Master of Nine Stars

This bonus Chapter is dedicated to the generous patron, ’Disaster for the Left Eye’.

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"Xuerong, give Taotao vision!" Gao Lingwei spurred her mount forward, charging straight through the battlefield in deliberate pursuit of someone.

Without a doubt, it was Cold Flower of the Eight Great Coins!

Yin Hu had told her not to speak with such certainty, not to be so absolute, otherwise it could be mistaken for a military pledge.

Gao Lingwei hadn’t refuted him publicly, accepting Yin Hu’s advice on the surface. But in her heart...

’A military pledge?’

’I, Gao Lingwei, hereby swear it!’

Snowflakes gathered on Gao Lingwei’s face, coalescing into a spectral, patterned mask with dark red markings. It flew forward with a silent roar as she yelled, "Snow Ghost Hand!"

Rong Taotao’s vision immediately brightened. The pitch-black night was suddenly illuminated as if it were day.

The Snowball Cat’s eyes were locked on their target: the woman, Cold Flower, who was frantically using Snow Dance to fly away.

Right behind Cold Flower, the spectral mask let out a silent roar, about to overtake her.

Rong Taotao abruptly raised a hand. From deep within the snow, the exquisite palm of a Snow Charm Demon erupted, its arm stretching endlessly as it shot toward the woman codenamed Cold Flower.

As expected of one of the Eight Great Coins, a figure of true renown!

After all, the Frost Fearful Face was merely an illusion of spectral lines; though it appeared to be roaring, it was completely silent.

In the blizzard, Cold Flower was effectively blind, yet her reflexes were astonishingly quick. The very instant the mask appeared behind her, she plummeted downward.

WHOOSH...

The Frost Fearful Face grazed the top of her head as it shot past.

But in that same instant, the exquisite palm of the Snow Charm Demon seized her ankle and violently dragged her down.

"You damned hounds, you never give up! You’re actually using Snow Ghost Hand? Have you no shame?" Cold Flower’s face was grim as she swung one hand fiercely beneath her.

SHINK...

The Snow Blade in her hand severed the Snow Ghost Hand’s slender arm, allowing her to escape instantly.

Rong Taotao paid her taunts no mind, raising his left hand again. Another Snow Ghost Hand erupted from the snow, rocketing toward the sky.

In the raging blizzard, Cold Flower had no idea where her enemies were, only that they were somewhere behind her.

The next moment, Cold Flower whirled around and viciously swung her right hand!

WHOOSH...

A massive, thirty-meter-long blade made of snow came spinning back toward them.

’Wind and Snow Blade?’

’No... this must be the advanced version of a Snow Soul Skill: Soldier’s Soul!’

Rong Taotao had seen Xia Fangran use this Soul Skill before when they were trapped inside a Frost Beauty’s Lotus Petal.

If she could use Soldier’s Soul, then Cold Flower had to be at least at the Junior Soul School level.

Her attack was ferocious, but her aim was poor, relying purely on instinct.

Rong Taotao calculated that, given Hu Bugui’s forward momentum, the Soldier’s Soul blade would fly over his head and slam into the snow dozens of meters behind them.

"SHINK!" Cold Flower severed another grasping Snow Ghost Hand. Her face contorted with rage as she suddenly shrieked, "Gao Lingwei!?"

No one could pinpoint an enemy’s location in a blizzard of this magnitude.

Poachers were a persistent scourge, willing to risk everything because there was always a profit to be made. Under the cover of the blizzard, they could always play a game of cat and mouse with the Snow Burning Army—sometimes fighting, sometimes fleeing.

For decades, this had been the reality across the entire northern Snow Realm.

But the appearance of Gao Lingwei—or more precisely, her Snowball Cat—shattered this decades-old dynamic and completely upended the Poachers’ ability to operate!

Destroying someone’s livelihood is a grudge as deep as murdering their parents.

Gao Lingwei was, indeed, a target deserving of being hunted by every Poacher group in existence.

Unfortunately for them, while the Poachers wanted to kill Gao Lingwei, Pine Soul Soul Martial had always assigned specialists to protect her.

On campus, Gao Lingwei lived in the Martial Arts Hall. Off campus, she was surrounded by countless experts from Pine Soul Soul Martial School, including the "Spring" and "Summer" of the Pine Soul Four Seasons, who were assigned to guard her every step.

This time, for instance, Mei Hongyu had dispatched a top-tier duo like Xia Fangran and Li Lie to protect Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei, leaving the Poacher teams with no opportunity to strike.

The assassination plot was postponed again and again. For some time, Gao Lingwei had not appeared within the Third Wall’s domain, which gave the Poachers a chance to breathe.

Desperately seeking their chance, the Poachers had been forced to accept this state of affairs and bide their time, taking the respite her absence offered.

But tonight...

’Gao Lingwei, who’s supposed to be at Pine Soul Soul Martial under the strict protection of her teachers, has actually shown up at Hundred Corps Pass?’

In that instant, killing intent flooded Cold Flower’s heart and her rage boiled over!

’Gao Lingwei!’

’You have to die. You must die!’

’If you don’t die, I’ll die! All the Poacher teams will die!’

While flying backward, Cold Flower shouted furiously, "Gao Lingwei! There have been three assassination attempts on your parents already, yet you still treat that Soul Pet like a treasure! Do you just not care about them?"

Gao Lingwei’s breath caught in her throat. !!!

’Assassination attempts?’

’Three of them?’

Gao Lingwei’s expression turned hideous. It wasn’t that the Poacher Organization’s threats had no effect on her—it was that she had known absolutely nothing about them!

In that moment, Gao Lingwei’s heart was filled with immense guilt and self-reproach.

’No wonder... no wonder. During the Outer League, even though Fengtian City is only a two-hour drive from Liaolian City, my parents never came to watch me compete.’

’My mother always said it was because Dad has trouble getting around. But the real reason was... because...’

"Destroy your Soul Pet, Gao Lingwei! Otherwise, we will hunt you for the rest of your life. Your family, your friends... an ’accident’ is bound to happen to them one day. Do you really think those guardians will never make a single mistake?"

Gao Lingwei’s body began to tremble violently. She patted the Snowball Cat’s head, and Xuerong immediately switched the shared vision over to her.

Sensing things were taking a bad turn, Rong Taotao quickly put a hand on Gao Lingwei’s shoulder and sent a thought directly to her mind: ’Da Wei! Calm down! She’s trying to pinpoint our location. She knows she can’t escape in open terrain like this Snowfield, so her only choice is to bait you into revealing yourself. She’s just trying to mess with your head!’

"Remember this, Gao Lingwei! For every day your Soul Pet exists, your family and friends will be in our sights!"

Cold Flower’s voice was frigid. "No matter how well you’re protected, you will one day cradle your parents’ bones in regret! Destroy your Soul Pet! Now! Immediately! This is your last chance!"

WHOOSH...

Cold Flower’s backward-flying figure suddenly swerved as a Wind and Snow Blade plummeted past her.

Her eyes narrowed. Dropping rapidly to the ground, she plunged a hand viciously into the snow. Treating the thick blanket of snow like a carpet, she violently ripped it upward!

"NEIGHHHH!" Hu Bugui whinnied as it was flipped over, its hooves kicking wildly in the air.

Even though the flipped Snow Carpet wasn’t a damage-dealing Soul Skill, the dense Soul Power radiating from it still buffeted the mount’s body, making its insides churn violently.

Gao Lingwei slapped Hu Bugui’s back, recalling it into her body.

However...

Cold Flower had locked onto the direction of Hu Bugui’s whinny and swung her arm with all her might!

Master-Level Snow Realm Soul Skill: Soldier’s Soul!

A gigantic Snow Blade came spinning toward them. Cold Flower’s aim, based on the sound, was extremely precise. Combined with the massive size of the Soldier’s Soul blade and the fact that Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao had been thrown into the air...

"WHOOSH!"

Rong Taotao grabbed Gao Lingwei’s arm while a Snow Ghost Hand grabbed his ankle. Linked together, the two of them plummeted downward.

The massive, sharp Soldier’s Soul blade spun with incredible speed, tearing through the night sky like a meteor, and nearly sliced them to pieces!

Rong Taotao never even hit the ground; he was already controlling the Snow Ghost Hand to fling them backward.

Gao Lingwei glared intently at Cold Flower through the blizzard. Frost and snow gathered on her face, and another mask with red patterns shot forward.

"You two alright?" A man’s voice, tinged with the scent of alcohol, came from behind them.

As Rong Taotao flew backward with Gao Lingwei, they were caught in Li Lie’s arms.

"Since she wants to die, we should grant her wish." Xia Fangran’s voice came from their side.

"Xuerong, give our two teachers vision!" Rong Taotao commanded.

"Meow~" The Snowball Cat let out a soft cry as invisible Soul Power Threads connected to Li Lie’s body.

Li Lie’s eyes narrowed. Pushing the two students out of his arms, he drew a massive Snow Axe from the blizzard.

"HUUFF..." With a heavy breath reeking of alcohol, Li Lie blew on the giant Snow Axe.

The next moment, the Snow Axe erupted in icy flames!

"RAAAAGH!" With a roar, Li Lie flung the Snow Axe through the air!

Nearby, Xia Fangran’s eyes suddenly widened. The Snowball Cat had obviously switched targets and granted him vision as well.

"I was just going to hang back and guard, but you’ve really gotten used to throwing your weight around! How dare you threaten my students!" Xia Fangran cursed, shooting forward. He flew low to the ground, shockingly moving parallel to the spinning, burning axe, concealed beneath it as he charged straight toward Cold Flower.

The flames burning on the giant axe illuminated the surroundings. Meanwhile, on the other side of the vast, snowy battlefield, White Lantern Paper Cages lit up one by one above the heads of the Twelfth Squad.

Li Lie strode forward, darting out along the path of his giant axe.

Clearly, the two teachers had switched from their roles as Guardians to full-on Pursuers.

Their vision was poor, but that didn’t mean they were completely blind. Once they knew an enemy’s position, they could certainly engage them in battle.

At that moment, as the Snowball Cat switched the shared vision back to her, the battlefield behind them vanished from Gao Lingwei’s eyes. It was as if she and Cold Flower were the only two people left in the world!

Gao Lingwei’s face was a mask of fury, her chest heaving violently. In her seething rage, her voice was terrifyingly grim. "Taotao."

Rong Taotao: "Yeah?"

Gao Lingwei gritted her teeth, forcing the words out. "She dies by my hand. Today. Right here, right now!"

Rong Taotao’s expression flickered, but in the end, he steeled himself. "Let’s go!"

Before, Rong Taotao could have urged Gao Lingwei to stay calm, reminding her that this was just Cold Flower’s ploy to lure them out.

But now, with Li Lie and Xia Fangran on the scene, Rong Taotao couldn’t hold her back any longer.

Even if they shouldn’t be participating in a battle of this level, Rong Taotao knew that the storm of emotions raging in Gao Lingwei’s heart couldn’t be contained. It had to be unleashed.

Putting himself in her shoes, if he had been the one threatened just now, would he have been able to remain calm?

Initially, Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao were soldiers, and the Poachers were thieves. A life-and-death struggle between them was normal.

Now, it was still a life-and-death struggle, but it was no longer just a job. It was personal.

The unwritten rule about not involving family was, after all, not a rule everyone abided by.

Gao Lingwei was destroying the Poachers’ livelihood, and in response, the Poachers were threatening to kill her parents...

It was an irreconcilable, blood-deep feud!

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