Master of Nine Stars

Nearby, Xia Fangran finally spoke up. "The Snow Burning Army will arrive in about a minute. Which history book did you say that was recorded in?"

Rong Taotao looked a little embarrassed. "Un... unofficial history."

Because of his mother, Rong Taotao had always paid far too much attention to the war history of the northern Snow Realm. He read all sorts of bizarre books and hadn’t learned much of the official curriculum, but he had developed a reputation for being... "well-read."

Xia Fangran didn’t seem to mind. The Snow Realm Vortex had been open for sixty years, and with visibility constantly obscured by raging blizzards, the place was a natural breeding ground for horror stories. It was no surprise that all sorts of myths about ghosts and gods had taken root.

He said, "Calamity Xuerong. That’s a pretty interesting name."

In that short minute, the frozen meat patty in Gao Lingwei’s hand had already disappeared into Calamity Xuerong’s stomach. As the creature continued to nuzzle against her, Gao Lingwei picked up another patty and kept feeding it.

"They’re here," Xia Fangran said suddenly.

At his words, Rong Taotao turned to see three Snow Burning Army Warriors and a middle-aged to elderly man in a tunic suit walking in.

The man’s attire was completely out of place among the soldiers, making him the most conspicuous of the group.

"I was wondering who it could be. So it’s Xia, here training his students," the man in the crisp tunic suit said, his expression serious. He straightened his wind-tousled white hair and brushed the frost from his clothes.

To Rong Taotao’s surprise, Xia Fangran, who was always so sarcastic, didn’t offer a retort. Instead, he smiled and said, "Mr. Zheng. It’s good to see you’re well."

Rong Taotao was floored.

’This guy, Xia Fangran, even calls Principal Mei ’old man’ and ’old coot’. Who on earth is this newcomer? Why is Xia being so respectful?’

The man, whose surname was Zheng, looked to be nearly sixty years old and had the stern, humorless air of a scholar. He smoothed his pale hair and asked, "At present, the Snow Burning Army has strictly forbidden anyone from entering or exiting the Third Wall’s perimeter. How did you manage to bring students in here, Xia?"

"Ah, I don’t have that much pull, haha," Xia Fangran chuckled. "Old Mei was the one who negotiated with the Snow Burning Army. I imagine he had to promise them quite a lot to get permission for students to train here."

"Oh?" Mr. Zheng raised an eyebrow, looking quizzically at the two students crouching on the ground.

’Anyone could come north of the First Wall, even civilians looking to train. But it all depended on the timing!’

Right now, the northern lands had just endured the Battle of the Three Cities. The entire region within the Third Wall was under a complete lockdown as the military conducted its operations. It would likely be several months before Hundred Corps Pass was opened to the public again.

’So the question was, who exactly were these two students?’

’Why did they have Principal Mei’s favor to such a degree that he would swallow his pride to beg the Snow Burning Army on their behalf?’

Gao Lingwei was still feeding the Frost Night Xuerong and didn’t dare to stand, but her expression was reverent. "Hello, Professor Zheng. It’s an honor to meet you. I’m from Songjiang Soul Martial University’s Class of 20... erm, a student in the Junior Class, Gao Lingwei."

’Professor?’

Rong Taotao wasn’t the one feeding the creature, but following Gao Lingwei’s lead, he stood up and said, "Hello, Professor. I’m Rong Taotao, a student in the Junior Class."

The man surnamed Zheng looked Rong Taotao up and down and repeated, "Rong Taotao?"

Rong Taotao: "Yes, that’s me."

"No wonder." The man’s stern expression finally relaxed a fraction. He asked no more questions and looked down at the small cat eating leisurely on the ground. "It really is a Calamity Xuerong."

’Finally, someone who knows what they’re looking at!’ Rong Taotao rejoiced internally.

He took a step back to stand beside Xia Fangran and whispered, "Is Professor Zheng a teacher at our university?"

Xia Fangran grinned, slinging an arm around Rong Taotao’s shoulder and turning his head. He whispered, "You don’t recognize one of the great Pine Soul Four Seasons? That’s Zheng Qianqiu.

The textbook you use, the *Snow Realm Soul Beast Encyclopedia*, was compiled by him. In the future, you’ll be studying from many more textbooks that he’s edited and published."

Rong Taotao: "..."

He had seen the profile pictures of the university’s famous professors on the official website, but this "Autumn" of the Pine Soul Four Seasons looked drastically different from his official photo.

He seemed much older, and his hair was now completely white.

’Well... white hair is better than no hair, I suppose.’

"The little one isn’t afraid of people," Zheng Qianqiu said softly as he undid the top button of his tunic suit and slowly crouched down. "I rushed here the day the blizzard began and have been inside the Third Wall for over a month. I’ve seen all kinds of new and bizarre Snow Realm Soul Beasts, but today has truly been an eye-opener."

With that, Zheng Qianqiu knelt and even lowered himself to the ground, pressing his cheek against the floor, completely unconcerned about getting his face and clothes dirty.

He cautiously crawled on his knees around the Frost Night Xuerong, his gaze fixed on the little Xuerong cat as he observed it meticulously. "Young lady," he whispered, "don’t move. Keep feeding it..."

Of course, Gao Lingwei didn’t dare move a muscle, turning into an emotionless feeding machine...

Zheng Qianqiu crawled to its side, staring at the Frost Night Xuerong’s beautiful, glass-like eyes. "It seems it doesn’t mind you," he said.

"But it’s wary of everyone else. Have you noticed? Its vertical pupils are tracking me."

Gao Lingwei nodded lightly. "Mm... yes."

To be precise, one of the Frost Night Xuerong’s eyes was tracking Zheng Qianqiu, while the other remained fixed on the meat patty by its mouth.

Zheng Qianqiu looked up, glancing at the Snow Burning Army Warriors and then at Xia Fangran.

No one knew what he was thinking. The cave fell silent; even the howls of the Snowflake Wolves outside had disappeared, likely driven away by the Snow Burning Army.

After a long moment of thought, Zheng Qianqiu said, "Young lady, do you have a Soul Slot? Try to absorb it as a Soul Pet. I need to handle it myself, but it will most likely flee if I do.

"The Snow Burning Army has been searching this area within the Third Wall for over a month, clearing out and tracking down Soul Beasts, yet they still missed this little one. That indicates this species must be incredibly fast, with exceptional escape and concealment abilities."

"Huh?" Gao Lingwei froze. ’This...’

Zheng Qianqiu asked, "What’s wrong? No free Soul Slots?"

As he spoke, his expression darkened, and he muttered, "A Blast Pearl would cause too much of a disturbance. It would easily startle it."

Gao Lingwei did have Soul Slots. She had just advanced to the Soul Captain Stage, which gave her three additional usable Soul Slots.

In the Soul Martial World’s system, a person could use one Soul Slot at the Soul Soldier Stage, with the Soul Warrior Stage adding another two usable slots.

Upon reaching the Soul Captain Stage, another three usable Soul Slots were unlocked on top of that.

In other words, if a person had a total of six Soul Slots, they would essentially be able to use all of them by the time they reached the Soul Captain Stage.

"Ahem." Rong Taotao coughed lightly to get Gao Lingwei’s attention.

He whispered, "Absorb it. Do as the professor says. Don’t hesitate."

Seeing the serious look in Rong Taotao’s eyes, Gao Lingwei considered it for a moment before finally nodding.

"So you do have free Soul Slots?" Zheng Qianqiu immediately understood her hesitation and said, "Binding it to you is just a way to stabilize it, making it easier for us to study.

"It’s extremely rare. Judging from the few brief appearances recorded throughout history, this creature can vanish in the blink of an eye.

"Rest assured, judging by the Soul Power fluctuations in its body, it’s at least an elite-grade creature. And it’s far from its physical peak, so it certainly has potential for further growth.

"Based on the focal point of its Soul Power, its Soul Skill must be an Eye Soul Skill—most likely a Pupil Technique. There’s no mistaking it.

"It won’t hold you back. On the contrary, it will take your strength to the next level."

Rong Taotao: ???

’What in the world?’

’Do you have an Inner Soul Map, too? No, that can’t be it. You haven’t even touched the Frost Night Xuerong!’

’This Zheng Qianqiu, one of the Pine Soul Four Seasons... he just crawled around it once on his knees and figured out the Frost Night Xuerong’s approximate power level and Soul Skill type?’

’Holy shit! The man’s a god!’

’Is he appraising a priceless artifact or something?’

While Rong Taotao was marveling to himself, Gao Lingwei was only just now starting to put the pieces together.

Professor Zheng Qianqiu had made this decision for two reasons. On the one hand, the cat was elusive and could easily escape, but it didn’t seem to mind Gao Lingwei, so he’d had her absorb it for the sake of research. On the other hand...

Zheng Qianqiu didn’t just want to study this species; he also recognized the Soul Beast’s immense power. Under the circumstances, he decided to just go with the flow and gift the Soul Beast to a student from his own university—Gao Lingwei.

Zheng Qianqiu didn’t know who Gao Lingwei was, but he certainly knew who Rong Taotao was.

He was, quite clearly, *that* woman’s son...

For Gao Lingwei to be teamed up with Rong Taotao, and to be brought here by Xia Fangran during a military lockdown, meant she had to be a student that Songjiang Soul Martial University was heavily invested in training.

In other words, she was a student being personally fostered by Principal Mei Hongyu.

Zheng Qianqiu’s seemingly simple decision carried a great deal of hidden meaning.

It seemed this stern-faced old academic was far more calculating than he appeared.

Zheng Qianqiu continued to dispel Gao Lingwei’s worries. "Since you know its name, I’ll assume you’ve heard the strange legends surrounding it.

"You don’t need to worry about the ’Calamity’ aspect. That’s merely baseless speculation. Not every historical text is a serious academic work.

"In my judgment, the reason it appears in conjunction with large-scale battles is that ordinary blizzards from the Snow Realm Vortex aren’t strong enough to blow such an agile creature to Earth.

"Only the most powerful blizzards are capable of forcing this species to Earth. And those top-tier blizzards are often exploited by intelligent Snow Realm Soul Beasts as cover for their invasions.

"I don’t believe the Calamity Xuerong is an omen of any kind. If it symbolizes anything, it’s simply the intensity of the blizzard.

"Once I’ve finished my research on it, I’ll give it a proper name myself.

"Gao Lingwei, regardless of how you managed to keep it from running, you succeeded. That’s no small contribution. When the time comes, you can take part in naming it, too."

Gao Lingwei: "..."

’How did I keep it from running?’

’I didn’t do anything to keep it here. It’s been living with Rong Taotao and me for the past three days without us even knowing... ’

Gao Lingwei was completely bewildered.

She had firsthand experience with the Calamity Xuerong’s skill in concealment, but what she couldn’t understand was why the little creature had practically allowed itself to be found. It had even swaggered out into the open.

’Did it not have a single shred of caution or alertness?’

’Not only that, but after revealing itself, it showed no hostility at all. Instead, it just started acting cute as if it had done it a thousand times before?’

A thought suddenly struck Gao Lingwei. She remembered the dejected look on the Calamity Xuerong’s face when she had shielded the Cloud Dog, picking it up and carrying it away.

’Could it be...?’

’These past few days, while the team was completely unaware, had the Calamity Xuerong been observing them in secret? Had it seen the way they treated their Cloud Dog?’

’Doting, protecting, and keeping it company.’

’In that sense, the Cloud Dog really was being spoiled rotten...’