Master of Nine Stars

On the battlefield, Rong Taotao and the others were locked in a fierce battle. But a kilometer to the south, the Snow Burning Army was completely dumbfounded!

What was going on?

Did a missile strike just happen?

In the dead silence of three in the morning, a sudden BOOM echoed out, enough to make anyone jump out of their skin...

The unit immediately reported to their superiors before speeding north toward the source of the sound. When the border patrol soldiers stationed in Songbai Town arrived, they were even more baffled!

This...

’In the middle of the night, are the Pine Soul teachers having a group brawl out here?’

’Who are they even fighting... Holy shit!!!’

Mi Tu had a massive hole punched through his chest and his head had been disfigured by a Snow Halberd, but Feng Zi, who was stomped into the snow nearby, had a perfectly intact face.

As soon as they pulled Feng Zi’s body out, the soldiers recognized her!

Poachers!? The Qian Organization!?

’Why aren’t these teachers in school teaching students? What are they doing out here moonlighting?’

Besides, right in the center of the field, an imperious cry seemed to be announcing his identity to the entire world: ”I am a free man of this world!!!”

But the crazed and zealous Free People: Red-clothed Merchant had barely finished his shout when Xia Fangran retorted.

Xia Fangran, wielding his Long Halberd, viciously stabbed at the man in the dark red windbreaker. ”Free my ass!”

The man codenamed ”Red-clothed Merchant” had disheveled, long hair, looking very much like a madman. From beneath his splayed locks, his blazing eyes would occasionally peek out—a gaze so bright it was unsettling.

Although the Red-clothed Merchant’s clothes were tattered, not a single drop of blood could be seen.

It wasn’t that he was uninjured. On the contrary, beneath every tear in his clothing was skin that had been slashed and pierced, but...

To everyone’s astonishment, all those wounds were covered by one Lotus Petal after another!

A Lotus Body!?

’Is that for real?’

DING! With a crisp sound, the Red-clothed Merchant actually caught the incoming halberd with his bare hand, gripping Xia Fangran’s weapon in his flesh-and-blood palm.

At this moment, the structure of the Red-clothed Merchant’s palm was extremely peculiar.

First, the Ironspear Point had torn a gash in his palm, but in the next instant, an ethereal Lotus Petal quietly materialized in its center, turning his hand into a hybrid of flesh and lotus.

Not only that, but the Lotus Petal covering his palm was incredibly potent. While enveloping the wound, it also snapped off the Ironspear Point of the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

Snapped off!

This was a Snow Soul, a Snow Soul manifested by Xia Fangran!

It was a Soul Skill that Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists prided themselves on, and even more, a trusted comrade in battle.

Yet, this very comrade had just had its ”head” lopped off.

”I was born free! No one is qualified to arrest me!” The Red-clothed Merchant gave a sudden tug and actually snatched the Heaven-piercing Halberd away.

Xia Fangran hastily let go. He had no desire to be pulled into the Red-clothed Merchant’s embrace.

”I’ll give you your freedom!” Li Lie, gripping a large axe with both hands, brought it down viciously on the Red-clothed Merchant’s back.

PFFT... The Red-clothed Merchant was sent flying, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.

RIP! His already tattered red windbreaker was torn open again by the strike. But instead of blood gushing from his back, his spine was instantly covered by a string of palm-sized, ethereal Lotus Petals.

Rong Taotao was shocked!

’What is that, a bandage?’

’The kind that automatically wraps its host?’

The fact that the Red-clothed Merchant could still fight back must be due to the bizarre effects of these Lotus Petals!

Look at Feng Zi before, and then Mi Tu. Both were pummeled by Li Lie until they were like lambs to the slaughter. But this Red-clothed Merchant still had the strength to resist.

Lotus Petal - True Divine Artifact!

Of course, to put it nicely, he had the strength to resist. To put it bluntly, he was just barely holding on.

After being bombarded by Li Lie and then taking significant damage from several other teachers, how could he possibly be in his normal state?

”He can give you freedom, but I won’t!” Si Huan Nian snorted coldly. Seeing the Red-clothed Merchant flying toward her, she thrust out a hand, palm up, and a huge, ethereal Lotus Petal formed a shield in front of her.

THUD! A dull thud echoed!

The Red-clothed Merchant slammed headfirst into Si Huan Nian’s shield. Just hearing the sound was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

’His head must be ringing...’

Si Huan Nian’s movements were fluid. Seeing the Red-clothed Merchant crash into her shield and fall to the snow, she held the Lotus Shield with her right hand and brought her left hand down in a vicious chop!

”Die!” Si Huan Nian hissed the word through her teeth. As her hand fell, Shuangxue coalesced into a Long Straight Saber, which she brought down on the Red-clothed Merchant’s neck!

SHIICK!

Talk about a swift execution!

The Snow Blade in Si Huan Nian’s hand actually lopped the Red-clothed Merchant’s head clean off, slicing right through his neck.

WHOOSH... The strange Lotus Petals swirled up with an eerie whistling sound and actually wrapped around the Red-clothed Merchant’s neck!

Si Huan Nian’s beautiful eyes widened abruptly. ???

The palm-sized Lotus Petals covered the Red-clothed Merchant’s neck in a circle, like stitches, and actually ”sutured” his head back to his neck?

Not only did they suture it together, but the Snow Blade still lodged in his neck instantly shattered, ground to pieces by the Lotus Petals.

Si Huan Nian was stunned!

Everyone was dumbfounded!

’That works too?’

’As long as your blade is fast enough to cut off my head, and my Lotus Petals are fast enough to reattach it, we can just pretend it never happened?’

Si Huan Nian was not having it!

In that moment, her regional accent slipped out. ”Are you pulling a respawn on me right here?”

As she spoke, Si Huan Nian wielded her Lotus Shield, using it as a weapon. She viciously plunged the bottom edge of the petal shield downward.

SHIICK! In Si Huan Nian’s hands, the giant Lotus Petal shield achieved a ”decapitation” effect.

But this time, Si Huan Nian wasn’t aiming for the neck. Instead, she used the bottom edge of the Lotus Shield to slice the Red-clothed Merchant’s head open!

At the side, Li Lie went in for the kill. Without a word, he swung his giant axe down!

CLANG!

”Go!” Li Lie was incredibly fast, as if not wanting to give the Lotus Petals any time to react. The axe, buried deep in the snow, suddenly swept sideways!

The Red-clothed Merchant, bisected at the waist, was finally split in two.

At the same time, the loyally protective Lotus Petals were still trying to ”bandage” and ”suture” the Red-clothed Merchant’s severed head.

It just goes to show, you have to fight magic with magic!

The Lotus Petals could indeed ”re-attach” a head and could grind up the Snow Blade lodged in the neck, but...

But those Lotus Petals couldn’t grind up Si Huan Nian’s Lotus Shield!

The ethereal Lotus Petals tried to help their master, but could only fret uselessly as they clashed with Si Huan Nian’s Lotus Petal.

”It’s been a while since I’ve shoveled snow,” Si Huan Nian remarked with a slight raise of her eyebrow, dragging her Lotus Shield, which was stuck in the ground, backward.

The Lotus Shield not only shoveled up a pile of snow, but also half a head...

And at that very moment, the ethereal Cyan Lotuses dancing around the Red-clothed Merchant’s head pieced themselves together into a single, solid Lotus Petal, which slowly drifted down and landed in the snow.

GULP. Rong Taotao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He looked at Li Lie, then at Si Huan Nian...

He was just about to give them a thumbs-up, but then he saw Xia Fangran.

As fate would have it, Xia Fangran was also looking at Rong Taotao, and for a moment, their eyes met.

Xia Fangran seemed to realize something and suddenly roared, ”Shut your mouth!”

Rong Taotao pressed his lips together and gave Xia Fangran a sorrowful look.

’Some people dominate the field, some people go god-mode, and some people... should probably go knock on a factory’s door.’

’Coach Xia, time to retire!’

’Pine Soul isn’t worth it...’

...

Si Huan Nian dispelled her Lotus Shield, kicked the Red-clothed Merchant’s corpse aside, took a step forward, and looked down at the Lotus Petal in the snow.

SNAP~ Si Huan Nian raised a hand and snapped her fingers in Rong Taotao’s direction.

Rong Taotao immediately walked over with Gao Lingwei.

”So, Commander, what’s the plan?” Si Huan Nian tilted her head, looking at Rong Taotao with a raised eyebrow and a hint of teasing in her voice.

Rong Taotao: ”Huh? What plan?”

”Don’t play dumb with me.” Si Huan Nian lifted her foot and gave Rong Taotao’s butt a light kick, pointing to the Lotus Petal at her feet. ”There.”

”It’s up to you teachers,” Rong Taotao said hastily.

”You’re the commander, you decide,” Si Huan Nian said in a low voice. ”Quickly, the Snow Burning Army is watching, and the main force will be here soon.”

Although Pine Soul Soul Martial and the Snow Burning Army were close, they were still fundamentally two different departments. Of course, the Snow Burning Army wouldn’t do anything improper, but there was absolutely no need for the Pine Soul group to delay.

Yang Chunxi looked at Rong Taotao and said, ”Want to sleep for another half a month?”

Li Lie came forward and said directly, before Rong Taotao could speak, ”Stop teasing the kid. Take it, Taotao. The teachers already made an agreement among ourselves.”

Over on the side, Xia Fangran waved his hand impatiently. ”Hurry up, hurry up!”

Rong Taotao was touched. These teachers were all his people. Not only did they put in the work and effort, but they had also made an agreement in advance. This...

Yang Chunxi lowered her voice and said, ”Hurry, Taotao. We still have to transport the bodies back. There’s probably a lot to do.”

”Okay.” Rong Taotao didn’t act coy and said directly, ”Go for it, Da Wei! Let’s pull something off!”

Gao Lingwei froze for a moment. ”What?”

Rong Taotao: ”You absorb it. Quickly.”

For a moment, the teachers exchanged glances but said nothing. They had already agreed, and besides, Rong Taotao was the commander. If he assigned it, then it was assigned.

In fact, Mei Hongyu had designated the team’s commander early on precisely because the commander had the authority to make decisions.

The teachers were all aware of the unspoken reason why Mei Hongyu had insisted on making Rong Taotao the commander; it just hadn’t been stated outright.

Rong Taotao: ”Just take it if I tell you to. Be good.”

Gao Lingwei, however, frowned slightly and shook her head firmly.

Rong Taotao tugged on Gao Lingwei’s sleeve and whispered, ”You take it first. There’s a bonus for absorbing a Lotus Petal—it increases your Soul Technique level. And the more you absorb, the smaller the bonus gets.”

You’ve never absorbed one before, so it’ll be a huge benefit to your body. After you’re done absorbing it and have enjoyed the bonus, I’ll take the Lotus Petal back.”

Gao Lingwei: ”...”

’He’s gaming the system!’

Rong Taotao was different from everyone else. With the help of his Inner Soul Map, he was a ”one-way street.”

Once a Lotus Petal was in his hands, it likely couldn’t be given to anyone else.

In fact, this was probably true for others as well. Once a bond was formed with a particular Lotus Petal, establishing an emotional connection, it was very difficult to change its owner.

But Rong Taotao was special...

Even with an enemy’s Lotus Petal, Rong Taotao could just touch it and forcibly snatch it away.

This created room for manipulation.

He could give this Lotus Petal to Da Wei to absorb first so she could enjoy the bonus. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t give her Lotus Petal to anyone else—as long as Rong Taotao gave it a little touch, the Lotus Petal would automatically return to him...

Oh, Rong Taotao!

You really are a clever little devil~

...