Master of Nine Stars

Yuan Tianri’s words were casual, but a cloud of Shuangxue was already forming in his hands, which he pushed toward Gao Lingwei.

Strategy! Psychology! A battle of wits!

Undoubtedly, Gao Lingwei wanted to open her eyes again, but she was no slouch. Her ability to adjust in a split second was incredible. She first raised an Ice Glass shield to protect her face before dispelling the Shuangxue clouding her vision.

Gao Lingwei sprang away, hearing a series of CRACKS from the Ice Glass shield in her hand.

The battlefield was truly ever-changing. This was especially true when your opponent was a Snow Realm Soul Martial Artist—a warrior forged in life-and-death battles. If they caught even the smallest detail, they could beat you down until you were dead.

"CLANG!"

A heavy impact echoed from the distance, sending out a shockwave and a shower of shattered starlight.

Rong Taotao, wielding his Heaven-piercing Halberd, blocked Yuan Tiancheng’s assault. The halberd danced, creating an impenetrable defense. He stomped his foot on the ground. Star-Stepping Split!

Yuan Tiancheng immediately retreated. His speed was incredible, his feet sliding back along the ground in a display of excellent combat discipline, ready to push off and change direction at any moment.

Every little detail told the experts that while their fight looked wild and vicious, it was actually cautious and meticulous.

Rong Taotao held the halberd with one hand, pointing it at Yuan Tiancheng from afar. "This won’t do, senior. The whole world’s waiting for you to crush me. You gotta step up your game, you know?"

Though Rong Taotao’s posture was suave, his arm was trembling slightly. Anyone with a discerning eye could see the boy was putting on a front, trying to use words to distract and infuriate his opponent.

"Heh heh." Yuan Tiancheng’s reaction, however, was unexpected. He wasn’t the least bit frustrated. Instead, he just shook his head and smiled. "You jest, Coach Rong. From the start of this tournament until now, I haven’t seen a single person break through your defense when you have that Heaven-piercing Halberd in hand.

"The world only sees the all-powerful Gao Lingwei, and you’ve fed everyone the idea that she’s the one carrying the team. But as your opponent, I know you’re the one who keeps this team on solid ground."

Hearing this, Rong Taotao couldn’t help but frown. ’Whoa, this is over the top. Reverse trash talk? Is he trying to praise me to death?’

’What goes around, comes around.’

’I try to provoke you, and you try to kill me with praise?’

’What, you plan to flatter me until I get cocky and charge at you?’

An idea sparked in Rong Taotao’s mind. He decided to play along, a bashful, silly smile spreading across his face. "Heh heh, heh heh..."

Rong Taotao might have been grinning, but his heart was heavy. His opponent wasn’t acting superior because of his age or status as an expert. This made things difficult.

Rong Taotao needed his opponent to see him as a child, to look down on him with contempt. He needed his opponent to be arrogant and conceited. That was the only way he’d have a chance.

But now, Yuan Tiancheng showed no disdain for Rong Taotao’s halberd skills. In fact, he showed extreme respect. This...

Yuan Tiancheng’s words were transmitted through the mini-microphones to the commentators’ desk and into thousands of homes.

For a moment, people were stunned, suddenly realizing that they seemed to have truly overlooked this important point.

The host, Li Gang, had a strange expression. "What the Yuan Brothers said... it seems... uh, it seems..."

Yang Xiaoyang chimed in, "It’s true. Thinking back, since the start of the competition, no one has been able to break Rong Taotao’s defense head-on. Even that first-class contestant, Tang Yang, could only clash with Rong Taotao by relying on his Water Rhinoceros Armor."

Li Gang stated blankly, "As much as I hate to admit it, that is a fact!"

"Even with the Water Rhinoceros Armor giving him the confidence to be reckless, Tang Yang never showed a crushing advantage. Instead, he was countered and stabbed to the ground multiple times by Rong Taotao, wasn’t he?"

"Wow! Yes, yes!" Yang Xiaoyang seemed to regain some confidence, her mood improving considerably. She joked, "Are the two teams from Pine Soul Soul Martial advertising for the school? After this battle, the Heaven-piercing Halberd instructor at Pine Soul will probably be very popular, right?"

But Li Gang played devil’s advocate. "I, on the other hand, think that contestant Rong Taotao’s Martial Arts must have been trained since he was a child. We should be looking for who his first teacher was, the one who taught him from a young age."

Some things didn’t need to be said explicitly. Everyone knew Rong Taotao was the descendant of a Soul General. The educational resources he enjoyed were absolutely superior to those of ordinary people.

Could the level of a primary instructor found by a Soul General’s family be the same as one found by an ordinary person?

Undeniably, when Rong Taotao first appeared on the scene, his Heaven-piercing Halberd technique was already at the peak of three stars. His Devil Master deserved a great deal of credit, but after his master had set his style, Rong Taotao had to build up his skills on his own.

The Inner Soul Map had also been a huge help to Rong Taotao, raising the upper limit of his Potential Value. This allowed him to grow without any restrictions.

Anyone else would have likely been stuck at three stars, unable to progress.

People’s talents vary. Some have low ceilings; no matter how much they practice, they can never break through their shackles and can only stagnate for the rest of their lives.

But for Rong Taotao... stagnation wasn’t a problem. As long as he was willing to train, he could keep getting stronger! That was the most terrifying part!

This was also why Rong Taotao dared to challenge Xia Fangran.

Even if Xia Fangran had thirty more years of training than Rong Taotao, his skill level would eventually hit its ceiling. Further practice would be useless! It wouldn’t matter even if he trained for ten thousand more years.

So the question now was, what exactly was the ceiling for Xia Fangran’s Heaven-piercing Halberd technique?

Five stars? Or six?

It sounded sad, but that was the reality. Divine General Xia could only watch as Rong Taotao caught up step by step, completely powerless to stop it...

On the field, Gao Lingwei quickly returned to stand back-to-back with Rong Taotao. She warned, "Be careful of their Wind and Snow Blade. If it hits, even my Iron Snow Armor will be shattered."

In this world where offense was strong and defense was weak, offensive Soul Skills were far easier to obtain than defensive ones.

As a reward for breaking through the qualifiers, the Yuan Brothers hadn’t received a chest Soul Technique. Their Frost Snow Skeleton was already considered a relatively ideal defensive Soul Technique within the three-star range.

The Soul Skill from their rewarded Soul Pearl was called Wind and Snow Blade. It looked the same as the Ocean Soul Skill: Sharp Water Blade from before, but there was no doubt that a blade compressed from Shuangxue was far sharper and had more terrifying damage output than the Sharp Water Blade.

On the field, the Yuan Brothers stood in front and behind, sandwiching the back-to-back Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei.

"Heh heh." Yuan Tianri wasn’t in a hurry to attack. He suddenly laughed. "I’m reminded of your match against the Qi Brothers. Coach Rong’s big hammer was quite insidious, wasn’t it?"

Rong Taotao snorted coldly. "It seems you’ve been paying close attention to me, senior."

"I’m no fool. For the Junior Class to break through, you must have something special!" Yuan Tianri said. "Just based on that one scene, that one move, I wanted you to be the commander for me and my brother.

"It’s a shame we didn’t meet earlier. Otherwise, we should have been fighting in the mainstream three-person bracket."

Rong Taotao’s mind went blank. ’This praise-to-death tactic... If you’re not a player, that silver tongue of yours is going to waste!’

Rong Taotao went with the flow, continuing to play along. He asked meekly, "Senior... are you in love with me?"

Yuan Tianri casually tossed the Precepts Saber in his hand. "I admire you."

Rong Taotao put on a troubled expression. "Don’t be like that, we’re not right for each other..."

Yuan Tianri: "Huh?"

Rong Taotao: "I like, um, young ladies. The kind with long legs..."

Yuan Tianri’s face froze: ???

In that instant, Rong Taotao shot forward. Behind him, Gao Lingwei swung her arm, flinging out a pair of dark gold Butterfly Dual Sabers!

After communicating with Gao Lingwei in his mind for some time, Rong Taotao finally bared his sharp fangs.

But the corner of Yuan Tianri’s mouth curved up. Where was the slightest trace of surprise?

An act!

A frantic, mutual deception!

Yuan Tianri, long prepared, quickly dodged to the side and threw his Snow-made Precepts Saber at Rong Taotao.

After dodging the Butterfly Dual Sabers, Yuan Tianri gathered a Snow Burst Ball in one hand, summoned another Precepts Saber in the other, and violently batted away the tip of the incoming Heaven-piercing Halberd.

Rong Taotao countered the move, shifting his grip to the center of the halberd shaft and letting the Ironspear Point be deflected diagonally upward. Then, he viciously kicked the Halberd Shaft!

"Fight!" Gao Lingwei’s impassioned challenge to battle instantly exploded in Yuan Tiancheng’s ears.

’If you want to win, you have to show your resolve!’

’And this Snow Prison Arena is the highest level of hospitality I can currently offer my opponent!’

’On this green field we’ll settle the score, but in my arena we’ll settle life and death!’