Master of Nine Stars

Rong Taotao’s face was strained, a picture of immense effort as he "squirmed" his way up the wall, one tiny step at a time.

Without a doubt,

Beneath the shell of Rong Taotao’s genius lay a heart far more hardworking than anyone else’s.

Rong Taotao’s upward stride... no, it couldn’t be called a stride, because he wasn’t lifting his legs at all. His feet were practically sliding up the wall’s surface.

In just a few short hours, Rong Taotao had once again found a way to ingeniously merge with the wall!

The results were tangible. Amidst this raging blizzard, Rong Taotao had to fight not only gravity, but also the intermittent, violent gusts of wind!

This undoubtedly brought immense trouble to his training career.

Thankfully, the city wall, having stood for years in the blizzard, was "steeped to its very marrow" in frost and snow. Any brick or stone could become one with Rong Taotao’s feet.

Had it been a building in any other environment, Rong Taotao truly would not have been able to scale it.

Indeed, it was just as Xia Fangran had said: since he had chosen to cultivate the Heart of the Snow Realm, every snowflake was his friend.

If Rong Taotao were thrown into the sun-drenched south of Huaxia, he’d lose the better part of his abilities...

The wall was a full 17 meters high, and Rong Taotao’s climb was exceptionally arduous. With the crenellations now in sight, Rong Taotao suppressed his burgeoning joy and calmed his emotions...

Xia Fangran!

’Just you wait! Give me a few more minutes! Once I succeed, I’ll dare you to give me more training assignments!’

’For this month-and-a-half-long summer break, just you wait! I’m going to drain you of everything you know!’

"Not bad, kid." Between the crenellations directly above, a figure suddenly appeared.

"Hm?" Rong Taotao froze for a moment. Looking up, he saw the familiar face of a middle-aged man.

His hands were braced on the crenellations to either side, and he leaned his torso over, watching Rong Taotao "slide" his way up.

"Teacher Li Lie." Rong Taotao chuckled, but immediately got a mouthful of wind and snow. He hurriedly covered his mouth and nose, though a muffled, "Eh? Eh?" still escaped.

For a complete rookie like Rong Taotao, the slightest lapse in concentration was not permissible.

Hearing this sudden praise from Li Lie made Rong Taotao ecstatic. After all... a man like Li Lie, whose charisma was maxed out, was who Rong Taotao aspired to become.

In his distracted state, Rong Taotao’s foot slipped. His Soul Power of the ice and snow Attribute failed to grip the wall. With his footing gone, his entire body plunged downwards...

"OH! SHI-I-I-I...T..." Rong Taotao’s voice trailed off as his rapidly falling body was swallowed by the vast, swirling snow.

This was a 17-meter-high wall; Rong Taotao felt like he was about to be dashed to pieces!

’Is this... how it ends?’

’So I’m one of those people with ambitions as high as the sky, but a life as fragile as paper?’

"Ngh~" The Cloud Dog hidden inside Rong Taotao’s body quickly floated out.

The little creature strained to solidify, its two large, cloud-like ears flapping furiously as it hovered in mid-air and clamped its small mouth onto Rong Taotao’s sleeve.

"Nghh~" The Cloud Dog whimpered. How much strength could a palm-sized little thing possibly have?

Its efforts were completely useless. Clinging to Rong Taotao’s sleeve, it was dragged down along with him...

WHOOSH...

As Rong Taotao flailed his limbs wildly, a large, firm hand suddenly seized his wrist.

The newcomer was clearly experienced. He didn’t bring Rong Taotao’s fall to a dead stop. Instead, he initiated a slow "braking" action, sliding another two-plus meters down the wall before they came to a steady halt.

Rong Taotao’s heart was about to leap out of his chest. He looked up to see the apologetic face of Li Lie.

At this moment, Li Lie had his feet planted on the wall, his body perpendicular to it. He held Rong Taotao aloft with one hand, slowly raising his arm.

Rong Taotao was lifted up to Li Lie’s face, and was immediately hit by the strong smell of alcohol.

Li Lie: "That was close."

Only then did Rong Taotao let out a sigh of relief, still looking shaken. "Did you and Xia Fangran conspire to mess with me?"

Li Lie chuckled. "Your life is still in my hands. An outstanding Soul Martial Artist should be able to recognize their situation."

Rong Taotao’s expression stiffened. He forced an awkward smile and said, "Teacher Li Lie, you’re amazing! Such fast reflexes!"

"Hahaha..." Li Lie looked at the boy before him, so defiant one moment and so cowardly the next, and couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh.

The alcohol seemed to amplify Li Lie’s emotions, and his laughter echoed wantonly through the raging blizzard.

Rong Taotao pressed his lips into a smile, perfectly mimicking a classic social media emoji.

Li Lie’s laughter gradually died down as he studied Rong Taotao, who was still dangling from his hand.

’So, this is your child, isn’t he?’

He shook his head with a small smile, then maneuvered Rong Taotao back toward the wall.

Rong Taotao stretched out his legs, planting the soles of his shoes on the wall. He once again activated his exquisite Snow Step Soul Skill, not relaxing until he was standing firm and stable.

"Whimper~" The Cloud Dog, flapping its big ears, wobbled over to fly in front of Rong Taotao.

It was clearly cold and struggling to fly in the strong wind.

But the Cloud Dog couldn’t be bothered with that now. Having just gone through a life-or-death moment, it saw that its master was safe and sound and began to whimper aloud, "Ngh... whine... whine..."

Rong Taotao froze. Clearly, his emotions and the Cloud Dog’s were not in sync.

In Rong Taotao’s world, there were teachers, classmates, daily training assignments, and a clear direction to move forward in.

But in the Cloud Dog’s world, it seemed... there was only Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao had only had the Cloud Dog for a few days, yet the little pup was already this reliant on him.

Rong Taotao’s heart swelled with emotion and a touch of guilt. He gently scooped up the Cloud Dog. "Go back inside me. It’s cold out."

To his surprise, the Cloud Dog didn’t seem to want to go back, instead clinging to his neck and refusing to leave.

Feeling a little helpless, Rong Taotao resolutely unzipped his snow-camo jacket amidst the blizzard, tucked the Cloud Dog inside against his chest, and carefully zipped it back up, leaving only the pup’s small head poking out.

Hmm... it seemed the Cloud Dog’s two large, cloud-like ears were even bigger than its little head...

Having done all this, Rong Taotao turned to look at Li Lie. It was clear that after this incident, Rong Taotao had once again grown by leaps and bounds.

A moment ago, he had been standing perpendicular to the wall. Yet, throughout the process of settling the Cloud Dog in his jacket, his feet had remained firmly suctioned to the wall’s surface, becoming one with the frost and snow without the slightest mishap.

In Rong Taotao, Li Lie saw the ultimate expression of humanity’s advantage as Soul Martial Artists!

The ability to learn!

The reason human Soul Martial Artists were able to fight Soul Beasts to a 60-40 advantage in such a harsh environment—even on the Soul Beasts’ home turf—was precisely because of this human capacity for learning.

And among the vast population of Soul Martial Artists, there was always a small handful of people whose adaptability and capacity for learning were terrifyingly, outrageously high.

People like that were always destined to rise above the rest.

Taught well, they become pillars of society.

Taught poorly, they become a disaster.

Li Lie looked at Rong Taotao and the Cloud Dog nestled in his jacket. "A fine partner. Though weak, it did its utmost to help you. Treat it well."

Rong Taotao nodded emphatically. "Of course."

"Carry on," Li Lie said with a wave. Then, taking great, swift strides, he walked away across the surface of the wall.

In the blizzard, Rong Taotao could keep his eyes open without issue, but visibility was extremely low. In the blink of an eye, Li Lie’s tall figure vanished into the swirling snow.

"You just wait for me..." Rong Taotao muttered under his breath, carefully sliding up the wall one step at a time. Mimicking the movements he had seen from Li Lie, Rong Taotao began to try lifting his feet, to truly "walk up the wall"...

A dozen or so minutes later, atop the towering city wall, a small head popped up between two crenellations, cautiously peering over the top.

Rong Taotao saw some soldiers on guard duty. They stared straight ahead, as if they hadn’t seen him, but he knew they must have noticed him long ago and were simply not reacting.

Rong Taotao glanced around and saw Soul Class Group Three. Li Lie was in the middle of a lesson with Jiao Tengda, Lu Mang, and Xu Taiping.

’Heh...’ Rong Taotao smacked his lips. ’Yesterday, I snuck a lesson from Si Huan Nian and got a taste of her Sugar. Today, let’s see how this fine wine tastes!’

Instead of climbing onto the wall, Rong Taotao backed down two steps. He then moved horizontally for over twenty meters, quietly positioning himself behind Soul Class Group Three.

Rong Taotao didn’t peek over the top. He stopped, hidden by the thick wall. Then, he tried another fancy maneuver, slowly crouching down on the side of the wall.

Hmm... it looked a lot like an unconventional pooping stance.

But in this position, the blood rushed to his head.

In the end, Rong Taotao straightened up. With his knees bent, feet planted on the wall, and back pressed against the cold stone, he tucked his hands into his opposite sleeves.

Hmm... nice. Very "pioneer braving the northern wilds." All he was missing was a sable fur hat...

’Bring it on!’

’Alright, Li Lie Wine. Let the show begin.’

...