Master of Nine Stars

The horde of Snow Corpses, flung into the air with no way to right themselves, were instantly skewered into countless “corpse kebabs”…

Gao Lingwei had never imagined such a scene!

She tilted her head back, watching the Snow Corpses wailing in the night sky as they were impaled through their torsos. ‘For a moment,’ she thought, ‘I even feel like Fu Tiance’s decision was a mistake.’

‘The Bailing Tree Maiden clan has this kind of power—do they really need human protection?’

‘The Twelfth Squad and the Cyan Mountain Army could even take shelter inside the Tree Castle. Could this horde of Snow Corpses and Snow Ghosts really break through?’

In the next moment, however, a series of bloodcurdling screams made Gao Lingwei realize the situation was dire.

The Snow Corpses impaled by the tree spikes, despite having massive holes punched through their chests, were still thrashing about.

That was simply the nature of these creatures. Gao Lingwei knew very well that only by piercing the spot between their brows and destroying the Soul Pearl within their skulls would a Snow Corpse lose its source of life.

Piercing their hearts was, of course, useless.

And because of this, the still-living Snow Corpses clung tightly to the tree spikes piercing their bodies, opened their cavernous, bloody maws, and began viciously tearing into the cypress branches…

To an outsider, they were just cypress branches, nothing of consequence.

But to the Bailing Tree Maiden clan… those were no ordinary branches. They were parts of their bodies, equivalent to human arms and legs…

When a Snow Corpse bites your arm, viciously tearing away a huge chunk of flesh, does it hurt?

The answer was obvious.

“WHIMPER~ WOO!”

“HISS…” Amidst the chaos, Gao Lingwei once again heard the distinct hissing roar of a Snow Corpse.

“They’re flanking! They’re getting behind us!” Gao Lingwei shouted.

“They have already gotten behind us. They have us surrounded,” the Bailing Tree Maiden said. Although her voice was still gentle, she couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. “A Corpse Tide of this magnitude cannot be stopped.”

Hearing this, Gao Lingwei pressed her lips together and didn’t respond.

‘Have we already been surrounded? Yes, the Clan Leader is right. How could anyone possibly stop an army of corpses that’s like a Natural Disaster?’

This wasn’t a small squad skirmish; it was a war. And in a war of this scale, a few mere human Soul Martial Artists were utterly insignificant…

Even by exerting all their strength, the Twelfth Squad and the Cyan Mountain Army had only managed to slightly hold back the torrent of the Corpse Tide from the front.

Gao Lingwei didn’t even dare to imagine what it would look like if an army like this were to assault Wan’an Pass instead of the Tree Castle.

“DIE!!!”

Suddenly, amidst the incredibly chaotic and clamorous battlefield, Gao Lingwei faintly heard Yin Hu’s voice!?

“BUZZ…” The wretched cry of the Snow General Candle tore through the night sky!

On the main battlefield, the Snow General Candle’s majestic body crashed down like a collapsing mountain. The burning candle-eyes within its helmet flickered and then gradually went out…

“Hah… hah…” Yin Hu was panting heavily.

The man and the ghost had never clashed head-on in the real world, but in the Snow Prison Arena, a winner had been decided—and perhaps, so had life and death.

THUD. Rong Taotao, trailing wind and snow, landed steadily beside Gao Lingwei, a Mengmeng Xiao perched on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Gao Lingwei hurriedly turned to Rong Taotao. “The Snow General Candle…”

Before Gao Lingwei could finish, she abruptly stopped.

At that moment, the madly surging Corpse Tide had finally come to a brief halt.

For such a roiling flood to suddenly stop was simply unbelievable.

It was like an avalanche; it couldn’t be stopped just because one small snowflake wanted to. The thing was, all the snowflakes seemed to have stopped at the exact same moment…

“Wooo~”

“Wooo wooo!”

“Woooo woooo woooo…” Immediately after, mournful cries arose from the pitch-black night, surging toward the Tree Castle from all directions.

GULP. Rong Taotao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He could feel the hair on his body stand on end.

In the dark of night, the wails of tens of thousands of Fierce Ghosts, like countless rivers converging into an ocean, washed over everything, echoing across the dark Snowfield.

It seemed they were mourning their Ghost General…

“Child, come inside,” the Bailing Tree Maiden said suddenly. Behind Rong Taotao, the tree wall rippled and opened a small door. “The true impact of the Corpse Tide is coming. It’s our turn to protect you.”

“ROAR!”

“ROAR!!!” Sure enough, in less than two seconds, the Corpse Tide erupted into a frenzy.

More insane, more rabid, more ferocious.

The Snow Corpses and Snow Ghosts began an almost suicidal charge, crashing toward the Tree Castle from all directions like a monstrous tidal wave…

Rong Taotao: “Bai Muqing. What do you think?”

Bailing Tree Maiden: “What?”

Rong Taotao: “The pine is proud and unyielding; the cypress, solemn and dignified. I wish for your clan to remain evergreen through all four seasons. I hope you like the name.”

An exquisite female face materialized on the tree wall. Gazing at Rong Taotao’s back in the distance, she said softly, “Thank you. I like it very much.”

Rong Taotao: “Close your gate, Clan Leader Bai Muqing. Tell your people to aim for the space between the Snow Corpses’ brows.”

Bai Muqing’s voice held a trace of concern. “Are you sure you won’t come in?”

Rong Taotao didn’t answer, instead continuing, “Also, tell your people not to be afraid of the pain.”

As he spoke, Rong Taotao drew his Heaven-piercing Halberd. A cyan-green Lotus Petal materialized on the blade, dancing lightly.

Bai Muqing’s eyes suddenly lit up as she stared at the glowing green Lotus Petal.

Facing the imminent downpour of the Corpse Tide, awaiting the coming tidal wave of bodies, Rong Taotao turned his head to look at Gao Lingwei beside him.

Gao Lingwei clearly understood the look in his eyes. In a low voice, she said, “Time to find that feeling we had at the bottom of the canyon last year?”

Rong Taotao: “Those were my next words.”

Gao Lingwei drew back her left hand and swung it forward violently. Her Wind and Snow Blade chopped down with blinding speed as she said fiercely, “With pleasure.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

As he spoke, Rong Taotao lunged forward from a horse stance. The lightly dancing Lotus Petal spiraled off the Ironspear Point, aiming straight for the brow of a Snow Corpse pouncing from the night sky.

If tonight,

one side must be left with no survivors…

then I will see this through to the end. A fight to the death!

…

Happy New Year! Hope you enjoy this long (5,200-character) chapter! Please vote with your monthly tickets!