Master of Nine Stars

Songjiang Soul Martial University, in a men’s dorm room in the Martial Arts Hall.

”No way... Don’t do this! Ah, come on!” Jiao Tengda stared at the computer screen, sighing in frustration before slamming his palm down on the desk.

Li Ziyi, Lu Mang, Zhao Tang, and the others gathered around him all looked a little uncomfortable.

They were watching the tournament draw ceremony. As classmates and comrades-in-arms, they couldn’t be there in person to cheer, but in private, they were possibly even more invested in the competition’s outcome than Rong Taotao himself.

And what made Jiao Tengda cry out in despair was, without a doubt, the result of the draw.

Zhao Tang spoke up, ”There are only eight teams left. The probability of two teams from the same university facing each other isn’t low.”

Li Ziyi tilted his head to look at the computer and muttered under his breath, ”Tsk, and I just finished cheering him on, too. This settles it. Just wait, he’ll be packing his bags and coming home to us any minute now.”

Lu Mang, however, retorted, ”If Rong Taotao could break through the university’s selection tournament and defeat Qi Dao, Qi Tian, and the brothers Bai Xiweng and Bai Xiwu, then he can also beat Yuan Tianri and Yuan Tiancheng.”

Just as the students in the men’s dorm were voicing their different opinions, a wail of despair came from the women’s dorm next door.

”AHHHHH!”

”Dammit!”

Sun Xingyu clutched her head in anguish. ”Why an internal match for Songjiang Soul Martial? Why... It’s a conspiracy! They don’t want Taotao to advance!”

Fan Lihua, however, comforted her in a low voice, ”Actually, facing a team from our own university isn’t so bad. At least they’re both Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists. Look at the other remaining teams; a lot of them are Starfield, which would be a hard counter for Da Wei.”

Shi Lan placed a hand on Sun Xingyu’s shoulder and shook her gently. ”That’s right, don’t worry! It’s precisely because they’re Snow Realm that they have a fighting chance. Did you forget how Juanjuan and Wei broke through the university tournament?”

Shi Lou, however, said, ”The competitors this year are different from the past; some teams are exceptionally strong. Our university’s other two teams already fell in the round of 16. With Wei facing the Yuan Brothers, Songjiang Soul Martial is at least guaranteed one spot in the semifinals.”

”Mhm.” Sun Xingyu composed herself and said, ”The good thing is we already have our ticket, so winning or losing doesn’t really matter. Sigh... It’s just... I don’t want Wei to lose.”

Shi Lou said softly, ”No one does.”

Unexpectedly, Sun Xingyu muttered to herself, ”I don’t want her to come back so soon. I’m not ready yet. What if she tests my skills and I fail...”

Everyone: ”...”

Good grief. Between Sun Xingyu and Li Ziyi, one didn’t want Gao Lingwei to come back because she was afraid of having her training checked, and the other didn’t want Rong Taotao to come back because he found him annoying?

Meanwhile, far away in Fengtian City, the room fell silent as the man on the television screen drew the third ball, confirming the match would take place in a Starfield arena.

After a long moment, Yang Chunxi turned to look at Rong Taotao, who was eating Little Rascal snacks and playing with the Cloud Dog. She noticed the boy looked completely carefree and didn’t seem to need any comforting.

Yang Chunxi couldn’t help but laugh to herself. ’Was I getting worked up for nothing because I care too much?’

While Rong Taotao was playfully teasing the cat and dog without a care in the world, Gao Lingwei’s expression was grim, as if she were deep in thought.

Yang Chunxi opened her mouth, wanting to say that they had already made it to the top eight and secured their qualification. But thinking about Gao Lingwei’s unyielding personality, she said instead, ”There’s no hard counter. You can just fight normally. Get back into the state you were in during the university selection tournament, practice your Defense Formation well. The brothers don’t have any ocular Illusion Soul Skills, so you still have a good chance.”

As she spoke, the phone on the coffee table began to buzz.

Yang Chunxi picked it up, glanced at the screen, and after a moment’s hesitation, stepped out to take the call.

On a nearby sofa, Xia Fangran chuckled. ”None of the remaining teams are weak. Running into students from your own university can be considered pretty good luck. At least your Attributes are the same, and you’re familiar with each other.”

”Yup.” Rong Taotao was holding the Cloud Dog by its big, cloud-like ears, bobbing it up and down. Meanwhile, on his head, the Snowball Cat had taken over the Cloud Dog’s spot, its little head bobbing along as it watched its good friend fly up and down.

”Woof~” The Snowball Cat hooked its fluffy, long tail around the back of Rong Taotao’s head, leaned forward, and pressed its paws on his forehead, looking down at him.

Its beautiful, azure eyes were filled with longing and anticipation.

”You wanna fly too?” Rong Taotao placed the Cloud Dog on his head, swapping it with the Snowball Cat, and tossed the cat up and down by its ears.

”Not bad, kiddo. Completely fearless, huh?” Xia Fangran couldn’t help but laugh at Rong Taotao’s laid-back demeanor. ”They were the team that qualified in the very first month of the selection tournament, after all. What, are you that confident?”

”It’s alright. Much better than facing the other groups,” Rong Taotao said with a grin. ”This is Fengtian City, territory of the Starfield Vortex. It’s my home turf. I’ll just have to throw some stars and call it a day.”

Rong Taotao caught the Snowball Cat as it fell, whimpering and squealing, and continued, ”It’s a shame my Starfield Heart isn’t three-star. The three-star Soul Technique has a Star Wave Stream Soul Skill with explosive damage output.”

As he was speaking, Yang Chunxi returned to the room, phone in hand, her expression a little strange.

Xia Fangran looked at Yang Chunxi curiously and asked, ”What’s up?”

”Um...” Yang Chunxi hesitated for a moment before saying, ”That was a call from our university’s head team leader. He was discussing tomorrow’s match with me.”

A thought struck Xia Fangran, and he asked, ”Discussing what?”

Yang Chunxi thought for a long while, clearly trying to organize her words, before finally replying, ”Basically... he doesn’t want students from our own university to get seriously injured. After all, they’re already in the quarterfinals, and they still have to prepare for the national tournament in a few months.”