--- Chapter 22 ---
Cang Yue pulled her flexible thin sword crafted from millennium years of cold steel. It personally was tailored for Cang Yue because Hayate handed a sword technique to her one year ago.
[Blue Wind Sword Sutra], a profound art Hayate assembled with sword technique recorded within.
At first, It was an incomplete sword technique in Hong Guan's family storage, but he fixed it with several profound arts.
It's not a flawless technique, yet Cang Yue wants to perfect it by herself.
Cang Yue waved her hand and thrust her sword forward, leaving everyone from the Black Demon Mercenary Group confused.
She lifted her feet and disappeared abruptly.
A violent breeze exploded and swept over the group with several sharp wind blades.
"Roaring Azure Slashes." Cang Yue flicked her sword and waited for the wind to follow her steps.
SWOOSH!
"Arrgghhh!"
"GUH!"
"M-My hand..."
Black Demon stared at her and noticed his sight slowly sliding off to the right. The last thing he saw was Cang Yue's cold yet beautiful face.
Cang Yue doesn't even blink when killing her enemy because she learned a lot in one year. There was no such thing as mercy on the battlefield, or her loved one would suffer.
"Not bad, You've improved by a leap, big sister," Hayate commented while clapping his hand.
He walked toward Cang Yue and told Koro to clean the rest of the Black Demon Mercenary Group's members, leaving a member for him to interrogate later.
"H-Hehe, this is nothing..." Cang Yue blushed when Hayate complimented her.
She enjoyed it when Hayate praised her, making everything she had invested so far worth it. Yes, Cang Yue is a compliment seeker who desired Hayate's approval.
Hayate's harsh comment when she was naive to believe Gu Quihong's words in the past awakened her fascination for his approval. She would try her best to gain even a tiny bit of his acceptance.
However, that tiny bit of Hayate's approval is more than enough to make her happy.
Koro's small body dragged the last member of the Black Demon Mercenary Group.
"Good Job." Hayate patted Koro's head and fed the small dog a lower-grade Kaiju core.
"!!!" Koro excitedly bounced and jumped back to Hayate's inner world.
'How nice...' Cang Yue thought to herself, imagining Hayate praised her again.
She never expected that she would be jealous of a dog and wished to become one in her entire life.
Hayate moved his gaze to the last mercenary and asked everything they were about to do in this place, to which the man answered in fear.
"Phoenix Clan?" He muttered while thinking about the Divine Phoenix Empire.
The Divine Phoenix Empire is one of the seven greatest nations on the profound sky continent.
It is the strongest nation due to its Divine Phoenix bloodline, which it received from the Divine Phoenix God.
'There is Divine Phoenix Inheritance in this small star?' Jasmine frowned when hearing Hayate's interrogation.
'How?!'
'Like I would know.' Hayate sneered while quickly ending the last mercenary's life.
He picked the raw sphere and stared at the place with high barriers around it.
"Big sister, let's go there." He slowly pulled Cang Yue and walked to supposedly the phoenix clan.
As they arrived at the site, A man with a humble appearance and calm demeanor greeted them. He's around late twenty with a flame imprint upon his forehead, which appeared clearly.
Hayate noticed the fire imprint and realized he was discovering a treasure because only someone with Phoenix Bloodline could have that.
"I've watched what you two did to the mercenary group." The man politely bowed. "They harassed us for months already, so I'm thankful for your help."
Cang Yue smiled and replied, "You're welcome, senior."
"May I know your name?" Hayate continued, to which the man responded with a nod.
"My name is Feng BaiChuan." The man answered with a calm tone. "I'm currently the leader of the phoenix clan."
"My name is Cang Yue, Senior Feng." Cang Yue introduced herself with a harmless smile.
Hayate shook his head and added, "Nice to meet you, Senior Feng. My name is Hayate."
Feng Baichuan stared at both of them and continued with a sigh, "Let's continue our conversation inside."
He led Hayate and Cang Yue into the Phoenix Clan, which was big, but each member possessed a dark-red flame imprint instead of bright red.
"I can't judge both of your characters, but since you are our benefactor, I can at least tell you our clan's history." Feng Baichuan said solemnly.
The Phoenix Clan resides in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, and their small clan lives in a village close to the Phoenix Ruins. The Phoenix Ruins contain half the Phoenix God's Spirit that descended onto the continent in the past.
An ancestor passed the phoenix trial and obtained the phoenix bloodline. They flourished into a large sect after 12 generations. During that generation, one of the ancestors fought with someone using the power of the phoenix, and the flames accidentally spread to a small town and killed thirty-two thousand innocent people.
The phoenix spirit was enraged and cursed the bloodline, making them unable to pass the tenth level of Elementary Profound Realm.
Afterward, the clan hid in the mountain range next to the ruins of the phoenix for a thousand years, praying to their phoenix god to lift the curse.
Hayate released a sigh and emphatically said, "You have gone through a lot."
Unlike the Divine Phoenix Empire's royal family, who are arrogant because of their bloodline, people in the phoenix clan firmly bear their ancestors' mistakes and pray for a thousand years, hoping their god will forgive them.
Hayate admired their persistence, but he also sneered at the phoenix spirit's silliness at the same time. How could you let your loyal follower suffer for such an indirect mistake?
He couldn't understand a god's way of thinking at all.
'Hayate, this is a chance.' Jasmine suddenly proposed with an excited tone. 'Why don't you try to enter the Phoenix Trial Ground?'
'With your Evil God's fire immunity, you shouldn't have a problem completing the test.'
'Silly, Princess Jasmine.' Hayate commented casually. 'Do you think such a being doesn't know my intention from the beginning?'
'This is Phoenix Spirit's territory, after all.'
Hayate always trusted his instinct and sensed a piercing gaze on his body when he entered the Phoenix Clan. It was faint, but he could feel it very well.
"1000 years, huh." Cang Yue said solemnly. "If only we could help you..."
"We can actually." Hayate tapped his finger on the table lightly.
"However, I need your permission."
"I need your permission as the phoenix clan's leader to enter the trials ground."
Feng Baichuan furrowed his eyebrows and questioned, "Are you perhaps wanting to finish the trial?"
"Yes," Hayate answered without hesitation. "I can't prove myself as a good person. "
"No, more precisely, I'm not a good-hearted person in the first place."
"Nevertheless, I'm willing to bet."
"If I fail, I'll give your entire clan 1000 years' worth of food, clothing, and support from Silver Lake City."
Hayate placed the "Hong." badge on the table where they sat around and left Cang Yue surprised.
A rumor said one could basically enjoy almost every form of entertainment in Silver Lake City with the "Hong." badge without getting charged even a yellow profound coin.
"Silver Lake City?" Feng Baichuan was confused by such an unfamiliar city's name.
"..." Cang Yue stared at Feng Baichuan in disbelief, but then he probably never went out of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.
Hayate couldn't help but laugh and said, "Silver Lake City is the best city in the Blue Wind Empire."
"Its location is only a few thousand kilometers away from this place."
"I'll offer this first, then." He stared at Feng Baichuan and placed a spatial ring on the table. "Please check it, Senior Feng."
Feng Baichuan stared at the spatial ring and injected his profound energy into it, sensing a vast space with a ton of food. He tried to touch a sack of rice and saw rice grains falling like white pearls.
He looked around the spatial space and counted one thousand more sacks of rice, which left him speechless.
"Is it not enough? I can give you two more rings." Hayate confidently placed two spatial rings on the table.
Feng Baichan couldn't but stare at Hayate with a solemn look because this young man was not ordinary.
"I mean no harm," Hayate confidently smiled at him.
"Father!" Twin kids walked into the room with curious looks on their immature faces. "We heard an outsider is entering our clan!"
"Xian'er, Zu'er." Feng Baichuan's expression melted.
The twin kids observed Hayate and Cang Yue with bright eyes.
"Woah, so beautiful." Feng Zu'er said innocently.
"Woah, so handsome." Feng Xian'er said with the same tone.
Cang Yue giggled cheerfully and commented, "How adorable."
Hayate smirked inside because Feng Baichuan's guard must be low enough now.
"Think about, Senior Feng. You can feed your children good food from now on." He stated while waving his hand at Feng Xian'er. "Not only your children but also your entire clan."
"You have nothing to lose in this bet."
Feng Baichuan glanced at his wife, who watched outside with a worried expression, and several clan members.
He looked back to Hayate and answered, "Very well."
"I'll accept your bet."
Hayate offered his hand to him, and they shook each other's hands firmly in agreement.
'You should have said that you could lift their curse when you finished the trial.' Jasmine commented while yawning.
'I don't understand why you are being such a nice guy out of nowhere.'
'What do you mean?' Hayate responded with a faulted expression. 'I'm always a nice guy.'
Jasmine sneered and indifferently replied, 'I wish you were one, you heartless jerk.'
Hayate shrugged his shoulders and followed Feng Baichuan to the Phoenix Trial Ground. They entered a building and approached an array that would send someone into the trial.
"When you enter the trial through the array, please be mindful of the phoenix spirit." Feng Baichuan warned Hayate.
"I'll keep that in mind," Hayate replied while walking onto the array.
--- Phoenix Trial ---
Hayate floated in a dark space and saw a pair of fiery golden eyes staring at him.
"I assumed you were the divine phoenix?" He asked politely.
"You're right, and I'll start your trial now." Phoenix Spirit replied immediately.
"Since your cultivation is at the 3rd level of Sky Profound Realm."
"The difficulty will be increased."
"First Trial, Purgatory Flame Demon."
"Wait..." Hayate raised his hand and noticed the scenery had changed from dark space to a magma field. He sighed and looked at the giant creature made of pure flame.
'An emperor. It's strong, but you shouldn't have any problem-.' Jasmine sensed the strength of the purgatory flame demon.
Hayate disappeared from his position and jumped toward the purgatory flame demon.
ROAR!
Purgatory Flame Demon roared and sent several fireballs at Hayate, which he ignored.
"Lion Subduing Fist." He clenched his fist.
BAM!
A powerful shockwave washed through the magma field and Purgatory Flame Demon.
'Hey, Violence is not the answer!' Jasmine frowned at his action.
"It's not an answer but a question." Hayate bombarded the giant creature with his punch.
"The answer is yes."
BOOM!
The entire field violently was shaken, and a black-haired young man stood with bruised red fists.
Phoenix Spirit's eyes observed Hayate in awe. "What a raw showcase of strength." The residual soul remarked.
"Next." Hayate stared at the fiery eyes.
"Are you sure you want to continue immediately?" The phoenix spirit questioned.
Hayate breathed out and answered, "Next."
"Second Trial, Arrows of the Phoenix began."
The field changed again, and Hayate's instinct told him to dodge quickly as hundreds of fire arrows chased him.
He used [Storm Zinogre]'s core but halted the transformation, which made him only able to use 30 percent of its true power.
Hayate's silhouette flickered in the field and swiftly danced with wind lightning, dodging every fire arrow skillfully.
He arrived on the top and looked down, where at least a thousand or even more fire arrows chased him. He dropped down with a smile and faintly vanished into thin air.
BOOM!
The fire arrows lost their target and exploded when hitting a lightning barrier.
"5 seconds have passed."
"This aura... Are you perhaps Evil God's inheritor?" Phoenix Spirit asked.
"Yes, and no." Hayate deactivated [Storm Zinogre]'s core. "I absorbed his blood into his body, but my profound veins are completely different from Evil God."
"Anyway, Next."
"..." Phoenix Spirit.
"Third Trial, Corruption of the Heart's Flame."
"I'll warn just for once. There are only seven people who passed this trial in the past."
"It has nothing to do with flame, but it will create your most pleasant memory."
Hayate nodded and waited for the last trial, but a familiar scenery of his past life's house entered his sight.
'Wow, this is just dirty...' Hayate thought while looking at the kitchen.
"Ah, my son finally woke up." A beautiful woman in her early thirties smiled at Hayate.
After that, a man with a masculine look appeared from behind and patted Hayate on the shoulders.
"Well, don't just stand there and sit in the chair so that we could eat breakfast together." He continued.
They are his parents.
Hayate smiled forcibly and answered, "Yes, Mom, Dad."