Master of Nine Stars

Flying at high speed through the air, Xia Fangran turned his head to look back. Through the dazzlingly bright, massive Cyan Lotus Bud, he saw the Frost Beauty standing silently upon it.

Her gaze was resentful as she silently watched the fleeing Xia Fangran. Frost and snow dusted her ethereal long hair and her cloak, which was formed from illusory lines, swaying in the wind with a graceful rhythm.

It truly brought to mind the line from the ancient poem: *A beauty in the north, peerless and alone.*

"NEIGH~"

Snow Night Shock materialized once more, its neigh tearing through the night sky. Xia Fangran, with Rong Taotao tucked under his arm, dropped swiftly to the ground and mounted it again.

It was hard to tell if Xia Fangran was trying to comfort Rong Taotao or if his temper had just flared up, but he deliberately taunted their pursuer, shouting, "Don’t worry! His horse isn’t as fast as mine!"

They were all top-tier experts; who didn’t have a bit of a temper?

If he weren’t saddled with Rong Taotao, this liability he had to protect at all costs, Xia Fangran wouldn’t be fleeing so desperately.

When had one of the great Pine Soul Four Seasons ever suffered such a humiliation?

But it was true. Behind them, Xiao Ziru, who was also riding a Snow Night Shock, truly couldn’t catch Xia Fangran. In fact, the distance between them seemed to be slowly widening.

Even though he and the Frost Beauty set numerous obstacles for Xia Fangran, they were all overcome one by one. His frantic escape never slowed in the slightest.

Rong Taotao, however, completely ignored Xia Fangran, muttering under his breath, "I was a simple farmer in Nanyang, hoping only to survive in a chaotic age..."

Xia Fangran was speechless.

The Frost Beauty struck again!

In her palm, formed from ethereal lines, an icy blue hue spread along with a frosty mist. A Lotus Petal once again materialized in her palm, radiating a brilliant light.

At that very moment, atop the rapidly galloping Snow Night Shock, Xia Fangran’s vision blurred. It seemed as if the entire world had suddenly been illuminated.

Out of nowhere, a gigantic Cyan Lotus suddenly bloomed beneath them!

This time, the Frost Beauty had bloomed the Lotus in the perfect spot. She had predicted Xia Fangran’s speed and opened it directly beneath him!

The giant Lotus Petals shimmered with a sacred light, completely illuminating the dark, snow-swept night.

The Snow Night Shock beneath Xia Fangran, which had been galloping across the snow, was now suddenly racing across the heart of the Cyan Lotus.

The heart of this Cyan Lotus, also known as the Lotus Seedpod, was astonishingly large.

Its diameter must have been at least a hundred meters. If the Lotus Seedpod was this massive, the surrounding Cyan Lotus Petals were even more so—each one stood as tall as a small mountain!

In comparison, the figures of Xia Fangran and Rong Taotao were as tiny as ants.

For a moment, the scene was both bizarre and breathtakingly beautiful.

"Stay." An enchanting voice echoed once more in Xia Fangran’s mind, bewitching his very Heart Soul. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"NEIGH!" The Snow Night Shock whinnied as its hooves struck the viridian Lotus Seedpod, and it felt as if they were being pierced by countless tiny blades.

"Your Lotus Petal comes with a divine throne now? Aren’t you afraid of getting struck by lightning for sacrilege!?" Xia Fangran’s voice was ice-cold. With a furious roar, he dismissed his warhorse, grabbed Rong Taotao, and shot into the air again.

Rong Taotao, who had been keeping his eyes shut and muttering his textbook passages, was drawn by the sudden, brilliant light. Seeing their predicament, he quickly said, "Coach Xia! If I can find the physical Lotus Petal, I might be able to absorb it! I can snatch it away!"

"Let’s focus on surviving first!" Xia Fangran snapped. In such a perilous situation, he had no time for anything else.

WHOOSH...

Astonishing waves of energy rippled out from the giant Lotus Petals. Countless palm-sized Cyan Lotus Petals suddenly floated up from within the giant Lotus, suspending themselves in mid-air!

Xia Fangran’s face fell. As he leaped up from the Lotus Seedpod, trying to escape from above, he discovered that the gigantic, mountain-like Lotus Petals were slowly closing, threatening to trap the two of them inside the colossal flower.

’What’s her game?’

’Trap us, then kill us!?’

"SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!"

At that very moment, the countless Lotus Petals suspended inside the giant Lotus Bud began to spin, turning into tiny, rotating blades that shot toward Xia Fangran from every angle and direction!

The densely packed, spinning Lotus Petals swept toward them like a torrential downpour, their power absolutely staggering!

Xia Fangran gritted his teeth. His Soul Power erupted, blasting away the countless incoming Lotus Petals. At the same time, with Rong Taotao tucked under one arm, he once again brandished a Heaven-piercing Halberd in his other hand!

Xia Fangran shot upwards. As he neared the closing petals at the very top, he couldn’t help but let out a furious roar: "WHO! CAN! STOP! ME!?"

Snow Realm Soul Skill: Soldier’s Soul!

The normal-sized Heaven-piercing Halberd in Xia Fangran’s hand, in the instant he thrust it forward, suddenly transformed into a colossal version of itself. The terrifying Battle Halberd, now over twenty meters long, stabbed viciously upward!

’Who could stop him?’

’Ah, but youth is often too arrogant.’

"SQUELCH..."

Such a fierce and sharp attack was like a stone sinking into the sea, vanishing without a ripple.

The delicate, soft Cyan Lotus Petal looked like it should have shattered on impact, but it was frighteningly tough!

Xia Fangran’s giant Heaven-piercing Halberd plunged deep into the petal, only to be... repelled?

Xia Fangran was stunned. Utterly stunned.

As a Soul School master, he had used his strongest piercing attack, and it hadn’t even made a splash?

’Just... what kind of power does this Nine-Petaled Lotus possess?’

"SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!"

The opening Xia Fangran expected never appeared. His incredibly powerful Soldier’s Soul was completely neutralized by the Lotus Petal.

What awaited him instead was an endless barrage of Lotus Petals, coming at him like a torrential storm.

If Xia Fangran had actually managed to break through and escape, the pursuing storm of petals would no longer be a threat.

But now, with his path blocked, Xia Fangran...

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

A series of clangs rang out as the blades struck his defensive shield. Eyes burning with fury, Xia Fangran held Rong Taotao tight. A strange light flickered on his chest as an ice-blue defensive shield enveloped them both.

But... against the relentless shredding of the sharp Lotus Petals, how long could such a shield possibly last?

Outside the giant Lotus Bud, Xiao Ziru, riding his Snow Night Shock, gradually came to a halt.

Behind him, the figure of ethereal lines dismounted, her steps somewhat stiff. It seemed using this Lotus Petal had drained her of all her strength.

Even so, the outcome was perfect. She had succeeded.

Not far in front of her, a small Cyan Lotus Bud—part real, part illusion—rested quietly in the snow.

From outside the Lotus Bud, to the eyes of the Frost Beauty and Xiao Ziru, the flower bud was of a normal size, small enough to be held in one hand.

But to Xia Fangran and Rong Taotao inside, that same Lotus Bud was immense, its Lotus Seedpod a hundred meters across and its petals towering like small mountains.

It seemed the space inside the flower was entirely different in scale from the space outside.

Inside the Lotus, Xia Fangran, having failed to find a way out, fell from the sky. He fell on his back, tightly shielding Rong Taotao in his arms, using his own body to block the attacking petals while enduring the bone-deep pain.

A Snow Realm Treasure of this caliber could inflict a degree of damage that not even Xia Fangran could escape from unscathed.

"Coach Xia!" Rong Taotao cried out in alarm. He saw the protective ice-blue shield get ripped apart by a spinning petal, which then grazed past Xia Fangran’s cheek, leaving a deep, bloody gash.

Rong Taotao struggled with all his might, but he couldn’t break free from Xia Fangran’s arms. He shouted desperately, "Throw me at that physical petal! Throw me up!"

"Arrogant! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Xia Fangran roared. A sky full of Lotus Petals was surging up from below; if he dared to throw Rong Taotao out, it would be tantamount to sending him to his death.

’Has that Lotus Petal of yours finally warped your mind, Taotao?’

Xia Fangran gritted his teeth, having no time to overthink it.

"SHINK!" Another petal, from among the countless others, exploited the opening torn by the previous barrage. Before the shield could mend itself, it broke through Xia Fangran’s defenses and burrowed deep into his back.

The piercing pain was excruciating.

"I have a Lotus Petal! One that I snatched from the hands of an Ice Soul Guide!" Rong Taotao’s earlier desperation was gone, replaced by a face filled with fury.

It was anger at Xia Fangran, but also at his own weakness.

’If only I were stronger... maybe then Coach Xia would believe me...’

Xia Fangran roared, "And so?"

Rong Taotao shot back, just as furious, "So there’s no Lotus in this world that I can’t take for myself!"

Xia Fangran’s breath caught in his throat. ’!!!’

Looking at Rong Taotao’s expression—so Arrogant, so confident it bordered on hubris...

For a dizzying moment, Xia Fangran felt as if he weren’t looking at Rong Taotao’s face, but at the Sinful Lotus itself.

"You little brat!" Xia Fangran had been falling on his back while holding Rong Taotao, but he suddenly loosened his grip, flipped his body over, and faced the surging tide of Lotus Petals below.

"Then let’s f*cking die together! I’ll go down with you!" Xia Fangran swore. Snow Burst Balls exploded one after another from his hands as he pressed his back to Rong Taotao’s and carried him upward.

Even at the very end, Xia Fangran still tried to shield Rong Taotao, to block as much damage as he could. The ice-blue defensive shield had covered them both from the very beginning.

The pair flew toward the very top of the Lotus Bud—the same spot where he had tried and failed to break through moments before.

Rong Taotao faced the petal. Propelled by Xia Fangran’s back, his body arched like a bow. Even as he tore through the sky full of petals, and with the ice-blue shield covering him, he could hear the "CLANG CLANG" of the impacts by his ears...

In his line of sight, the massive, physical Lotus Petal directly above drew infinitely closer.

Rong Taotao strained to reach forward. At the last possible second, he viciously slammed his hands against the sacred lotus before him.

"THUD!" The two of them, like human cannonballs, smashed into the Lotus Petal, sinking deep inside...

"Snow Realm: Nine-Petaled Lotus - Ninth Petal: Prison Lotus discovered. Absorb?"

’Prison Lotus?’

Rong Taotao bit his lip hard. ’Absorb!’

’So it’s the Frost Beauty, huh?’

’I’ll f*cking show you today!’

’In this entire Snow Realm, there is no Lotus that can imprison me!’

...

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