Master of Nine Stars

”Team 16 is eliminated!”

Rong Taotao had no time to pay attention to the teacher in the distance. His assault was relentless. The moment he landed, he kicked off the ground and charged at the four remaining opponents, who were already falling back.

A swirl of frost and snow gathered in his right hand, from which he pulled out a Heaven-piercing Halberd. Rong Taotao used his forward momentum to swing the heavy weapon in a great half-moon arc, bringing it crashing down!

It was a blow of immense power and weight!

”THUD!”

The retreating male student blocked with his Great Saber, his expression grim. It wasn’t because of Rong Taotao’s heavy strike, but because of the Star-Stepping Split from before.

”Dodge left, turn your body!” Gao Lingwei’s voice echoed in his mind again.

Rong Taotao was about to press his attack but quickly stepped left and turned sideways.

”SWISH!”

The rapidly spinning, dark gold Butterfly Dual Sabers became a dark gold disc that grazed past Rong Taotao’s chest and instantly sank into the male student’s torso!

”TWEET! TWEET!” This time, it wasn’t the supervising teacher who made the call, but Cha Er, who had been observing the entire field. He blew his whistle. ”Injured player, off the field!”

Rong Taotao strode forward. He shoved the injured student, who had the Butterfly Dual Sabers embedded in his chest, toward the approaching teacher. At the same time, he thrust his Long Halberd forward!

”I’m his teammate! I’m out too!” a girl cried out, hastily dodging to the side.

”Huh?” Rong Taotao’s thrust missed. He froze, his Long Halberd poised for a sweeping strike, but he didn’t follow through with the attack.

After steadying herself, the girl started walking, seemingly toward the boundary line. But in the instant she brushed past Rong Taotao, her expression turned vicious. With a sinister glint in her eyes, she suddenly swung a Great Saber horizontally at Rong Taotao’s neck. ”Like I’m his teammate!”

Gao Lingwei cried out in alarm, ”Taotao!”

Rong Taotao ducked abruptly. In his hand, hidden at his side, he had already formed a Snow Burst Ball. He slapped it right onto her kidney.

”BAM!”

”Ahhh...” The girl let out a wail as she was sent flying backward.

’Nice try. You thought I’d fall for it, but I predicted your prediction.’

’At this moment, I am Rong-ception.’

Rong Taotao grinned. ”With a bunch of weaklings like these, you think I can’t even tell who’s on which team?”

As he spoke, Rong Taotao looked at a male student to the side and said, ”Hey, senior! Your sister is about to get slaughtered by my Da Wei!”

The direction Rong Taotao had sent her flying was, indeed, toward Gao Lingwei’s corner.

Hearing this, the brother of the twin pair was shocked and whipped his head around to look.

But in that instant, as the brother looked over, he was met with the sight of Gao Lingwei’s dark red pupils.

”SWISH!”

Rong Taotao’s figure instantly closed in. With a solid lunging thrust, he pierced straight through the male student’s abdomen. His timing was perfect, his movements sharp and terrifyingly swift!

Advanced! Heaven-piercing Halberd Mastery, Four-Star Peak!

”TWEET-TWEET-TWEET!” Cha Er’s whistle blew repeatedly. ”Southeast corner! Everyone except Team 13, off the field!”

Gao Lingwei stepped over the female student at her feet and walked toward Rong Taotao, a slight smile on her face. ”You’ve turned me into a supporting character.”

Rong Taotao shrugged. ”I just wanted to enjoy a good slaughter by your side.”

Gao Lingwei gazed at Rong Taotao with her beautiful eyes and said softly, ”Now, the honor is all mine.”

Rong Taotao: ”To be honest, I’m just really hungry and in a hurry to get some food.”

Gao Lingwei: ”...”

In the stands, Jiao Tengda clutched his head with both hands and plopped down into his seat. ”Goddammit, it’s just a breakout match, and he turned it into a masterclass from *The Art of War*! It’s all just fucking bluffs and tricks...”

Zhao Tang’s expression was complicated. From the moment he first met Rong Taotao, he had wanted to spar with him, but for various reasons, it had been delayed until now. And now...

Zhao Tang spoke up, ”Rong Taotao has kept Snow Dance active the whole time, which is a three-star Snow Realm Soul Technique. He just showed off Star-Stepping Split, a two-star Starfield Soul Technique. This guy... he’s growing way too fast.”

Lu Mang commented quietly, ”Indeed. There are gaps even between geniuses.”

Li Ziyi snorted coldly. ”Hmph~”

Fan Lihua clenched her fists and looked at Li Ziyi with dissatisfaction. Mustering her courage, she whispered, ”What are you ’hmphing’ about? Taotao is amazing!”

Sun Xingyu quickly backed up her best friend, ”Exactly!”

Li Ziyi’s heart filled with bitterness. He silently lowered his head. ”Mm...”

Shi Lan grinned. ”Little Juanjuan is too savage. With his skill level, why is he even in the final exam placement matches?”

Stone Tower said in a low voice, ”If he weren’t participating, then that little twerp would be ours to deal with.”

While the teens from the Soul Class were in heated discussion, back on the field...

After clearing out a total of five teams, the southeastern area of the arena was completely empty. In the end, only Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei remained.

Rong Taotao held his Heaven-piercing Halberd at his side, his gaze sweeping across the entire field. He saw two chaotic battle royales and four or five other teams standing in place, too intimidated to move.

Gao Lingwei came to Rong Taotao’s side and propped her elbow on his shoulder. She looked at the 14 remaining teams on the field and knew the match was about to end.

She turned her head, her lips close to Rong Taotao’s ear, and whispered, ”You think anyone else will dare to come over here?”

Rong Taotao: ”I dunno. Should I ask?”

Gao Lingwei paused. ”Huh?”

’Ask? How do you ask?’

Rong Taotao suddenly raised his hand and waved it around, just like a shopkeeper trying to attract customers. He sent out a greeting from the empty southeast corner to all the remaining teams: ”Next group of victims, please!”

The boisterous audience fell silent in an instant...

”Holy shit...”

”So damn arrogant! I love it!!!”

”What the hell is this kid’s name? Somebody tell me...”

On the field, the few teams that had been standing still were all third-tier. They were being ”farmed” by the second-tier teams, who planned to eliminate them in the quarterfinals.

They looked at each other, then glanced at the Qi Brothers’ battle and the Bai Brothers’ battle. After some thought, they all voluntarily walked out of the boundary.

It was over. There would be no miracle. If the seeded teams had been eliminated, they might have had a chance to take advantage of the chaos and fight the second-tier teams. But in this situation...

The situation on the field changed abruptly. The Bai Brothers once again crushed a team, eliminating them. Cha Er’s whistle immediately rang out, ”TWEET~!”

”Match over! All contestants, cease your attacks, or you will be disqualified from the quarterfinals!”

Rong Taotao’s expression was awkward. His hand, which had been beckoning for customers, froze in mid-air.

Gao Lingwei clearly realized what was happening. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she reached up, took his frozen hand, and pulled it down. ”Come on, I’ll go eat with you.”

Rong Taotao said hurriedly, ”Right, right, right! Time to chow down!”

”Mhm, slow down...”

...

Thanks to the great and adorable Kazach for the 100,000-point reward! You’ve spent too much, thank you for your support!

Three Chapters, fourteen thousand words. Asking for your votes!