--- Chapter 41 ---
Hayate stared blankly at the face-smacked girl on the floor.
"Whatever." He indifferently said while walking away from the battlefield.
"It's just a waste of time, after all."
As Hayate left the boundary, Ling Wuguo stared at him in awe and declared, "Wind, 1500 won the match."
The token in Qin Fei's clothes shattered into pieces, and she immediately was eliminated from the blue wind ranking tournament, the first person ever to fail this year.
Well, it's understandable because her enemy was Hayate.
"BOOOO!"
"YOU'RE NOT A GENTLEMAN!"
"HOW CAN YOU LEAVE HER LIKE THAT!"
"BOOO! WHAT A COLD-HEARTED GUY!"
Hayate ignored those comments and jumped to the seat beside Hong Guan, resting his head on the chair. He looked at them with an uninterested look and closed his eyes.
Little Ghost walked behind Hayate and began to rub his shoulders gently, causing his Dragon God's blood to rejuvenate slowly.
The other contestant looked at Hayate with jealousy because he got surrounded by beauty, which could melt a male's heart at first sight.
They obviously won't count Xuanyuan Yufeng because she was the Heavenly Sword Villa's mistress, but what about Hong Guan, Cang Yue, and the lovely maid?
Hong Guan was famous because of her attractiveness and noble-like enchanting aura.
Cang Yue is Blue Wind Empire's royal princess.
Meanwhile, Little Ghost is a lovely young maid with a unique charm around her.
The male audience could only grit their teeth in frustration.
On the other hand, the female audience looked at Hayate with longing gazes. Nevertheless, some female audiences despised how Hayate treated Qin Fei in their match.
Hayate used [Mystic Art of Body Cultivation] and recovered his body with the help of everlasting vigor. However, since [Frozen Cloud Arts] was also used indirectly, he somehow not only recovered his strength but also refined his appearance.
Hayate's [Absolute Zero] reached this place, and an extreme hail of snowflakes fell onto Heavenly Sword Mountain Range, painting the whole area white.
It's an attack with the strength of Divine Origin Realm, which means this sudden season change would last for a few years.
Absolute Zero is a powerful attack with Light Profound Strength and Extreme Ice, creating extreme flash-freezing reactions in the atmosphere.
Hayate was freezing the "Space." and prevented Dullahan from running away with his spatial manipulation.
Dullahan cannot resist the Absolute Ice because his darkness was frozen by Hayate, resulting in his demise.
Of course, there was a hefty price for using such a strong technique. Hayate couldn't deactivate his Cold-Blooded inner self technique.
It's somehow a blessing in disguise because Hayate gained a more sophisticated way of thinking about profound arts he wanted to improve a month ago.
"Frozen World Arts," Hayate whispered to himself.
Frozen World Arts is a profound art derived from Frozen Cloud Art and modified to Hayate's liking because having control over ice is simply a branch from water manipulation itself.
Ice is a different form of water, after all.
Everything can become ice with enough low temperature, and frozen liquid is just the raw form of this technique, where one can aim higher by freezing the time and space itself.
There is a reason why Frozen Cloud Asgard could become one of the four major sects in the Blue Wind Empire, but it wasn't enough to compete with the sacred grounds.
Not to mention Hayate found out that Frozen Cloud Arts is lacking in some places like it was a downgrade of another technique.
Hayate opened his eyes and looked at the falling snowflakes calmly, feeling a trace of his former energy within them.
He touched the nearby snowflakes and sensed the coldness briefly. The [Frozen World Arts] reacted to Hayate's action and activated passively, absorbing the cold energy into his body.
The cold energy didn't affect Hayate negatively.
Hayate felt extremely comfortable inside this artificial winter because every inch of land the snowflakes fell onto connected to him.
It's impossible with Hayate's current condition, but he somehow could tell these snowflakes were under his control. They would move according to his wishes.
"How amusing." Hayate, unknowingly, smiled a little.
Even though it barely counts as a smile because what he did was raise his lips a few millimeters.
The blue wind ranking tournament continued smoothly.
"Light, number 1000." Ling Wuguo declared with a shout.
"Against Light, 669."
Hayate glanced at Cang Yue and asked, "Do your best, Cang Yue."
Cang Yue smiled and answered, "I'll do my best."
She walked away from her seat and entered the battlefield with a flexible sword in her hand.
A young man in a black robe saluted Cang Yue and said, "Nice to meet you, princess."
"Yes, nice to meet you too." Cang Yue smiled politely.
She observed the young man and sensed he was around the 3rd stage of Spirit Profound Realm. He's one of the last Blue Wind Ranking Tournament contestants and gained enough reputation.
Shi Feng is famous because of his unique spear moves. One of the reasons why he could enter the top 100 in the last Blue Wind Ranking Tournament.
Cang Yue shook her head inside because she could only watch the tournament last time, looking at these talented people with envy in her heart.
Ling Wuguo stared at Cang Yue with a frown because such an incredible sharpness radiated from her body.
'Oh, it settled down.' He thought while smiling at her.
"Light, 1000 VS 669 began!"
Shi Feng smirked and drew his spear upward, releasing a burst of wind from his body.
He pressed his feet against the ground and stabbed his spear at Cang Yue.
Cang Yue raised her sword with one hand and breathed naturally, confronting Shi Feng's spear attacks with swift yet precise slashes.
Even though Shi Feng's attack was fierce enough to overpower someone whose strength was stronger than him by one little realm, Cang Yue hasn't even used her profound energy yet.
Cang Yue slashed her sword gracefully, deflecting every attack without unnecessary movement. No, she barely moved her position from the beginning.
The essence of [Blue Wind Sword Mantra] is one's heart sharpness.
It's a flawed technique because a simple mistake could overtake one's heart, destroying the cultivation progress. Cang Yue has to believe in an absolute motivation for her cultivation.
Cang Yue's cultivation intrinsically was fueled by her obsession with Hayate's attention. A clear golden rule she believed from one year ago.
Clank!
Cang Yue's flexible sword stopped Shi Feng's spear right in front of her face.
It was such a weird scene because Cang Yue's flexible sword seemed like it could break at any point, but on the contrary, Shi Feng's spear suddenly bounced back.
Shi Feng took a few steps back and noticed a pointy edge reaching his neck. He panicked and raised his spear, trying to defend himself.
Clank!
Another heavy collision occurred between their weapons, and Shi Feng secured quite a distance from Cang Yue.
"You're strong, princess." Shi Feng praised with a surprised tone.
"Thank you." Cang Yue answered without an ounce of happiness, nodding her head at him.
Shi Feng laughed because the Blue Wind Empire's royal princess was more interesting than the rumor said.
She wasn't just a beautiful flower in the glasshouse but a hidden fierce tiger, waiting for the right moment to shock her prey.
"Then, I'll be serious now." Shi Feng grasped his spear tightly.
He waved his spear in the air and skillfully applied profound energy, gathering momentum.
Cang Yue won't leave him be and slashed her sword. Her legs finally stepped forward, changing the air current on the battlefield.
Xia Qingyue's eyes shone and observed Cang Yue's moment carefully.
"I see... No wonder I felt weird when facing her yesterday." She commented while moving her gaze to Hayate.
"Big brother has wonderful eyes to see one's character."
Xia Qingyue's Heart of Snow Glazed Glass blessed her with the ability to see into the heart of all living things. Everyone has a different kind of heart, will, and goal.
When Xia Qingyue saw and met Cang Yue for the first time, her only thought was how plain and goalless this little princess was.
Now, it's different.
Cang Yue's heart emitted a hungry-like obsession over one person.
"Well, I guess she was safe for now," Xia Qingyue commented while resting her chin on her hand.
Cang Yue's sword flowed through the wind and chased over Shi Feng.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Shi Feng moved his spear to deflect Cang Yue's attacks, yet each of her attacks became heavier and sharper every strike for some reason.
He could feel his hand trembling because of the relentless sword strikes, and his knees were weak and on the verge of collapsing.
"Haa..." Shi Feng breathed heavily and felt the cold blade near his neck.
He looked at Cang Yue's gentle eyes and saw an undying fighting spirit. "I gave up." He raised his hands.
Ling Wuguo nodded in regard because Shi Feng admitted he lost, acknowledging he was weaker at his limit.
"See, that's how a gentleman should be."
"Shi Feng is a prime example of us, men."
"It would be better if he could replace that arrogant bit-."
Cang Yue moved her gaze to the skinny girl, who was about to say something annoying about Hayate, frowning at her with the indifference that could pierce her heart.
The skinny girl suddenly bit her lips because Cang Yue's gaze made her nervous.
She didn't see anything special from the princess, nor did Cang Yue show an extraordinary display of power, so why should she be afraid?
Cang Yue smiled at her and said, "I remember your face."
"Please don't leave Heavenly Sword Villa too early~."
"Let's have a brief conversation later."
The skinny girl trembled and looked down with anxiety plastered onto her face.
'What should I do?' She whispered to herself.
Cang Yue sheathed her sword and naturally walked away from the stage, noticing Hayate's gaze on her.
She walked with excitement inside and arrived at her seat with a wide smile. "How was it?" She asked immediately.
Hayate nodded and replied, "Good job."
"Just advice, lower your wrist and relax your muscles when receiving a non-decisive blow."
"As for the footwork, I don't see any problem besides some inflexible placement of your foot."
"Are you listening?" He added, to which Cang Yue responded with a nod.
"Kept going." She said with a somewhat excited tone.
Hayate shook his head and commented on Cang Yue's mistake for several minutes, giving her some advice to improve her technique from his observation.
Xuanyuan Yufeng listened to Hayate's advice for Cang Yue and was startled by his insightful words. She peeked at the young man and muttered, "That level of knowledge..."
Hong Guan smirked and responded, "I know, right?"
"He's amazing."
Xuanyuan Yufeng slowly sniffed Hayate's scent again and returned, "Yeah."
Several matches happened when Hayate's group was busy with their things.
Ling Wuguo suddenly raised his voice and said, "Sky, 2."
"Against Sky, 390."
"Let's stop the advice session for now," Hayate said while looking at Xia Qingyue.
"You have to watch Qingyue's match, Cang Yue."
"Since she would be one of the toughest opponents you faced in this tournament."
"Noted." Cang Yue observed Xia Qingyue on the stage.
Xia Qingyue didn't care about everyone's gaze and walked onto the stage with a snowy veil covering her face, revealing only her stunning skin and beautiful eyes.
She raised her gaze and saw her opponent, a decent-looking young man with dazzling outfits. Even though his appearance is somewhat over the top, his cultivation strength is within the top one hundred.
He possessed a cultivation level that was par or slightly worse than Shi Feng. Nevertheless, he used a Jian sword in contrast to Shi Feng's spear.
"To think my rival would be defeated in the first round, what a shame." Lu Nanxi said while bruising his sword sheath.
"In the end, we couldn't get our fated final match."
"Oh, truly a shame."
Lu Nanxi began to spout a bunch of poetic statements at Shi Feng's defeat, rubbing salt on everyone's ears.
Ling Wuguo, who heard Lu Nanxi's nonsense, couldn't help but wonder if this young man could talk like this forever.
.
.
"Okay, stop." Ling Wuguo stopped Lu Nanxi's monologue.
"I don't have all day, and this is our last match for today."
"I'm sure everyone is tired considering this sudden weather change."
Everyone in the audience seats agreed with Ling Wuguo's words. Some of them even got a cold already.
"Sky, 2 VS 390 Began!"
"Starburst S-." Lu Nanxi drew his sword.
A cold breeze suddenly brushed over him, and Xia Qingyue stood in her position with a dim, shimmering right hand.
BAM!
Lu Nanxi's body smacked out of the battlefield and struck the ground with frozen mist around his body. He won't be able to move his body for half an hour.
"All that monologue for nothing." Cang Yue commented with a speechless tone.
"He got defeated instantly."
She looked at Xia Qingyue and added, "Well, someone doesn't want to reveal too much about herself."
Xia Qingyue glanced at Cang Yue and indifferently walked back to her seat, leaving Ling Wuguo to conclude the match.
"As Sky, 2 won the last match."
"I declared the first round of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament ended."
Hayate lifted his body off the seat and suddenly felt someone pulling his clothes. "Do you need something from me, Heavenly Sword Villa's mistress?" He asked while staring at Xuanyuan Yufeng.
"W-Would you like a tea time with me?" Xuanyuan Yufeng replied nervously. "Just for a moment."
Hayate watched Hong Guan nodding her head lightly and answered, "Sure, I have some free time."