Master of Nine Stars

”You’re awake?” As the door opened, Yang Chunxi walked in, all smiles. But when she saw Rong Taotao wolfing down his food, her expression changed. She turned to Gao Lingwei and asked, ”How much has he eaten?”

Gao Lingwei replied, ”This is his first box.”

”Okay.” Yang Chunxi breathed a sigh of relief before turning to Rong Taotao. ”Just this one. After you finish it, you’re not allowed to have any more.”

Rong Taotao: ”...”

’I fought so hard in that match! I put in the blood, sweat, and tears, and now they won’t even feed me when I’m done!?’

’Pine Soul Soul Martial is practically a sweatshop, and the teachers are unscrupulous employers! Is this how they treat their students?’

Seeing Rong Taotao’s indignant look, Yang Chunxi laughed out loud. ”What is it? What are you grumbling about, little one? Go on, tell me.”

Rong Taotao immediately lowered his eyes, stared at the spicy chicken in his box, and quickly shoveled a few more bites into his mouth.

Yang Chunxi walked over and placed a hand on the lunchbox Rong Taotao was holding. ”You’re still recovering from a serious injury,” she said with concern. ”You shouldn’t be eating this spicy food.”

Rong Taotao tightened his grip on the box, staring pleadingly at Yang Chunxi’s hand. Her thumb was clearly hooked over the edge...

’Jeez, is she going to take it by force?’

’No second helping, and now she won’t even let me finish the first one?’

Rong Taotao looked up at Yang Chunxi and mumbled, his mouth full, ”If you keep this up, I’m just going to go get a job at a factory.”

Yang Chunxi looked taken aback. ”What?”

Rong Taotao: ”At least they feed you there...”

”Heh.” Yang Chunxi gave up her teasing, let go of the box, and sat on the edge of the bed, watching Rong Taotao devour his meal.

For a moment, Rong Taotao felt his scalp prickle.

’His sister-in-law’s gaze was, um... a little too intense.’

”What’s wrong?” Rong Taotao cautiously looked up at Yang Chunxi, unable to shake the feeling that something was off.

’The two of them were sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Strictly speaking, that made them peers.’

’But... looking at Yang Chunxi now, Rong Taotao felt as if she were looking at her own child.’

’Well, then again, Yang Chunxi was also his teacher—and his advisor and homeroom teacher at that. From that perspective, it kind of made sense.’

”I’m just so proud of you.” Yang Chunxi reached out and ruffled Rong Taotao’s head of naturally curly hair. ”Everyone at Pine Soul Soul Martial is proud of you.”

”Mhm,” Rong Taotao nodded, not falling for her trick as he quickly stuffed more diced chicken into his mouth.

’Heh, women!’

’You think your sweet talk is going to work on me?’

’Just see if my chopsticks slow down for a second!’

Yang Chunxi continued, ”During the finals, Pine Soul Soul Martial gave the entire school the day off. They broadcast your match in the main auditorium, and everyone—students, teachers, even the principal—was there to watch.”

”Us,” Rong Taotao corrected.

Yang Chunxi nodded at once. ”Right. You and Da Wei.”

”No,” Rong Taotao said, shaking his head. ”I mean, *we*. Coach Xia, you, Da Wei, and me. We’re a team.”

”Haha~” Yang Chunxi couldn’t help but laugh, her eyes filled with admiration, but she said, ”No matter how sweet you talk, you’re still not getting a second box.”

”Well...” Rong Taotao smacked his lips and set the empty box on the nightstand. ”Something’s not right here. I just finished my final match; there’s no way I’m just getting a boxed lunch. My sister-in-law must have a huge feast waiting to reward me.”

Yang Chunxi took out her phone and pulled up a video. Handing it to Rong Taotao, she said casually, ”After you’ve rested for another day or two, you can eat whatever you want.”

”What’s this?” Rong Taotao looked at the phone curiously and pressed play. Instantly, waves of cheering erupted from the speaker.

The camerawork wasn’t professional at all; the frame was incredibly shaky, and the person filming seemed to be spinning in a circle to capture everyone around them.

The thunderous applause, the roaring cheers, and the sea of arms waving high in the air was an electrifying sight.

Faintly, amidst the noise, he could make out shouts of ”Rong Taotao!” and ”Gao Lingwei!”

Through the blur of waving arms, Rong Taotao could see a large screen in the distance. It was playing their match, but the footage was so shaky that he couldn’t make out which phase of the battle it was.

Yang Chunxi said, ”Sun Xingyu sent that to me. I wanted you to see what the atmosphere was like in the auditorium. This was filmed during the match, right when you and Ling Wei broke out of the Corpse Fire Camel Array.”

Rong Taotao arched an eyebrow and suddenly quipped, ”Yeah, I can tell from the camerawork that Xing’Er filmed this.”

Gao Lingwei: ”...”

Rong Taotao asked, ”When are we going back to the Snow Realm?”

Yang Chunxi smiled and asked, ”What’s the rush? Miss them already?”

”Uh...” Rong Taotao scratched his head. ”I guess you could say that.”

Yang Chunxi: ”...”

She leaned over to grab a tissue from the nightstand and handed it to Rong Taotao. ”Then why the rush to go back?”

Rong Taotao took the tissue, wiped his mouth, and nodded emphatically. ”Training! Advancement! My Soul Technique level has fallen behind.”

”My Soul Technique level was always supposed to be a Major Rank higher than my Soul Power level. Now I’m at the Peak of Soul Warrior, but my Snow Realm Soul Technique is only at the high-tier of the third star. It’s not good to be out competing all the time. Once I leave the Snow Realm, I can’t cultivate my Soul Technique.”

Yang Chunxi looked at Rong Taotao with a hint of exasperation. ”You just woke up from a severe injury. You need to relax a bit. Don’t be so wound up.”

Without a doubt, cultivating Soul Power and Soul Technique was much like studying for regular classes—dull and tedious.

Rong Taotao was clearly the type who pushed himself to the absolute limit. He didn’t need anyone supervising him, nor did he require any external motivation...