Master of Nine Stars

"So this is Ice Barrier..." In a small grove, Rong Taotao extended a hand, and before him stood a thick wall of ice.

Since Ice Barrier was an advanced version of Ice Glass, Rong Taotao learned it with exceptional speed.

Although it was a four-star compatible Soul Skill, he didn’t need to think of it as something overly advanced or complicated. Rong Taotao figured that if he could create one sheet of Ice Glass, he could create countless sheets of Ice Glass stacked together.

As it turned out, his technique was both practical and effective.

Using two large pine trees as anchors, Rong Taotao crafted an ice wall between them. It was crystal clear, a full 10 centimeters thick, and he could even faintly see a figure moving on the other side.

"Learned Snow Realm Soul Skill - Ice Barrier!

Ice Barrier: Gather Soul Power in your palm, then urge the ice to condense and spread, creating a huge ice wall. (Master Level, Potential Value: 4 Stars - Max)"

Rong Taotao grinned. ’Another Soul Skill that’s "peak right out of the box"?’

The description from his Inner Soul Map wasn’t very clear, just fobbing him off with the adjective "huge."

Rong Taotao had intentionally experimented with it; the ice wall’s maximum size was 5m x 5m with a thickness of 10cm.

Of course, it didn’t just stop once its length and width reached 5 meters. If Rong Taotao wanted, the ice wall could continue to spread, but his Soul Power would no longer be able to envelop it.

All in all, within the 5m x 5m range and while Rong Taotao was continuously casting, it was a "Soul Power Ice Wall" with decent defensive capabilities.

But beyond the 5m x 5m range, it was beyond his reach.

Any part of the ice wall outside that range was just ordinary ice. It might be somewhat useful against normal people, who would have to chip away at it with chisels and hammers for a while to break it.

But for a Soul Martial Artist, a single kick could shatter it.

So, the question was, was there any need to increase this Soul Skill’s Potential Value?

’If the level gets higher, could I create an ice wall a thousand miles long? Or even summon an icy mountain pass, raising it from the ground?’

Rong Taotao thought it over and over, but finally just shrugged. ’Who knows.’

In any case, his Heart of the Snow Realm was only at four stars. He’d worry about it after it leveled up again.

As he thought about this, Rong Taotao gazed through the thick ice wall at Gao Lingwei’s tall silhouette on the other side. For some reason, he was reminded of the Frost Beauty.

He remembered back when he and Xia Fangran were in the Snowfield Cave. The Frost Beauty had been on the other side of an ice wall, dancing gracefully as she coiled around Xiao Ziru’s body like a seductive serpent...

Xiao Ziru, the famous Smoke of the Pine Soul Four Rites. To this day, there was still no news of him.

"Let’s find another spot to practice A Snowy Ocean," Gao Lingwei said from the other side of the ice wall.

After waiting for a moment without a response, she walked around the wall and saw Rong Taotao lost in thought. "Taotao?"

"Ah!" Rong Taotao snapped out of it. "I..."

Before he could finish, Rong Taotao’s expression suddenly stiffened.

Gao Lingwei frowned slightly and walked over, asking with concern, "What’s wrong?"

"An aura."

"What?"

Rong Taotao focused on the sensation for a moment, as if confirming something, then said in a low voice, "I can smell the aura of a Lotus Petal."

"Hm?" Gao Lingwei leaned back against the thick ice wall and tilted her head at Rong Taotao. "Around here?"

"No, it’s not." Rong Taotao quickly shook his head. "Its location should be even farther away than the Dragon River, but the aura is new. It appeared out of thin air."

Gao Lingwei confirmed, "Out of thin air."

Rong Taotao nodded heavily. "Yes! Out of thin air! My Prison Lotus has been closely monitoring the locations of the other Lotus Petals, constantly wanting to take them for its own.

"Besides Coach Si’s petal, there are three other Lotus Petal auras scattered to our north. Just now, another petal appeared to the north."

Gao Lingwei thought for a moment and said, "A Lotus Petal can’t just appear out of thin air. The only possibility is that it came out of a Snow Realm Vortex.

"Your Prison Lotus probably can’t lock onto a Lotus inside a Snow Realm Vortex, right? After all, that’s technically another dimension."

"Very likely." Rong Taotao nodded repeatedly as he listened, feeling that Gao Lingwei’s analysis was spot on. Counting the three Lotus Petals inside his own body, Rong Taotao could now confirm the existence of seven petals in the world.

Gao Lingwei waited quietly for Rong Taotao to sense the Lotus Petal, not wanting to disturb him.

After a few seconds, Rong Taotao spoke with a hint of resignation, "From the looks of it, the newly appeared petal is still within the Russian Federation’s territory. It’s just closer to the border than the other two, but it’s farther north than the one by the Dragon River."

Gao Lingwei thought for a moment and comforted him softly, "After all, this is the only part of Huaxia that’s a snow-covered land, and we only have Snow Realm Vortexes on the border.

"Whereas over the Russian Federation’s territory, most of the vortexes blooming in the sky are Snow Realm Vortexes.

"Since it’s a Snow Realm Treasure, it’s perfectly normal for it to end up in the Russian Federation, whether the Lotus Petal drifted there on its own or someone brought it out."

"Yeah, yeah." Rong Taotao nodded, brushing the frost and snow from his white sweater. He suddenly blurted out, "Our country has a pretty good relationship with the Russian Federation, right?"

Hearing this, Gao Lingwei nodded silently.

In this dangerous Soul Martial World, due to the existence of the Snow Realm Vortexes, the relationship between Huaxia and the Russian Federation was very close, highlighting two words: mutual benefit.

In fact, due to the existence of various vortexes, Huaxia had good relations with its neighboring countries. The Soul Beast armies were a common enemy of all humanity.

Starfield Vortexes were somewhat better, since their environment and climate were more manageable, making them easier for humans to develop.

But with Snow Realm Vortexes and Molten Rock Vortexes, it wasn’t just that the Soul Beasts within were violent and powerful; the environmental conditions inside the vortexes themselves were also extremely harsh. The Soul Beasts wanted to come to Earth to survive and plunder its richer resources, while humans wanted to defend their homes and drive out the invaders. Conflict naturally arose.

And after decades of struggle, this conflict had become almost irreconcilable.

It seemed they would have to wait for a "Macho Man sent from heaven."

’If I manage to collect all nine Lotus Petals, maybe I could try being that "Macho Man"?’

’Who knows...’

Rong Taotao thought for a moment and said, "Is there any chance to study abroad in the Russian Federation or something? Does Pine Soul Soul Martial have an exchange student program with any Russian universities?

"The Russian Federation is vast and sparsely populated, and with most of its territory covered by Snow Realm Vortexes, there must be huge swaths of land occupied by Soul Beasts.

"What if those petals are on Snow Realm Soul Beasts? Just like my Prison Lotus, which was originally on the Frost Beauty."

Indeed, it was an inevitable outcome that parts of the Russian Federation were occupied by Snow Realm Soul Beasts.

They couldn’t stop it even if they wanted to. For example, it was nearly impossible for humans to survive directly beneath a Snow Realm Vortex.

Huaxia only had this one Snow Realm Vortex, and it was located on the border between two countries. Even by mustering the entire nation’s strength, Huaxia had only managed to build these three walls.

But above the Russian Federation’s territory, there were heaps of Snow Realm Vortexes. The consequences were easy to imagine.

Gao Lingwei said, "There are exchange students, and we can’t rule out the possibility of the Lotus Petals being on Soul Beasts.

"But given your identity, trying to study abroad as an exchange student would probably be very difficult to arrange. You know, your family, the Supreme Treasure you possess..."

Hearing this, Rong Taotao nodded in agreement.

For some reason, while most people might have felt dejected hearing that, to Rong Taotao’s ears, it actually sounded a little exciting!

Yes, exciting!

’Among the teeming masses, who gets restricted from traveling the world?’

’When Rong Taotao no longer "belongs to himself," it means he has reached another realm, another level!’

He was important. Very important!

’What bad intentions could little Taotao possibly have?’

’All I have to do is enjoy the shade under a big tree...’

"Let’s go. We’ll find an open area first and learn A Snowy Ocean," Gao Lingwei said. "This Soul Skill creates a huge commotion. If we practice it in the woods, this entire forest of snow pines will collapse."

Pine Soul Soul Martial had many training grounds, like Martial Arts Arenas and competition arenas. There were also training sites prepared for large-scale skills, but those weren’t normally open to the public because the vast majority of students had no need for them. Even for senior year students, reaching the peak of the Soul Captain realm was considered impressive, let alone mastering a four-star Soul Technique.

Rong Taotao spoke up, "I remember the World Cup is being held in Xidian Country this time."

"Why do you ask?"

"Hmm..." Rong Taotao mused for a moment. "It’s a bit far from the Russian Federation, and there are several small countries in between."

"Heh," Gao Lingwei chuckled lightly. "Europe has always been closely connected. In the early years, under the devastation of the Thunder Soaring Vortexes, the small countries of Eastern Europe banded together. That tradition has continued to this day. You can practically think of them as a single country."

Rong Taotao nodded thoughtfully. A natural disaster of that magnitude was certainly a good catalyst for unity.

Especially in the early years, when the development of human Soul Martial arts was at a low level, humanity was far more fragile than it is now.

Infighting was of course inevitable, but when people discovered that sealing their borders couldn’t stop hordes of violent Thunder Soaring creatures from ravaging the land, they had no choice but to help each other.

Their countries were small to begin with, like houses built right next to each other. If your neighbor’s house caught fire, the flames would spread to your own in the blink of an eye.

In a situation like that, saving others was the same as saving yourself.

The only fear was if the natural disaster wasn’t severe enough, and the saying "everyone fends for themselves when disaster strikes" still held true. That would surely be a dramatic spectacle.

’Then again,’ Rong Taotao thought, ’since it’s a tradition left over from the early years, how long will they stick together now that countries are getting stronger at controlling the vortexes?’

Rong Taotao looked at Gao Lingwei and said, "You know so much."

Gao Lingwei: "First year of high school, second semester. Soul Martial World History."

Rong Taotao: "..."

Rong Taotao immediately turned his head toward the grove where Rong Ling was training hard and shouted, "Train hard! I’ll come get you later!"

The little fatty’s Heaven-piercing Halberd sliced through the air. "Ha!"

Leaving Rong Ling to train in the grove, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei walked out and crossed the Martial Arts Arena, preparing to head west to practice the Soul Skill. Just then, they saw an excited Li Ziyi carrying a petite Sun Xingyu in his arms, princess-style, and striding toward the Martial Arts Hall.

Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up. He hurried forward a few steps to help Li Ziyi pull open the doors to the Martial Arts Hall. "Is Xing’Er about to advance?"

"Looks like it!" Li Ziyi called back, running inside.

"Isn’t that great? She’s only about a month behind the top tier, right?" Rong Taotao said to Gao Lingwei with a happy expression as he closed the Martial Arts Hall doors.

Gao Lingwei, however, sighed softly.

Rong Taotao: "What’s up?"

Gao Lingwei said softly, "As one’s Soul Martial level increases, the difficulty of training also increases. Xingyu will only fall further and further behind. I just hope she has adjusted her mindset this time. Bigger blows are still to come."

"Eh~ Don’t worry about tomorrow’s troubles today. Let’s go, let’s go! After I learn this Soul Skill, I have to go hit the books. Final exams are coming up." Rong Taotao said, pulling Gao Lingwei along as he ran west.

’This is my first time taking the academic exams. I have to do well, or at least pass!’

’I want to have a good New Year’s, after all...’

’Then again, Rong Yang graduated from Pine Soul Soul Martial too, and he was a bona fide top student. If worse comes to worst, couldn’t I just connect to my brother’s mind and ask him directly whenever I don’t know an answer during the exam?’

’Ah, what a pain~’

’Would Rong Yang snitch on me to my dear sister-in-law?’