--- Chapter 4 ---
"Well, we arrived at our destination, Koro." Hayate stood in front of Floating Cloud City's gate.
Koro stared at the city silently and released a gurgling sound from its stomach. "No, we are here not to eat them," Hayate warned the small Kaiju.
He shook his head and continued, "I'll give you some lower-class cores later."
Koro nodded in excitement and snuggled Hayate's shoulders, causing him to smile a little. He patted Koro's head and wondered how many cores he needed to feed so that Koro could become A-grade chimera Kaiju.
There are two ways to upgrade Chimera Cores, fusing them with other Chimera Kaiju or feeding them with lower-class cores.
Koro originally was a D-grade Chimera Kaiju, but Hayate fed it every day because Hong Guan nagged him a lot. It surprisingly grew into B-grade in two years, surprising Hayate's expectations.
Hayate walked into the city, noticing an ordinary yet clean view of the Floating Cloud City.
Floating Cloud City is the smallest city in the Blue Wind Empire. It was so small that it was not even suitable to be called a city.
"This city is even smaller than Silver Lake City in size," Hayate commented while checking some buildings on the side road.
It is situated in the far east and is the most geographically remote in terms of location. The population, economy, and even the average Profound Strength were the lowest of the low.
Hayate has gained some information about Floating Cloud City beforehand and found out this city's profound strength is so weak. No one ever stepped foot into the Sky Profound Realm.
Floating Cloud City's residents often mock themselves because they sadly were forgotten in the corners of the Blue Wind Empire.
Sky Lake City was also the same but had a different advantage because they possessed dozens of Earth Profound Realm's cultivators and trading places among the cities.
Not to mention the tremendous growth they had in only two years.
Hayate wondered and added, "This place is like where a novel's protagonist lives for some reason."
"A complete backwater city, where his life mocked and tried to be the best."
"Well, that can't be, right?" He laughed and searched for an inn.
After walking for a few minutes, Hayate arrived at a small inn with a rough appearance. He rented a room for two days and talked briefly with the waitress, who arranged his room.
"I heard there is something special about this city?" Hayate started the conversation with a gentle tone.
"Special?" The waitress tilted her head for a moment. "Oh, you must have heard about Xia's young lady."
"She's indeed a rare beauty."
"I see... I thought you're beautiful as well." Hayate praised, which caused her to blush a little.
"W-Well, I'll take that compliment, but I already have a husband." She answered while twirling her hair.
Hayate chuckled and continued, "What's wrong with complimenting someone's beauty?"
"I'll say sorry if I sounded rude, but did you dislike it?"
The waitress was wordless and fell into deep thoughts for a moment because Hayate's statement wasn't wrong at all. There is nothing wrong with being praised.
'It's not like I was cheating on my husband.' The waitress thought.
Hayate's expression was gentle under his hood, but he deliberately manipulated this waitress with his words. A compliment is such an easy way to exploit someone's opinion.
Since Hayate didn't trust anyone in his life except for Koyori, Coach Mei, Hong Guan, and his Kaiju, he always maintained a deceitful mentality with other people.
"Then, madam. I'll take a short nap." He waved his hand at her and closed the door.
"O-Oh, sure." The waitress lady answered with a stutter.
Hayate flopped on the bed and said, "The first impression matters after all."
"Who would have thought "How to be a Gentleman." works quite well."
Koro wiggled its body and waited for Hayate to feed some lower-class Kaiju cores.
"Here." He pulled out a bowl filled with lower-class Kaiju cores.
"!!!" Koro nodded and began to devour those cores.
Yawn~
Hayate yawned and said, "Whatever, let's take a nap."
As Hayate quickly fell into a deep slumber, also known as a nap in his dictionary, profound energy flowed slowly to his body.
He used [Hibernation] from [Purple-Skinned Worm King]'s chimera core and absorbed profound energy from the atmosphere into his body, cultivating himself while sleeping peacefully.
Even though this ability seemed powerful at first glance, Hayate only absorbed and did not filter the profound energy, which wouldn't increase his cultivation realm.
He had to manually filter the profound energy when he woke up, purging any impurities within himself.
After a few hours, Hayate gradually opened his eyes and meditated on the bed instinctively. He sensed an enormous amount of profound energy within his body and ran [Mystic Art of Body Cultivation] he created.
[Mystic Art of Body Cultivation] was a cultivation technique Hayate created with [Titleless Medical Book]'s knowledge and several Profound Energy Absorption Manuals inside Hong Guan's family storage.
Hayate admitted that he wasn't the brightest person in this world because this technique was flawed in so many ways, and only he could cultivate it.
[Mystic Art of Body Cultivation] heavily tailored for him, who possessed Kaiju Creation ability. If other people cultivate this technique, their bodies will be in chaos and become disabled instantly.
Hayate's body released a warm cloud of white smoke and cooled down slowly. He breathed out and concentrated the profound energy he refined into his abdomen.
"I still haven't reached the 1st stage [Mystic Art of Body Cultivation] even after two years." Hayate sighed inside.
"Body Reconstruction is such a difficult step."
"!!?" Koro jumped onto the bed.
Hayate patted Koro and jumped off his bed. "I can always eat food Hong Guan prepared in my spatial storage, but I hope this inn serves dinner."
He walked out of his inn room and noticed the waitress lady came with a tray filled with warm food.
"Ah, nice to meet you again." He politely greeted her.
The lady waitress giggled and gave the tray to him. "Here, I saved some food for you."
"Don't worry about the additional fee. It's in the house."
"Thank you very much." Hayate scratched his cheek in a shy manner.
"You should go visit the lake near the mountain." The waitress lady added while walking away. "The view is beautiful at night, especially when the moon shines brightly like tonight."
As she disappeared into the corner, Hayate entered his room and ate the food on the tray. He couldn't find anything related to poison, so the dinner was okay for him.
He clasped his hand naturally and said, "Thanks for the food."
Hayate's eyes wandered to the window and saw the sparkling lake, which shone with a white glimmer. "Lake, huh." He thought about the Silver Lake near Hong Guan's house.
"Let's go, Koro." He wore his coat and let Koro sit on his shoulder.
They walked out of the Inn and looked at the beautiful white moon in the sky, witnessing a sparkle of light descent to Floating Cloud City. Hayate followed the trails and arrived at the lake.
A beautiful black-haired young lady was sitting near the lake.
She has a pair of magnificent eyes, clear like crystals, like the radiance of a calm night. Her creamy face, which has a pure yet unreal quality, and her shiny black hair flowed gently behind her snow-white shoulder.
"Hong Guan wasn't lying," Hayate whispered solemnly. "There is beauty in this city."
Koro suddenly barked and jumped out of his shoulder, approaching the young lady with somewhat hungry eyes.
The young lady sensed danger and moved her gaze to a bush, where a little cute white dog appeared and ran toward her. She frowned and raised her guard against this creature.
Koro lunged forward and attacked the young lady, who skillfully dodged and countered with an ice blast. Koro wasn't affected by her attack and kept advancing.
"Frozen Cloud Barrier." The young lady used her profound energy and created a barrier made of ice.
BAM! CRACK!
Koro broke the barrier in first contact, sending the young lady away with a blast.
"My barrier." The young lady's eyes widened.
She breathed coldly and was ready to launch another attack, which was more powerful.
However, when Koro was about to reach her again, Hayate grabbed Kaiju's dog collar and stopped it. "Calm down." He commanded indifferently.
A sense of domination radiated from Hayate's body, causing Koro to quiver in fear. There is always a case where a summoned Kaiju has gone out of control. He has to dominate them with his will, or a disaster will happen.
'Thank god, I only summoned Koro.' Hayate sighed in relief because Giant Kaiju was hard to control.
He glanced at the young lady and apologetically said, "My name is Hayate Kurogami, and I'm truly sorry."
"May I know your name? So that I can compensate you as fast as possible."
.
.
"X-Xia Qingyue." The young lady answered with nervousness in her tone.
--- Xia Qingyue pov ---
I was sitting near the lake a moment ago, but an unknown cute white dog suddenly attacked me.
"My barrier." I looked at the broken barrier with widened eyes.
As the cute white dog lunged forward at me, I tried to gather more profound energy.
A young man around my age abruptly grasped the dog's collar and calmed it down almost instantly, pressuring it with his spiritual dominance.
He's taller than me with unkempt yet dashing short black hair, and his golden eyes shone brightly under the night curtain. There is something special about him.
I could read one's intentions with one gaze, evaluating whether they are dangerous or not quickly. However, it was the first time I saw a person with a heart filled with stars.
It was like a vast universe with endless stars within it, and every single of them shone brighter than the moon. I could see different creatures with bizarre sizes and strengths, which could trample down the mountain to nothing.
This young man is the center of the universe and the absolute ruler of these creatures. As if they sensed me, thousands of roars immediately were directed at me.
I've never felt something like this for a while, causing me to remember when my mother left us.
"My name is Hayate Kurogami, and I'm truly sorry." The young man said with an apologetic look on his face.
"May I know your name? So I can compensate you."
I'm still afraid because of the frightening roars and replied, "X-Xia Qianyue."
--- Normal Pov ---
Hayate offered his hand to Xia Qianyue, but she only stared and hesitated because no male ever helped her sincerely.
"There." He pulled her hand, making her stand up again.
"Eh." Xia Qingyue stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.
Hayate placed a handkerchief on her hand and asked, "Do you hurt anywhere?"
"N-No, but..." Xia Qingyue couldn't process how many things this person violated. He let his pet attack her, touching her hand without consent, and blatantly ignored her beauty.
She usually was very calm in this situation, but her heart hadn't calmed down after witnessing many monstrous Kaiju.
"True Profound Realm? That's not bad." Hayate muttered, but Xia Qinyue could still hear him.
He thought about something to pay Xia Qingyue back because money seemed the last thing she was interested in, which led him to another option.
After sensing her profound energy, Hayate found out Xia Qingyue was at the second level of the True Profound Realm. It really was a remarkable achievement, considering her young age.
"I'll open all of your profound entrances. Is that enough?" He casually spoke, like it was such an easy thing to do.
Xia Qingyue knew how hard it was to open Profound Entrances because even a skillful doctor could only open one or two. Nonetheless, this guy casually stated that he could open all of them.
"Why should I trust you..?" Xia Qingyue silently questioned as she gained her composure back.
Hayate smirked under his hood and answered, "Of course, you don't have to trust a stranger like me."
"But, are you okay if I just walk away right now?"
He turned around and began to walk away from Xia Qingyue, leaving her speechless.
"I..." Xia Qingyue looked at Hayate's back with a complicated gaze.
She couldn't help but bite her lips in frustration and said, "Fine, but you have to prove it to me first."
Hayate turned around instantly and grasped her arm once again. He checked her body's condition and frowned because she possessed two special perks.
"Hmm, sit down." He instructed, to which Xia Qingyue responded
with a nod.
As Xia Qingyue sat down, Hayate's hand pressed on her snowy back and poured his profound energy into her. She shivered a little and waited for Hayate to start his procedure.
Hayate breathed out and concentrated on Xia Qingyue's back.
He skillfully infused a thin silver needle with his profound energy and inserted it into Xia Qingyue. Excitement could be seen in Hayate's golden eyes as he opened Xia Qingyue's Profound Entrances one by one.
After a few moments, which felt like eternal, Xia Qingyue felt her body finally being released from a shackle. It seemed that she could fly in the sky like a free bird.
Hayate did only open all of Xia Qingyue's Profound Entrances but also accidentally altered her Heart of Snow Glazed Glass.
Of course, Hayate was unaware of this change because he was too absorbed in his work.
Heart of Snow Glazed Glass granted Xia Qingyue a remarkable ability to view others' hearts, but in the [Titleless Medical Book], it said that someone with this mind would bear something heavy and grieve in the future.
Not to mention Xia Qingyue's other special perk, Nine Profound Exquisite Physique. This body constitution type of "small world" inside it allows her to possess more power than her physical body can handle.
It was such a great harvest for Hayate because he could improve his [Mystic Art of Body Cultivation]. He instinctively meditated and used his cultivation technique.
"How amazing." Xia Qingyue opened her eyes and clenched her slender hand in awe.
She tilted her head and saw Hayate meditating behind her, absorbing an enormous quantity of profound energy around them.
"I see... I'm an idiot." Hayate commented while entering the first stage [Mystic Art of Body Cultivation].
Hayate's clothes slowly were burned by extreme temperature and covered his entire body with an ashen dark shell.
Xia Qingyue could still hear Hayate's breaths and a loud heart pulsing noise.
Crack!
A few minutes passed, but nothing changed until a small crack appeared on Hayate's body.
BOOM!
Hayate released himself from the dark shell and noticed he had gone through Body Reconstruction. He has grown taller with more refined muscle.
He also could feel endless strength within himself and caught Xia Qingyue staring at him with a slight blush.
"Ah..."
It's the story of how Hayate met Xia Qingyue, a young lady from the Floating Cloud City.