Master of Nine Stars

Gao Lingwei cautiously surveyed the night sky. The Snowball Cat on her head mirrored her posture, its eyes filled with a frosty mist as it watched the stars falling from high above.

She spoke, "This is his final, desperate move."

Rong Taotao: "Huh?"

Gao Lingwei: "This is our home turf, the Snow Realm. All the Soul Power absorbed here is infused with the Frost Snow Attribute.

"When a Starfield Soul Martial Artist fights here, the Soul Power in their body is essentially a disposable resource.

"To replenish their Starfield Soul Power, he needs to use a Starfield Heart to convert Frost Snow Attribute Soul Power into Starfield Soul Power. Such a conversion is easier said than done, as it’s both time-consuming and laborious.

"The Twelfth Squad’s strategy is perfectly sound. As long as they trap the enemy and prevent him from escaping, he’ll be completely drained sooner or later."

Indeed, for a Starfield Soul Martial Artist, fighting on enemy turf was a process of self-destruction.

And for this Starfield Poacher, it truly was a do-or-die moment.

When the battle first began, the Starfield Poacher had figured this squad would be a little stronger than the Snow Burning troops guarding the city wall.

But he never in his wildest dreams imagined they would be this powerful!

His string of Starfield Soul Skills had always been devastatingly lethal against other Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists, making him utterly unstoppable.

’And yet Ugly Ox, the one he ambushed, didn’t even have his defenses breached!?’

Then Fu Tiance and Rong Yang had arrived as reinforcements and had even slaughtered one of his companions right under his nose.

’It was supposed to be a 4-on-3, but one of his side was killed instead?’

’If they couldn’t win 4-on-3, how could they possibly win 3-on-3?’

Uh... though for someone like Rong Taotao, a 1-on-3 might have been more comfortable?

But this Starfield Soul Martial Artist was no Rong Taotao. After assessing the situation, the two-meter-tall giant finally played his trump card!

Meteor Shower!

’I’ll blow everything in this Snow Realm to bits!’

The Starfield Soul Martial Artist had made up his mind: one move to vanquish his foes and destroy everything. It seemed that only by going all out like this did he have any chance of survival.

But Fu Tiance and Rong Yang were no pushovers. They countered his move swiftly and decisively.

Sixteen massive ice pillars shot up wildly, managing to intercept the majority of the falling stars.

Ugly Ox suddenly released his dual hammers and roared, "Brace yourselves!"

He slammed one hand onto the ground. The next moment, the snowy landscape surged violently, churning like a torrential river...

Snow Realm Soul Skill: A Snowy Ocean!

In the Snow Realm, the most basic Soul Skill is called Snow Step.

Snow Night Shock and the members of the Twelfth Squad all rode the churning river of frost and snow, rising and falling with its waves.

But the Starfield Soul Martial Artist, who stood rooted to the spot with his arms raised to the sky, felt the ground give way beneath him. In the blink of an eye, his calves were submerged in the churning snow.

"FUCK!!!" The Starfield Soul Martial Artist gritted his teeth, his expression savage as he forced the word out. He had completely lost his composure.

’Stop casting? If I do, my ultimate trump card will be interrupted. It would be a fool’s errand to try and create this chance again.’

’Morale is highest at the first charge, wanes at the second, and is depleted by the third. That’s been true since ancient times.’

’But if I don’t stop, my immobilized body will sink into the snow and I’ll be buried alive.’

As the giant struggled with his decision, a dark gold warhammer came flying straight for his face!

WHAM! A heavy impact.

The Starfield giant, his lower body submerged in the river of snow, was like a roly-poly toy. The hammer strike sent his upper body reeling backward, only for him to pop right back up again.

"Ling Wei! Ice Crystal Evil Face!" Rong Taotao roared.

Dazed, the Starfield giant opened his bleary eyes. He instinctively looked toward the sound, only to see the girl beside Rong Taotao, her head tilted, a glint of red light flashing in her right eye...

The Starfield giant’s expression froze. !!!

Galloping forward on his mount, Rong Taotao flicked his outstretched left hand backward.

WHAM! Another heavy impact!

The Starfield Soul Martial Artist, still caught in the effects of Ice Crystal Evil Face, had yet to recover his senses when the vicious warhammer came from behind!

It dealt a heavy blow to the back of his head!

He was too stunned to even feel fear. At that moment, all he could feel was a dizzying vertigo...

Fu Tiance and Rong Yang were crouched on the ground, rising and falling with the river of snow. They channeled a constant stream of Soul Power, sustaining the massive ice pillars growing toward the night sky, desperately holding back the ceaseless shower of falling stars.

Ugly Ox controlled A Snowy Ocean, determined to bury the Starfield Soul Martial Artist alive in the snow.

The trio’s coordination was excellent, and they had all just witnessed that astonishing scene.

And within the Ice Pillar Array, the pair of riders galloped across the snow, never pausing, heading straight for the Starfield Soul Martial Artist!

Illuminated by the starlight drifting across the ground, the constantly falling ice shards from above twinkled, painting a strangely beautiful picture...

As soldiers of the regular army, their standard combat doctrines and countermeasures against various types of Soul Martial Artists were so deeply ingrained in their minds that they did, in fact, slightly limit their improvisation.

"Good! Sheep, hold the line!" Fu Tiance roared, his eyes suddenly glowing from within the eyeholes of his black hood.

Seeing this, the Ice Power Like a Mountain that Fu Tiance was channeling from his hand instantly dissipated. He withdrew his hand from the snow, only to slam it down once more.

Snow Realm Soul Skill, Master-rank: Ice Prison!

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE! Five ice lotuses bloomed around the Starfield Soul Martial Artist, taking firm root atop the surging river of snow as they continued to coalesce and grow.

Rong Taotao had seen this Soul Skill before. Back on the Snowfield, when Xia Fangran was pressing palms against Xiao Ziru through an ice wall, it was this same kind of ice flower blooming on the wall that had made Xia Fangran turn pale and retreat in haste.

And why had Xia Fangran retreated in such a hurry?

Because anyone surrounded by these five ice flowers would be physically restrained, unable to move.

However, this form of Imprisonment wasn’t foolproof. A sufficiently high-level opponent could break free.

No one would be foolish enough to get hit by such a technique. The moment they saw the ice flowers begin to bloom, anyone would flee the danger zone.

But the problem was... the Starfield Soul Martial Artist had just been stunned by Gao Lingwei’s Ice Crystal Evil Face and smashed twice by Rong Taotao’s returning Meow Meow Hammer. That last strike to the back of his head was the perfect definition of a "Big Mute Hammer"!

Dazed and with his vision blackening, the Starfield Soul Martial Artist was in no state to react. The blooming ice flowers around him had already solidified into five small pillars, sealing his movements completely.

Fu Tiance had given Rong Taotao and his partner one final layer of insurance.

’Go, my young comrades!’

’Don’t hesitate, and don’t look back!’

"Hya!" Gao Lingwei slammed her legs into her mount’s flanks. Hu Bugui let out a sharp neigh and leaped high, only for its figure to abruptly vanish mid-air, recalled into Gao Lingwei’s body.

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei plummeted from the night sky, one behind the other, wreathed in wind and snow. In their hands, sharp Heaven-piercing Halberds materialized!

Their movements were astonishingly synchronized as they targeted the Starfield Soul Martial Artist, who was already submerged up to his waist in the river of snow...

SHLICK!

SHLICK!

A downward thrust! Piercing straight through!

The two Heaven-piercing Halberds, one from the left and one from the right, pierced through both sides of the Starfield Soul Martial Artist’s chest!

The two Heaven-piercing Halberds pierced so deeply that their blades crossed behind his back, emerging just above the churning snow...

As expected of a weapon once used in ceremonial guards, the crossed, lattice-like pattern the two Heaven-piercing Halberds formed was indeed a beautiful sight.

Especially when the snow-white blades of the long halberds were stained with the enemy’s crimson blood.

On the river of snow, the Starfield Soul Martial Artist, submerged to his waist, tilted his head back and stared blankly at the two people before him. His mouth hung open, and the once incomparably savage light in his eyes gradually faded...

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei stood upon the river of snow, their figures rising and falling with the waves. They both turned to look at each other.

Gao Lingwei said, "That was a Soul School, a Starfield Soul School who seriously wounded the patrol soldiers! I can’t believe you actually dared to charge!"

It was true. Rong Taotao had been the one controlling Snow Night Shock, and he had been the one to lead the charge.

Rong Taotao: "Defense is just setting up for a better counterattack. When your enemy is down, you finish them off!"

The river of snow beneath their feet stopped moving. Gao Lingwei stood firmly on the snow and said, "You don’t seem to realize what you’ve just done. Like I said, that was a Soul School!"

"Hah." Rong Taotao smirked. "Yep. A Soul School who was pursuing freedom. Well, now he’s truly free..."

...