Master of Nine Stars

Xing’Er: ”Da Wei is amazing~ Woohoo~ Carrying Taotao @Tao’Er to victory~”

In a restaurant, Rong Taotao was watching the news while shoveling braised pork into his mouth, when he saw a chat window pop up at the top of his phone screen.

Rong Taotao opened the group chat and found it buzzing with activity. If Sun Xingyu hadn’t specifically tagged him, Rong Taotao would have missed this little drama.

It would have been fine if he hadn’t looked, but once he did, Rong Taotao was so angry he could spit.

’How come everyone is praising Gao Lingwei for being as brave as a god, while I’ve become a pendant hanging on the Great God’s leg?’

’But to be fair, Da Wei is indeed a powerful pillar to lean on. I’d better hold on tight.’

Rong Taotao’s fingers clattered away on his screen: ”What about me? I wasn’t just a spectator, you know?”

Xing’Er: ”Oh, Taotao’s here! Your Halberd Technique is not bad. A lot of people are praising you.”

Rong Taotao pouted. This hurtful Xing’Er, she was really just being perfunctory.

’Is my Halberd Technique just ”not bad”? I’ve practically elevated it to an art form!’

’It has a full five-star rating! It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the pinnacle of perfection!’

’If my physical fitness could just keep up, even Xia Fangran would be no match for me. He definitely wouldn’t be enjoying life anymore...’

Xing’Er: ”I’m so jealous of Taotao, your followers broke 400,000.”

Tao’Er: ”Don’t be jealous. This number is useless to me. It’s just a way for me to speak up and defend myself. Besides, almost half of them are haters. If I lose the next match, just wait for them to throw a party.”

Li Zi: ”Win one more match and you’re in the top eight. No matter how much they flame you, they can’t change the fact that you’ve made it to the national tournament!”

Rong Taotao was stunned for a moment. Li Ziyi’s sudden encouragement took him so by surprise he couldn’t process it. Rong Taotao almost thought Jiao Tengda had snatched Li Ziyi’s phone and sent the message.

Rong Taotao hesitated for a moment before replying: ”Thanks.”

Li Zi: ”What’s there to thank me for? It’s better that you’re always out there. Out of sight, out of mind.”

Little Pomegranate: ”Juanjuan, come back as soon as the competition is over! Since you left, there’s no one to chat and joke around with Coach Si, so she’s reverted to her strict-teacher mode. She beats me black and blue every day. Hurry back and change her back...”

Tao’Er: ”...”

’She beat you up plenty when I was there too, didn’t she?’

’Besides, when she taught me, that cane was always swishing through the air. What good would it do if I went back? To take the beatings for you?’

Xing’Er: ”Heehee, Taotao, how’s your cultivation? Even I, with the worst aptitude, have broken through to the Mid-stage Soul Warrior realm. Don’t you fall behind.”

Rose: ”It’s only because of the regional restrictions that he can’t practice Snow Realm Soul Technique. His Soul Power level won’t fall behind. Little Xingyu, train hard. I’ll check your progress when I get back.”

Far away in the northern Snow Realm, in the Pine Soul Soul Martial cafeteria, Sun Xingyu pouted and meekly typed one word: ”Okay.”

After typing it, however, Sun Xingyu slammed her phone face down on the table, looking unhappy. ”What’s the deal? It’s annoying enough having teachers manage me, but now I have to be managed by Da Wei too.”

Li Ziyi asked curiously, ”Why does she manage you?”

Sun Xingyu blinked her big, pretty eyes, looking just as confused. ”Yeah, why doesn’t she manage Shilou and Shilan?”

Li Ziyi speculated, ”Is it because you’re small and mischievous, like a little sister?”

”SMACK!” Sun Xingyu slapped her small hand on the table, her eyebrows shooting up. ”Li Ziyi! I’ll give you one chance to rephrase that! Li Hua is like a little sister too!”

Across the table, Fan Lihua, who was taking small bites of her food, said weakly, ”But I’m not mischievous~”

Sun Xingyu: ”Argh!”

...

It wasn’t just the students of the Junior Class who were hoping Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao would bring glory to their group; all sectors of society were also closely watching the upcoming match.

The Round of 16!

This was the match that would determine if Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao could secure a ticket to the national tournament!

This held an incredibly significant meaning!

First, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei were representing the Junior Class.

The Junior Class had already been proven a success. But just how successful it could be was directly tied to how far Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei went—the further they progressed, the greater the triumph for Pine Soul Soul Martial!

Second, ever since their last match, Rong Taotao had displayed astonishing combat skills, and a series of discussions had surfaced one after another.

Could powerful skills truly, to a certain extent, erase the gap in Soul Power levels?

Note, this meant Martial Arts, not Soul Skills.

Third, just how much of a genius was Rong Taotao?

Could a Soul Martial Student, who had only been awakened for a year, fight his way out of Pine Soul Soul Martial, into the Outer Region’s top eight, and then into the national tournament?

For a Soul Martial Artist, what did Talent truly mean?

Rong Taotao’s existence was, without a doubt, challenging the world’s perception of Soul Martial Artists again and again.

Finally, and most importantly.

After being tested by First-class competitors like Tang Yang and Tang Meng, very few people still questioned how Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei had fought their way out of Pine Soul Soul Martial to earn their spot in the tournament.

At this moment, backed by concrete results and performances, the direction of public opinion had already taken a 180-degree turn.

Once people truly realized that Rong Taotao wasn’t someone who got in through connections, not a charlatan who deceived the world, his existence signified a rising star general!

One year. Mid-stage Soul Warrior, a three-star Heart of the Snow Realm, and a two-star Starfield Heart.

People finally realized they were very likely witnessing history!

Witnessing the growth of a Soul General!!!

Rong Taotao’s current achievements weren’t the most important part; the crucial point was that he could already create his own Soul Skills. What an incredible display of Talent!

Soul General—for almost everyone, that was an unattainable title, a dream that was yearned for but could never be reached.

Stories and legends about Soul Generals were passed down by word of mouth, heard by many but seen by few.

But now, there was a young man, right under their noses on this public stage, taking step after step toward that goal!

’In the years to come, will people say, ”Xu Fenghua, the number one Soul General of the Outer Region, was the strongest person I learned about in textbooks. But her son... he was the strongest person I ever saw with my own eyes”?’

Rong Taotao, caught in the Vortex of public opinion, truly hadn’t expected the entire world to change overnight.

Everything was because he and Gao Lingwei had defeated the First-class competitors Tang Yang and Tang Meng through sheer skill.

On the news and social media, the voices of condemnation and doubt had lessened, while voices of encouragement and anticipation had grown...

Yesterday at lunch, Sun Xingyu had said Rong Taotao’s followers had reached 400,000. But the next day, while Rong Taotao was watching the drawing ceremony, his follower count had doubled! And it was still skyrocketing...

There were articles about him everywhere—articles analyzing his combat skills and predicting his future achievements.

The world had suddenly shifted from ”Who is Rong Taotao?” to ”What made Rong Taotao?”

What kind of training methods gave him such powerful skills?

What kind of fortuitous encounters had he experienced, or what hardships and tribulations had he endured in the Snow Realm to support such an astonishing performance?

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Rong Taotao was truly a bit dazed and found it hard to adapt.

While watching the drawing ceremony, Rong Taotao sat on the sofa, constantly scrolling through his phone, feeling like he was in a dream.

The observant Yang Chunxi clearly noticed something was different about Rong Taotao.

In fact, Yang Chunxi also found it a bit incredible at that moment. She comforted him in a soft voice, ”After all, your name was included in the *Northern Snow Realm History*, and there’s a passage describing you.”

”And you also created a Snow Realm Soul Skill. All these achievements are out in the open, so...”

”Once the doubts dissipate and people acknowledge your existence, a change in public opinion is inevitable. Anyone who isn’t an idiot can see your Talent and potential.”

”Ah.” Rong Taotao grinned, his expression strange. ”Suddenly becoming a promising rookie everyone recognizes... this change is too huge. The key is that I didn’t have time to react. I went to sleep, and the world changed...”

Yang Chunxi smiled. ”It already changed yesterday afternoon. You were just busy absorbing and converting Soul Power and didn’t see the news.”

Nearby, Gao Lingwei sat with her legs crossed, her fingers playfully teasing the Snowball Cat and Cloud Dog in her arms. She chuckled softly, ”Finally, someone is willing to listen to your story.”

”Yeah.”

”Tsk... This sucks.” Beside them, Xia Fangran suddenly spoke up.

Rong Taotao raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Xia Fangran. ”What’s wrong?”

Xia Fangran looked pained. ”There are fewer haters. Most of them are defending you and looking forward to you advancing. Now when I want to spar with someone, I have to scroll for a long time to find one.”

”I can’t stay on your social media page anymore. The old environment was better. Haters everywhere! I could just pick one and have a good fight!”

Rong Taotao: ???

’Are you even human?’

’I’m your Direct Disciple, after all! Have you ever seen a master who wants his own disciple to get flamed?’

Yang Chunxi’s expression was also a picture. For a moment, she didn’t know how to react to Xia Fangran’s words...

”It’s our turn,” Gao Lingwei said suddenly.

Yang Chunxi snapped back to reality and looked at the TV screen. She couldn’t help but nod. ”Good. We’re the first pair on the bracket, so we can choose the east or west half of the field...”

As she was speaking, Yang Chunxi suddenly stopped. She stared at the second pair of contestants being drawn on the TV, her expression turning strange.

Rong Taotao’s heart skipped a beat. ”What is it?”

”Hmm...” Yang Chunxi pondered for a moment. ”Your opponents are the only team from a third-rate academy left in the top 16. Their strength is more than just a notch below Liaolian Soul Martial University.”

”In the previous two rounds, they also faced teams from third-rate academies. The outside world has been calling them the luckiest contestants of this tournament.”

”What goes around, comes around!” Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up. ”Our reputation has gotten better! And our opponents have gotten better too!”

Rong Taotao stood up, raising both fists in the air with a happy expression. ”The sky has cleared!!!”

”AAAAAAH!” Xia Fangran sprawled on the sofa, looking dejected and completely devoid of hope. ”The sky has gone dark!!!”

”Coach Xia.”

”Huh?” Xia Fangran replied listlessly, looking at Yang Chunxi.

He saw Yang Chunxi, who seemed to be struggling to suppress the churning emotions inside her, squeeze a sentence out through gritted teeth: ”Please return to your room first. I need to analyze the opponents for my two students.”

Xia Fangran also sensed that the atmosphere in the room was off. He was just like a traitor who had infiltrated Pine Soul Soul Martial...

He, who was usually afraid of nothing, seeing Yang Chunxi’s furious expression...

...he, for a very rare change, chickened out. Shuffling in his flip-flops, he quickly walked to the door and carefully closed it behind him.

”CRINKLE CRINKLE.” Rong Taotao unwrapped a Little Rascal and tossed it into his mouth, chewing comfortably. ’Tsk tsk... what a good show~’

’Yang Chunxi, the new Great God!’

’Ever since enrolling in Pine Soul Soul Martial, I’ve never seen Xia Fangran act so cowardly!’

”SLAP!” Yang Chunxi pulled out two files from a pile of papers and slammed them on the table, her anger clearly not yet subsided. ”That spot in the top eight is ours!”

Rong Taotao jumped, not daring to make a sound. Instead, two voices of agreement came from Gao Lingwei’s arms:

”Woof~”

”WOOF WOOF!”