Master of Nine Stars

「The next morning.」

In the Teacher's Cafeteria of Pine Soul Soul Martial University, the Youthful Spirits were all dining under the leadership of Si Huan Nian.

Rong Taotao was, of course, at the same table as Gao Lingwei. He was currently attacking a bean paste bun, diligently working on his pre-battle provisions.

'I've got to eat up,' he thought. 'We're heading to the Snowfield soon. Who knows when I'll get to eat a meal like this again?'

Across from him, an empty bowl sat in front of Gao Lingwei. She had clearly finished eating a while ago. Now, she was resting her chin on one hand, quietly watching Rong Taotao wolf down his food.

She cherished these moments. The guy in front of her had absolutely no table manners, but... having personally experienced the pain of the battlefield, she found this scene truly beautiful.

Nearby, the Cloud Dog and the Snowball Cat had their heads pressed together, lapping up milk from a porcelain bowl.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

As their owners, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei never skimped on their pets' food. The Cloud Dog had already finished its own bowl of milk and had happily trotted over to steal some from the Snowball Cat...

"Hm?" Gao Lingwei hummed, having inadvertently noticed something different about the Cloud Dog's body.

The little puppy, barely larger than her palm, hadn't grown in a long time. Both Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei knew that the Cloud Dog was a "small breed" and wouldn't get any bigger.

But at this moment, as the Cloud Dog buried its head in the bowl and lapped up milk, its cloudy form began to expand outward in rhythmic puffs.

Normally, the Cloud Dog's form would only disperse and reform when it was nervous or scared. Moreover, that state was completely different from how its cloudy mist was expanding now.

She had never seen anything like it.

Rong Taotao, of course, also noticed something was off with his Cloud Dog. He turned to look, and after watching for a moment, a delighted smile spread across his face. "Whoa!"

Gao Lingwei was extremely sharp. Seeing Rong Taotao's reaction and considering the situation, she couldn't help but guess, "The Cloud Dog leveled up?"

"Mhm, mhm!" Rong Taotao nodded repeatedly. "Soul Beasts are amazing. They grow so fast! This little guy just eats and sleeps all day, and it can still level up?"

"Heh," Gao Lingwei glanced at Rong Taotao. "It is your Lifebound Soul Beast, after all."

Indeed, only Soul Beasts with high potential and quality grew so quickly, like Rong Ling, for example.

Under normal circumstances, a Cloud Dog wouldn't grow this fast. It might even remain a "newbie mutt" for its entire life.

But as Rong Taotao's Lifebound Soul Beast, its aptitude was brought up to match his. How could a 7-star Potential Value Divine Pet not grow quickly?

As they spoke, the cloud mist expanding from the Cloud Dog's body gradually vanished, and it returned to its normal form, looking no different than before.

Only... the Snowball Cat was no longer trying to get its milk back from the Cloud Dog. It sat obediently to the side, tilting its small head and staring curiously at the Cloud Dog with its beautiful, sapphire-blue eyes.

It didn't know what had just happened to its little friend's body.

Seeing this, Rong Taotao didn't know whether to laugh or get angry. 'Not only does it steal another's milk, but it doesn't even realize it leveled up while drinking it?'

'What a little glutton!'

'Just like its master!'

'Eh? Why does that feel wrong somehow?'

'Whatever, forget it...' Rong Taotao reached out, grabbed the Cloud Dog's tiny tail, and gave it a little tug backward.

"Yip?" The Cloud Dog finally lifted its little head from the porcelain bowl, a ring of milk staining the fur around its mouth. It blinked its small, glossy black eyes and turned to look at Rong Taotao in confusion.

Rong Taotao said disapprovingly, "Stop stealing. Let her have some."

"Yip~" The Snowball Cat, with its ridiculously cute face, broke into a silly grin. It wagged its tail, stuck out its little pink tongue, and panted happily.

Rong Taotao was speechless. "..."

This cat had been completely corrupted. It was even showing gratitude in the exact same way as the Cloud Dog.

The Cloud Dog has Thousand Transformations, but the Snowball Cat has... imitation.

At this thought, an idea struck Rong Taotao. He quietly opened his Inner Soul Map and looked at his Lifebound Soul Beast's status panel.

Just as he'd thought, the Cloud Dog's Quality had reached the Elite Level, and its Soul Skill: Thousand Transformations had also reached the Elite Level.

Rong Taotao grabbed the Cloud Dog's little tail and slid it across the table toward him.

"Oof~" The Cloud Dog whimpered, not fond of this "prostate brake" method of transportation.

'Well, it's fine. It's just a little baby, what prostate could it have? It's like how people say babies don't have waists.'

"Cloud Dog, on my command!" Rong Taotao ordered, pointing at the Snowball Cat. "Transform into it and show me."

After spending so much time with him, the Cloud Dog had long since learned to understand Rong Taotao's words.

It obediently sat on the dining table. Its snow-white body abruptly shattered and, in a brief instant, reassembled into a Snowball Cat.

"Oho~!" Rong Taotao raised an eyebrow. 'Not bad!'

The last time the Cloud Dog had advanced to the Excellent Level, its Soul Skill: Thousand Transformations had leveled up with it. Back then, it could change into other creatures, but those transformations were incomplete versions.

At that time, when the Cloud Dog transformed into a Snowball Cat, it was only pure white.

But now, the Snowball Cat that the Cloud Dog had turned into actually had colored fur!

The Snowball Cat's appearance was based on a Ragdoll cat—bicolored, with a snow-white body and some dark patches on its face.

The Cloud Dog's transformation was remarkably lifelike. Even its originally glossy black eyes had become as beautiful and brilliant as sapphires.

'Holy crap~' Rong Taotao was overjoyed. 'This is a qualitative leap!'

'Elite-Level Thousand Transformations is truly extraordinary!'

Gao Lingwei looked at the Cloud Dog with satisfaction. "And its size is the same, too!"

Rong Taotao nodded repeatedly. The Excellent Level Thousand Transformations had major limitations. Back then, even if the Cloud Dog turned into a Snowflake Wolf, it was a pocket-sized version that Gao Lingwei could hold in one hand.

It was cute, sure, but from a transformation perspective, it was a failing grade.

An idea sparked in Rong Taotao's mind, and he immediately summoned Rong Ling.

The Snow General Candle had grown quite a bit. Although still called the "little fatty," it was now almost 80cm tall, reaching about mid-thigh on Da Wei. And it was still shooting up in height.

To the palm-sized Cloud Dog, Rong Ling was, of course, a behemoth!

In the past, the Cloud Dog could serve as the little fatty's mount. But now... it could only be held in Rong Ling's arms.

Rong Taotao, holding the little fatty, placed it directly on the table, tossed it a bean paste bun, and said to the Cloud Dog, "Try turning into Rong Ling."

"Ngh..." The Cloud Dog seemed to be stuck. Not until Rong Ling had devoured the bean paste bun in a few bites did the Cloud Dog's body finally shatter.

Gao Lingwei looked around and noticed a faint mist drifting around the table. Was it all summoned by the Cloud Dog?

As the mist continuously pieced itself together, an 80cm-tall Little General, clad in Snow-made Heavy Armor with a long cape and a Snow-made Helmet, abruptly appeared before everyone.

Even more impressively, the Snow General Candle that the Cloud Dog transformed into also had a pair of Ice Candle Eyes on its face!

The two little fatties stood on the dining table, looking at each other. The scene was quite magical for a moment.

"HA!" Rong Ling shouted. With a sweep of its hand, it drew a small Heaven-piercing Halberd from layers of frost and pointed it at the transformed Cloud Dog, issuing a challenge to a duel.

Don't be fooled by Rong Ling's small size; its presence was astonishingly powerful, already possessing the air of a great general from ancient times!

That was just the biological nature of a Snow General Candle. This species wasn't social; they were generals who led armies.

Naturally, one mountain cannot contain two tigers.

The Cloud Dog flinched in fear, its body shattering once more. Layers of mist billowed around the edge of the table, enveloping Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei as if they were in a wonderland!

If not for the millet congee, tea eggs, bean paste buns, and braised beef still on the table, Rong Taotao would have really thought he was about to ascend to immortality...

The next moment, Rong Taotao's mouth fell open in an "O" shape!

On the table, after the dense layers of mist pieced themselves together, a one-meter-tall Rong Taotao was standing there!

He was wearing a loose white sweater, jeans, and had a head of naturally curly hair. Aside from his height, he looked exactly like the genuine Rong Taotao!

The one-meter-tall Rong Taotao pointed a finger at Rong Ling, a stern look on his face, and uttered a single word: "Woof!"

"Eh?" Rong Ling looked utterly baffled. It held its Heaven-piercing Halberd in one small hand and scratched its helmet with the other, its Ice Candle Eyes blinking. What was happening?

"Pfft... HAHAHAHAHAHA!" At a nearby table, Sun Xingyu covered her mouth with her small hand, but it failed to muffle her laughter as she burst out laughing.

Gao Lingwei also pressed a hand to her forehead and lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly. She was clearly trying her best to hold back her laughter, but couldn't quite manage it.

"Whoa!" Li Ziyi's eyes went wide. He was so startled he nearly fell flat on his butt.

Li Ziyi quickly shouted, "Quick! Taotao! The Cloud Dog has become a human, now it's your turn to be a dog!"

Rong Taotao: ???

"CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!" A series of camera shutter sounds rang out as Shi Lan held up her phone, frantically taking pictures of the "Little Rongtaotao" standing on the table.

"Stop taking pictures, stop taking pictures!" Rong Taotao put a hand in front of Little Rongtaotao's face and reached out to pick him up, but... well, Rong Taotao chickened out.

The idea of hugging himself felt a little too weird for Rong Taotao.

"Um, how about we talk about this? Can you change back?" Rong Taotao stammered, looking at the miniature version of himself standing on the table.

Little Rongtaotao ruffled his head of natural curls, his mannerisms an exact copy of the original. Then, his body shattered, and as the mist dispersed, his true form was revealed, once again a palm-sized puppy.

"Man, you're really something!" Rong Taotao pinched the scruff of the Cloud Dog's neck and lifted it into his palm.

He never could have imagined that such a tiny dog could turn into a one-meter-tall... eh?

Holding the Cloud Dog in one hand, Rong Taotao looked at Gao Lingwei across the table.

Gao Lingwei had always had this heroic, cool image of "fair skin, beautiful face, and long legs." If she were to turn into a one-meter-tall little loli...

Gao Lingwei clearly sensed what he was thinking. Her eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of danger in her gaze, as she coolly uttered two words, "You dare."

Rong Taotao shook his head repeatedly, pressing the Cloud Dog against his chest and forcing a laugh. "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare..."

While he was laughing nervously on the outside, inwardly, Rong Taotao was exploding with joy!

'This Soul Skill: Thousand Transformations is just too strong. If it goes up another Quality level, will it be able to transform into anything at will?'

'And after I advance to the Soul School level and can use a Fusion Skill with the Cloud Dog...'

'Wouldn't I be able to turn into anyone I want?'

'I could just kill someone from the Qian Organization, the Free People, or Wo Xue Mian, transform into the culprit's appearance, and directly infiltrate the enemy's ranks?'

'Ah~ No, wait. Didn't Li Ziyi just make fun of me?'

'You just wait!'

'When I can use a Fusion Skill with the Cloud Dog, I'll turn into Sun Xingyu and break up with you, leaving you crying and begging me not to go...'

...

It's the end of the month! The Cloudy Divine Dog and I are here to ask for your votes~

...