Master of Nine Stars

”Wow, what a haul~” Shi Lan knelt in the snow, rummaging through the bag in front of her. Rong Taotao had clearly brought it, and even though he’d already given away more than half its contents, it was still full of snacks.

Rong Taotao was now sitting where Shi Lou had been, and on the stone slab in front of the campfire sat an open can of peaches.

After a moment’s thought, Rong Taotao summoned his Cloud Dog. He tucked it inside his jacket, carefully zipping it up but leaving the little dog’s head peeking out.

Seeing this, Gao Lingwei reached into Rong Taotao’s down jacket and gently pulled out the Cloud Dog’s two large ears.

”Whee~” The Cloud Dog blinked its beady black eyes and gave Gao Lingwei a happy smile.

Rong Taotao picked up the still-warm can of peaches, scooped out a slice with a spoon, and held it to the Cloud Dog’s mouth.

”SNIFF~” The Cloud Dog’s nose twitched, and it quickly gobbled up the treat.

Nearby, Fan Lihua watched the Cloud Dog quietly, her large, beautiful eyes wide. Beside her, Jiao Tengda shuffled over, inching just a little closer to her...

”Hee hee~” Sun Xingyu, nestled in Li Ziyi’s arms, noticed the subtle movement and couldn’t help but giggle.

Fan Lihua clearly realized what was happening. A faint blush colored her cheeks and she lowered her head, but she didn’t move away.

The previously boisterous atmosphere suddenly fell quiet, leaving only the crackling of the campfire.

It was perfectly quiet, perfectly wonderful.

As Rong Taotao fed his Cloud Dog, Si Huan Nian’s singing inexplicably came to mind.

He broke the silence. ”Do you remember when our Junior Soul Class was first formed? Back when we had our first class meeting in that stone classroom at Hundred Corps Pass?”

”Yeah.”

”Of course.” Everyone turned to look at Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao smiled. ”Back then, Coach Yang asked each of us why we came to the Snow Realm.”

Hearing this, the students fell silent once more.

Rong Taotao continued, ”You remember what you all said, don’t you? It’s been a year and a half. Have any of your goals changed?”

Tearing a piece from a chicken leg, Shi Lan said, ”My sister and I will enter the Snow Realm Vortex sooner or later. We want to see what it’s really like and bring those images back home.”

Shi Lou smiled and nodded gently, her eyes fixed on the dancing flames of the campfire.

Rong Taotao’s gaze shifted to Sun Xingyu.

Sun Xingyu, however, simply tilted her head back to look at Li Ziyi’s profile. ”We’re doing okay, aren’t we?”

Li Ziyi shrugged, the gesture speaking for itself. He had followed her here. As for Sun Xingyu, she had come because her parents had met in the Snow Realm, and she wanted to retrace their steps.

It seemed Sun Xingyu and Li Ziyi were indeed ”doing okay.” In this harsh, freezing environment, their mutual support had forged an incredibly strong and dependable bond.

Rong Taotao’s gaze skipped over Zhao Tang, who hadn’t been there back then, and landed on Jiao Tengda.

Jiao Tengda gave a sly grin. ”I didn’t have a goal back then, but I do now.”

”Oh?” Rong Taotao said.

Jiao Tengda pointed at the campfire, but then his hand swept in a circle, gesturing to everyone present. ”There’s still a long road ahead.”

Rong Taotao smiled and nodded, then looked at Fan Lihua, who was sitting next to Jiao Tengda.

Fan Lihua seemed to sense everyone’s eyes on her. She lifted her head and glanced cautiously in Shi Lou and Shi Lan’s direction before whispering, ”Yes, there’s still a long road ahead.”

Rong Taotao looked from Fan Lihua to the Shi Family Sisters. ’Do they... have some kind of history?’

In his view, Shi Lou just smiled and shook her head, her expression suggesting it was a long story.

Shi Lan, however, tore off a strip of chicken and waved it at Fan Lihua. ”Hee hee, my cute Little Li Hua, come over here and let your big sis give you a hug~”

Fan Lihua kept her head down, ignoring Shi Lan...

The only person left on Rong Taotao’s right was Gao Lingwei, but she hadn’t been there back then either. He turned his head to the left, toward the silent Lu Mang.

Lu Mang idly fiddled with a Rubik’s cube in his hands. ”I guess my goal was achieved,” he said, sounding uncertain. ”Who knows...”

Rong Taotao pressed his lips together but didn’t say anything.

After a long moment, he looked at Zhao Tang, who was sitting directly across from him. Through the dancing firelight, he could vaguely make out Zhao Tang’s valiant features. ”What about you? Do you have a goal?”

Zhao Tang had a star-crossed fate. Life in the Snow Realm was already hard enough, but destiny seemed to enjoy playing cruel jokes on him.

He first fell from grace, and then, just as he was fighting his way back, he ran into problems with his Lifebound Soul Beast. But this resilient Soul Martial Artist had never once been broken.

Zhao Tang just smiled, an unexpectedly carefree expression on his face. ”You.”

Rong Taotao froze. ”Huh?”

Gao Lingwei suddenly spoke up. ”Congratulations on resolving the issue with your Lifebound Soul Beast.”

Zhao Tang glanced at Gao Lingwei and gave a helpless smile. He had once stood on equal footing with her, but now, all he could do was look up to her.

In fact... when Zhao Tang first joined the Junior Class, he had looked down on Rong Taotao from a superior position, and had even enthusiastically offered to help train him in archery.

But now, ’I’m not qualified to teach Rong Taotao anything,’ Zhao Tang thought.

In reality, when it came to archery, Zhao Tang was still more than qualified. It was just that his mindset had completely changed; he would never have such thoughts again.

Jiao Tengda saw an opportunity. Seizing the opening, he prepared to bring up the sensitive topic of becoming a Soul Captain with Sun Xingyu. ”Yeah, Tang, you finally advanced to Soul Captain! Hey, tell us about...”

Before he could finish, Jiao Tengda trailed off.

It wasn’t just Jiao Tengda; everyone at the campfire was staring at Rong Taotao.

Because they all felt an immense surge of Soul Power emanating from him!

”Woof~” The Cloud Dog peeking from Rong Taotao’s collar whimpered as its body suddenly dissolved into mist and merged into him.

Rong Taotao realized something was wrong too. His expression stiffened as he scrambled to his feet, stammering, ”Uh, I’m going... to the, uh, bathroom.”

’The bathroom?’

’Are you kidding? Does he take us for idiots?’

’Didn’t he just advance to Soul Captain? A breakthrough to a Minor Rank shouldn’t cause a Soul Power surge this massive, should it?’

’Could it be... his Soul Technique is about to level up?’

Watched by everyone, Rong Taotao turned and hurried toward the Martial Arts Hall. With bursts of ice exploding from beneath his feet, he ran straight up the wall and knocked on Si Huan Nian’s window.

Back by the campfire, Jiao Tengda wanted to cry!

The mood of the gathering had been so perfect, Sun Xingyu was so happy, and he had just found the perfect opening to talk about becoming a Soul Captain.

’And you pick now to advance again?’

’Do you really have to rub salt in the wound!?’

On the verge of tears, Jiao Tengda instinctively glanced at Sun Xingyu, only to see her expression darken slightly as she curled up and burrowed deeper into Li Ziyi’s embrace.

’It’s over!’

’Why did he have to advance right in front of Sun Xingyu?’

’Why...’