Master of Nine Stars

It seemed impossible to keep the fact that Rong Taotao possessed the Nine-Petaled Lotus a secret anymore.

If only a few students had seen a Lotus Petal by Rong Taotao’s side during the night of the Soul Beast invasion, this time, far too many had witnessed it.

After all, this was a one-on-one duel between Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao, which had already drawn a massive crowd. Furthermore, the Martial Arts Arena rules only permitted training to start at four o’clock, so by four-thirty, most of the diligent students had arrived.

The upperclassmen, however, never would have imagined that this morning would be one that completely shattered their worldview.

As expected, Rong Taotao was completely steamrolled by Gao Lingwei and was even on the verge of being stomped into unconsciousness. But at the very last moment, the Junior Class student’s Youthful Spirit erupted!

A shocking reversal, a strike meant to kill!

It decided not only victory, but also life and death!

Was this the legendary figure from the school forums—Little Tao the watchman of the Martial Arts Hall? He really was like one of those legendary sweeper-monks!

Uh...

Rong Taotao had no idea how the school was controlling the spread of this news. He spent nearly the entire day with Gao Lingwei, even sharing a hospital meal with her at noon. He didn’t leave the hospital until after school let out in the afternoon, when Gan Lin arrived again.

For Rong Taotao, this day was, well... a very fruitful one.

The two of them had meticulously reviewed the battle, then started talking about the Heaven-piercing Halberd and reminiscing about their respective training days...

As two people who shared a common language and an extreme obsession with the Heaven-piercing Halberd, once they started talking, they just couldn’t stop. They also identified the biggest difference in their styles of wielding the halberd.

Because Rong Taotao’s Devil Master was so overwhelmingly powerful, Rong Taotao had not only maxed out his Heaven-piercing Halberd skills back then, cultivating them to the highest point he was capable of, but his method of using the halberd also differed slightly from Gao Lingwei’s.

It was just as they had discussed during their first spar.

The Heaven-piercing Halberd in Rong Taotao’s hands was agile, and the basis of his every move was essentially to overcome strength with skill.

Even when his movements were broad and sweeping, following the same general form, Rong Taotao rarely adopted an overwhelming, all-out offensive stance, even against opponents of the same level.

His heart was fearless and pressed ever forward, but the fighting style he displayed was evasive, agile, and used retreat as a means of attack.

As for Gao Lingwei... she herself was like a Heaven-piercing Halberd. Her fighting style was one of unparalleled martial valor, the very definition of using brute force to conquer all!

Rong Taotao was filled with envy listening to this. If his Devil Master had been a little less oppressive during his training, he might have had the chance to become that kind of person too.

But alas... his youth was gone and would not return. The foundation that had been laid was now deeply ingrained in his very being, making it difficult to tear down and rebuild.

However, there were some benefits to this. Gao Lingwei seriously pointed out that although they used the same weapon and their general techniques were similar, their fighting styles were complementary in battle.

Unfortunately, after the month of military training for first-year students, Gao Lingwei had already been assigned to a three-person team, and Rong Taotao had his own squad as well.

What’s more, one was a first-year university student and the other was in the Junior Class; their curricula were different.

Gao Lingwei had previously expressed her regret to Rong Taotao, saying that if he had been born three years earlier, they might have been able to fight for the championship title together in the national high school tournament.

Rong Taotao, however, didn’t mind. The Lotus was with him, the Talent was there, and his diligence and hard work were even greater. What was meant to be would be. He hadn’t gone to high school, but he was in university now.

Right now, there was the Outer Region university league, and achieving outstanding results in it would grant a ticket to the national university league.

He just didn’t know if he, with a Lotus Petal by his side, would even be allowed to compete. After all... the current Rong Taotao was a little too dangerous.

’If only I could control this Lotus Petal,’ he thought. ’According to Si Huan Nian, she absorbed her Lotus when she was a Soul Captain, and she can use it with ease, right?’

’In the end, it all comes down to strength!’

At dinnertime, after enjoying a hearty meal in the cafeteria, Rong Taotao returned to the Martial Arts Arena to once again study the "Jade Dragon Gift" he hadn’t figured out that morning.

"Yes, yes, that’s it, that’s it..." Rong Taotao stood in the Martial Arts Arena, his eyes fixed on the layer of frost and snow in his hand.

Within his arm, two streams of ice and snow Attribute Soul Power—one from his Pleiades acupoint and the other from his Dantian—fiercely intertwined at the Soul Slot in his wrist and were released!

WHOOSH... A sheet of frost and snow was pushed to his palm and gushed out!

"Practicing Snow Realm Soul Skill: Jade Dragon Gift!

Jade Dragon Gift: Channel two or more streams of ice and snow Attribute Soul Power, using a method of layered amplification and multiple applications to create flakes of frost and snow. Each of these cold snowflakes is a gift from nature to the Soul Martial Artist. (Excellent Level, Potential Value: 7 Stars)"

’Seven... 7 stars!?’

Rong Taotao was completely stunned. A Potential Value of a full 7 stars!?

Ever since he’d gotten his Inner Soul Map, Rong Taotao had never seen anything with a 7-star Potential Value!

Not Soul Beasts, not Soul Power, not Martial Arts, not any Soul Skill...

’My god, it’s truly worthy of being a Core Soul Skill for Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists! Its Potential Value is as high as 7 stars, which means this Soul Skill’s Complete Form should be "Epic" level!’

"Ahem." A cough sounded from in front of him.

Rong Taotao snapped back to his senses and looked up. He had been so engrossed in studying the Soul Skill that he hadn’t even noticed someone had been standing there for a while.

Upon seeing the person’s face, Rong Taotao’s expression lit up with joy, and he blurted out, "Xia Yinyang!?"

Xia Fangran’s face darkened. "Hm?"

"Uh." ’This is bad,’ Rong Taotao thought. He slapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. Still covering his mouth, he said in a muffled voice, "Hello, Xia! You’re finally back!"

"Xia Yinyang? What kind of name is that? A nickname you gave me?" Xia Fangran smoothed his parted hair, undid the top button of his plaid shirt with one hand, and sneered, "Kid, take out your Heaven-piercing Halberd. It looks like I haven’t beaten you enough."

"Uh, Xia," Rong Taotao said, his face twisting in distress. "I can’t, Xia. I can’t spar with you."

Xia Fangran’s expression turned stern. "What nonsense! Pick up your Heaven-piercing Halberd. Are you trying to rebel?"

"No, that’s not it!" Rong Taotao said, growing anxious as he hurriedly explained, "I’m afraid I might kill you."

Xia Fangran: ???

For a moment, they just stared at each other, and it was as if the world had gone silent.

After a long moment, Xia Fangran, having processed this, actually laughed in exasperation. "You? Kill me? With what you’ve got? You’d kill *me*?"

Rong Taotao stepped forward and whispered, "Early this morning, I nearly killed my girlfriend."

Xia Fangran frowned slightly. ’Is this kid serious?’

With a pained expression, Rong Taotao said, "It was thanks to Coach Si and Coach Dong that she’s okay. She’s still in the hospital recovering. It pierced her kidney. They said she has to rest for a week and isn’t even allowed to get out of bed."

Xia Fangran finally realized Rong Taotao wasn’t joking. He couldn’t help but ask, "You have a girlfriend?"

Rong Taotao: ???

’Is that the f*cking point?’

Xia Fangran said, "So tell me. What happened?"

Rong Taotao whispered, "Um, you know how I got lucky and snatched the Nine-Petaled Lotus from the Ice Soul Guide on the night of the Soul Beast invasion?"

Xia Fangran’s eyes shot wide open. He stared blankly at Rong Taotao, aghast. "The Nine-Petaled Lotus? The Snow Realm Treasure, the Nine-Petaled Lotus? Are we talking about the same thing?"

Rong Taotao was also a bit stunned. "You didn’t know?"

Xia Fangran said, "Ah, I just got back from the Three-Wall Military Camp. Old Mei personally appointed me to teach you, but that old devil never said a word to me about any Lotus!"

"Oh," Rong Taotao said, pouting. "I can’t control the Lotus Petal yet. It attacks on its own, and it’s really insidious... totally unpredictable..."

"No wonder Old Mei told me to live in the Martial Arts Hall from now on. So he sent me here to be your bodyguard," Xia Fangran said, looking as if it all suddenly made sense. The more he thought about it, the stranger his expression became.

With a look of utter disbelief, Xia Fangran looked down at Rong Taotao. "How the hell are you so badass? You actually managed to snatch the flower right from the Ice Soul Guide’s grasp?"

’Listen to that. Are those words a teacher should be saying?’

Rong Taotao said quietly, "You should probably go back to being your usual sarcastic self. I can’t really handle such direct praise."

As he spoke, Rong Taotao even pursed his lips into that classic, polite smile emoji face.

*Go on, curse me again!*

The expression was all too vivid. Xia Fangran lifted his leg and kicked Rong Taotao, sending him stumbling.

Xia Fangran sneered, "My, you really are something else~ The robbers invade the school to rob us, and what do you do? You take advantage of the chaos to rob the robbers?"

Rong Taotao rubbed his butt with a wronged expression, not daring to smile again.

Xia Fangran said, "You practice on your own for a bit. Dammit all, I’m going to find Old Mei and ask him what’s the deal with this new assignment. I thought coming back from the Third Wall was supposed to be a break..."

Xia Fangran walked off, muttering and cursing.

One thing was for sure: ever since Rong Taotao mentioned he had an uncontrollable Lotus Petal, Xia Fangran really didn’t bring up sparring with him again...

"Yay! Late stage, late stage, late stage!" From a distance, Sun Xingyu’s cheerful voice could be heard.

You could tell she was excited; she must have broken through to the late stage of the Soul Soldier realm.

In the talented Junior Class, even Sun Xingyu, whose aptitude was considered relatively poor, had already entered the late Soul Soldier stage. Needless to say, the other students were likely at her level or even higher.

Si Huan Nian and Rong Taotao’s help to the "Little Souls" was immense. During the month Rong Taotao was in a coma, the Junior Class students’ dorms and classrooms were on the same floor as Si Huan Nian’s own room.

And ever since Rong Taotao had moved into the Martial Arts Arena, Si Huan Nian would go to bed at ten-thirty, but Rong Taotao would still be training.

So, with the Junior Class dorms just across the hall, they were also enjoying the blessings of the Nine-Petaled Lotus. However, it was certain that Rong Taotao, as the vessel for the Lotus Petal, benefited to a greater degree than the other Little Souls.

Rong Taotao turned his head to look, only to see Sun Xingyu leap into Li Ziyi’s arms. And that detestable Li Ziyi was overjoyed, spinning her around in the snow?

’How infuriating!’

’They look so happy~’

’FML...’

’Once Wei is out of the hospital, I’ll try that too.’

However, even though Rong Taotao called her his girlfriend, in reality, he had never even held her hand.

’Yep, it’s decided. I’ll try holding her hand when I visit her tomorrow.’

’When you’re chasing a girl, you can’t be shy.’

’Si Huan Nian said so!’

...