--- Chapter 25 ---
Chu Yuechan's frozen heart activated, and her composure returned quickly.
She stared at Hayate indifferently and replied, "Three tyrant cores is still possible."
"However, the other two items were out of my reach."
"You cleansed my poison, but it's not worth the extreme evil flower and 35kg Purple Veined Divine Crystals."
Hayate nodded admiringly and replied, "That's true."
"However, your life is not worth that much, huh?"
"Even though not lethal, fire poison inside your body clashed against Frozen Cloud Art."
"Your profound art is yin-based, after all."
"I wonder what would happen if you suddenly were ambushed by a strong group of people in such a state."
Chu Yuechan frowned slightly and answered, "I'm grateful and would try my best to fulfill your wishes, but your demands are outrageous..."
"Outrageous, huh." Hayate stared at Chu Yuechan.
"Fine, I'll just take three tyrant beast's cores then."
Chu Yuechan forced her frozen heart to calm herself down because she was at the late stage of Sky Profound Realm.
"About the time limit, I want you to give me those cores in three..." Hayate opened his mouth.
"Weeks."
"That's ridiculous..." Chu Yuechan slowly released her frozen aura. "At least give me a year."
"Three months, take it or leave a debt on your name," Hayate released his beast aura too and stared at her calmly.
'Three months? Can I reach the Emperor Profound Realm in a short amount of time?' Chu Yuechan admitted being an Emperor Profound Realm was barely enough to hunt one profound tyrant beast.
She deeply thought about something and responded, "I'll be back in three months."
Chu Yuechan swiftly disappeared from Hayate's room and flew to Wasteland of Death, hoping for three profound tyrant beasts living there.
"Little Ghost, follow her," Hayate commanded, to which his personal Ghost responded with a nod.
He glanced at the window and added, "Koro protect them if something dangerous happens."
Little Ghost's body flickered in the shadow and followed Chu Yuechan silently from behind.
She entered the Wasteland of Death and began to slash a few nascent profound beasts in her way. Her dagger moved soundlessly through the night wasteland.
Koro landed on Little Ghost's shoulder and slightly licked her cheek. 'I see, the young master sent you.' She whispered while patting the kaiju.
--- Blue Wind Imperial City ---
"I was hoping for her to give up, but sisters sometimes had the same tendencies," Hayate commented while looking at the night sky.
"Fairy of Frozen Beauty, Chu Yuechan."
"Blue Wind's number one beauty."
The night passed, and Cang Yue knocked on Hayate's room a few times in the morning.
She frowned because there was no reply, which caused her to open the door anyway. An empty room greeted her, and a letter was left on the bed by Hayate.
"I'll take some fresh air and be back before the tournament."
"Don't worry. I'm not running away."
"Haa... What a free boy." Cang Yue commented while folding the letter.
"Hmph, I'll take him on a date later." She dropped onto the bed and closed her eyes slowly.
Hayate's faint silhouette moved to the Wasteland of Death. He used [Storm Zinogre]'s cores and manipulated wind lightning to sprint quickly.
He could fly using the Profound Floating Technique, but it would be too slow. He tried to grasp Koro's location through Kaiju Creation and moved his head to the east direction.
"Too slow..." Hayate commented while moving like a bullet train.
"World Ode of the Phoenix's Hayate Version."
"It's incomplete, but whatever."
"Empyrean Dance of Speed God."
Hayate pumped Phoenix's Bloodline inside his body with everlasting vigor and profound energy, constructing a pair of fiery wings intertwined by wind lightning on his back.
He kicked the ground and flew to Wasteland of Death, leaving a faint ray. He was moving akin to teleporting, sometimes disappearing and appearing from thin air.
After a few minutes, Hayate arrived at the Wasteland of Death and frowned because this place was hell for practitioners.
The Wasteland of Death is a land that was left to grow wild. The entire area actually was filled with dry withered grass and rocks lined the rugged terrain, spanning nine hundred and fifty kilometers long and eight hundred kilometers wide.
Countless profound beasts roamed on the wasteland, and these profound beasts were wild and ferocious.
The number of profound beasts that reside within it is at least a hundred times more than the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range. It is heaven for profound beasts and hell for practitioners.
Along with its reputation, its dense population of profound beasts attracts large numbers of practitioners and treasure hunters. Yet, every year, the deaths of practitioners within the area number more than a hundred thousand.
Hence the place was named "Wasteland of Death." and became one of the three most dangerous places in the Blue Wind Empire.
"What a scuffed place," Hayate commented while moving to the center of Wasteland of Death.
A few wild profound flying beasts attacked him, but he thoroughly burned them with his Phoenix Wings. He flew past them without any concern and harvested Raw Kaiju Cores simultaneously.
Hayate looked at the spheres on his palm and mumbled to justify his action, "I mean... There is nothing wrong with grinding on the way."
He shrugged and followed Koro's connection, which suddenly weakened.
--- Chu Yuechan's side ---i
Chu Yuechan stood with melted ice around me, and a pair of two dragons roared and mocked her crude appearance.
She was attacked by these profound beasts when trying to enter the center area of Wasteland of Death.
Flood Dragon is a creature with a terrifying appearance, an enormous serpent-like body, gleaming scales, and sharp claws.
Chu Yuechan glanced at her torn attire and whispered, "This is not enough. I need Tyrant, not Sky Profound Beasts."
Little Ghost frowned from the side and commented, "Is she stupid or something?"
She moved her gaze to the two Flood Dragons and wondered how they could run away from them. She was only in the 1st stage of Earth Profound Realm.
"I can't enter the confrontation right away." Little Ghost coated her dagger with a poison that could kill Sky Profound Realm's cultivator.
Hayate rewarded her with this poison because she might fight a powerful enemy in the future, which could cost her life. He did say to only use it in a desperate situation.
Koro stared at Flood Dragon angrily and jumped off Little Ghost's shoulder, making her panic.
Flood Dragon moved its enormous body and bashed Chu Yuechan's body.
BAM!
ROAR!
Chu Yuechan defended herself with an ice barrier, but the other Flood Dragon attacked her from behind.
BOOM!
She felt her body smashed onto the ground and breathed heavily. "Frozen Heart Art." She chanted to calm her heart from any fear.
"Frozen Cloud Art..." Chu Yuechan gripped the dirt near her hand.
BOOM!
The entire area instantly was covered by thick ice, which caught Flood Dragons off guard. They released an energy blast to destroy Chu Yuechan's attack.
"More..." Chu Yuechan gritted her teeth because she couldn't move.
BOOM!
The blast was about to reach Chu Yuechan, and Koro arrived to tank the burst.
Koro grunted in pain because Flood Dragons' attacks were too powerful to handle. A portion of its round stomach disappeared and abruptly was replaced with a bloody hole.
Little Ghost threw several poison-coated daggers at Flood Dragons' eyes and tried her best to pull Chu Yuechan away from this place.
Koro used a transformation ability and became a bulky red-furred monster.
ROAR!
A wild roar escaped Koro's mouth.
"Who are you..?" Chu Yuechan opened her mouth while staring at the young lady who saved her.
"We have to run away quickly." Little Ghost flatly replied.
BAM!
COUGH!
Koro's body struck them and made Little Ghost's petite body trampled on the ground. She coughed blood and felt a shiver in her body.
Chu Yuechan is also in bad condition because her legs are useless now. She glanced at the young lady and saw blood coming out of her mouth.
Koro became even muscular when receiving damage and attacked Flood Dragons again. A clash between a bulky kaiju and two dragons continued, destroying everything around them.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
Chu Yuechan created a barrier around Little Ghost and used an ice path to slide quickly. She looked at the Flood Dragon solemnly and chanted the forbidden technique of Frozen Cloud Art.
"Zeroth Aurora."
COUGH!
A bright flash of colors appeared and blinded everything in coldness. Chu Yuechan coughed blood and felt her profound veins crumble. A Flood Dragon died in the process, which enraged another one.
"HUMAN!"
"DIE!!!" Koro's body got wrapped by Flood Dragon's serpent-like body.
A profound energy blast escaped Flood Dragon's mouth and bolted to Chu Yuechan.
CIAO!
A phoenix cry echoed in the sky, and a bright flame fell between Chu Yuechan and Flood Dragon's blast.
BOOM!
The entire place exploded into a sea of fire, but only Flood Dragon could feel the heat. Chu Yuechan had never felt this sensation for years, a warmness that covered her cold body.
She blinked slightly and saw someone wrapped by a pair of beautiful fiery wings, wind lightning dancing around him like a domineering armor.
Flood Dragon stared at Hayate with a fear, which shouldn't be possible because he was only a human.
Hayate didn't say anything and lightly kicked the ground. A flash of lightning and fire stretched to Flood Dragon's head. His entire right hand becomes sharp claws.
"H-human..." Flood Dragon witnessed Hayate's golden eyes turn into beast-like eyes.
Hayate ripped Flood Dragon's head off its body and threw it like a stone to a rocky place.
BAM! CRACK!
"..!" Koro dragged itself along the ground to approach Hayate.
"Good job, Koro." Hayate carried Koro into his inner world. "You can have a good rest, and I'll reward you later."
He walked to Little Ghost and checked her condition skillfully, discovering internal bleeding in a few areas. He fed her a recovery pill to seal internal injuries.
"This is my fault..." Hayate sighed while checking Chu Yuechan's condition too.
Chu Yuechan's condition was a grave situation because her legs were injured and bent in weird positions. Her profound veins are also damaged and should be healed intensively for months.
Hayate utilized [Mystic Art of Body Cultivation] to transfer his everlasting vigor to Chu Yuechan's body, giving her powerful life energy to survive this critical condition.
After adjusting her leg's bones to the right place, Hayate slowly changed her clothes into clean ones.
He was about to pick Chu Yuechan and Little Ghost up, but an ancient voice suddenly entered his ears.
'Young man, why don't you enter the cave and heal them here.'
'I might be able to help them.'
Hayate moved his gaze to the rocky area where he threw Flood Dragon's head a few seconds ago and noticed a cave entrance.
It wasn't small nor big, but clearly, enough for them to enter.
He glared and commented, "How suspicious."
"A voice suddenly appeared and offered help?"
"Wow!"
"Where are you when they are fighting those snakes, huh?!"
Anger was displayed in Hayate's voice, which caused the ancient voice to become mute for a moment.
'Evil God.' The voice replied,
'I can feel Evil God and Phoenix's aura from you.'
Jasmine, who patted Koro inside Hayate's inner world, was shaken because a mild divine beast's presence shook her astral body.
'Hayate, enter that cave.' She spoke naturally. 'If you can't trust that voice, you can at least trust me.'
'I sensed Divine Beast's presence from there.'
Hayate gradually frowned and glanced at the cave with an annoyed expression.
However, Jasmine won't lie to him. They made a soul pact with each other, after all.
He gently placed Chu Yuechan on his shoulder and brought Little Ghost carefully with his right arm. He walked into the cave and saw a space with basically nothing but dust.
A pair of azure dragon eyes lit up in the darkness and greeted them, "Welcome to my trial ground."
"You're the 130 challengers who arrived at this place."
Jasmine's eyes slowly widened, and her mouth quivered a little.
"D-Dragon God..." She said with a dumbfounded look.