Master of Nine Stars

Exam week passed in a flash. Over the past week, the two teams from the Soul Class, the Shi Family Sisters and Li Ziyi’s squad, unsurprisingly took first place in their groups and secured their spots to stay in the Soul Class.

In fact, the Shi Family Sisters’ path to advancement was exceptionally smooth. Ever since Shi Lou nearly stabbed Ji Qingmei to death, their opponents in the subsequent ranking matches were all particularly friendly.

They all knew what was good for them. When it was time to raise their hands and surrender, they didn’t dare delay for a single second...

You have to understand, the Soul Class was simply overflowing with geniuses. With people like Rong Taotao, Gao Lingwei, Fan Lihua, and Zhao Tang around, the brilliance of the other students was always bound to be overshadowed.

But in this final ranking tournament, Shi Lou made a name for herself. Secretly, the students from the Martial Arts Class had even given her a nickname: the Butcher.

Mmm...

Shi Lou didn’t like the nickname, but she couldn’t stop it from spreading.

Meanwhile, Li Ziyi, Sun Xingyu, and Fan Lihua’s team also seemed to be riding on the coattails of Shi Lou’s reputation.

The Martial Arts Class students who faced them were all very proper. They knew the skill gap was huge, so they’d put up a symbolic fight and consider it a lesson learned. No one dared to risk their lives.

Si Huan Nian saw all of this, and she had very mixed feelings.

On one hand, she was very pleased with her two personal disciples. On the other hand... as a teacher at Songjiang Soul Martial, she was not pleased with the participating students from the Martial Arts Class—or at least, not with their attitude toward fighting.

But there was nothing to be done. After all, these kids from the Soul Class were the school’s treasures. They had lived in the Martial Arts Hall for the entire year and were much stronger than the other students of their year. The difference in strength was plain to see.

With the end of exams, the semester finally came to a close.

The Soul Class students latched onto Si Huan Nian, showing no intention of going home. After all, spurred on by Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei’s immense power, they truly felt too ashamed to go home and rest...

However, the Soul Class students now had a chance to catch up to Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei. This summer, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei had to leave the Snow Realm to participate in a competition in the Outer Region.

Once they left the Snow Realm, even with two Lotus petals by his side, Rong Taotao wouldn’t be able to practice Snow Realm Soul Techniques. This was an objective fact.

The students were fired up, determined to catch up to Rong Taotao.

But they were dreaming... Maybe they could catch up to, or even surpass, Rong Taotao’s Soul Power level, but his Soul Technique level?

Heh heh...

Rong Taotao’s Soul Technique level was already about to catch up to Gao Lingwei’s. No, to be precise, on the third day of summer vacation, Rong Taotao officially caught up to Gao Lingwei!

His Heart of the Snow Realm successfully reached Three-Star, Mid-Tier.

One clear afternoon, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei were sparring in the Martial Arts Arena, clashing with their Great Xia Dragon Sparrows. At the same time, in his mind, he was inside the Snow Prison Arena, diligently practicing calligraphy.

Suddenly, Rong Taotao stopped his attack.

Gao Lingwei’s blade nearly plunged into Rong Taotao’s kidney. She barely managed to pull back her hand in time, narrowly avoiding stabbing away her future happiness... Mmm...

But it wasn’t too big of a deal. As long as Dong Dongdong was around, so was his kidney.

On the Martial Arts Arena, Gao Lingwei sensed a fluctuation of Soul Power coming from Rong Taotao. She immediately retracted her move and stood to the side, watching him quietly.

The other students in the Martial Arts Arena also noticed something was off. When they realized the energy fluctuation was coming from Rong Taotao, to be honest... Li Ziyi felt a little discouraged.

’Dammit, I’m trying my best to catch up, and you’re just getting farther and farther away?’

’But my legs are longer than yours!?’

”Taotao,” a gentle voice called out. Yang Chunxi was standing at the entrance of the Martial Arts Hall, watching the motionless Rong Taotao on the arena from afar.

Gao Lingwei turned her head and quickly waved her hand at Yang Chunxi.

”Hm?” Yang Chunxi was surprised, but she didn’t call out again and started walking down.

Gao Lingwei went up to meet her and whispered, ”He should be breaking through a Soul Technique level. It’s a Minor Rank breakthrough, so it won’t take long.”

”Mm,” Yang Chunxi nodded. She looked at Rong Taotao again, her face filled with satisfaction, and said softly, ”Rong Yang’s application for that Soul Pet was approved. But they won’t deliver it here. You two will have to go to the First Wall.”

”Oh?” Gao Lingwei raised an eyebrow slightly, a touch of happiness welling up inside her.

Ever since she saw Professor Wang Tianzhu’s Snow General Candle, she had taken a special liking to that type of Soul Beast.

A Soul Beast clad in armor that demands weapons and a battlefield the moment it speaks—it was perfectly suited to her tastes!

It was clear that the Snow General Candle was highly intelligent and could communicate with humans. If raised properly, leaving aside whether it could lead a massive army into battle, it would at least be an excellent sparring partner.

Human Soul Martial Artists, in terms of physical ability alone, truly are at a great disadvantage compared to Soul Beasts.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that with a master’s guidance, the Snow General Candle’s growth potential was absolutely immense!

Yang Chunxi said, ”I just spoke with Coach Xia and asked him to take Taotao. By the way, do you want to go?”

”Of course.” Gao Lingwei nodded lightly. ”Absorbing a Soul Pet is a major event. If all goes well, it’s for a lifetime.”

Gao Lingwei spoke softly, turning her head to look at Rong Taotao, who was quietly breaking through.

Before, she didn’t have the chance.

But from now on, she wanted to be a part of every step of Rong Taotao’s life, to be a witness.

The life of a Soul Martial Artist is a life of companionship, isn’t it?

Yang Chunxi smiled as she looked at Gao Lingwei, understanding the look in the young woman’s eyes.