Master of Nine Stars

Rong Taotao: "Emmm... They say you’ll end up with everything you could ever want."

Ye Nanxi said with a look of disdain, "What about you? Is everyone around you sucking up to you and trying to curry your favor, too?"

"Nope." Rong Taotao shook his head. He leaned back against the railing and tilted his head to look at Ye Nanxi. "Before junior high, I didn’t have any friends. I only had my master and my Heaven-piercing Halberd."

Ye Nanxi turned to look at Rong Taotao. "And after that?"

Rong Taotao shrugged. "After that, I joined the Junior Class and made some teammates. But they didn’t have time to suck up to me. They’re all ambitious people. We were so exhausted from training every day we didn’t have the energy to revolve around me."

"Hmm, maybe... the atmosphere really is different," Ye Nanxi said with a slight nod.

Rong Taotao asked curiously, "Aren’t you from the Imperial Capital’s Soul Martial Academy? Isn’t everyone there supposed to be a prodigy? Shouldn’t they all have their own ideals and dreams?"

Ye Nanxi shook her head. "I didn’t get into the main Imperial Capital Soul Martial Academy. My academic scores were too terrible, so I paid my way into the Imperial Capital Fourth Soul Martial Academy."

Rong Taotao: "..."

’Is she really being this honest?’

"My mom told me I’m much luckier than you," Ye Nanxi said, leaning on the railing as a faint smile finally appeared on her face. "At least I can still see my mom every now and then. You, on the other hand, have never seen yours."

"Hmph," Rong Taotao snorted. "I’ve seen her in textbooks."

Ye Nanxi asked curiously, "Why did you go to a place like the Snow Realm? Because of her?"

But Rong Taotao just countered with a question of his own. "Do you have any dreams?"

"No." Ye Nanxi shook her head. "My mom has it all planned out for me. After I graduate, I’ll join the Star Candle Army. She’s always nagging me, saying she’ll find me the strictest drill instructor and put me in the most disciplined unit."

Rong Taotao nodded in agreement. ’A girl like her, with all the typical bad habits of the rich and powerful, would be a menace to society...’

The people who came to the Snow Realm were all people of conviction.

That sentiment was fitting for the Snow Realm, but not for Starfield Soul Martial Artists—and especially not for the girl in front of him who had paid her way into an academy.

Rong Taotao spoke up. "What’s the point of living without a goal? Do you just eat, train, and sleep day in and day out?

"It might look like you’re living for seventy or eighty years, but when it’s all said and done, aren’t you just living the same day on repeat for seventy or eighty years?"

"Huh?" Ye Nanxi’s gaze sharpened as she turned to look at Rong Taotao. She found his theory a little novel, and... well, a little sad.

"Find yourself a goal. It gives you something to live for." Rong Taotao leaned back against the railing, looking up at the slowly spinning Vortex in the sky. "Being bossy, willful, hitting people... all that can just be the flavor of your life.

"History is full of Villain Generals, but in the end, people only remember their glorious achievements and laugh off their flaws."

Ye Nanxi quietly watched Rong Taotao, while Rong Taotao silently watched the Starfield Vortex.

In the crowd not far away, Rong Yuanshan and Nan Cheng stood side by side.

Nan Cheng’s expression was complicated. She turned to look at Rong Yuanshan. "Those aren’t words a sixteen-year-old should be saying."

Rong Yuanshan sighed softly, feeling a pang of guilt.

In truth, Nan Cheng had no idea how to thank Rong Taotao.

She could have said the same things, as could any teacher, but Ye Nanxi likely wouldn’t have listened to a single word.

But for Rong Taotao, who shared a similar family background and had just thoroughly defeated her, to suddenly say such words...

Judging from the way she’d frozen in place, it seemed she had truly taken his words to heart.

Ye Nanxi murmured softly, "Find a goal?"

"That’s right. You don’t even have to be a Soul Martial Artist," Rong Taotao said, gazing up at the Starfield Vortex. "Maybe you like to paint or play the piano and want to spend your life happily pursuing a hobby you love.

"You’re different from other people. Your family has the resources for that, don’t they?"

Ye Nanxi: "I like hitting people."

Rong Taotao: "Huh?"

"Heh." A small smile graced Ye Nanxi’s lips as she said softly, "I like to win. Especially the sense of satisfaction that comes from conquering an opponent after defeating them. Does that count as a hobby? Can that be a goal?"

"Mhm." Rong Taotao nodded.

In truth, this was a common trait among Soul Martial Artists. Throughout a Soul Martial Student’s development, both their schools and society at large instilled in them a singular focus on "victory."

That level of desire for victory was something perhaps only professional athletes could understand.

But unlike with professional athletes, for a Soul Martial Artist, the line between victory and defeat was often the line between life and death.

"That’s great," Rong Taotao said. "Aren’t you competing in the national tournament? You can set your sights on the championship trophy as your goal for this stage of your life.

"The process of fighting for the title will be your process of self-fulfillment. You have to take it one match at a time and conquer your opponents one by one."

As he spoke, Rong Taotao finally pulled his gaze away from the sky and tilted his head to look at Ye Nanxi beside him. "Thinking about it like that, doesn’t the training and preparation for the next two months feel a little more meaningful?"

"I do feel a bit more motivated." Ye Nanxi averted her gaze and looked toward the carousel up ahead. "Let’s go on it," she said suddenly.

Rong Taotao shook his head. "I’m not going. That’s for girls."

"Mhm." Ye Nanxi nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose I should get used to hearing the word ’no’."

Rong Taotao was stunned!

’Holy crap, was she really raised in a bubble? Is her word law? Does no one dare say no to her?’

Deep down, Rong Taotao’s definition of the term "Soul General" was still not quite precise enough.

"Then wait for me here." With one hand on the railing, Ye Nanxi vaulted right over it.

A person’s nature is indeed hard to change. Ye Nanxi went to ride the carousel because she wanted to, and she didn’t mind making others wait for her.

"Who said I’d wait for you? I’m going to look around over there." Rong Taotao scoffed and started walking away.

Ye Nanxi turned around, her brows furrowing. "You..."

Rong Taotao shrugged. "You really do need to get used to a lot of things. I’m not like any of the other people you’ve met. I’m not going to revolve around you. See you tomorrow."

"Mmm..." Ye Nanxi paused for a moment, then vaulted back over the railing and followed him.

Rong Taotao asked, puzzled, "Not going on the ride?"

Ye Nanxi glanced back toward the carousel, a hint of longing in her eyes, but said softly, "My head’s already spinning. Going around in circles on the carousel would just make it worse."

Rong Taotao scratched his head. "I have a girlfriend."

Ye Nanxi paused, taken aback. "Why are you suddenly bringing that up?"

Rong Taotao gave an awkward laugh. "No reason. Just wanted to make that clear."

Ye Nanxi stared at Rong Taotao in astonishment. After a moment, she finally figured out what he meant. A look of disgust crossed her face. "What’s wrong with you?"

Rong Taotao: "Oh? Itching for another beating?"

Ye Nanxi put her hands on her hips and glared at Rong Taotao, indignant. "Do you really think I can’t beat you?"

"So your head’s not spinning anymore?"

"You..."

"Wanna try?"

Ye Nanxi: "..."

"Heh heh." Rong Taotao suddenly laughed. At his side, Ye Nanxi had her head down, her hands clenched into tight fists as she desperately tried to hold something back.

"Shut up."

Rong Taotao: "Want me to tell you a story?"

"I don’t want to hear it."

"It’s really short." Rong Taotao said, ignoring her. "Once upon a time, there was a really arrogant Soul Captain. Then she got clocked over the head..."

Ye Nanxi clenched her fists, squeezing three words out through her gritted teeth: "Rong! Tao! Tao!"

Rong Taotao nodded with a look of feigned seriousness. "Right, he’s the one who hit her. Tsk... and he hit her pretty hard, too..."

"I’ll..." Ye Nanxi abruptly lifted her long leg when a sudden coughing sound came from behind them. "Ahem."

Ye Nanxi instinctively turned around, only to see the exceedingly stern gaze of her Soul General mother in the distance.

Ye Nanxi silently lowered her head and silently put her leg back down.

CLICK!

Rong Taotao, holding his phone, captured the moment in a photo.

In the frame, the usually bossy and willful Ye Nanxi looked surprisingly meek and obedient, the very picture of a well-behaved young lady...

Ye Nanxi felt her composure shatter. The daughter of a mighty Soul General, when had she ever been bullied to this extent? And to make it worse, her own Soul General mother was practically helping him do it...

She felt like her life was completely ruined. Truly, utterly ruined at the hands of this boy. The first two slaps to the face in her entire life had been because of him, too.

’If she could go back three minutes, she would absolutely have gone on that stupid carousel!’

...