Master of Nine Stars

Rong Taotao jolted upright, his face flushed with excitement. "How will we know if we don’t try? I’ll go find Xia Fangran and borrow his phone! Then I’ll post it online!

Haha, I’ll mess with everyone’s minds! Unleash this poison on the whole world!"

Gao Lingwei looked at Rong Taotao, both exasperated and amused. She pressed a hand against his chest, pushing him back down onto the bed. "Stop messing around. Get some rest. It’s late."

"Fine..." Rong Taotao pouted. In his mind, he replayed the image of the snow-white mask with its faint red patterns, and the more he thought about it, the more beautiful he found it.

Remembering it was a completely different experience from seeing it with his own eyes. He had actually grown to like the exquisite mask—all his previous fear had vanished.

Gao Lingwei reached from behind his head, pulled out the folded blanket, then stood up to spread it out.

Rong Taotao lay on the bed, enjoying the service like a king. He blinked and grinned. "You’re the best, Da Wei! So wife—"

Gao Lingwei’s eyes narrowed. A layer of Shuangxue suddenly formed over her face, the Patterned Mask appearing once more, only to vanish in an astonishingly quick flash.

But in that brief instant, Rong Taotao’s expression froze, and the word on the tip of his tongue died in his throat.

Gao Lingwei shot Rong Taotao a cool glance before spreading the unfolded blanket over him. She then turned, walked to the dorm room door, and bolted it.

She placed a hand on the light switch and said, "I’m turning off the lights."

Rong Taotao said weakly, "I’m a little scared now."

Gao Lingwei: "..."

Rong Taotao: "Can you talk with me for a little longer?"

Gao Lingwei: "I can give you another Ice Crystal Evil Face. We can fight poison with poison."

Rong Taotao pursed his lips. "Oh. Never mind then. Turn off the lights."

’Damn!’

’I mean, just... damn!’

’Activating Spiritual Type: Frost Fearful Face on her forehead, and Illusionary Art: Ice Crystal Evil Face in her eyes?’

’Are you trying to stack fear buffs on me?’

’To be fair, while the intimidation effect of Ice Crystal Evil Face is way stronger than Frost Fearful Face’s—each has its own specialty, after all—their functions are a bit redundant.’

’If Gao Lingwei is wearing the Patterned Mask, people will instinctively look away. Who would even dare to look at her eyes?’

’In that case, the Ice Crystal Evil Face should be replaced... My sister-in-law’s Eye Illusion Soul Skill is great; it even pulled all the kids from the Soul Class into an illusion back then.’

’Sigh... It’s a pity. Gao Lingwei’s Soul Technique is only at the three-star level, so the limitations are too great. There aren’t any good Illusion Soul Skills available to her.’

In the darkness, Gao Lingwei walked back to her bed across the room and grabbed a set of blue-and-white striped pajamas from the top bunk.

"Turn around and face the wall." In the faint light cast by the eyes of the Snow Night Shocks in the distant stables, Gao Lingwei began to unbutton her clothes...

"Da Wei."

"Hmm?"

"Do you think... we can win the national championship?" Rong Taotao asked, lying on his side with his arm for a pillow as he stared at the wall.

"It’ll be difficult," Gao Lingwei said as she finished changing, tossing her snow-camo uniform onto the top bunk. "Starfield Soul Martial Artists are already a major counter to me. If we run into a Magma Soul Martial Artist, especially on a Molten Rock field, it will be incredibly tough."

She continued, "But placing in the top eight will get us a ticket to the Soul Martial World Cup. Let’s do our best to at least make it that far. We’ll have a lot of time to improve between the end of the nationals and the start of the World Cup."

"Yeah." Rong Taotao pressed his lips together. "You should hurry and absorb Soul Power. I’ll bloom."

Gao Lingwei pulled back her covers and lay down. "Okay."

In the center of the dorm, the Snowball Cat, perched on the desk, was completely forgotten.

In the pitch-black room, it opened its azure eyes, glancing left and right. It seemed its master’s Patterned Mask had left it with a lingering sense of fear.

Finally, it hopped onto Rong Taotao’s bed, went up to his face, nuzzled his cheek, and let out a small, pitiful meow. "Meow~"

Rong Taotao hugged the Snowball Cat, holding it close. "Shhh... Go to sleep, go to sleep..."