Master of Nine Stars

Captain Fu had indeed gotten Gao Lingwei a Soul Pearl for her forehead, and it was identical to Rong Taotao’s. Unfortunately, it only allowed them to communicate mentally and share thoughts, with no other fancy functions.

Si Huan Nian’s eyes widened slightly. Those Soul Pearls and their Soul Skills were elite-grade and quite rare.

Did you two join the army, or did you go on a shopping spree?

Recalling the Frost Night Xuerong on Gao Lingwei’s right foot, Si Huan Nian began to form a theory. It seemed the Snow Burning Army was determined to groom her. Gao Lingwei would likely enlist early, perhaps not even waiting until after graduation.

"Good, good, good." Si Huan Nian nodded, repeating the word three times. "I wish you a bright future.

Remember, Songjiang Soul Martial will always have your back. Once you’re in the Snow Burning Army, if you run into any trouble, you can ask for help from the alumni from Songjiang Soul Martial who are also serving. Under normal circumstances, they’ll give you their full support."

"Thank you for the advice, Coach Si." Gao Lingwei nodded quickly.

"You’re making it sound like she’s leaving right this second," Rong Taotao muttered with a pout.

"Heh heh." Si Huan Nian couldn’t hold back a chuckle, her tone laced with a hint of schadenfreude. "What’s the matter? Your little girlfriend got scouted by the Snow Burning Army, and now she’s slipping out of your reach?"

"Who are you looking down on?!" Rong Taotao was instantly displeased and reached into his pocket. "I’ll show you something right now..."

Gao Lingwei leaned over and placed a hand on Rong Taotao’s arm. "Captain Fu was right. I really do need to keep an eye on you."

Rong Taotao: "Uh..."

Si Huan Nian was very curious. "What is it?"

Rong Taotao looked at Gao Lingwei and said, "It’s fine. Coach Si isn’t an outsider. She’s my live-in Personal Bodyguard and Swordsmanship master who protects me. She’s not some random auntie selling candy at the supermarket..."

The more she listened, the more Si Huan Nian’s curiosity grew, until she was practically itching to know.

She suddenly shot to her feet, strode toward Rong Taotao on her long legs, and muttered, "Stop being so coy. It’s not very manly. Take it out and let me see!"

Gao Lingwei tactfully withdrew her hand, and Rong Taotao handed over the small black booklet.

"Whoa?" Si Huan Nian took the small black leather wallet and froze. Flipping it open vertically, she saw the familiar Kite Shield emblem and, above it, the large character for "Snow."

In the compartment below was Rong Taotao’s personal identification card.

"Designation: Twelve?" The look on Si Huan Nian’s face was priceless. She lowered the officer’s credentials and stared down at Rong Taotao. "How did you manage to get into a special unit of this caliber? Did your brother bribe the captain?"

Rong Taotao looked aggrieved. "Couldn’t it just be that my Martial Arts are superb and I’m full of potential?"

"Heh." Si Huan Nian sneered. "You? Superb Martial Arts? How’s your Sword Technique coming along?"

"Uh..." Rong Taotao didn’t shy away from Si Huan Nian’s gaze, looking completely confident. "It’s coming along. I haven’t slacked off on my Sword Technique this past month. I’ve also been developing a new Hammer Technique, one specifically for smashing people in the back of the head.

I call it the Rong’s Big Mute Hammer. I’ll let you experience it for yourself when I get the chance."

The rigid posture required for standing guard duty was actually perfect for practicing drawing and sheathing his blade, so Rong Taotao’s Sword Technique hadn’t fallen behind at all. It was now at Two-Star, High-Tier.

The Hammer Technique was just a joke, however; he hadn’t actually unlocked "Hammer Mastery."

To truly unlock it, he’d probably need to study it systematically and build a solid foundation first.

Rong Taotao didn’t have that much time and energy. He had already decided to train with the Heaven-piercing Halberd, the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow, and the bow and arrow.

These three Martial Arts already took up all of his training time. Anymore, and he really wouldn’t be able to handle it.

The Inner Soul Map could only increase the upper limit of his Potential Value, not his immediate Combat Readiness.

This was essentially a guarantee: as long as he trained hard, he would see the results he deserved. After all, with such a high ceiling for his Potential Value, nothing could limit his growth.

’If... if the Inner Soul Map could directly increase my Combat Readiness, I’d probably learn every skill I came across. The concept of ’biting off more than you can chew’ wouldn’t apply, and I’d become a true master of all arts.’

’This damn Soul Map is holding me back from flexing!’

’Can’t you just give me a better hack? Then as soon as I learn a skill, I could just manually max it out, reach the pinnacle of mastery, and absolutely crush Si Huan Nian. Wouldn’t that be sweet?’

’Tsk, so frustrating. It just has to make me grind it all out myself...’

"You’ll have your chance right now. Let’s go. Martial Arts Arena." Si Huan Nian tossed the credentials back to Rong Taotao, then reached back to grab a few pieces of candy from the coffee table and quickly unwrapped them.

"Coach Si, should I head back to my dorm?" Gao Lingwei asked.

"Mhm." Si Huan Nian waved her hand dismissively. "Don’t worry, I won’t beat him to death."

"Heh heh." Gao Lingwei smiled, shot Rong Taotao a pitying look, and turned to leave.

"You’re just leaving like that? We’re a duo! We’re supposed to face our enemies together!" Rong Taotao yelled after her.

"Stop yelling. I’m instructing you in Sword Technique. It’s a perfectly valid reason that no one can object to." Si Huan Nian grabbed the back of Rong Taotao’s collar and hauled him to his feet.

"You’re so blunt!" Rong Taotao dropped his backpack and started walking out. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Sugar." Si Huan Nian held out two Little Rascal candies.

"Oh."

...

Outside the Martial Arts Hall, Si Huan Nian and Rong Taotao found an empty area, immediately drawing a crowd of students.

However, this crowd seemed different from before.

For a long time, Si Huan Nian had personally coached Rong Taotao, giving him private lessons. Other upperclassmen would often listen in and learn alongside them.

But this time... the commotion seems a little too big, doesn’t it?

Si Huan Nian frowned slightly. She had no intention of dispersing the surrounding students; whatever these kids could learn was their own business.

The key thing was, why were all those men and women muttering amongst themselves and pointing at Rong Taotao?

"What earth-shattering thing have you gone and done now?" Si Huan Nian asked, looking at Rong Taotao with curiosity as she conjured a Great Xia Dragon Sparrow made of snow. "Why is everyone pointing at you? Did you become a celebrity?"

Rong Taotao was also completely baffled. The girls in the crowd were sizing him up and whispering to each other.

As for the male students watching... their expressions were varied. Some looked confused, others expectant, some were disdainful, and some were even angry.

"Oh! I get it!" It dawned on Rong Taotao, and he slapped his forehead. "I’m no celebrity. The biggest rumor about me before was the legend of ’Night Watchman Tao of the Martial Arts Hall’ on the school forums. That was just a joke, not enough to get me stared down by the whole school like this."

Si Huan Nian was taken aback by his choice of words. "Stared down by the whole school?"

Rong Taotao grinned. "Ah, on Lunar New Year’s Day, Da Wei posted on Weibo. It was a picture of me eating grilled squid.

She’s the real celebrity student here—the Outer Region champion, the representative for the class of 2010... You have no idea how many fans she has..."

Although she ’only’ has a little over three million fans, the problem is that a huge portion of her followers are Soul Martial Students. Here at Songjiang Soul Martial University, basically every student knows who she is. The news must have spread like wildfire. Even people who don’t follow Gao Lingwei have probably heard the rumors.

After all, when a radiant, unattainable goddess like her suddenly makes an announcement like that, it’s bound to break a few hearts.

"Haha." Si Huan Nian couldn’t help but let out a laugh, and this time, it was pure schadenfreude. "In that case, you’d better watch your back at school from now on. You’ve got countless rivals, you know?"

"It’s fine. There are plenty of girls on my side," Rong Taotao said with a smirk. "Now that Gao Lingwei is off the market, all these other girls should probably be thanking me. You could say I’ve eliminated a public menace."

"You and your smart mouth." Si Huan Nian gave Rong Taotao a look of displeasure. "Gao Lingwei is such a wonderful girl, and you make her out to be some kind of menace. Come on. Draw your sword!"

A Great Xia Dragon Sparrow materialized in Rong Taotao’s hand, but it was still in its snow-forged scabbard, slung across his lower back. "This blade of mine is not drawn lightly."

Si Huan Nian: "Hm?"

With a serious expression, Rong Taotao declared, "Once it is unsheathed, someone is bound to get hurt—huh?"

The world blurred before Rong Taotao’s eyes as he was sent flying by a kick!

He skidded a good three to five meters across the concrete ground.

Si Huan Nian appeared where Rong Taotao had just been standing, as if she’d used Flash. The foot she had used for the front kick slowly came to rest on the ground.

’The legendary "Little Watchman Tao"? The "hero who eliminates public menaces" from Weibo?’

’I’ll just go up and give him a good KICK!’

’Myths, legends, whatever—I’ll kick ’em all to pieces today!’

"Hiss..." Rong Taotao clutched his chest, grimacing in pain. "A sneak... a sneak attack... You have no martial honor!"

...