Master of Nine Stars

At this moment, Xia Fangran was holding his phone, head down, tapping at the screen. Over the course of one night, he had transformed from a middle-aged man who struggled just to type into a rapid-fire contender who could spit three insults a second.

When it came to typing speed, Xia Fangran was exceptionally talented! After all, he was from a Soul School. His physical conditioning was extremely high, so he learned everything quickly, uh...

Rong Taotao couldn’t help but feel this was all his fault. He never should have opened the door to a new world for Xia Fangran.

And now, Xia Fangran was hopelessly addicted to the internet.

Rong Taotao held back for as long as he could, but finally spoke up. ”Let’s go, Coach Xia. The drawing ceremony is about to start. Ms. Yang told us to go next door.”

”Yeah, yeah, let’s go,” Xia Fangran answered absently, slipping on his flip-flops. He headed for the door, his head still bowed as he argued with netizens.

Rong Taotao snuck a peek at Xia Fangran’s phone, and his expression grew even stranger.

’Holy cow, Coach Xia’s username is really something else!’

’Happy Life?’

’But to be fair... Xia Fangran... well, even though he was flaming people viciously online, judging by his obsessed expression, he really did seem happy...’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Rong Taotao knocked gently on the door. It opened to reveal the captivating sight of Gao Lingwei with her long hair draped over her shoulders.

Gone was the murderous aura of the battlefield, gone was the neat ponytail, and gone too was her piercing gaze. At this moment, she seemed even more perfect.

Gao Lingwei’s gaze swept past Rong Taotao and landed on Xia Fangran behind him. She said politely, ”Hello, Coach Xia.”

”Mm, hello.” Xia Fangran didn’t even lift his head. Looking like a man with urgent business to attend to, he marched straight inside.

Rong Taotao pouted and said from the doorway, ”You ignored me.”

Gao Lingwei gave Rong Taotao an exasperated yet amused look. She pulled a chocolate bar from her pocket and handed it to him, whispering, ”Coach Xia was up all night arguing with people online. Why didn’t you stop him and make him go to sleep earlier?”

”Huh?” Rong Taotao tore open the wrapper. Looking at Gao Lingwei in astonishment, he asked, ”How’d you know?”

Gao Lingwei asked, ”Is his username ’Happy Life’?”

Rong Taotao nodded dumbly. ”Yeah.”

Gao Lingwei said with a sigh, ”I was looking at your social media feed this morning, and that ’Happy Life’ guy was constantly arguing with other users. Judging by the timestamps on the comments, he must have been at it from yesterday afternoon all the way to this morning. When I looked, he was still posting comments.”

Rong Taotao: ”...”

’Holy cow. No wonder Xia Fangran is over forty and still single. What woman could argue with you for a whole night?’

’Forget a whole night, Xia Fangran is *still* arguing right now...’

”Come in, you two. What are you whispering about at the door?” Yang Chunxi’s voice came from inside the room.

”Oh.” Rong Taotao walked in, crunching on his chocolate bar. He then gave a sly grin, nudged Gao Lingwei’s shoulder, and said, ”So Da Wei *is* worried about me, huh?”

”I just can’t stand seeing so many people slandering you.” Gao Lingwei reached out and peeled the wrapper of Rong Taotao’s chocolate bar down a bit for him. ”People have been much friendlier since the last match.”

CRUNCH! Rong Taotao took a big bite of the chocolate bar, a blissful smile spreading across his face.

Half an hour later, the room was silent.

Of course, Xia Fangran was furiously arguing online and hadn’t said a word the entire time, looking just like an antisocial, middle-aged man.

Yang Chunxi, however, had a solemn expression, completely different from her reaction to the last drawing’s results.

On the television screen, the man in the suit held up a small ball, on which was clearly written: ”Songjiang Soul Martial University, Gao Lingwei, Rong Taotao.”

Their group was the second one chosen from the matchup list, and the group chosen first was...

”Liaolian Soul Martial University, Tang Yang, Tang Meng.” Yang Chunxi heaved a deep sigh, her eyes turning to Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao grinned and said, ”The Outer Region has three provinces in total: Songjiang, Baishan, and Fengtian, plus the Eastern Five Alliance Region. How come Da Wei and I only ever end up fighting people from Fengtian...”

Yang Chunxi said in a grave tone, ”Liaolian Soul Martial University is the top institution in Fengtian Province. Nationwide, it’s also considered a First-class university.

”This pair of twin siblings won’t be an easy fight. The experts predict they’re a lock for the quarterfinals, at a minimum.”

Rong Taotao reached out, grabbing another chocolate bar from the coffee table. ”The experts predict? Did they predict Da Wei and I would make it to the quarterfinals?”

”Take this seriously, Taotao,” Yang Chunxi said, her expression stern. ”You... Huh? An Ocean Arena?”

Seeing the arena that had been chosen, Gao Lingwei frowned as well.

An Ocean Arena meant that their opponents would have the home-field advantage and would be much more adept at using Ocean-type Soul Skills.

They wouldn’t need to summon Water Elements or create water droplets out of thin air. The arena itself already contained a certain amount of water.

Yang Chunxi flipped through her files, her brow also furrowed. She said, ”This is such a huge disadvantage. How did we end up with an Ocean Arena...”

Gao Lingwei patted Yang Chunxi’s arm and said reassuringly, ”It’s a winnable fight.”

As she spoke, Gao Lingwei gently squeezed Yang Chunxi’s arm and whispered, ”No matter who we face, it’s a winnable fight.”

”Mm.” Yang Chunxi pressed her lips together. Looking at Gao Lingwei’s calm demeanor, she suddenly felt that ’She’s the teacher, and I’m the student.’

’Worry really does cloud one’s judgment.’

Yang Chunxi shook her head and smiled, pulling out the file on the Tang Family Siblings, but the smile on her face froze once again.

Wrist Soul Skill, Elite-rank: Sharp Water Blade.

Wrist Soul Skill, Elite-rank: Vortex Water Blade.