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--- Chapter 66 ---
"This should be enough, right?" Hayate waved the iron sword in his hand.
The sword Hayate picked lacks luster compared to others in Sword Management Terrace. It's a one-handed iron sword around 69cm with a dark edge and brown handle.
There is no handguard in this iron sword, which was quite weird, but Hayate liked the simplicity.
He moved his gaze to the Heavenly Sword Villa's Master and asked, "Should I return this?"
Ling Yuefeng shook his head calmly and responded, "Even though you're the first, it's still a tradition for someone who subdued the sword to claim it."
"That sword isn't part of the Heavenly Sword Villa in the first place."
Hayate briefly glanced at the iron sword and commented, "Is that so?"
Ling Wuguo walked out of the crowd and stared at Elder Cai with a frown. "Are you satisfied now?" He questioned, which left the elderly lady quiet.
He sighed and added, "Let's continue the tournament to the Heaven Sword Arena."
Hayate peeked at the enormous black sword in the center of Sword Management Terrace.
He couldn't sense anything related to "Demonic." in that place, but "Anger." clearly emanated from there. It's clear like a violent crimson black ray.
"It's not a real demon, huh." His golden eyes lost some shine of curiosity.
Hayate walked to Hong Guan and noticed a weird gaze from everyone.
"Um, Hayate." Cang Yue looked at her fiance. "Why didn't you use your sword intent?"
"I don't even know you've entered such a state."
Hayate tilted his head and answered, "Because using my fist is more convenient."
"I trained with weapons several years back but eventually became bored as my body would react faster."
It's not a lie because, with Kaiju Cores, weapons aren't a thing for him.
Even though he used [Sword Edge]'s core as a weapon, there aren't many tools that could match his Kaiju's ability.
Coach Mei harshly drilled Hayate for years to become an ideal Fuma Kotaro who could resist Miyabi Orochi's effect. Weapon mastery is one of her teachings.
However, they don't call it "Sword Intent." in Hayate's previous world. Everyone who mastered a weapon called this extreme mastery "Battle Aura.", defining one's strength.
Well, Hayate wouldn't explain much about his hidden ability to others. He will leave it to their imagination.
He walked past several people and arrived at a wide gate. His eyes wandered around and saw a vast arena, ten times bigger than the previous stage.
'Damn...' Hayate thought to himself.
This place is basically a stadium, and they used it only for a battle between candidates for the next Heavenly Sword Villa Sect's Master.
"What a waste of land." Hong Guan commented casually beside Hayate.
Cang Yue giggled when hearing Hong Guan's words but agreed with her. Even as the Blue Wind Empire's Royal Princess, she still sees this as a waste of vast land.
This entire arena could be a training area, but they decided to make a place rarely used by anyone.
Ling Wuguo landed in the center of the arena and poured his profound energy onto the floor.
A dome barrier was created around the stage, protecting the place from the inside out. This barrier is capable of receiving Emperor Profound Realm.
"Let's begin the last match of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament."
"It would be a fight between Kurogami Hayate and Xia Qingyue."
Ling Wuguo clasped his hand and opened two small holes in the barrier. "Both of you, please enter the stage." He said naturally.
Hayate could feel Xia Qingyue's gaze on him and smiled inside because this would be their first fight after several months. He can test her improvement directly now.
He entered the stage and looked at Xia Qingyue on the opposite side. There is a faint smile behind her snowy veil.
Ling Wuguo has an excited grin because this match will be the most legendary fight in Blue Wind Ranking Tournament's history.
It will spread across the entire Profound Sky Continent as the birth of geniuses.
As everyone sat in their seats, Ling Wuguo raised his hand and declared, "Final, Kurogami Hayate against Xia Qingyue starts!"
Hayate entered a stance and was slightly surprised because Xia Qingyue imitated Renewal Taekwondo's stance perfectly.
Xia Qingyue stepped forward and attacked Hayate with a quick frontal kick, which he dodged immediately.
"Hmm?" Hayate's bare foot slipped off the ground because thin ice covered it.
He couldn't dodge properly, opening himself from getting attacked by Xia Qingyue.
"Hwechook." She tried to kick Hayate on the head.
Amused by Xia Qingyue's quick trap, Hayate landed his right palm on the ground and burned everything around him with Phoenix Flame.
A burst of flame wall spread quickly.
Xia Qingyue's kick was about to land on Hayate's ear, but he instantly twisted his body and landed a solid spinning kick on her stomach.
BAM!
It pushed Xia Qingyue away from Hayate.
Hayate sprung back onto his feet and ran to Xia Qingyue. His leg was moving to her shoulder.
"Frozen Cloud's Palm." Xia Qingyue evaded by tilting her body to the right and slamming him with an ice blast.
"Fire Pillar." Hayate bent his whole body and concentrated Phoenix Flame on his kick.
BOOM!
A combination of ice and flame scattered on the whole stage, covering the arena with extreme heat and cold.
Bam!
Hayate raised his knee and received a palm attack from Xia Qingyue. His golden eyes stared at her beautiful black eyes.
He smirked inside and grasped her snowy robe's sleeve, pulling it to the side.
Xia Qingyue was obviously caught off guard and slammed to the ground by Hayate. She released an intense cold aura and created an ice spear.
Hayate slapped the ice spear away and prepared to lock Xia Qingyue on the shoulder.
"Rose Flame." Xia Qingyue whispered while summoning a pink-colored flame.
Hayate frowned and felt his hand become cold at such a fast rate. He blinked in surprise and noticed a slender leg sweeping him to the floor.
'She even copied this, huh.' He backed a few steps.
As Xia Qingyue missed her sweeping kick, Hayate stomped his right foot onto the ground and said, "Rising Wave."
Xia Qingyue's eyes widened because she felt a wide area around her become hotter in just a second. She raised her gaze and noticed a faint smile on Hayate's face.
BOOM!
She was blown away by a powerful rising wave of flame from the ground.
"No mercy." Xia Qingyue pouted behind her veils.
Even though Frozen Cloud Arts activated through her entire body and repealed most of Rising Wave's damage, it was still embarrassing for her to get caught off guard.
Xia Qingyue stared down at her leg weirdly and felt sore for no reason. It's weird because she hasn't any intense movement besides Hayate's Renewal Taekwondo.
Hayate suddenly appeared in front of her, throwing a swift left hook.
Bam!
An ice block stopped Hayate, but his fist broke through it.
BAM! Cough!
Xia Qingyue choked on air and grasped her veil with an annoyed look. There is a red mark on her cheek.
Hayate didn't stop and launched a combo of punches at her.
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
She evaded Hayate's attacks and raised her knee to his abdomen. "Baekdu." She mumbled calmly.
Usually, Baekdu was used to entice the opponent into guarding, enabling the user to grab onto the head of the opponent and using it as leverage to deliver more unguardable kicks and knee attacks.
It's effective but won't work against Hayate.
He wouldn't raise his arm to guard and grabbed Xia Qingyue's right arm instead.
"Your breathing is wrong." He commented.
"That's not how you use Baekdu."
Hayate locked Xia Qingyue's entire right shoulder and lifted his left knee.
As Xia Qingyue attempted to guard by creating an ice blast with her other hand, Hayate grasped her head and launched Arang into her face.
His elbow planed onto her face, creating a crunchy noise.
Crack!
Xia Qingyue's veil crumbled into a piece like ice and revealed her beautiful face to others.
Everyone who hadn't seen Xia Qingyue's face was left speechless for a moment.
Heck, even some elders rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
Ling Yuefeng grasped his armrest tightly and directly cracked the wood. His eyes widened in awe because Chu Yuechan's image remained on Xia Qingyue.
'It's weird, but my heart is beating in excitement.' He thought while staring at Xia Qingyue.
At the watching tower, Ling Kun slammed his hand on the table and intensely looked at Xia Qingyue's face.
"T-This is even better." He laughed madly.
"What an effective way to lure out your enemy, master." Hong Guan giggled softly behind her iron fan.
"Oh, Well, I can feel their excitement from here."
Every Ghost in the shadow marked everyone with bad intentions for Xia Qingyue, and their names entered the list already.
Of course, people like Ling Kun got a higher place on the list.
"Hmph, Bully!" Xia Qingyue's palm shone in blue light.
"Frozen World's Palm."
Hayate covered his body with Phoenix Flame and received an enormous cold energy blast.
BOOM!
His body was launched to the corner of the stage, bouncing onto the barrier.
"That's more like it." He landed on the floor and stretched his body a little.
Xia Qingyue's body emanated rose light, and the temperature around her dropped even more.
Her black eyes became dragon-like for a moment.
"Frozen End's Ice Sword."
Hayate noticed ice energy gathered above Xia Qingyue and formed an enormous ice sword.
It's a frightening attack filled with Frozen Cloud Art's energy.
"When did she..." Chu Yueli gasped for a moment.
"We haven't gotten permission to learn Frozen End Divine Arts, but how could she grasp the technique?"
Hayate planted his foot onto the ground and watched the ice sword with a somewhat proud look.
"Ssamsu Taekkyeon: Secret Art."
"Inferno Nirvana Kick."
An enormous ice sword flew to Hayate.
SWooSH!
Hayate concentrated his Phoenix Flame and gently raised his leg in the air. A noble crimson flame rose to the air and clashed with Xia Qingyue's Frozen End Ice Sword.
BOOM!
Ling Wuguo was pushed to the corner and quickly raised his arm in awe. "This is..." He looked at Hayate.
Crack!
Xia Qingyue's attack crumbled into pieces and dissolved into vapor.
Hayate jumped at her and performed an ax kick.
She sighed in defeat and said, "I gave up."
BAM! Crack! BOOM!
Hayate waved his leg beside Xia Qingyue and created a long crater filled with scorching flame.
Xia Qingyue blinked and swayed her head away from Hayate in a somewhat annoyed yet adorable manner.
"I'll give you something good later." He said with a smile.
"Hmph, you better be." Xia Qingyue pouted and crossed her arms.
Ling Wuguo approached them and declared, "The Blue Wind Ranking Tournament's winner."
"KUROGAMI HAYATE!!!"
A loud cheer echoed in the audience seats.
Hayate glanced at the watching tower and said, "It's time for the secret realm and demon sealing ritual."