upon it.

"All right, let's go," he said, his voice barely audible above the whistling wind.

Next on his agenda was acquiring more treasures, defeating Wei Yi, and then becoming an inner disciple.

***

Mystic Moon City was one of the cities that remained independent of any country. It was a self-governing city, almost a tiny nation in itself. Once, this city had belonged to the White Bone Nation. This nation had been a vassal of the Purple Moon Sect, and while not the most powerful, it had been prosperous. Its people benefited from fertile land, and its rulers possessed numerous cultivation scriptures and techniques. However, in the past, the king of that nation had succumbed to greed and sold his allegiance to a demonic cultivator, daring to betray the Purple Moon Sect. Unsurprisingly, the Purple Moon Sect was enraged, and the consequence was the dissolution of the White Bone Nation and the dispersal of its cities.

Some of these cities formed new nations, some were absorbed by neighboring countries, and others became independent cities like Mystic Moon City. Second Gray Cloud City was among the many cities that, following the White Bone Nation's downfall, had been attacked and annexed by an empire known as the Twelve Sun Empire.

Liu Xing stood atop his shield high in the sky. Looking down, he could see the entire expanse of Second Gray Cloud City. A giant river bisected the city center, dividing it into two parts. He could not discern details from this height, but he knew many smaller rivers branched from that great river.

Liu Xing willed his shield to descend. It lowered slowly, as if he were riding an elevator, and this time, Liu Xing preferred a slow descent to a rapid fall. He suspected he floated as high as an airplane on Earth, and even for a sixth stage Lock Opening realm cultivator, a fall from this height could cause injury. He had not intended to ascend so high; he had simply become carried away, attempting to fly into a white cloud.

As he descended, Liu Xing considered the three treasures he needed to obtain from this city. He had already memorized information about them and knew the landmark that would guide him to them. He simply needed to locate that landmark.

Looking down, he predicted his landing point would be in the city center, and he tried to recall which treasure lay closest to the city.

After descending for ten minutes, individual buildings became visible below. From this altitude, Liu Xing felt he could land safely, so he dismissed the shield and began to free fall. He observed many people bustling in the streets below, mingling with horses and donkeys pulling carriages. Tents and semi-permanent buildings dotted the landscape, and roads branched in various directions, creating a maze. Liu Xing realized he would land in a market area.

He considered resummoning his shield and using it as a springboard to land in a less congested area, but ultimately decided against it. While his descent would end in the middle of a market, his precise landing spot was actually a less crowded street adjacent to a nicely painted building.

As he fell, Liu Xing noticed many people tilting their heads and pointing upwards at him. He ignored them, focusing on the ground that rushed closer each second. Upon landing, a small cloud of dust billowed around him, momentarily obscuring him.

Liu Xing lightly slapped his robe to remove the dust and looked around. This street, though not crowded, still bustled with people. Liu Xing realized each building lining the street was stores. To his right, a store featured a glass display showcasing a mannequin in a beautiful red dress with white trimming. Several wide-eyed girls peeked from the store's doorway, as if they could not believe what they had just witnessed.

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