Master of Nine Stars

"How interesting." The white-robed woman’s eyes flashed with interest. She tugged her hood upward, watching as Rong Taotao was sent flying. Then, her figure instantly shattered, dissolving into specks of Shuangxue that scattered across the ground.

Rong Taotao gritted his teeth against the pain radiating from every part of his body. While flying backward, he saw the woman’s body shatter and immediately turned...

Just as he’d expected!

The woman’s figure appeared as if from nowhere, re-materializing right behind him!

"RAH!" Rong Taotao roared, thrusting his halberd forward, but his approach was completely different from any other Soul Martial Artist’s.

He wasn’t trying to overpower the woman, nor was he attempting to deflect her incoming long halberd.

Rong Taotao did the exact opposite—he was trying to borrow her force to push his *own* body away!

In that instant, everything he had learned on the battlefield of the national championship finals, within the Corpse Fire Camel Array, came together perfectly. He once again demonstrated the "Bouncing Joy" effect.

*CLANG!* That was the sound of the Snow-made Heaven-piercing Halberds colliding.

The target Rong Taotao intended to send flying was never his enemy, but himself!

And Rong Taotao’s "bounce" was never about meeting force with force. It was a bounce executed after dissipating the impact, rotating, and adjusting his angle.

It was an astonishing technique. In the very instant their weapons collided, he completed a series of actions in one fluid motion...

*This* was the Heaven-piercing Halberd! *This* was the peak of a five-star master!

"Oh?" The woman licked her lips in excitement. ’Once might be luck, but twice... No, against me, no one gets lucky twice.’

Therefore, Rong Taotao wasn’t surviving on luck, but on pure, solid Martial Arts!

*CLANG!*

*CLANG!*

*CLANG!*

The crisp ringing of metal was incessant. The white-robed woman’s body shattered and reformed so quickly it was practically no different from Instantaneous Movement. Her speed was astounding.

Meanwhile, Rong Taotao was still barely holding on, pushing himself to his absolute limit.

Every second felt like walking on a knife’s edge, dancing on the precipice of death. The feeling was...

’Promotion! Heaven-piercing Halberd Mastery, Six-Star, Early Stage!’

Rong Taotao didn’t even notice the notification from his Inner Soul Map. His physical condition was already terrible, and all of his focus was locked on the battle.

*Poof...* A familiar sound.

It was the sound of the woman’s body shattering into specks of Shuangxue.

As Rong Taotao flew backward, he desperately twisted his body, but his heart nearly stopped cold.

’The re-forming Shuangxue in front of me is just a feint? It’s not taking a human shape at all?’

Then, from behind him, that cold voice sounded again. "So slick, are you?"

She had predicted his prediction.

Rong Taotao: !!!

Rong Taotao instantly dropped his halberd. Without even looking back, he whipped a hand behind him, and a snow-made Great Xia Dragon Sparrow slashed upward from below.

The mocking smile on the white-robed woman’s face stiffened. Her fair hand formed a claw, hard as iron, and snatched the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow out of the air.

*CLANG!*

The sharp sound rang out again. The instant Rong Taotao felt the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow get caught, he used the rebound force to launch himself away once more.

As his body tumbled through the air, a Heaven-piercing Halberd had already materialized in his hand.

It wasn’t that Rong Taotao didn’t want to use other Soul Skills. In his terrible condition, he had very little Soul Power left, and even replenishing it was becoming difficult.

The weapon that consumed the least Soul Power, and the one he trusted most, was the only thing he had left.

*CRACK!* The white-robed woman crushed the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow. This time, however, she didn’t seem to pursue him.

Rong Taotao tumbled to a landing in the snow. To conserve Soul Power, he didn’t even dare use Soul Skill: Snow Step.

In a half-crouch, he slid backward, his feet kicking up two mounds of snow.

As his momentum slowed, Rong Taotao braced the halberd behind him with one hand, its Ironspear Point digging into the ground, and finally brought himself to a halt.

One man, one halberd, and a patch of snow stained with his blood formed a stable triangle.

The woman chuckled softly. "Heh, playing the tough guy."

’Tough guy?’

’I don’t have the energy to play tough. The only reason I’m not on the ground is because I know that if I fall, I won’t have the strength to get back up...’

"I’ve watched your matches. I’ve seen you fall into hopeless situations time and again, struggling to survive, desperate for victory," the white-robed woman said softly from a distance. "Those petty little arenas... I simply found them amusing."

As she spoke, she raised a hand, her fingers toying with a Soul Pearl necklace. She ran her thumb over the individual Soul Pearls as if they were prayer beads, seemingly lost in thought.

"Now, however, my opinion has changed slightly. How about we make a deal, Rong Taotao?"

Rong Taotao’s eyes were hazy as he stared blankly at the tall figure before him.

In his daze, her silhouette seemed to overlap with Gao Lingwei’s.

The white-robed woman said, "I’ll spare Rong Yang’s life. In return, you will spar with me and demonstrate your skill with the Heaven-piercing Halberd. What do you say?"

Rong Taotao didn’t answer. His world had gone silent. It seemed the only sound left was the dripping of his blood onto the snow.

Or perhaps he couldn’t even hear that faint sound, and it was all just a hallucination.

*CHIRP... FLAP FLAP FLAP...* In the distant Snow Forest, a flock of Cold Night Birds took flight, squawking as they soared into the sky.

The white-robed woman glanced toward the Snow Forest to the southeast. "Night is falling, Rong Taotao," she said softly. "Guard your Lotus Petal well. We’ll be seeing each other again very soon."

"WO XUE MIAN!!!" A furious roar echoed from the distant forest as a massive figure, like a raging bull, crashed through the Snow Forest and leaped into the air.

But the white-robed woman only smiled. She retreated step-by-step, her gaze still locked on Rong Taotao and his shattered Sheep Head Mask. She repeated her words, "Night is falling..."

The hulking form of Ugly Ox descended from the sky, a heavy warhammer in each hand, and slammed them down onto the ground!

*BOOM!*

Snow flew in all directions as a shockwave erupted outward!

The white-robed woman leaped back gracefully, riding the shockwave and flying backward. The gale blew her white hood back, revealing long, black hair that whipped wildly around an exquisitely beautiful, yet cold, face.

Rong Taotao struggled to stay upright. Through the shattered Sheep Head Mask, his dazed eyes saw a familiar face.

’Gao Lingwei?’

His blurry vision made it impossible for him to discern any differences between the two women’s features.

He watched as the white-robed woman flew backward. She pressed her slender fingers to her lips and blew him a kiss, a barely-there smile playing on her lips. "Remember our deal."

*Poof...*

The white-robed woman, still flying backward, dissolved into a flurry of Shuangxue, vanishing without a trace into the swirling mist.

"Sheep?" Wu Ma rushed over, his eyes filled with horror as he saw the man propped up by his Heaven-piercing Halberd in a patch of blood-soaked snow.

"Taotao?" Chenlong hurried up behind him. "Where’s Rat?"

"Not... not clear... was... caught." The moment Rong Taotao saw the familiar faces, the thread of tension he’d been holding onto finally snapped. His body went rigid, and he passed out.

"Taotao?" Chenlong caught Rong Yang’s body and quickly laid him in the snow, spraying a mist of snow from his hands onto his torso.

Beside him, Wu Ma also began spraying Shuangxue to freeze Rong Yang’s body. "This is Rong Taotao?"

In truth, Wu Ma had already guessed as much when he saw the Heaven-piercing Halberd in Rong Yang’s hand.

「Meanwhile, far away in a small classroom at the Pine Soul Soul Martial’s Martial Arts Hall.」

"GASP..." Rong Taotao jolted awake, sucking in a sharp breath. He was completely soaked in sweat, as if he’d just been fished out of water.

"How was it?" Yang Chunxi asked urgently, placing a hand on Rong Taotao’s wrist.

"The captain’s here... we met up... met..." Rong Taotao clutched his forehead. His mind was a jumbled, exhausted mess. ’I just want to sleep for a bit.’

’Yeah, just for a little while...’

...