"What are these?"
Hu Tao stared blankly at the two golden wheels resting on the counter.
They were small and exquisite, about the size of her hands. Their diameter was roughly between twenty and forty centimeters, with a thickness of five to ten centimeters. They gleamed with a brilliant, pure gold luster.
Felix: "?????"
Felix had been watching her pulls with a mild, practiced indifference. But when he read the system description for these golden wheels, his pupils constricted violently. He looked as if he had just witnessed something utterly impossible.
How could a standard jar drop something like this?!
Previously, whether it was a Devil Fruit, a Steam Battleship, or a Zanpakuto, he had felt surprised, yes, but it was within the realm of acceptability. Those were powerful, but still somewhat grounded within a certain power scaling.
But this?
This shouldn't be in a standard jar!
Felix stared at the golden wheels, his mind reeling.
[Wind and Fire Wheels (Feng Huo Lun)]: A miraculous divine treasure from a certain mythological world. These twin wheels conceal the primal forces of wind and fire and can be used as a mode of transportation. By reciting the incantation, the wheels will spin, granting flight as swift as the wind and as explosive as fire. Their power can chase the wind and pursue fire, radiating endless, unquenchable heat. They can travel anywhere under heaven, spinning endlessly in blazing glory. The incantation is inherent; simply touching them grants full knowledge of their use. They will not burn the user's feet.
The text was relatively brief, but Felix was completely stunned.
No matter what universe these came from, they were considered a top-tier, mythological artifact!
Even if it wasn't the exact universe of Chinese mythology he was thinking of, a world that produced something called the "Wind and Fire Wheels" was operating on a completely different level of power.
How did these drop from a one-hundred-thousand Mora jar?!
Standard jars dropped trash frequently, and good items occasionally. The upper limit seemed to be things like the Steam Battleship (with missiles), Zanpakutos, Devil Fruits, or Kekkei Genkai.
Felix had mentally categorized the standard jar loot pool into three tiers: Blue, Purple, and Gold.
Blue: Ordinary items, foods, drinks, materials, recipes.
Purple: Gadgets with niche or specific utility (like Doraemon tools).
Gold: High-power combat abilities and vehicles (Devil Fruits, Battleships).
He had always assumed that because these were standard jars—and refined jars existed above them—there was a hard cap on the power level of the "Gold" tier drops.
But Hu Tao pulling the Wind and Fire Wheels shattered that assumption completely.
There were items far beyond "Gold" hidden in the standard pool!
He had thought the system's claim of containing "items from the myriad heavens and realms" was just flavor text for the standard jars. Now, he realized it was literal. The standard jars could drop anything; the probability for mythological items was just infinitesimally small.
Felix took a deep breath.
Hu Tao's luck was genuinely terrifying.
"What's wrong, Shopkeeper?"
Seeing Felix staring fixedly at the wheels, Hu Tao blinked. Were these two golden wheels that special?
"Hey, those two gold wheels... just selling them as pure gold would fetch a lot of Mora," Undertaker Meng observed, blinking rapidly. "They look like solid gold."
"They are the Wind and Fire Wheels. A magical flying treasure," Felix said, his expression strange as he looked Hu Tao up and down. "Touch them, and you'll know how to use them."
"A flying treasure?!"
Hu Tao's plum-blossom eyes sparkled.
Flight was an incredible ability! Yanfei's Bamboo Copter was proof enough of how useful it was.
Without hesitation, Hu Tao reached out and touched the wheels. Instantly, a surge of knowledge appeared in her mind.
A moment later, her eyes went wide with disbelief.
Wheels that shoot fire!
"What is it?"
Seeing her shocked expression, Meng and the Ferrylady leaned in curiously. What kind of knowledge had the Director received to make her look like that?
"They're flying fire wheels!" Hu Tao exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement. "They can fly, and they shoot flames!"
Meng: "????"
Ferrylady: "????"
Felix: "..."
Felix's eyelid twitched.
Seriously, what kind of luck does she have?
In the next second, Hu Tao silently recited the incantation in her mind.
The two golden wheels on the counter responded instantly. Like obedient pets, they rolled off the wood and settled perfectly beneath Hu Tao's feet.
Almost immediately, the golden wheels began to lift her off the ground.
Hu Tao stood balanced on the wheels as she slowly floated upward.
"Uh... she's flying?" Meng gasped.
But the real shock came a second later.
BOOM!
With a roar, fierce, blazing flames erupted from the wheels beneath Hu Tao's feet.
The moment the fire ignited, Hu Tao vanished from her spot inside the shop.
A split second later, she appeared outside in the night sky.
"Hehehehe! This is so fun! So cool!"
Hovering high above the ground, Hu Tao looked down at the blazing wheels beneath her feet in sheer delight. Even though she was standing directly on the fire, she didn't feel the slightest bit of heat or pain.
She even tried jumping up into the air. The moment her feet left the wheels, the burning artifacts automatically tracked her movement, slotting perfectly back beneath her soles before she fell.
She realized she could control them entirely with her thoughts.
The bright moon hung in the sky, casting a silver glow over Liyue Harbor. The city below was a sea of flickering candlelight and shadowy rooftops.
But as Hu Tao zoomed across the sky, the intense flames of the Wind and Fire Wheels illuminated the darkness like a second sun, instantly drawing the attention of everyone still awake.
"Holy crap! What is that?!"
Someone pointed at the sky, screaming.
As people looked up, jaws dropped across the harbor.
"What the hell?! Those wheels are on fire!"
"Isn't that Director Hu from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?! Why is she standing on flaming wheels?!"
"Good Archons, what kind of gadget is that? It can carry a person?"
"Are we ignoring the fact that the wheels are literally engulfed in fire?! How are her feet not burning?!"
"Idiot, Director Hu has a Pyro Vision! Obviously she's immune to fire! But why are the wheels burning, and how are they flying? That's so cool!"
"Director Hu is always pulling out the weirdest things! First the parlor starts talking, and now she's surfing the night sky on fire wheels!"
"But how is she flying?! You need a wind glider and a high place to catch the wind! Unless there's an updraft, you can't go higher. But she's just standing there, flying wherever she wants!"
...
The citizens of Liyue stared in disbelief at the fiery spectacle above them.
As Hu Tao moved, the Wind and Fire Wheels left a beautiful, trailing ribbon of flame across the dark canvas of the night sky.
"Man, that looks amazing! Where did she get that? Is it a new invention from the Gliding Club?"
Someone stared up with pure envy.
"Bullshit. If those guys could invent something like that, I'll eat my hat," another person scoffed. "I bet she got it from the Jar Shop."
"You're probably right. I'm so jealous. Director Hu's luck is insane."
"It looks so cool... I want burning wheels too..."
...
Across the city, anyone who wasn't asleep was captivated by the sight of Hu Tao and her Wind and Fire Wheels.
Near the Yuehai Pavilion.
In the guest quarters assigned to the foreign delegation, Kujou Sara stepped out onto her balcony. She hadn't even had time to admire Liyue's skyline before her eyes locked onto the blazing figure soaring through the night.
Her pupils constricted.
Flaming wheels... supporting a person in mid-air.
Has Liyue's aviation technology reached this level?!
In Inazuma, the only means of flight was the wind glider, which required an elevated starting point and relied entirely on gliding mechanics. Sara herself had her Tengu wings, a natural, biological advantage.
But she had just arrived in Liyue, and she was already witnessing a human flying freely on golden, burning wheels.
How is she generating lift?
Is it the wheels? But how does she maintain balance?
Wait...
Sara narrowed her eyes, her Tengu vision piercing the distance.
There's a tiny gap of empty space between her feet and the wheels!
What kind of sorcery was this? Was Liyue's technology truly this unfathomable?
Kujou Sara's expression grew incredibly solemn.
Read ahead with 100+ chapters now with daily updates!
@patreon.com/Zefyrus