Master of Nine Stars

"Hiyah!" The moment the word left his lips, Xia Fangran dug his heels into his horse’s belly, and the group of four shot forward.

The terrain beyond the Second Wall was much more complex. As far as the eye could see, it was all mountainous, with ancient pines and cypresses standing proud, even forming dense mountain forests.

"Snow Charm Demons are mostly Elite to Master Level creatures. While they’re not weak, they’re very cunning. They usually latch onto more powerful Soul Beasts to hunt together."

Xia Fangran continued his explanation, "But Snow Charm Demons aren’t reliable teammates. They’re just using their partners. The moment things go wrong, they’ll flee immediately. It’s even common for them to betray their allies mid-battle."

Li Lie, however, smiled and said, "You must have seen Snow Charm Demons during the Battle of the Three Cities, right?"

"We have," Rong Taotao immediately nodded. He had a vivid memory of the beautiful and bewitching creature. His Soul Class squad had nearly been wiped out by a Snow Charm Demon’s surprise attack.

The group of four arrived at the edge of a mountain forest. Xia Fangran spoke up, "Dismount. Give me the packs."

"Huh?" Rong Taotao gave Xia Fangran a surprised look. He was actually offering to carry the bags?

’This isn’t my Xia Fangran!’

He remembered how Xia Fangran used to make him carry so many packs that he could barely move, forcing him to use his Heaven-piercing Halberd as a carrying pole. Rong Taotao had practically been turned into the "Sha Monk."

Xia Fangran and Li Lie each shouldered a huge hiking pack and said, "From now on, you two will lead the way. Unless there’s a special situation, Old Li and I won’t intervene.

Head north, cross two mountains, and then we’ll move on to the next phase of training."

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei exchanged a look. With a flourish of frost, they both drew their Heaven-piercing Halberds.

At their feet, the little chubby figure clad in armor and a cape shattered its coating of frost. It swiped its hand through the frosty mist as well, but... it drew nothing.

No weapon. Nothing at all.

"HMMMM..." The little chubby figure was very frustrated, even stomping its foot in anger, its small body sinking deep into the snow.

Gao Lingwei couldn’t help but chuckle. She stepped forward, crouched down, and grabbed Rong Ling’s floating helmet, lifting the little creature up. "First, I’ll teach you Snow Step, so you can walk on top of the snow."

HMMMM...

Rong Ling’s frosty body vibrated. "Da Wei."

"Hm?"

"Da Wei."

Gao Lingwei: "..."

’Great, those are the only two words it knows...’

From behind, Li Lie spoke up, "Let me teach it. The Second Wall isn’t like the first. You two focus on clearing the path."

Hearing Li Lie volunteer for the task, the happiest person wasn’t Gao Lingwei or Rong Taotao, but Xia Fangran.

’Ah~ so nice!’

"What was that?" Rong Taotao suddenly said.

Gao Lingwei followed his gaze and also saw a small figure flash by. "Probably a Snow Rabbit."

Snow Rabbits are creatures that, hmm... they don’t have any Soul Pearls or Soul Skills. Their strength is generally between Normal and Excellent Level. They don’t even have much of an attack, surviving entirely on their speed and agility.

More importantly, the Snow Rabbit species has a terrifyingly high reproductive rate. They’re constantly in heat, constantly creating new life.

Rong Taotao said, "I think I only saw one once back at the first wall, during the assessment. Xu Taiping was holding it."

Li Lie replied, "You were lucky to see a Snow Rabbit at the first wall. Although these creatures are low-level and can be used as food, the Snow Burning Army doesn’t really dare to let them into the first wall area because their reproductive rate is extremely fast.

Even though there are many Snow Realm creatures at the first wall, there aren’t nearly enough to eat all the Snow Rabbits. They can’t even maintain a ’balance of accounts.’ If they let the Snow Rabbits in, it wouldn’t be long before the place is overrun with them."

"Only saw one once? Does your conscience not bother you saying that?" Xia Fangran gave Rong Taotao a strange look. "Back during training at Hundred Corps Pass, did you ever skip a meat-heavy meal?"

Rong Taotao: "..."

"Meow~" A swirl of frost gathered at Gao Lingwei’s feet, and the Snowball Cat materialized. It opened its dazzling, jewel-like eyes, looked around, and climbed up Gao Lingwei’s leg, finally settling down on top of her head.

The next moment, the Snowball Cat’s eyes were covered in a layer of frost, and wisps of cold mist began to emanate from them.

"Let’s go," Gao Lingwei said.

"Yeah..." Rong Taotao tightened his grip on his Heaven-piercing Halberd. As he walked, he focused on the connection with his weapon, running through his techniques in his mind over and over again.

As he reviewed the motions of his skills with the Snow Soul, memories of past battles fought together, man and weapon as one, inevitably surfaced, rapidly deepening their bond.

"Demon Snow Puppet," Gao Lingwei said suddenly, tilting her head slightly to indicate the branches of a fairly lush pine tree in the distance.

Not even Xia Fangran and Li Lie had vision as keen as the Snowball Cat’s. Only after Gao Lingwei pointed it out did they spot the silhouette of a small snowman, blended in with the snow, leaning against a branch.

It was made entirely of snow, about 50 or 60 cm tall. It was humanoid, with four limbs but no facial features, looking very much like a rag doll.

From the rear, Xia Fangran spoke, "If you can take it down, do it. When we leave, hand the Soul Pearl over to the Snow Burning Army."

"Let me be clear, this place is different from the first wall. The Second Wall isn’t open to the public. Any Soul Pearls you hunt here must be turned in for free."

Rong Taotao replied, "Then let’s call it mutual assistance. They gave us the green light to come in and provided a training ground. We’ll just kill more Soul Beasts and give them the Soul Pearls. Feelings are a two-way street, right?"

Gao Lingwei said, "Sounds good. It excels at hiding and ambushing. Now that we’ve found it, it’s basically no threat. Demon Snow Puppets are slow. Let’s use ranged attacks."

Rong Taotao hefted his Heaven-piercing Halberd. "Ready?"

Gao Lingwei directly formed a Snow-made Longbow and said casually, "After the national competition, you should practice archery too."

"Yeah," Rong Taotao nodded. He had no time to practice archery now; he barely had enough time to train with his saber and halberd.

"Kill!"

"WHOOSH~" Gao Lingwei released her grip on the arrow’s fletching, and a Snow-made Arrow shot out. Her movements were as smooth as flowing water, drawing and firing again without the slightest pause.

Rong Taotao swung his arms repeatedly, furiously hurling one halberd after another.

In the dense pine branches far away, the Demon Snow Puppet clearly sensed something was wrong. It scrambled to its feet, trying to flee, but a Snow-made Arrow pinned it firmly to the tree trunk.

What followed was a relentless barrage of arrows and an endless supply of Heaven-piercing Halberd javelins...

Watching this scene, Li Lie couldn’t help but feel impressed. The Snowball Cat’s utility was truly immense.

Are Demon Snow Puppets strong?

Of course. They excel at stealth and are even better at ambushes. Countless souls have unjustly died to their kind. However, once discovered, a Demon Snow Puppet loses more than half its effectiveness.

In this Snow Realm, the Snowball Cat was truly like one of the Deities. It could not only grant vision and see in the dark, but it could also proactively help its master find prey and detect danger.

It was no exaggeration to say that, to a certain extent, the Snowball Cat countered the vast majority of Snow Realm creatures.

"Meeow~" Abruptly, the Snowball Cat on Gao Lingwei’s head let out a whimper. Immediately after, layer upon layer of frost and snow began to swirl around it.

Xia Fangran and Li Lie stared in astonishment, watching as the layers of frost and snow washed over its tiny body. This... this was...

Gao Lingwei’s face lit up with joy as she felt the powerful fluctuation of Soul Power coming from atop her head. Was it about to level up?

From Elite Level, advancing to Master Level?

"Blossom, Taotao," Gao Lingwei said urgently, grabbing the Snowball Cat from her head and tossing it to Rong Taotao.

"Oh, oh!" Rong Taotao fumbled to catch the Snowball Cat and quickly began to absorb its Soul Power.

"Mew~" The Snowball Cat whimpered softly, but it knew what Rong Taotao was doing. It lifted its head, affectionately nuzzled his cheek, and then stuck out its small, pink tongue to lick his cold face.

As it licked, sure enough, hmm... he got everything he could ask for...

A Master Level Snowball Cat?

’Holy cow, its level is even higher than Gao Lingwei’s...’

This feeling of steadily improving his strength step by step was just incredible!

Rong Taotao’s heart was filled with anticipation for the next three months of training!

’I hope that in three months, I’ll be completely transformed, just like the Snowball Cat!’