The 2nd Round

--- Chapter 44 ---

The second day of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament started with a cold morning breeze.

Hayate wore a new coat with thicker fabrics and walked through the cleaned snow path with Cang Yue.

Cang Yue hugged Hayate's arm and asked, "How is your condition?"

"Don't lie because I know your posture is sluggish now."

"It's better now," Hayate answered while quickly fixing his posture. "My injuries are not that bad."

"Hmm, do you need my help at night?" Cang Yue smiled at him cheerfully.

"We can do a lot of things~."

Fen Juechen and Qin Wushang silently followed them from behind, feeling awkward about their intimate acts with each other.

Cough!

"Princess, I know young Hayate is your fiance, but you two are still in public." Qin Wushang cleared his throat.

"Fine." Cang Yue stuck out her tongue.

She raised her feets a little to reach Hayate's ear and softly whispered, "My offer still stands."

Hayate shook his head and commented, "Just focus on your fight, Cang Yue."

"I know my body better than you."

"How cold~." Cang Yue responded with a giggle.

Even though Hayate's statements were cold, they are true because Cang Yue couldn't help him at all. She obviously understood his indifferent words.

They arrived at the tournament site and saw people immediately moving their gazes at them. An enormous amount of attention quickly was directed to Hayate, but he didn't care and ignored them all.

"It's about to start." Hayate suddenly sensed Hong Guan's presence in the sky.

Cang Yue nodded slightly and dragged Hayate to the audience seats, waiting for Ling Wuguo to start the second round.

However, to everyone's surprise, Hong Guan arrived from the sky and landed in the middle of the stage.

"Morning, everyone." Hong Guan greeted them with a playful smile.

"Silver Lake City's Lord, how beautiful."

"That smile of hers is so bright."

The male audience couldn't help but fantasize about something after seeing her smile. It's definitely not a pure type of fantasy.

"As you know, with the current condition of the arena, most of you won't be able to fight effectively." Hong Guan commented while staring at Burning Heaven Clan's contestant.

"Some of you might get an advantage, but the second round won't be a fair fight."

She pulled an iron fan from her spatial ring and added, "That's why I'm here to clear the snow away."

"Since Heavenly Sword Villa agreed with my proposition, let's start the performance."

Hong Guan clapped her hand casually, and a few Ghosts disguised themselves as background musicians played somewhat melancholic music.

Hayate watched the first initiation of the Revolving Heavenly Flame Mantra, creating a spark from thin air.

The spark grew into a small crimson ball of fire and floated around Hong Guan.

After a few moments, eight more fireballs quickly were created and merged into a beautiful flame crane.

Dum! Dum! Dum!

Hong Guan waved her fan and commanded the flame crane to fly around the tournament site, melting the snow without any problem.

She kicked her feet against the ground and began to move according to the rhythm of the music.

A beautiful lady danced with flames and entranced everyone in the area with her performance.

Her gentle movement is sometimes slow and fast, describing a desperate lady who wanted to sell a fire match.

Since no one wanted to buy the fire match, the lady comforted herself with one fire match and melted the coldness away.

Slowly but surely, the match faded away, causing her to use another one.

A few silhouettes from the flame manifested around the poor lady. They are her family images but most likely have disappeared from this world.

An hour passed in the cold night, and the lady used every fire match, causing her to shiver in the snowy weather.

However, as the lady's body faded from the snow, something burned in her heart, comforting her.

It's a precious memory of her deceased family, warming her soul to an unfortunate death.

Even though she died in the end, the thought of death wasn't scary for her. The lady is silently lying on the floor with a peaceful smile on her pale face.

The music stopped, and Hong Guan opened her eyes, seeing the snow falling around the flame barrier she had created while dancing.

"Beautiful." Cang Yue released tears from her eyes.

Hayate nodded in agreement and replied, "Yes."

Pa! Pa! Pa!

The audience clapped their hands because of Hong Guan's outstanding performance. It's simply touching their hearts.

"Madam Guan, may we know the story name of your performance?" Someone asked earnestly.

Hong Guan lifted her body from the ground and answered, "The little match lady."

"It's an unfortunate story, but I hope everyone gets entertained."

They asked a few things about the story, and Hong Guan answered them patiently.

"Did you come up with this story alone?" Another audience abruptly asked.

Hong Guan shook her head and replied, "Hmm, No. Someone told me this story years ago."

"May we know about this wise person?!" A young woman asked while lifting her hand. "To know such a person would be a blessing for us."

"Well." Hong Guan peeked slightly.

Hayate dodged Hong Guan's gaze immediately because she was about to push the public's attention to him.

Hong Guan knew her young master hated attention because it was annoying, yet she always teased him about socializing with these people.

Hong Guan covered her smile with an iron fan and giggled, "That person doesn't like to talk with people. He is shy."

The young woman was confused because Madam Guan's words seemed directed at someone, but she couldn't tell who that person could be.

"What a shame." She whispered to herself.

Ling Wuguo landed on the stage and thanked Hong Guan for creating the flame barrier.

"That's a great performance, madam." He said with a smile.

Hong Guan nodded politely and replied, "Thank you, Elder Wuguo."

"You might have to start the second round sooner."

"There are a lot of burning fighting spirits among the audience."

Ling Wuguo chuckled because youngsters these days are so spirited. "Very well." He responded with a nod.

Hong Guan gracefully walked past Ling Wuguo and jumped to Hayate's seat, taking the next empty seat beside him.

"How is your side?" Hayate asked calmly.

"Perfect." Hong Guan raised her thumb because Xuanyuan Yufeng had fallen into her trap.

After months of persuasion, the Heavenly Sword Villa's mistress finally let down her suspicion to zero around her. Hong Guan needed her connection with Mighty Heavenly Sword Region to formulate the next plan.

Xuanyuan Yufeng didn't possess powerful cultivation, but her strong background and deceitful mind are difficult to pass through for Hong Guan.

It was easier now with Xuanyuan Yufeng's new fascination with Hayate's scent, causing Hong Guan to exploit her better than before.

"Everyone has a weakness, huh." Hong Guan commented while staring at Hayate.

.

.

Ling Wuguo coughed and declared, "Let's start the second round."

"A reminder for all of you, this round would become a contestant-reducing contest."

"Each of you had to fight five times in a row today, eliminating the weak one."

"After the second round, we could conclude the top 50."

"Then, the second round of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament started!" He continued while changing the stage again.

Hayate scanned the audience and closed his eyes because he couldn't find an impressive subject. He started to cultivate his profound art and drifted from the real world.

Ling Wuguo called a few numbers from different blocks and told them to start.

He moved his gaze to Hayate and frowned because this young man didn't care about the tournament.

'Is he that confident to become a winner?' Ling Wuguo thought solemnly.

Ling Wuguo watched so many Blue Wind Ranking Tournaments in his life, but the current tournament might be the greatest in this era.

Not only did so many geniuses resurface in the public eye, but also because of a new faction that grew in Blue Wind Empire.

The balance of power is starting to crumble, and the current Blue Wind Ranking Tournament will prove it. This new change would lead to either Profound Sky Continent's prosperity or destruction.

"Wind, 1500."

"Sky, 9."

Hayate opened his eyes and rubbed his stiff neck, walking to the stage without worrying about anything. He even yawned when entering one of the stages, triggering haters in the audience seats.

He raised his gaze and saw a young man around the same age as Ling Yun entering the stage.

This young man is not that tall nor short, but his body obviously was trained from a young age. He's wearing a tight fur coat with several pockets.

"Mu Xiongyi." He greeted Hayate while cupping his hand.

Hayate nodded and returned, "Kurogami Hayate."

Ling Wuguo smiled because they didn't start with a useless argument. "Wind versus Sky, 1500 against 9, the second match started!" He declared with a shout.

A spear appeared in Mu Xiongyi's hand, and he observed Hayate with keen eyes. From the last match, he knew the young master from Silver Lake City was proficient in close-quarter combat.

"Let's finish this quickly." Hayate rolled his sleeves and entered a standard boxing stance.

Mu Xiongyi frowned because using boxing against a spear is weird, giving him so much advantage in fighting Hayate.

"I only have to maintain my distance-." He mumbled while gripping his spear.

"Huh?"

"What's this."

Hayate's golden eyes shone like a predator who set its gaze on pitiful prey.

Mu Xiongyi sighed to calm himself down and carefully moved forward, thrusting his spear.

Hayate dodged casually and approached him, but Mu Xiongyi quickly pulled his spear.

BAM!

A quick jab made direct contact with his spear, blowing Mu Xiongyi away.

He was caught off guard and saw a pair of golden flashes appear right in front of his eyes. There is a sudden intuition inside his head to raise his arm together.

BAM!

Cough!

Mu Xiongyi choked on air because Hayate sent a kick to his stomach.

"B-Boxing with a kick..." He stared at him in disbelief.

"It's KickBoxing," Hayate answered indifferently. "Who said I can't use my leg?"

Mu Xiongyi flared his profound energy and burst it swiftly through his spear, causing Hayate to back away.

Even though Hayate won't get injured by such a weak attack, he doesn't want to waste more of his coats. He just changed to the new one today.

He entered his boxing stance again and saw Mu Xiongyi's body burning with thunder fire.

A spearhead appeared in front of his eyes. The distance is basically hair-thin.

"Oh, not bad." He commented while tilting his head.

Mu Xiongyi relentlessly bombarded Hayate with fierce spear attacks, but none of them even reached his clothes.

Hayate effortlessly dodged them all.

'Those eyes.' Ling Wuguo stared at Hayate in surprise.

"A pair of lazy eyes filled with the boredom of waiting for the incoming attacks."

"Does Mu Xiongyi's attack is that slow?"

Obviously not because Mu Xiongyi is one of the geniuses from Heavenly Spear Thunderfire Fortress. He was known to be a skilled person with his spear movement that was similar to lightning.

Yet, none of Mu Xiongyi's attacks hold onto his reputation in front of Hayate. They were unbearably slow in Hayate's eyes.

Mu Xiongyi became desperate and increased the pace of his attack. He used more profound energy, forgetting he must fight four more matches after this.

"Your accuracy is horrible," Hayate commented while raising his left hand.

He took his chance and launched a fast left hook at Mu Xiongyi's face.

"Hmph, I can read your attack." Mu Xiongyi defended himself with a spear shaft.

"Is that so?" Hayate responded with a bored tone.

BAM!

An uppercut smashed Mu Xiongyi's chin and sent him flying a few meters into the air. He couldn't even notice Hayate's faint attack.

The left hook is a feint attack.

Mu Xiongyi guarded his left cheek in time against Hayate's feint attack, but he was letting his chin wide open for him.

"What a shame," Hayate walked out off the stage. "He was a bad punching bag."

"1500 win!" Ling Wuguo declared that Mu Xiongyi fainted right after Hayate hit his chin.

The Blue Wind Tournament continued without any problem, and Hayate won four fights in a row, eliminating his opponent.

"Hmm?" Hayate woke up from his meditation.

"Hayate, it's your last match now." Cang Yue calmly said while patting his shoulder.

"Who's my opponent?" He asked naturally.

Cang Yue shook her head wryly and slowly pointed her finger at a beautiful young woman in a snowy robe on the stage. She was from Frozen Cloud Asgard.

"Her name is Qu Xuexin, as far I know." His fiance answered.

"20 years old, 9th level of Spirit Profound Realm."

Hayate observed Wu Xuexin with his golden eyes.

She has a slender build with silky hair and curves in the main areas, and her eyes are blue like a sky.

Her complexion is clear without a speck of blemish because of Frozen Cloud Art's effect.

Wu Xuexin frowned when Hayate stared at her.

She couldn't understand why the elder and her junior sister told her to give up immediately. Is this young man that strong?

Elder Chu Yueli always looks weird when someone mentions Hayate, the Silver Lake City's young master.

'Ever since Elder Chu Yueli returned with Junior Qingyue, she won't let anyone see her face.' Wu Xuexin can't get her hand on this suspicion.

'And now, they told me to give up?'

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and mumbled, "What a joke."

"I'll show him the power of Frozen Cloud Asgard."