Master of Nine Stars

The students of the Soul Class had all returned home and vanished without a trace. Aside from Sun Xingyu reporting she was safe right at the beginning, no one else had contacted Rong Taotao.

Of course, Rong Taotao had no idea what things were like for his classmates back home. In any case, his life here at Pine Soul Soul Martial University was quite peaceful. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

「In the blink of an eye, it was mid-August.」

Inside the Martial Arts Hall of Pine Soul Soul Martial, the lights in the first-floor mailroom were bright.

Rong Taotao sat at a desk, upon which rested a cup of hot tea and a heating pad. His Cloud Dog was sprawled comfortably on the pad, fast asleep.

In the quiet night, the scene was one of perfect harmony. Until... Rong Taotao’s body suddenly began to tremble lightly.

"Soul Power advancement! Mid-rank Soul Soldier!"

Rong Taotao’s eyes shot open, filled with excitement. ’Fast! This is just too fast!’

His Soul Technique: Ice and Snow Heart had already advanced to One-Star, Mid-Tier two weeks ago.

And today, his Soul Power had advanced as well...

He couldn’t help but sigh. ’Pine Soul Soul Martial truly is a blessed place!’

In fact, Rong Taotao had realized something was off from his very first day in the Martial Arts Hall’s mailroom.

The speed at which he could absorb Soul Power inside the Martial Arts Hall was even faster than at Hundred Corps Pass!

This defied all logic.

It was common knowledge that due to the unique nature of the Snow Realm Vortex, the farther north one went, the denser the Ice and Snow Attribute Soul Power became.

This meant that the training speed at the First Wall was slower than at the Second Wall, and the Second Wall was slower than the Third Wall. The fastest place to train should be beyond the Third Wall, or even inside the Snow Realm Vortex itself.

But Pine Soul Soul Martial University was far to the south of the First Wall. Why on earth would this place be better for cultivating Soul Power than Hundred Corps Pass?

Not only was his Soul Power absorption faster, but Rong Taotao also discovered that every time he used a Soul Skill, his Soul Techniques advanced quickly as well... which was even more incredible.

For the past month, Rong Taotao had, like clockwork, delivered meals to Si Huan Nian every day, including the post-meal Little Rascal Cubed Sugar, without missing a single one.

And during his daily meal-delivery life, Rong Taotao finally discovered the "secret of the Martial Arts Hall"!

The Martial Arts Arena stood at the northernmost edge of Pine Soul Soul Martial University, while the cafeteria was in the south-central part of the campus.

The two locations were far apart. Every time Rong Taotao went to get food for Si Huan Nian, he had to pass through a Snow Forest, two academic buildings, and a plaza to reach the cafeteria.

On the way, Rong Taotao would of course try to absorb Soul Power at every available second, but he could feel his cultivation speed slow down, much slower than when he was at Hundred Corps Pass!

’Now *this* is right... This is what makes sense!’

But whenever Rong Taotao returned to the vicinity of the Martial Arts Arena, his Soul Power absorption speed would quicken again. To be precise, the closer he got to the Martial Arts Hall, the faster his own cultivation speed became...

’There’s definitely something up with this building!’

’Did the university set up some kind of mechanism here, or embed an Array Soul Skill to help students cultivate?’

’Maybe?’

In any case, having discovered this secret, Rong Taotao was even more reluctant to leave the grounds of the Martial Arts Hall.

If he didn’t have to follow Si Huan Nian to the outdoor Martial Arts Arena for training, Rong Taotao was seriously considering not even stepping out the main entrance.

But Rong Taotao also discovered something even stranger: the Array Soul Skill set up in the Martial Arts Hall worked intermittently. That was really frustrating...

Rong Taotao had asked Si Huan Nian what was going on, but Si Huan Nian didn’t respond. She just shoveled food into her mouth in a very unladylike manner, and in the midst of her busy eating, reached out a hand to flick Rong Taotao on the forehead, sending him out of the lounge...

Yeah, that was infuriating.

Left with no choice, Rong Taotao could only ask Yang Chunxi. But regarding this question, his sister-in-law was also extremely secretive, only telling Rong Taotao to focus on his training.

Hitting a wall everywhere he turned, Rong Taotao could only continue his role as "Little Tao the Night Watchman."

As for his days as a night watchman at Pine Soul Soul Martial University...

A few days ago, Rong Taotao had actually gotten into a conflict with a senior student.

Although he had Si Huan Nian’s "verbal edict," Rong Taotao didn’t go around throwing her name to get his way.

Every night at 10:20 PM, Rong Taotao would walk out of the Martial Arts Hall to talk to the senior students in the outdoor Martial Arts Arena, persuading them to go back to their dorms and sleep.

For the first week, the senior students were all quite cooperative. But one night a few days ago, a male and a female senior refused to leave.

Rong Taotao pleaded patiently, trying to persuade them to return to their dorms, but the male senior was clearly fired up from sparring. He just wouldn’t leave, insisting on finishing his fight before going.

In the end, the senior, who had been losing all afternoon, actually took all his frustration out on Rong Taotao.

The female senior beside them saw things were getting out of hand and rushed forward to intervene, hoping to calm the situation. The little night watchman didn’t matter, but Si Huan Nian was definitely someone you didn’t want to provoke!

But for all her careful calculations, the senior student who stepped in to stop the fight had miscalculated one thing: Rong Taotao...

Who did Rong Taotao ever coddle?

He was the type who yielded to persuasion but not to force. ’I try to persuade you nicely and you don’t listen. You’ll only be happy if I get in your face, is that it?’

With a mouth as sharp as if it were coated in wasabi, who could possibly stand a chance against him...

In truth, Rong Taotao had his own unspoken grievances. He was also the type to train like his life depended on it, so of course he didn’t want to kick the students out. But if freaking Si Tantang couldn’t sleep, she would really bring the blame down on him!

Rong Taotao had already been punished for being too slow in clearing people out and failing his duties—forced to stand at attention in a military posture all night. He really didn’t want to do that again.

And so, Rong Taotao and the hot-headed senior started fighting!

The most crucial point was that this third-year senior had been fighting an opponent of the same level all afternoon, and he had been losing all afternoon. His physical condition was terrible, so much so that even his combat forms were distorted. One could only imagine how exhausted he was; he’d probably fall asleep the moment he hit the ground.

The only thing that senior had left was a stubborn "can’t-lose" attitude. Aside from his temper, he really didn’t have much strength left.

And then... Rong Taotao became a legend.

From that day on, a legend began to circulate on the Pine Soul Soul Martial campus forums:

The Martial Arts Hall’s "Little Tao the Night Watchman" was a reclusive master. That night, with three strikes of his halberd, he toppled a third-year senior, incidentally slamming the guy into the snow to eat a mouthful of it...

Many students already came to the Martial Arts Arena to train, since the speed of cultivating Soul Techniques and absorbing Soul Power was faster here. After this incident, even more students started showing up...

Of course, they came partly to see the legendary Little Tao the Night Watchman, and partly to learn Sword Technique from Si Huan Nian.

Over the past month, Rong Taotao’s Sword Technique had steadily improved. After getting the hang of it, he practiced the basic forms relentlessly, making what could be called lightning-fast progress.

Hacking, thrusting, flicking, blocking, bursting, cleaving, wiping, leading...

Judging solely by his short training period, the current Rong Taotao had not failed the name of the "Great Xia Dragon Sparrow."

There were no shortcuts on the path of martial arts. Rong Taotao knew that what awaited him were thousands upon thousands of draws and sheathes of his blade over the long years.

It was just a pity that Si Huan Nian went to bed at 10:30 PM sharp, and there couldn’t be the slightest noise around. At night, Rong Taotao could only sit carefully in his chair and cultivate his Soul Power, unable to practice his martial arts.

...

At this moment, having advanced to Mid-rank Soul Soldier, Rong Taotao suppressed his inner excitement, not daring to speak loudly or make any sound.

He turned his head to look out the window and, seeing no students training, breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly stood up, leaned forward, and placed his finger on the light switch.

Rong Taotao didn’t even dare to breathe, pressing the switch down little by little, until...

CLICK!

Rong Taotao’s heart jumped. The sound of the light switch was especially loud in the silent room.

Maybe it really was because of low blood sugar, but Si Huan Nian had many bad habits, including being extremely grumpy when woken up. Coupled with her incredibly sharp senses, it seemed she could perceive what was happening in the mailroom even from the second floor.

When Rong Taotao first started his night watchman duties, he didn’t have so many worries. Living alone, he never had to consider anyone else’s schedule.

But in his first few days in the mailroom, Si Huan Nian had taught him a lesson.

That day, Rong Taotao was only getting ready for bed at 12:30 AM. He turned off the room light with a CLICK, feeling that he’d had a very fulfilling day. But just as he got into bed and pulled up the covers, he thought he saw a ghostly figure flicker outside the mailroom’s small window.

Rong Taotao was startled. The Martial Arts Hall was so large, empty, and deathly silent. It was the middle of the night; anyone would be terrified.

Just as Rong Taotao was cautiously observing the situation outside, a hand slammed against the small mailroom window with a THUD.

It nearly scared Rong Taotao to death!

The faint light of a White Lantern Paper Cage quietly appeared. The ghostly figure outside slowly bent down, and a deathly pale face appeared at the small window.

Then, Si Huan Nian’s terrifying voice drifted over. "This is the last time."

GULP. Rong Taotao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Looking at Si Huan Nian outside the window, dressed in a white nightgown with her hair in a mess, he nodded his head repeatedly like a chicken pecking at grain.

SMACK!

Si Huan Nian slapped her hand against the window again, as if giving a final warning, before turning and leaving.

The faint light of the White Lantern Paper Cage followed the "female ghost" in the white nightgown as they floated up to the second floor together.

From then on, Rong Taotao’s sleep schedule became much more regular. At the very least, he was washed up, lights out, and in bed well before 10:30 PM.

...

Recalling that ghostly experience, Rong Taotao couldn’t help but shiver. He picked up his phone and checked the time: 10:29 PM. ’Perfect!’

With one arm, Rong Taotao scooped up the sleeping Cloud Dog from the desk. Using the light from his phone, he found his bed and placed the Cloud Dog by his pillow.

Rong Taotao took out his phone and started scrolling through Weibo.

Just as he opened it, he discovered a new message. And... 1 follower?

Previously, Rong Taotao had used that napkin to make a Weibo post in an attempt to interact with Gao Lingwei. After that failed, he hadn’t tried again.

For the past month, Rong Taotao had been completely focused on his cultivation and martial arts practice. Other than getting meals for Si Huan Nian, he hadn’t even left the Martial Arts Arena grounds, let alone tried to manufacture a chance encounter.

Being so young, he had never pursued a girl before, so he was at a stalemate.

He opened the message and saw someone who looked very familiar.

TimelyRainAfterDrought: "Is this Little Tao the Night Watchman’s Weibo? Wow... so pitiful. The great gatekeeper of Pine Soul Soul Martial University’s Martial Arts Hall doesn’t even have a single follower~ I’ll be the first!"

Rong Taotao clicked on the person’s profile picture and couldn’t help but blink.

’Isn’t this the girl I met at the coffee shop a month ago? Gao Lingwei’s best friend?’

Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up. He turned to look at the sleeping Cloud Dog on his pillow, then back at the girl’s profile picture on his phone.

’An opportunity!?’