Master of Nine Stars

Rong Taotao: "Go."

Gao Lingwei: "Go!"

The two grabbed the Snow Charm Demon’s hands and arms, allowing its snowy limbs to stretch endlessly and lower them to the valley floor.

"HISSS..."

"ROAR!!!" Suddenly, the horde of Snow Corpses turned to look in their direction.

Even the Snow Corpses that had been roaring furiously at Xia Fangran and Li Lie shifted their attention to the west.

Looking eastward from the far west end, the narrow canyon, less than 50 meters wide, seemed to be completely filled with Snow Corpses.

Although there were only a little over three hundred, the densely packed, swaying figures made it look as if there were a thousand of them.

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei landed steadily. The Snow Charm Demon’s ethereal hands shattered into frost and snow, drifting to the ground.

"We have the advantage in speed," Gao Lingwei said suddenly. "The snow on the canyon floor is deep. Look, it’s already past their calves, and they don’t have the Snow Step Soul Skill."

"Right." Rong Taotao held his Great Xia Dragon Sparrow horizontally before him. Watching the horde of Snow Corpses wading toward them through the snow, he said in a low voice, "Charge!"

Gao Lingwei also drew a Great Xia Dragon Sparrow. Facing the dense, swaying horde of Snow Corpses ahead, she roared, "Charge!"

High on the cliff, Rong Ling waved its little Stone Halberd, its body of frost and snow trembling as it roared, "CHARGE!!!"

Down in the canyon, the dense horde of Snow Corpses and the two figures drew ever closer.

The sight... it made Rong Ling tremble with excitement, its spirit surging!

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei’s movements were surprisingly identical!

They stood back-to-back, one facing forward and to the left, the other forward and to the right. Gripping their blades with both hands, they simultaneously thrust at the Snow Corpses before them.

"SHK!"

"SHK! It was the sound of blades piercing flesh!"

In terms of defense alone, a Snow Corpse’s body was no different from a normal human’s.

But these two Snow Corpses, which should have been nearly unkillable, were pierced straight through the brow by the pair’s precise strikes, dislodging the Soul Pearls from within their heads.

Even Snow Corpses that could hop about energetically with missing arms and legs, or even with half their heads lopped off, died instantly once the Soul Pearl left their bodies.

Round one, a victory for Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei?

No... not quite.

What Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei faced wasn’t a fight that could be broken into rounds, but one continuous, relentless battle.

Although two Snow Corpses had been slain, the dense horde behind them swarmed forward, surging like a tidal wave!

Rong Taotao grit his teeth, forcing out the words, "Retreat! We have to fall back!"

With no other choice, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei had to retreat. If they were surrounded, only one word awaited them: death.

It wasn’t as if Rong Taotao had never been surrounded. He’d been cornered by a Snowflake Wolf Pack in the past.

But... the Snow Corpses’ fighting style was completely different from that of the Snowflake Wolves.

The Snowflake Wolf Pack, though numerous, never swarmed all at once. They were cunning, always looking for a chance to ambush him, and would constantly hide within the blinding blizzard, which gave Rong Taotao opportunities to catch his breath.

But the Snow Corpse horde was different. They didn’t hide or ambush. They just charged. A reckless, head-on assault, completely fearless of death!

What’s more terrifying was that Snow Corpses were a higher level than Snowflake Wolves, with stronger Attributes all around.

The only saving grace was that the heavens hadn’t granted the Snow Corpses any powerful Soul Skills. They only had their sharp claws. If they had just one offensive Soul Skill, this horde would likely be unstoppable.

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei retreated rapidly, but the tide of Snow Corpses surged forward, relentlessly beating them back.

’Cut our way through the Snow Corpse horde, from west to east?’

’What a joke!’

Forget cutting through them; they were being beaten back by the crashing waves of the Corpse Tide. They were lucky to even stay on their feet.

CLANG! A Great Xia Dragon Sparrow crashed heavily against a Snow Corpse’s claws.

Rong Taotao gasped, the web of his hand going numb from the impact. "This one is Master-rank!" he shouted in alarm. "At least Master-rank!"

Even with his Douxing Qi active, Rong Taotao was at a disadvantage in terms of strength against an ordinary Elite-rank Snow Corpse. What was even more terrifying was that hidden within the Snow Corpse horde were Master-rank, and possibly even King-rank, Snow Corpses!

’How the hell are we supposed to fight this!?’

SLASH!

Gao Lingwei slashed down with her blade, severing a Snow Corpse’s arm, but the creature felt no pain at all, as if it didn’t even know its arm had been cut off!

It continued its swing purely on momentum, flinging the stump of its arm forward and splattering Gao Lingwei’s face with crimson blood.

"Hah!" Gao Lingwei cried out, taking another step back and flicking her wrist.

WHOOSH! Her dark golden Butterfly Dual Sabers spun through the air, slicing off the top half of the Snow Corpse’s head!

With the top half of its head gone, the Soul Pearl was dislodged, and the Snow Corpse died instantly. But...

But even though Gao Lingwei had killed the Snow Corpse before her, it was useless!

The Corpse Tide was too ferocious. Propelled by the surging horde behind it, the now-dead Snow Corpse was turned into a meat shield, shoved forward to crash into Gao Lingwei.

High on the cliff, Xia Fangran murmured softly, "This lesson is well worth it."

For outstanding students like Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei, perhaps they truly needed a few setbacks, a few failures, to foster a bit more humility.

Li Lie paced along the cliff’s edge, keeping pace with their retreat and staying directly above them. His expression was grave as he watched the desperate battle in the valley below, ready to intervene at a moment’s notice.