Master of Nine Stars

The university students who had gathered around originally thought it was time for another round of the much-anticipated "to hell with the Soul Martial dream" segment. Instead, they discovered that Si Huan Nian was actually going to teach a class himself.

For a moment, the students were even more delighted. Those who used swords, in particular, stopped their sparring and crowded around the small area to listen in.

Si Huan Nian didn’t hold anything back, letting any student listen in.

But as they listened, the students started to feel like something was off.

This little disciple of Si Huan Nian’s didn’t even have the slightest foundation in Sword Technique; he was learning the absolute basics. For these Pine Soul Soul Martial Students, who had excellent fundamentals, it was painful to watch.

Some students dispersed, but a few stayed behind. Following Si Huan Nian’s train of thought, they reviewed the very basics and found they actually benefited quite a bit.

The afternoon passed under Si Huan Nian’s patient tutelage.

Rong Taotao discovered another fact.

Under Si Huan Nian’s instruction, he had spent the entire afternoon learning the basics of Sword Technique, from 1 PM to 6 PM, with only a ten-minute break.

What confused Rong Taotao was that it wasn’t until dusk, just moments before the lesson ended, that the message about unlocking a new skill finally appeared in his Inner Soul Map.

’Is it really this hard to learn a new skill?’

He had thought he would unlock the new skill as soon as he started, but instead, he had to grind through an entire afternoon of basics just to barely unlock "Sword Mastery."

"Time’s up. Go get dinner," Si Huan Nian said, casually taking back the unusually magnificent Great Xia Dragon Sparrow and heading back to the Martial Arts Hall on his own.

"Oh..." Rong Taotao mumbled, opening his Inner Soul Map as he turned and left the Martial Arts Arena.

But the information on it gave Rong Taotao quite a shock!

"Sword Mastery, One-Star, Beginner-Tier (Potential Value: 5 Stars)."

Rong Taotao: !!!

’A Potential Value of 5 stars! That’s so high!?’

With his Hand-to-Hand Combat starting at 4-star potential, and his Heaven-piercing Halberd Mastery starting at 3-star potential before being raised to 4, this full 5-star Potential Value for Sword Mastery was truly a sign of immense talent.

’So I really am suited for sword practice, huh?’

Rong Taotao’s mind started racing. The Dragon Sparrow was definitely worth training, but of course, he couldn’t abandon the traditional craft of the "Father-slaying Halberd"—after all, he absolutely loved the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

Rong Taotao was still young, only 15, an age for hobbies and dreams. At this point, he couldn’t bring himself to prioritize practical benefits like an adult would.

’So, I’ll really have to think carefully about how to balance my training time between the two skills.’

As he plotted silently, Rong Taotao familiarly made his way to the cafeteria again. When he passed the second-floor coffee shop, he subconsciously glanced inside, but this time, the two young ladies were nowhere to be seen.

A burly upperclassman was sitting by the window. ’Hmm... not as pretty as her.’

While Rong Taotao was sighing to himself over the changed scene, in a certain girls’ dormitory...

"Da Wei, I found him," Gan Lin said, sitting at her desk and fiddling with her phone, scrolling up and down.

"Hm?" Gao Lingwei replied, turning her head to look while tying her long hair into a ponytail, a red hair tie held between her lips.

"Tsk tsk... I guess I was out of the loop. He’s no random passerby; he’s a genius among geniuses, the Great God ranked second in the Junior Class~" Gan Lin tutted, turning her head with a grin. "My Weiwei is amazing. Even a genius that incredible is your fan."

Gao Lingwei held her finished ponytail with one hand and took the red hair tie from her lips with the other. "Why were you looking him up?"

"I wanted to see what kind of family could have a Cloud Peak creature like the White Clouds and Grey Dogs..." Gan Lin’s voice trailed off as she kept scrolling on her phone.

Gao Lingwei finally finished with her hair, walked over, and stood behind Gan Lin, leaning down to look at the phone screen.

GULP. Gan Lin swallowed and looked up dazedly at Gao Lingwei.

Gao Lingwei didn’t understand. "What is it?"

Gan Lin asked, "Do you know whose son he is?"

Gao Lingwei raised an eyebrow slightly. "Hm?"

Gan Lin said, "Xu Feng... Xu... uh... *that* woman."

Gao Lingwei’s expression froze. ’Xu Fenghua!?’

No child who grew up in the Outer Region would be unfamiliar with that name.

Forget the Outer Region; there were few in all of Huaxia who didn’t know of her. After all, she was a figure written about in the standard school textbooks.

Gan Lin put down her phone and hastily grabbed Gao Lingwei’s arm. "What did you write when you gave him your autograph? Did you just sign your name?"

Under Gan Lin’s intensely hopeful gaze, Gao Lingwei pursed her lips. "I wrote a line for him..."

Gan Lin asked urgently, "It was something nice, right? Like ’Study hard and do your best’?"

Her concern was making her flustered.

Gao Lingwei shot Gan Lin an exasperated look. "I have no grudge against him, and he was so polite. Why would I write something ’bad’?"

"That’s good, that’s good..." Gan Lin breathed a sigh of relief, one hand on her chest. It was clear she’d gotten a real scare.

Gan Lin just hadn’t met Li Ziyi, so she didn’t know about the daily banter between Taotao and Ziyi.

As the saying goes, the unknown is what’s most terrifying. If she knew Rong Taotao’s personality, she probably wouldn’t be so scared.

Gan Lin seemed to think of something. "Did you get his contact info? I need to go get his autograph!"

Gao Lingwei curled her finger and tapped Gan Lin on the head with a smile. "Why would I get his contact info? Besides, if you really want an autograph, you should be asking for his mother’s."

"Hm... that’s true." Gan Lin nodded. "First, I’ll get on his good side. Then I’ll go home and dig out my middle school history book. When the time comes, I’ll have the Lord Soul General sign it directly on the page. Tsk... It would be so collectible!"

"It could definitely be a family heirloom. Maybe my Gan Family’s descendants will absorb some of that good fortune and produce a Great Soul General too!"

Gao Lingwei turned and went back to her seat. "With his current strength, I doubt he can go outside the three walls. Not many students in the entire Songjiang Soul Martial University can go outside the three walls."

Gan Lin pouted but didn’t say anything more, instead starting to scroll through her phone again.

Gao Lingwei sat up ramrod straight, closed her eyes, and began to absorb Soul Power and cultivate her Soul Technique.

It was currently summer break, and she had come to this land of ice and snow with a clear purpose.

But who would have thought that twenty minutes later, Gan Lin, sitting at her desk, would speak up again. "Da Wei, I found his social media page..."

Gao Lingwei: "..."

Gan Lin said, "He really is your fan. He just made an account and you’re the only person he’s following..."

Gao Lingwei: "..."

Gan Lin excitedly leaned in closer, holding the phone in front of Gao Lingwei. "This is huge! If only we’d met him a few years ago. He’s the son of the Outer Region’s number one Soul General!"

Gan Lin was really letting her imagination run wild.

Normally, the son of a great Soul General should be the type who gets whatever he wants.

But Rong Taotao was completely different!

Rong Taotao was the type who had no father to rely on, and no mother around...

Yeah, it was pretty awkward.

Gao Lingwei opened her eyes with a sigh of resignation. Looking at the somewhat familiar profile picture on the screen, she asked, "How did you find him?"

Gan Lin chuckled. "He left you a comment and also made a post and tagged you..."

Gao Lingwei looked at the phone curiously:

Nourishing People

Just now via Daogu C8500

(Image)

@Gao Lingwei

And the photo was of the autograph Gao Lingwei had given him at noon.

The powerful characters were breathtakingly beautiful: *Fine clothes, a spirited horse; make the most of your youthful years.*

"Nourishing People?" Gao Lingwei was clearly taken aback for a moment. "This name... uh..."

For a moment, Gao Lingwei had no idea what to make of the name.

Gan Lin nodded in emphatic agreement. "That name is something else. Looks like this kid is the quiet... hmm, ahem."

Gao Lingwei turned her head forward again. "I see. Go amuse yourself somewhere else and don’t disturb my cultivation."

Gan Lin sighed. ’Ai... what a pity. The kid’s so young and already has bad taste, becoming a fan of Gao Lingwei of all people. Others might not know Ling Wei, but Gan Lin knew her inside and out.’

’The poor boy... is probably going to get his heart broken.’

...

That night, Rong Taotao received a WeChat message from Sun Xingyu. Perhaps because she had truly integrated into the team, she sent him a special message saying she had returned to modern society. She was flying home tomorrow morning and just wanted to let him know she was safe.

This kind of message was a novel experience for Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao thought for a long time before sending a polite reply. Then, recalling the day’s events, he sent another message: "I met Gao Lingwei today."

Who would have thought that Sun Xingyu, the little gossip connoisseur, would see his reply and immediately hit him with a phone call!

"For real!?" Sun Xingyu’s excited voice came through the moment the call connected.

Rong Taotao: "Yeah, in the second-floor coffee shop of the school cafeteria. She was chatting with a friend."

Sun Xingyu was extremely sharp and immediately asked, "Boyfriend or girlfriend?"

Rong Taotao: "A girl."

"Phew... that’s good, that’s good." Sun Xingyu’s reaction was identical to Rong Taotao’s earlier. She let out a huge sigh of relief, then asked, "So, did you talk to her?"

"Uh..." Rong Taotao scratched his head. "I... I did."

"What did you say? What did you say?" Sun Xingyu asked hurriedly. Rong Taotao could even hear her stamping her foot.

This was prime gossip, and for Sun Xingyu, it was the sweetest treat.

Rong Taotao thought for a moment. "She asked me where to sign, and I didn’t know how to respond, so she just signed her name on a napkin." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Sun Xingyu: ???

A long silence followed on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" Rong Taotao took the phone from his ear and looked at the screen. "The call didn’t drop, did it?"

But while Rong Taotao was looking at his screen, even without speakerphone on, Sun Xingyu’s shout was crystal clear: "Rong Taotao! You were there to woo a girl, not to be a starstruck fan! You... you..."

Rong Taotao subconsciously held the phone further away. Her voice was way too loud.

After a long moment, Rong Taotao heard Sun Xingyu start to laugh.

’What’s going on?’

’Did I make Xing’Er that mad? Did she snap?’

Rong Taotao cautiously brought the phone back to his ear, just in time to hear Sun Xingyu laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "Haha, ahaha, HAHAHAHAHA... You were so determined to go after a girl, but when you met her, you couldn’t even speak and just ended up getting an autograph! You’re killing me, HAHAHAHAHAHA..."

Mixed in with her peals of laughter was Li Ziyi’s mocking voice: "Rong Taotao, you’re really something else!"

Seething with anger, Rong Taotao hung up the phone.