Master of Nine Stars

The classroom for the Junior Soul Class was in the northeast corner of the academic building. Out the door and to the right was the stairwell.

Xu Taiping strode down the stairs. Behind him, a figure hurried in pursuit.

As Xu Taiping descended one flight and reached the landing, he happened to see Rong Taotao at the top of the second-floor stairwell.

Rong Taotao looked down; Xu Taiping looked up...

Their eyes met, but neither said a word.

They both continued down the stairs. When Rong Taotao reached the first floor, he saw Xu Taiping walking away down the hall and called out, "Xu Taiping!"

Xu Taiping turned his head without turning his body, glancing at Rong Taotao out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t stop walking.

Rong Taotao ran up and grabbed Xu Taiping’s arm. "You have a problem with her?"

Xu Taiping violently shook off Rong Taotao’s hand, splattering drops of ink from his pale hand onto Rong Taotao’s clothes. "Am I not allowed to?"

Rong Taotao’s expression darkened. "Everyone respects her!"

The sentence seemed to strike a nerve. Xu Taiping suddenly grabbed Rong Taotao by the collar and slammed him against the hallway wall. "Every *human* does. That doesn’t include me!"

Unexpectedly, Rong Taotao didn’t resist. He just stared intently at Xu Taiping’s faintly red eyes. "Why are you reacting like this? Is it because she’s killed countless Snow Realm Soul Beasts?"

Xu Taiping’s body trembled slightly, but his voice was incredibly grim as he squeezed the words through his teeth, "Maybe. Maybe not."

Rong Taotao looked at the extremely agitated, furious Xu Taiping before him and said, "Coach Yang once told a few of us in private that even though you’re a Snow Realm Soul Beast, you were raised in human society. Your education, the social customs you’ve been exposed to, your upbringing—everything...

Xu Taiping, you are human. You just look different from others."

"I never said I was human!" Xu Taoping’s deathly pale face shot forward, his forehead pressed hard against Rong Taotao’s. In a cold voice, he said, "And I’ll tell you something else, Rong Taotao. I have never respected her!"

Rong Taotao: "You..."

Before Rong Taotao could finish, Xu Taiping suddenly leaned in, bringing his thin lips close to Rong Taotao’s ear, and hissed, "She’s *your* mother, not mine."

Rong Taotao’s brows furrowed. ’What does that have to do with anything? Do I respect her just because she’s my mother?’

Xu Taiping’s voice was soft, his breath icy. "She’s one of your people, not mine."

With that, Xu Taiping took a step back, releasing his grip on Rong Taotao’s collar. He turned his head to look at the graceful figure descending the stairs and said, word by word, "She’s your hero, not mine." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Taiping turned and left.

From the top of the stairs came Yang Chunxi’s gentle voice. "Taotao."

"Hm?" Rong Taotao turned to see Yang Chunxi’s gentle smile.

Yang Chunxi beckoned to him. "Come here."

Rong Taotao pointed at the retreating figure of Xu Taiping. "He..."

Yang Chunxi paused, gathering her thoughts. She reached out a fair, delicate hand and gently cupped the back of Rong Taotao’s head. "Every history class is probably an ordeal for him. After all, history is written by us humans, and naturally, from a human perspective."

Rong Taotao pressed his lips together as Yang Chunxi guided him up the stairs. "His upbringing was different from yours, different from any human child’s.

His bad temper and eccentric personality were all acquired over time. He grew up under the weight of strange looks.

People’s reactions to him varied wildly. Good people kept their distance, while bad people harbored ill intentions. He had no friends. The children around him isolated and avoided him, mocking the color of his hair and fearing his reddish eyes.

He grew up on Earth from a young age and should have been human, but the people around him were constantly reminding him in all sorts of ways that he wasn’t human, but a rare and dangerous Soul Beast."

"Sigh..." Yang Chunxi sighed softly. "The soldiers could protect his life, but they couldn’t control how others treated him."

Rong Taotao asked, "Then why raise him in normal human society? Wouldn’t it have been better to just have him grow up in a military barracks?"

"It’s not that simple, and can’t be explained in just a few words. Go on." Yang Chunxi said, walking Rong Taotao to the classroom door. "I’ll go check on him. You all can have a self-study session."

"Teacher, your clothes." At the classroom door, Fan Lihua was standing obediently. She held a windbreaker in one hand and a scarf in the other, offering them to Yang Chunxi.

"Thank you." Yang Chunxi smiled and ruffled Fan Lihua’s hair, then took the clothes and left.

Rong Taotao looked at the students in the classroom, his heart heavy. He stepped inside, feeling at that moment that Xu Taiping was truly pitiful.

No matter where he looked, there was truly no one else like him.

On his way from the back door to his seat in the front row, Rong Taotao’s arm was grabbed by Jiao Tengda.

"Hm?" Rong Taotao stopped and looked down at Jiao Tengda in his seat.

Jiao Tengda crooked his finger, signaling for Rong Taotao to lean in.

"What is it?" Rong Taotao bent over, propping his elbows on the desk.

Jiao Tengda’s whisper reached his ear. "Xu Taiping... why is his last name Xu?"

Rong Taotao’s expression was odd; he seemed to understand what Jiao Tengda was implying. He was stunned for a moment before saying, "No way. It’s just a last name."

Jiao Tengda continued, "We’ve had many history classes. He sits right behind me, so I can feel it more clearly than anyone. He doesn’t like history class.

But today, especially during this specific lesson and this Chapter, his reaction was a little too extreme."

Rong Taotao’s eyes widened as he recalled Xu Taiping’s seemingly random comment from before: "She’s *your* mother, not mine."

Rong Taotao stared blankly at Jiao Tengda and mumbled, "You mean..."

Jiao Tengda spread his hands. "You should ask Coach Yang about it in private.

As a teacher, she knew you didn’t have a stomachache and that you were going out to confront Xu Taiping. But she still let you go. That’s not normal. Even if she dotes on you, that’s not how you do it.

This is a classroom, and you’re her student. That’s not something a teacher should do.

Perhaps there are some things Yang Chunxi doesn’t want to say herself. Maybe she wants Xu Taiping to tell you, or maybe she wants you to find out on your own."

"Yeah, okay." Rong Taotao nodded, stood up, and walked to his seat in the front row.

...

Outside the academic building, Xu Taiping strode into the blizzard, his pace quickening.

In truth, Xu Taiping didn’t know where he was going, much like he hadn’t known where he belonged for the past fifteen years of his life.

It was a pathetic situation; when he got angry, he didn’t even have a place to run to...

Out of habit, Xu Taiping, walking through the vast, swirling snow, headed for the Martial Arts Arena.

Most of the time, absorbing Soul Power and practicing Soul Techniques was faster there.

Right now, Xu Taiping’s mind was a mess. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, and absorbing Soul Power was the only thing that could calm him down.

But as Xu Taiping walked on, he noticed a tall, slender figure standing in the distance.

Unlike humans, Xu Taiping was a Snow Realm Soul Beast. Although his vision was also hampered by the blizzard and the dark sky, he could see much farther and more clearly in this environment than any human.

His faintly red eyes emitted a strange glow, and his somber face became a mask of utter astonishment.

From the distance, the tall, slender figure spoke a strange phrase: "Eshii shen?"

Xu Taiping stopped in his tracks, instantly drawing a longsword from the swirling snow.

The figure, however, walked slowly toward him. Through the blizzard, a pair of equally faint red eyes were revealed. "Amaru lirim?"

GULP. Xu Taiping’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He subconsciously started to back away, but a clear voice resounded in his mind: "Little one, you seem discontent, and a little lost."

Xu Taiping gripped his longsword tightly, and his feet, which had started to retreat, froze in place.

Because... he saw a young man in a coat made of snow. The man had long, snow-white hair and a handsome face that was every bit as striking as Xu Taiping’s.

On his pale face, two eyes glowed with a red light, looking almost surreal.

"You can only understand human language, and you wear human clothes."

The newcomer finally reached Xu Taiping. He looked down, a hint of pity showing in his intimidating red eyes. "So, you’re a child who was swept here by a snowstorm, lost in this world, aren’t you?"

As he spoke, a pale hand slowly landed on Xu Taiping’s shoulder, then wrapped around his back, gently pulling him into an embrace.

"My poor clansman..."

The handsome young man’s hand tightened slightly, pulling Xu Taiping closer. His soft whisper was tinged with sorrow. "Your parents, your siblings, your entire clan... they’re all dead, aren’t they? There was no one left to even teach you the language of the Ice Soul Guide clan."

With his unique Soul Skill from his Soul Pearl, Xu Taiping could have communicated across dimensions without any barriers, if even a single one of his direct relatives were still alive.

Xu Taiping’s current state confirmed the man’s suspicion.

In that moment, Xu Taiping’s spirit broke.

It wasn’t because of the man’s murmurs, filled with faint sorrow. It was because of... his icy embrace.

Xu Taiping’s cheek rested against the man’s chest, pressed tightly against the coat made of snow.

It was so cold, so chilling, filled with the scent of ice and snow, filled with... the scent of home.

At this moment, whatever the man said no longer mattered.

Xu Taiping, who could only find a trace of peace in the vast, swirling snow, had, in this single moment, found something he had never truly possessed in more than a decade.

It was called "a sense of belonging."