The sky should not have shopping districts.
Yet here Luo Feng was, clinging to the underside of a floating market stall as the wind howled through his bones. Below him, nothing but clouds and a very fatal drop.
"User," the System chirped, "recommend acquiring Wind God Void Energy before gravity remembers you exist."
[New Check-In Location: Celestial Bazaar – The Floating City]
[Mission: Steal the Storm-Swallower Fan (Reward: Wind God VE)]
[Failure Penalty: Plummeting to death. Again.]
The Fox Spirit, currently disguised as a wealthy merchant's concubine, waved at him from a nearby silk carpet. "Having fun yet?" she mouthed.
Luo Feng gritted his teeth. "I hate heights."
Li Qing, effortlessly balanced on a floating plank of enchanted wood, didn't even look at him. "Focus. The fan is in the Azure Pavilion."
A gust nearly ripped Luo Feng off his perch. "And how do we get in? Knock and ask nicely?"
The Fox Spirit's grin turned wicked. "Better." She held up three jade tokens. "We're the entertainment."
[The Plan: Infiltration via Terrible Performance]
Ten minutes later, Luo Feng stood on a floating stage, holding a guqin he absolutely could not play. Again.
"Remind me why this keeps working?" he muttered.
The Fox Spirit adjusted her flimsy dancer's veil. "Because rich people have terrible taste in art." She winked. "Just play something tragic and pretend you're deep."
Li Qing, dressed as their "manager," looked ready to commit arson. "If you embarrass me—"
"Relax," the Fox Spirit said. "Worst case, we rob them during the applause."
The curtain rose.
[The Performance: A Crime Against Music]
Luo Feng's first note sounded like a dying goose.
The audience—a mix of wealthy merchants and minor sect leaders—winced. The Fox Spirit's "dancing" was less traditional and more "drunken cobra impersonation."
And yet.
A silver-haired elder dabbed his eyes. "Such... raw emotion!"
Luo Feng plucked another discordant string. "This song... is about loss." (Mostly the loss of his dignity.)
The Fox Spirit swooned dramatically into a merchant's lap. "Oh, noble patron, do you feel the artist's pain?"
The merchant, thoroughly flustered, shoved a purse of spirit stones at her. "Make it stop!"
[Check-In Progress: 45%]
Li Qing facepalmed so hard it echoed.
[The Heist: Wind God VE Get!]
While the Fox Spirit "entertained," Luo Feng slipped into the Azure Pavilion. The Storm-Swallower Fan gleamed on a pedestal, its engravings shimmering with trapped typhoons.
"Warning," the System said. "Fan is booby-trapped with—"
Luo Feng grabbed it.
Alarms blared. The floor tiles flipped, revealing spikes. A sect elder burst in, beard quivering. "THIEF!"
Luo Feng did the only logical thing—he flicked the fan open.
A hurricane erupted.
The entire pavilion tilted as gales sent guards flying. Luo Feng shot through the ceiling like a rogue firework, still screaming, the Wind God VE flooding his veins.
[Reward Get: Wind God Void Energy]
[New Ability: Gale Step – Short bursts of aerial movement!]
[The Escape: Chaos x3]
Li Qing grabbed Luo Feng mid-air, her ice qi freezing a makeshift bridge. "You're impossible."
The Fox Spirit sprinted past, now wearing the elder's hat. "Pill Emperor update! His cult's here too!"
Sure enough, floating banners proclaimed:
"CELESTIAL BAZAAR: NOW A PILL-ONLY ZONE! NO FLESHLINGS ALLOWED!"
A group of brainwashed alchemists hurled explosive pills.
Luo Feng activated Gale Step—and immediately faceplanted into a noodle stall. "I regret everything."
[Check-In Complete]
[Reward: Wind God VE – Limited flight unlocked!]
[Bonus Chaos: Pill Emperor's influence spreads. Again.]
As they crashed onto a departing sky-skiff, the Fox Spirit laughed. "Best. Heist. Ever."
Li Qing scowled. "We're banned for life."
Luo Feng examined his new fan. "Worth it."
END OF THE CHAPTER13