Breeze Technique

He imagined a tiny vortex forming around his Mental Core, like a miniature projection of the magic array on the canvas.

His will guided the Astral Star to dance naturally within his Mental World, tracing out...

Before long, a stable azure symbol with a dynamic rhythm took shape within his Mental World.

It worked. He had not expected his very first attempt at tracing it to succeed.

Li Ang suppressed the wild joy in his heart and locked his will onto a patch of stale, moldy air in the corner of the room.

"Disperse."

An invisible, exceedingly faint ripple of airflow spread outward from his fingertips.

Like a stone tossed into still water, the stale air was gently pushed aside and diluted, swiftly merging into the surrounding airflow continuously purified by the [Gale-Sailing Canvas].

The entire process was silent, yet the effect was obvious. The moldy smell in the corner vanished.

"Gather."

This time, he chose to guide the relatively fresh airflow seeping in through the crack beneath the door toward himself.

A faint fresh breeze carrying the salty tang of the sea swirled across his face, bringing a burst of cool relief.

"Just as I thought!"

Li Ang was overjoyed.

Once he understood that casting [Breeze Technique] shared the same underlying nature as controlling the canvas, it became exceptionally smooth and effortless, with almost none of the clumsiness expected of a beginner.

His playful mood rose, and he began attempting more refined control, gathering a tiny spinning vortex in his palm.

He made a wisp of breeze skim swiftly across the floor, sweeping up a few strands of dry grass.

He even tried to imitate the canvas's effect, making a faint breeze form a small circulating airflow within the cramped room...

Just as he focused on controlling a somewhat stronger current, trying to compress it into a more concentrated gust and strike a fly on the opposite wall—

"Whoosh!"

The airflow slammed into the rotten wooden board, making a much louder sound than before as wood chips and the fly's corpse pattered down.

"It worked! The power seems..." Before Li Ang could savor the successful strike, brutal kicking and a familiar, lisping roar sounded outside the room.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Li Ang! You bastard, what the hell are you doing in there? You're making a racket!"

It was Matthew. His voice was full of irritable fury at being disturbed. His lisp made even his threats sound somewhat ridiculous, but the malice in them only grew stronger.

"Sir Class Leader, this brat must be messing around with something shady again. He made such a huge commotion and interrupted your meditation."

Kavi's rough voice chimed in immediately after.

Li Ang could not help but snort.

"Hmph. Perfect timing!"

He swiftly composed himself. Within his Mental World, the Astral Star flickered faintly as his mental power gathered, ready to strike.

"Creak—bang!" The rotten latch could not withstand Kavi's brute strength. The wooden door was violently kicked open and slammed hard into the bulkhead behind it, shaking down even more dust.

Matthew's face was swollen, and the gap left by his missing front tooth was especially glaring in the dim light. One hand covered his still-aching jaw as his sinister gaze fixed on Li Ang inside the room.

Kavi blocked the doorway like a wall, his face full of flesh as he clenched his fists, making his knuckles crack. He was clearly ready to make a move at any moment.

"You sickly wretch, did you make that noise just now? Are you looking to die?"

Matthew cursed indistinctly, spittle flying everywhere.

"I think your hide's itching again. I still haven't settled the score with you for yesterday's rocking ship. Kavi, teach him some manners."

"Yes, Sir Class Leader."

Kavi gave a vicious grin. His massive body surged forward with a gust of wind, charging at Li Ang, who was curled up on the pile of straw, like a raging bull.

His fan-sized hand tore through the air as it swung viciously toward Li Ang's cheek.

If that blow landed, with Li Ang's current frail body, he would probably lose half his life here.

A fierce glint flashed through Li Ang's eyes. Not only did he not dodge, he raised his right hand toward Kavi's charge.

There was no incantation, no complicated gesture.

Within his Mental World, the azure Astral Star suddenly blazed with light. Wind-element mana gathered and compressed in his palm before erupting in an instant.

"Get lost!"

Li Ang shouted low.

An invisible blast of air, far more powerful than anything from his earlier practice, surged madly from his palm.

It was no longer the gentle breeze from before, but a howling shockwave that slammed viciously into Kavi's broad chest.

"Ugh—ah?!"

The vicious grin on Kavi's face froze instantly, replaced by utter shock. He only felt an immense force crash into his chest, as though an invisible battering ram had struck him head-on!

"Bang—"

A dull boom, more than ten times louder than when he had struck the fly, exploded like the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

Kavi's burly body was instantly lifted off the floor, sent flying like a tattered sack by the violent blast.

His huge body traced a brief arc through the air before crashing heavily into the bulkhead across the narrow corridor.

"Boom!" The rotten wooden bulkhead caved inward over a wide area, while dust and wood chips rained down.

Kavi collapsed to the ground like a heap of mud, curling up as hoarse, strangled wheezes escaped his throat.

Both hands clutched his chest tightly. His face turned from red to blue, his eyes bulging. His breath had clearly been knocked out of him so completely that he could not even scream, only convulse violently.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Matthew, standing at the door, was utterly dumbfounded.

The rage and sinister malice on his face were instantly replaced by extreme horror and confusion. His mouth fell open unconsciously, exposing that ridiculous yet savage gap, while his eyes widened as if he had witnessed the most unbelievable sight in the world.

What... had just happened?

His burly attendant Kavi, who could tear tigers and leopards apart with his bare hands... had been sent flying with a single raised hand by that sickly wretch he thought he could crush whenever he pleased?

A bone-deep chill shot from the soles of Matthew's feet to the crown of his head, draining even the color from his swollen face.

He stiffly turned his neck and looked into the room.

In the dim light, Li Ang slowly lowered his right hand. His face was still pale, and he was even gasping heavily from the outburst just now, with a few suppressed coughs mixed in from time to time.

But those eyes were like ice picks, coldly fixing on Matthew's face without the slightest emotion.

There was no fear in that gaze, nor any joy that should have followed victory. There was only a... cold indifference that made Matthew's very soul tremble.

Matthew instinctively retreated several steps and bumped into the doorframe. Kavi lay on the ground, his throat producing wheezing breaths like a broken bellows.

In that instant, fear coiled around his heart like a venomous snake. This sickly wretch... what... what had he done?!