Master of Nine Stars

Perhaps... from the moment Gao Lingwei absorbed the Snowball Cat as her Soul Pet, all of this was already fated!

On the distant battlefield, Cold Flower saw things were going south and hastily fled.

While the Twelfth Squad was reaping the lives of her Poacher comrades, Cold Flower wanted to seize the opportunity to lure out Gao Lingwei.

Cold Flower’s thinking was clear. She knew that under Gao Lingwei’s pursuit, in this vast, coverless Snowfield, there was simply nowhere for her to run!

So, Cold Flower’s only option was to taunt her mercilessly. She had to make Gao Lingwei so blind with rage that she’d lose her cool and reveal herself.

If she wanted to survive, Cold Flower truly had no other choice. This was her only play.

However, to Cold Flower’s despair, she succeeded in igniting Gao Lingwei’s fury, but Gao Lingwei never appeared. Instead, she was pulled back by the clear-headed Rong Taotao.

And in that one exchange, Gao Lingwei didn’t come out, but two Great Gods came charging out instead...

Whether it was Li Lie or Xia Fangran, their damage output was simply explosive!

How could Cold Flower possibly withstand them?

In an instant, all of Cold Flower’s taunts and threats vanished. She fled for her life. To prevent them from pinpointing her location by sound, she didn’t even dare to fart, remaining deathly still, not daring to make the slightest noise!

However...

Who was Li Lie? And who was Xia Fangran?

Once they locked onto an opponent, could they really let her get away?

In the night sky, the two teachers pursued and hacked at her relentlessly. Cold Flower’s face was ashen as she narrowly, desperately dodged one Painted Halberd after another, one giant axe after another.

”Whoosh...”

In the sky, a giant axe quietly formed, but instead of the blade facing down, the flat of the axe came swatting down horizontally!

A muffled THUD!

Fleeing for her life, Cold Flower failed to dodge in time and plummeted toward the ground.

But the moment she hit the ground hard, she slammed her hands down on either side of her body.

”SHINK! SHINK! SHINK!”

Snow Realm Soul Skill - Ice Spike Array!

In an instant, countless sharp Ice Spikes erupted from the snow, shooting toward the sky and aiming for the pursuing Li Lie and Xia Fangran.

”Hm?”

The next moment, Cold Flower felt a tightness around her ankle as her body was violently dragged to the right.

The Snow Ghost Hand again!

That damn lingering Snow Ghost Hand!!!

’A goddamn weak-ass elite-level Soul Skill is actually making a difference on the battlefield, even interfering with my movements again and again!’

Rong Taotao didn’t give a damn about any of that.

’Did this hand grab you or not!?’

’It did? If it grabbed you, it’s a good hand!’

CRACK! CRACK! Dragged viciously by the Snow Ghost Hand, Cold Flower actually crashed through three or four Ice Spikes. But her reaction was extremely fast; with a swipe of her hand, she once again sliced the Snow Ghost Hand apart.

”Whoosh...”

Cold Flower’s expression was one of shock. She kicked her feet repeatedly and, with a final powerful push, retreated more than ten meters. But just retreating wasn’t enough; she even did a split...

At the same time, a giant axe slammed heavily into the ground, landing right between her split legs, nearly cleaving her body in two!

Even though the axe didn’t hit her, the violent shockwave erupted, and icy flames instantly engulfed Cold Flower’s body, flinging her backward.

Cold Flower’s mind went blank. Without a moment to adjust, she recklessly detonated a Snow Burst Ball in her hand, and her figure was instantly thrown aside.

Another huge Heaven-piercing Halberd stabbed straight into the ground, its surging Soul Power rippling outward, giving Cold Flower absolutely no chance to react!

Xia Fangran’s and Li Lie’s assault was simply too ferocious. In fact, Cold Flower hadn’t even reacted after seeing the Heaven-piercing Halberd!

The Snow Burst Ball she had detonated was purely a predictive move. But it was precisely this battlefield instinct that allowed her to narrowly escape disaster once more!

”Whoosh...”

Having dodged two fatal blows in a row, Cold Flower’s backward-flying figure came to an abrupt halt. Around her ankle, another Snow Ghost Hand had taken hold!

Her attention was entirely focused on the night sky, on the two god-level Soul Martial Artists hunting her down, and she had neglected the snow-covered ground below.

Or perhaps, she simply had no energy to spare for the snow beneath her.

Just how sharp was Mei Hongyu’s judgment?

The old headmaster had recommended Rong Taotao practice the Snow Ghost Hand precisely because he knew how well Rong Taotao’s fluid fighting style suited this insidious skill!

’A low-level Snow Ghost Hand? Not worthy of the big stage?’

’So what?’

’I’ll ask you this: did it grab you or not!? If it grabbed you, it’s a good hand!!!’

Immediately, Cold Flower’s figure was dragged away again.

But this time, her movements were a fraction of a second too slow.

Because Rong Taotao’s Snow Ghost Hand and Gao Lingwei’s Frost Fearful Face had clearly arrived together, a seamless combination!

In the very instant Cold Flower was cutting down the Snow Ghost Hand, a phantom Patterned Mask, roaring silently, finally pierced through her body!

”AHHHH!” Cold Flower couldn’t help but shriek in terror!

Under normal circumstances, she might have been able to endure it.

But at such a critical moment, with top-tier Great Gods like Li Lie and Xia Fangran eyeing her like predators, ready to reap her life at any moment...

Cold Flower was already terrified. Now, after being pierced by the Patterned Mask, her inner panic magnified, leaving her utterly horrified.

”Gao! Ling! Wei!” Rong Taotao roared. He lifted his foot, planted it on Gao Lingwei’s back, and gave a powerful forward kick. ”Masks forward! Light up your halberd!”

Instantly, Gao Lingwei thrust her hips forward, her body bending into a bow!

Since the Snowball Cat’s vision was currently on Rong Taotao, she had no idea what awaited her.

But there was no doubt that if Rong Taotao dared to kick her forward, it was so she could kill her enemy with her own hands.

It was obvious that the Frost Fearful Face she had just cast forward under Rong Taotao’s direction, despite having no vision, must have pierced Cold Flower’s body.

Both her trust in Rong Taotao and the sound of Cold Flower’s distant screams drove Gao Lingwei forward without hesitation!

And as she charged, Gao Lingwei wasn’t idle. She continued to follow Rong Taotao’s commands, the patterned ghost mask on her face launching phantom masks one after another, roaring into the vast snowstorm ahead...

When a person is overcome with extreme fear, their reactions are usually limited to a few predictable types.

Fear, retreat, and collapse—those can be considered one type.

While going berserk, resisting desperately, and fighting to the death is another.

However, the Frost Fearful Face didn’t just intensify Cold Flower’s inner terror. More importantly, the mental blow it dealt interfered with her physical movements.

At that moment, Cold Flower’s mind, already reeling and buzzing from the shockwave, went blank, and her body stiffened slightly.

One wrong step leads to a cascade of errors.

Cold Flower’s slightly stiffened body was pierced by a series of silently roaring phantom masks, one after another...

”AHHHHHH!” A blood-curdling scream echoed through the snowy night.

At almost the same instant, Gao Lingwei, kicked forward by Rong Taotao, pierced the dark night with the Heaven-piercing Halberd in her hand, her body cutting through the vast blizzard!

In Gao Lingwei’s line of sight, a woman appeared, her body wreathed in Ice Flame, her eyes dazed, her face contorted.

SHINK!

Her Heaven-piercing Halberd pierced straight through Cold Flower’s chest!

Cold Flower’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. Her mouth hung open foolishly as she stared at the girl before her, whose gaze was exceptionally sharp...

”BANG!”

The cross-shaped Heaven-piercing Halberd unleashed a ripple of Soul Power, instantly shredding Cold Flower’s heart.

In this world where offense was strong and defense was weak, without a chest-guarding Soul Skill, life and death... were decided in an instant.

”Hah!” Gao Lingwei fiercely thrust her Heaven-piercing Halberd downward, pinning Cold Flower’s body to the snow-covered ground.

Cold Flower’s body sank into the thick snow. Gao Lingwei, standing on the snow, violently twisted the Heaven-piercing Halberd, pulled it out, and stabbed down again.

This time, the Heaven-piercing Halberd’s target was not the already shattered chest, but her head.

”SHINK!”

”SHINK!”

”SHINK...”

In the thick snow, streams of crimson blood spread out, staining the pure white frost and blooming into a ghastly patch of red.

But Gao Lingwei’s Heaven-piercing Halberd continued to stab downward, again and again, and again...

Li Lie and Xia Fangran landed steadily and exchanged a glance. Li Lie stepped forward, about to say something, but Xia Fangran grabbed his arm and gestured to the side.

Illuminated by the White Lantern Paper Cage, Li Lie saw Rong Taotao striding over. He held his tongue and said no more.

”Da Wei?” Rong Taotao stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Gao Lingwei’s waist, and pulled her back two steps.

SHINK! Gao Lingwei flung the Heaven-piercing Halberd from her hand, plunging it deep into the already blood-soaked snow.

”Hah... Hah...” Gao Lingwei’s chest heaved violently, her anger not yet subsided, as she gasped for breath.

In truth, her heart was filled with more than just anger. Her emotions were many, and they were complex.

Guilt, self-blame, vexation, worry, lingering fear...

The thought of the Poacher Organization’s repeated assassination attempts on her parents, the thought that she had been kept in the dark all this time, listening to her mother’s calls and her words of concern without ever noticing anything was wrong...

Thinking of all this, Gao Lingwei’s mood constantly shifted. It was difficult for her to process so many complex emotions in such a short time, and this was the only way she could face the battlefield before her.

”Shh... shh...” Rong Taotao murmured softly, pulling Gao Lingwei’s back toward him and holding her in his arms.

He cupped the back of her head with one hand, pressing her face into his shoulder. ”Save some of that anger. Save some of that energy. We still have many enemies.

The Qian Organization, the Free People... we’ll get every single one of their members, every last one...”

Gao Lingwei’s arms wrapped tightly around Rong Taotao’s back, squeezing him so hard he could barely breathe.

Her beautiful face, buried in Rong Taotao’s shoulder, let out a muffled sound. ”Mm... Mmm...”

Her voice was soft, even trembling slightly.

For the first time, she showed a somewhat vulnerable side.

To others, such a display might not seem like much, but for Gao Lingwei...

You have to understand, in past battles, even when she was fighting to the death with an opponent, her voice had never trembled in the slightest.

Amidst the chaotic snowfield, beside the dense Ice Spike Forest.

Rong Taotao gently rubbed Gao Lingwei’s back, soothing her agitated heart.

’You’ve done nothing wrong, Da Wei.’

’Those outlaws are lawless and unscrupulous. It’s not your fault for absorbing a Soul Pet and growing stronger.’

’If every Snow Burning Warrior and Snow Realm Soul Police officer was afraid to join the ranks or enforce the law because they feared their profession would endanger their families, then this world would be plunged into chaos. There would be scenes of murder, arson, and plunder everywhere, and so-called public order and morals would cease to exist.’

’Evil cannot triumph over good. Rong Taotao had always firmly believed in that.’

’This is the Soul Martial World—a special world where combat power is on another level, and Soul Martial criminals pose an enormous threat.’

’In this special world, there are always some ”sick” people.’

’If they’re terminally ill and truly can’t be cured...’

’Then don’t bother curing them. Count every last one, and send them all on their way!’

...