Master of Nine Stars

Having a student like him, Yang Chunxi didn’t know whether she was fortunate or not. Instead of pushing him to study, she was actually thinking of ways to hold him back, to make him relax...

”That’s a fair point.” Rong Taotao seemed to be giving it serious thought. An idea suddenly struck him. ”How about we go out to clear our heads? Maybe do some shopping?”

Of course, Rong Taotao had an ulterior motive. ’In a bustling place like Imperial Capital City, buying a necklace should be easy, right? Once we’re back in the Snow Realm, the selection of goods won’t be nearly as complete.’

Yang Chunxi nodded immediately. ”Want to go to Starfield Town? You and Ling Wei had a great time at that amusement park last time.”

Rong Taotao scoffed and muttered, ”Coach Xia was the one who had the most fun, wasn’t he?”

’He almost rammed me to death in the bumper cars.’

’It scared me so much that I didn’t even dare to race go-karts with Xia Fangran. After all, you’re not supposed to crash in those, and he’d probably ram me right off the track...’

”Well now,” a voice suddenly said from the doorway. ”Talking bad about me behind my back again?”

Rong Taotao craned his neck to look and saw Xia Fangran standing there, holding a stack of documents.

It was obvious that Xia Fangran was truly enjoying life in the Imperial Capital. He was wearing baggy floral shorts and a matching floral shirt, complete with a pair of flip-flops that went SLAP-SLAP-SLAP with every step.

He was treating Imperial Capital City as if it were Qiongzhou Island.

Rong Taotao felt that Xia Fangran should be holding a coconut milk instead of a stack of documents.

Xia Fangran waved the papers in his hand. ”Application forms for the national tournament champion’s reward.”

Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up, his interest instantly piqued. ”Do we even need to fill these out? It’s the usual: one for the forehead, one for the eyes. Spiritual Type and Illusion Technique Type!”

In the Soul Martial World, Soul Pearls for the forehead were clearly the most precious and rare, followed by those for the eyes, and then the chest.

Of course, this only referred to the rarity of the Soul Pearl’s location, not the actual efficacy of the Soul Skill it provided.

Take Gao Lingwei’s chest Soul Pearl, Iron Snow Armor, for example. The role this Soul Skill played on the battlefield was potentially even greater than her eye-slot Resentful Spirit Entanglement or her forehead-slot Frost Fearful Face.

”Are you sure you want Soul Pearls? You’re not even going to consider a Soul Pet?” Xia Fangran said, walking over to a nearby sofa and plopping down.

”A Soul Pet...” Rong Taotao turned his head to look at Gao Lingwei.

Gao Lingwei considered it for a moment before saying, ”The rules for the national tournament are adopted from the World Cup. In player-versus-player combat, Soul Pets are forbidden. Of course, Combined Skills involving a human and their Lifebound Soul Beast are an exception. For us, at our current stage, Soul Pearl-based Soul Skills offer a greater boost in power.”

Without a doubt, the students who could represent their countries in battle were all geniuses among geniuses.

These competitors were generally juniors or seniors, with a heavy emphasis on seniors. They would participate in the regional qualifiers during graduation season in July, then the national tournament in November. By the time the World Cup rolled around the following July, those seniors would have already been graduated for a year.

In that year, some of the most exceptionally talented students, while still unable to break through the Soul School Stage, would have had enough time to develop a Fusion Skill with their Lifebound Soul Beast and make rudimentary use of such special techniques.

The tournament didn’t prohibit the use of Fusion Skills between Soul Martial Artists and their Lifebound Soul Beasts. In fact, contestants were even encouraged to use them frequently to provide valuable research data for future generations to study and learn from.

After all, these contestants were the most gifted Soul Martial Artists of their era. It was inevitable that some geniuses would forge their own paths and develop more interesting ”Soul Martial Artist·Destiny Beast’s Combination Techniques.”

Rong Taotao nodded in agreement with Gao Lingwei’s analysis. Compared to Soul Pearls, which could be replaced at any time, a Soul Pet was a lifelong commitment.

The unique rules of the Soul Martial World bound Soul Martial Artists and their Lifebound Soul Beasts together, making them companions for life.

Once a Soul Pet was absorbed, if you tried to get rid of it, you would almost certainly face a backlash from the Lifebound Soul Beast itself.

Rong Taotao thought for a moment, then added, ”Besides, as we grow stronger and get closer to the Snow Realm Vortex, the Soul Pets we’ll be able to find will be much rarer and more valuable. There’s no need to ask the competition organizers for one at this point.”

Both Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei were already part of the Snow Burning Army, and Rong Taotao’s goal was the Vortex itself. Since Soul Pets couldn’t be replaced, he naturally had more faith in himself to find a better one in the future.

Soul Pearl Soul Skills were a different matter, however. To put it bluntly, it was all due to the current level of his and Gao Lingwei’s Soul Techniques.

Most of the powerful Soul Pearl Soul Skills required a high level to use. And because the corresponding Soul Beasts grew so quickly, it was actually harder to obtain Soul Pearls from them during their low-level stages.

”Oh, right!” A thought suddenly struck Rong Taotao, and he turned to Gao Lingwei. ”The World Cup... it’s not until next year, and in July, no less. With such a long training period, our Soul Techniques should be able to reach four-star, don’t you think?”

Gao Lingwei nodded decisively. ”I think we can.”

Rong Taotao said, ”In that case, we should apply for Master-tier Snow Realm Soul Pearls!”

The logic might sound a little ridiculous, but when it came to powerful Soul Pearl Soul Skills, Master-tier Soul Pearls were actually slightly easier to obtain than Elite-tier ones.

Of course, ”easier” was relative. They were still incredibly rare, and most people would go their entire lives without ever owning one.

The thing was, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei were competing at such a high level that they were constantly up against the ”Great Gods” from top universities—prodigies who had been meticulously cultivated with immense resources by powerful factions.

Step outside the bubble of the national tournament, take a walk through the ordinary Soul Martial World, meet some average Soul Martial Students, and take a look at their collections of Soul Pearl Soul Skills... you’d find yourself wondering, ’What is all this junk?’

And yet, this so-called ”junk” was actually the standard loadout for a typical Soul Martial Artist...

Xia Fangran read, ”Master-tier Snow Realm Soul Pearls. One for the forehead, offensive type. One for the eyes, offensive type. Spiritual or Illusion Technique are both acceptable. Is that confirmed?”

Gao Lingwei looked at Rong Taotao and suddenly spoke up. ”You’re about to reach the Soul Captain stage, which will give you three new usable Soul Slots. If I remember correctly, the 4th, 5th, and 6th slots you’ll unlock include one for your eyes. You want a forehead Soul Pearl that’s the same as your brother’s, but as for the eye Soul Pearl, you can take this reward.”

”Ah,” Rong Taotao said with a grin, waving his hand magnanimously. ”The rewards we’re getting won’t be limited to just these Soul Pearls. You’ve forgotten about our dear Principal Mei, haven’t you~?”

”HAHAHAHAHA!” Xia Fangran burst out into a fit of gloating laughter.

Yang Chunxi, too, couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

With a resentful look, Rong Taotao mumbled, ”Back when I asked you to team up with me, our ’dear’ Principal Mei tried to talk me out of it, and then he even wrote on the blackboard to put pressure on me. Now that the tournament is finally over, there’s no way I’m letting him off the hook...”

’Songjiang Soul Martial University is going to have to bleed a little!’

Gao Lingwei: ”...”

Rong Taotao continued, ”Oh, and the Snow Burning Army! They can’t escape either! Their reserve soldiers fought this well; how could they not give us a reward? I’ve got to squeeze some benefits out of them. If Chenlong, Fu Tiance, tries to turn me down, I’ll just go find Yin Hu, Chen Bingxun. If Yin Hu won’t do it, I’ll go to Sheep. I’ll go through them one by one, banging on all their doors...”

’It’s over, it’s over,’ Yang Chunxi thought. ’The boy has gone completely mad!’

Xia Fangran had a strange look on his face as he said with a smile, ”I’ve seen you go to great lengths to promote the Snow Realm, Songbai Town, and Pine Soul City. Why don’t you also go to the government buildings in Pine Soul and Songbai Town and ask our dear mayor for some rewards?”

Hearing Xia Fangran’s teasing words, Yang Chunxi couldn’t help but shoot him a reproachful glance.

To her surprise, Rong Taotao actually took him seriously. He clapped his hands as if he’d just had an epiphany. ”Yes! That’s exactly right!”

Yang Chunxi: ???

夏方然:”...”

Rong Taotao gave Xia Fangran a thumbs-up. ”See? Coach Xia is the one who thinks things through. A true master! A thief never leaves empty-handed!”

’Oh-ho? He dares to challenge me? Well, now I’m wide awake!’

”Tsk tsk... I always said you had a fitting name,” Xia Fangran scoffed, pursing his lips. ”But it seems I’ve been mishearing it! It’s not Rong *Taotao*. When you were grabbing prizes, it sounded more like Rong *Take-take*. But now... now I realize it’s actually Rong *Tout-tout*!”