Master of Nine Stars

"Outer Region Final Four Lineup Revealed! Seeded Players Upset in Succession!"

"I’m Not Good at Much, Just Fighting My Own—Songjiang Soul Martial’s Rong Taotao"

"Godlike Plays! You Ask What a Fighter’s Attitude Should Be? Look at the Outer Region Quarterfinals! This Is the Snow Realm Soul Martial Artist, the Descendant of a Soul General, That You Deserve!"

"Songjiang Soul Martial University’s Junior Class Program Shows Outstanding Results! Junior Class Team Overpowers School’s No. 1! Powers into the Outer Region Final Four!"

In the hotel, Rong Taotao sat on the sofa, scrolling through the news and occasionally glancing at Gao Lingwei, who was fast asleep on the nearby bed.

CLICK.

The door opened softly. Yang Chunxi entered, carrying breakfast and walking on tiptoe. She glanced at Gao Lingwei first, and seeing that she was still asleep, she brandished the food at Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao licked his lips, his eyes lighting up as he stared at the takeout bag. He quickly sat up straight.

"Heh." Yang Chunxi chuckled silently at Rong Taotao’s famished expression. She walked over, placed the bag on the coffee table, and casually ruffled his head of natural curls.

Rong Taotao hurriedly opened the bag. Tsk, tsk...

Millet congee, tea eggs, potato pancakes, and Kuding beef sauce... Ah, perfect.

Yang Chunxi went to Gao Lingwei’s bedside, leaned down, and stroked her long hair, letting out a soft sigh.

Yesterday, a professional had already come to help. Using a wondrous Ocean Soul Technique in the form of a song, they had soothed Gao Lingwei’s nerves.

Gao Lingwei had woken up once last night. She didn’t seem to be in any serious trouble, just a little tired and sore.

’Maybe she’ll wake up soon?’

While eating his breakfast with gusto, Rong Taotao scrolled through Weibo on his phone. He saw the latest "Only Good at Infighting" post, which had over 80,000 comments.

Damn, with just over a million followers, getting 70,000 to 80,000 comments on every post was terrifying.

"You’re amazing, my Taotao! Haha, ’Only good at infighting.’ What a legendary post. When you get ruthless, you even diss yourself, haha..."

"Did they really win? How does a Soul Warrior beat a Soul Captain? Must be an inside job..."

"Huh? What’s there to doubt? Did you see how badly Rong Taotao was getting pushed around? Yuan Tiancheng overtook him from behind several times; he was a whole lot faster. Didn’t you see that???"

"It’s a good thing Snow Dance only increases Movement Speed and not attack speed. Otherwise, even with godlike technique, Rong Taotao would’ve been done for."

"Actually, Douxing Qi was the key! Otherwise, Rong Taotao couldn’t have held up in terms of strength. And you saw it—even with Douxing Qi, Rong Taotao was deflecting every blow with technique, using his skill to close the gap!"

"Yeah, what are you trying to say? You think they were throwing the match? If it was a fixed match, they backed the wrong opponent, don’t you think?"

"Open your eyes! Take a good look at the description for Gao Lingwei’s Snow Prison Arena Soul Skill. It’s an extremely rare Soul Pearl Soul Skill that pits mental willpower against willpower, ignoring physical stats."

"It’s basically a Divine Skill for pulling off upsets! Songjiang Soul Martial is dead set on cultivating these two. Look at the terrifying Soul Pearls they’ve been given. She even has an elite-grade Iron Snow Armor. Without the Soul Pearls from the school, she would’ve been finished long ago~"

"Rong Taotao! Forever a legend! This is the presence a descendant of a Soul General should have!"

"I’m completely convinced, really! A person’s skill and mind can truly erase a power gap. There really are... geniuses in this world!"

"Waaaah~ Hubby, please don’t scare me like that again, okay? Your neck was almost slit! Let’s not risk our lives, okay? Hurry back to my arms and let me touch your little curls..."

Rong Taotao’s expression was strange. ’This person is a guy, so why is he calling me ’hubby’?’

’He’s... so extra...’

By the time the drawing ceremony began, Gao Lingwei was still sound asleep.

Rong Taotao and Yang Chunxi sat in the hotel room’s living area, watching the muted television. The room was silent, save for the occasional crunch of Rong Taotao chewing on candy.

After Yang Chunxi shot him a glare, he stopped chewing and just let the candy dissolve in his mouth...

For the semifinals, only one pair of contestants needed to be drawn; the second match would be set automatically.

Rong Taotao and Yang Chunxi focused their attention on the TV screen.

Xia Yinyang hadn’t come over. Since Gao Lingwei was resting, he had stayed in his own room.

"Hm?" Yang Chunxi hummed softly, a hint of delight appearing on her face as she looked at the drawing results on the screen.

"What is it?" Rong Taotao whispered.

"Your opponents, Tang Xiaoxuan and Tang Xiaoyu, are currently hospitalized with serious injuries," Yang Chunxi explained. "They might not be able to compete tomorrow."

"Huh?" Rong Taotao was stunned. "Hospitalized with serious injuries? Worse than Wei?"

Yang Chunxi nodded lightly. "Worse than Gao Lingwei. Tang Xiaoxuan suffered both mental and physical trauma. Their opponents were Fengtian Soul Martial’s No. 1 seed team, Baishan and Bai Ming."

Rong Taotao: "..."

Yang Chunxi sighed softly. "The two teams are from the same school. The Tang siblings were the No. 2 seed. They won, but it was a brutal victory. Although Baishan and Bai Ming lost... well, they’re in much better physical condition than the Tangs."

A thought struck Rong Taotao. "There’s probably a story behind that, isn’t there?"

Yang Chunxi shook her head. "Who knows. Maybe it was similar to your situation. Perhaps Fengtian Soul Martial also wanted to ensure one team advanced, but judging by how the Tang siblings fought, they probably didn’t accept the school’s suggestion either."

Rong Taotao pursed his lips. They were all talented and prideful young people. Being asked to throw a match for a schoolmate? Once that request was made, it could lead to one of two extreme outcomes.

One was that the Tang siblings would bow their heads and compromise with society and their school.

The other... was that the Tang siblings would be filled with righteous fury and fight to the death.

Rong Taotao: "So?"

Yang Chunxi: "So you and Gao Lingwei will most likely advance directly to the final round."

Rong Taotao: "..."

’Are Tang Xiaoxuan and Tang Xiaoyu getting flamed online?’

Rong Taotao didn’t feel any schadenfreude. Instead, he felt a genuine sense of empathy and regret for them.

He searched for the Tang siblings on Weibo. He couldn’t find the brother, Tang Xiaoxuan, but he did find the sister, Tang Xiaoyu.

One look, and Rong Taotao completely lost it.

He had thought that the time he was being doubted by the whole world was a rare spectacle.

But now, looking at Tang Xiaoyu’s Weibo!

"In the final four, only Guan Cang and Guan Qiong could have posed a threat to the Bai siblings. This was a golden opportunity, we were finally going to get a championship, and you two just had to go and screw it up! Ugh! You’ve ruined Fengtian Soul Martial’s first-place title!"

"Tang Xiaoxuan and Tang Xiaoyu, you two better remember this: you owe Fengtian Soul Martial a championship!"

"Instead of letting the No. 1 seed advance, you send Songjiang Soul Martial straight to the finals?"

"Some of you are being way too harsh! They’re Soul Martial Artists, what’s wrong with fighting for your own victory? It was Bai Ming who was afraid her brother Baishan would get seriously hurt, so she forfeited to preserve their team’s strength. How can you blame that on our Xiaoyu?"

Rong Taotao’s brows furrowed tightly. Reading the Weibo comments, he felt the world’s profound malice and saw a crowd of disgusting people.

’The Tang siblings owe Fengtian Soul Martial a championship?’

’Give me a damn break. How come no one says the Starfield Soul Martial Artists owe the Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists a world championship?’

’Every World Cup, don’t the Starfield contestants take up most of the national team spots to represent the country?’

’Yes! Starfield Soul Martial Artists are masters of infighting, but they’re useless against outsiders!’

’Within Huaxia, Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists are countered by Starfield and Molten Rock.’

’But when Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists go to the world stage, they absolutely counter the Firefly Forest and Desert Soul Martial Artists from Australia, Africa, South America, and North America, dealing double damage!’

’So why doesn’t anyone say the Starfield Soul Martial Artists owe the Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists a world championship?’

"Ling Wei’s awake?" Yang Chunxi said suddenly.

Rong Taotao turned his head and saw Gao Lingwei in a white nightdress, her eyes drowsy. Looking languid and still half-asleep, she was rubbing her slightly messy long hair. "Chunxi."

This sight was a real eye-opener for Rong Taotao.

Gao Lingwei had always been spirited and imposing. Seeing her suddenly reveal such a lazy, charming side... Rong Taotao felt like he’d discovered a treasure!

He quickly picked up his phone and opened the camera.

CLICK~

"Why didn’t you sleep a little longer?" Yang Chunxi stood up, her face full of concern.

"I’ve been sleeping since yesterday morning." Gao Lingwei rubbed her eyes and came up behind the sofa. She folded her arms, rested them on the back of the sofa, and gently bumped her forehead against Rong Taotao’s head.

She seemed a bit displeased, murmuring softly, "Delete it."

"I won’t show anyone else. I’m keeping it for my own appreciation," Rong Taotao said quickly with a mischievous grin.

’He has the real person right here to look at, but he insists on looking at a photo. Honestly...’

"Yesterday’s match was good." Gao Lingwei rested her forehead against the back of Rong Taotao’s head, bumping it gently again.

"Mm, tomorrow’s match might be even better." Rong Taotao leaned back, gesturing toward the matchups on the TV screen.

"Hm?" Gao Lingwei lifted her head, resting her chin on top of Rong Taotao’s head to look at the TV. "Tang Xiaoxuan, Tang Xiaoyu? Fengtian Soul Martial’s No. 2 seed team?"

"Yup." Rong Taotao shrugged. "Probably another pair who refused to accept their fate. They had a mutually destructive fight with their school’s No. 1 seed team. Tang Xiaoxuan is hospitalized with serious injuries, so they’ll probably forfeit tomorrow’s match."

Gao Lingwei: "..."

Rong Taotao: "Hey, what do you think? We go straight to the finals. If those other two teams also cripple each other in the semifinals, does that mean we just win the whole thing by default?"

Gao Lingwei: "Hmm..."

Yang Chunxi suddenly spoke up. "That’s a very real possibility. Do you know what the public’s evaluation of Guan Cang and Guan Qiong is?"

Gao Lingwei: "Mad dogs."

Yang Chunxi nodded. "Although the term isn’t very pleasant, the brothers’ fighting style is indeed that frenzied. Nothing would be surprising."

Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up. "Let’s go! Time to eat. We’re celebrating our championship victory early!"