Master of Nine Stars

Li Lie: "..."

Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei, on the other hand, seemed to be used to it...

"Oh, right. I’ve already handed over the Soul Pearls and the Snow Lion Tiger’s pelt. I talked with the Snow Burning Army and had them set aside the ring of mane from around the Snow Lion Tiger’s head for you. When we go back, you two remember to ask the Snow Burning Army for it. It would make a nice scarf."

Xia Fangran said as he unzipped his jacket, pulled out a large bag, and tossed it to Li Lie. "They’re still warm."

Li Lie opened the paper bag and saw it was full of steamed buns. He just shook his head with a smile and walked toward the cave entrance. "Hurry up. I have a big appetite."

"PTH, PTH, PTH." Rong Taotao hastily spat out a mouthful of toothpaste foam. Rinsing his mouth, he spat out the water and ran into the cave.

The little fatty who had been training diligently in the distance seemed to understand what everyone was about to do and trotted over as well.

Beside the bonfire, the group of people and their pets sat in a circle, gobbling down the steamed buns.

Rong Ling and his Cloud Dog were very close. He held a bun in both hands, taking a bite for himself and then giving a bite to the Cloud Dog. However, Rong Ling still didn’t like the bonfire, so after eating a few buns, he ran back outside to train.

Well... actually, Rong Ling had wanted to ride the Cloud Dog out, but the Cloud Dog wasn’t having it. Its body broke apart into a frosty mist and drifted into Rong Taotao’s arms to snatch some food...

Xia Fangran said, "After we finish eating, we’ll continue heading northwest. We need to cross these two mountains as quickly as possible while the snowstorm is still light."

"Okay."

"Alright."

After everyone had a good meal, Rong Taotao went outside the cave, gathered the frozen Snow Lion Tiger meat he had buried in the snow, put it in a bag, and hung it on his hiking pack before they continued on their way.

Although there were plenty of military rations among the supplies Xia Fangran had acquired, it was clear that none were for Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei.

The group traveled onward but didn’t encounter many Soul Beasts. Evidently, last night’s battle had startled the surrounding area, and most Soul Beasts had chosen to avoid this place after hearing the Snow Lion Tiger’s miserable cries.

A little over ten minutes later, Gao Lingwei suddenly said, "Stop."

"What is it?" Rong Taotao was holding his Heaven-piercing Halberd with one hand, its shaft pressed to his forehead as he reviewed techniques with the Snow Soul. Hearing her, he quickly turned his head to look.

"Let’s take a detour. There’s a pine forest ahead."

"What?"

Gao Lingwei: "The pine trees are covered with a massive number of Ice Blade Pinecones. A shower of ice blades from them would be deadly."

Rong Taotao craned his neck, looking around curiously. "How come I can’t see them? Xuerong, let me see."

"Meow~" Atop Gao Lingwei’s head, the Snowball Cat let out a soft cry. The Pupil Sharing Soul Skill switched its connection from Gao Lingwei to Rong Taotao.

Instantly, two images appeared in Rong Taotao’s vision.

’Whoa, it’s like built-in binoculars. Is the view always this clear?’

In the distant Pine Forest, covering the pine branches, were countless glistening Ice Blade Pinecones.

Rong Taotao suddenly said, "The Snowball Cat has leveled up. Its Soul Skill’s Quality has advanced too."

Gao Lingwei: "It seems so. We can see farther now. But we’ll have to wait for the snowstorm to hit to see how far we can see in the middle of it."

"Hmm... Do you think if the Snowball Cat’s First Soul Skill, Pupil Sharing, reaches a high enough Quality, it could connect to multiple targets?" As he spoke, Rong Taotao walked over to Gao Lingwei, reached out to pet the Snowball Cat, and checked its skill panel.

The Soul Skill’s Quality had indeed advanced to the Master level, but unfortunately, Pupil Sharing could still only connect to one specific target.

Gao Lingwei shook her head. "Who knows? After all, our Snowball Cat is supposedly the first of its kind to be tamed as a pet."

"Huh? Someone’s there?" Rong Taotao said suddenly. He took the Snowball Cat from Gao Lingwei’s head and gently raised his left wrist.

SWISH...

An ethereal, snow-white hand burst out from the snow and shot upward.

Rong Taotao placed the Snowball Cat on the palm of the Snow Charm Demon’s hand. He continued to raise his own hand, and that arm extended infinitely, its palm shooting rapidly toward the sky.

"Meow, meow, meow?"

The Snowball Cat rose higher and higher. Through its eyes, Rong Taotao adjusted its altitude, looking at the Pine Forest from afar. Then, he gently pressed his fingers down, and the Snow Ghost Hand immediately stopped extending.

Rong Taotao’s expression turned strange. "They aren’t people. They’re more like corpses. A lot of them!"

"Hmm?" Gao Lingwei asked curiously. "Corpses?"

Rong Taotao nodded repeatedly. "It looks like a group of Snow Corpses. Why aren’t the Ice Blade Pinecones attacking?"

Unexpectedly, the moment the words left Rong Taotao’s mouth, the distant Pine Forest erupted!

It turned out the Ice Blade Pinecones were waiting for their prey to enter the trap before launching a simultaneous attack.

Instantly, faint roars and the unending sound of pine trees snapping and falling filled the air.

The more Rong Taotao watched, the more he felt something was wrong. The Snow Corpses seemed to feel no pain, letting the ice blades pierce their bodies. One of them even had half its head sliced off and was still moving?

Seeing this, Rong Taotao’s heart sank.

In the upcoming assessment, he and Gao Lingwei would have to face these very creatures.

After just a few glances, the small team of Snow Corpses had already displayed such terrifying Life Force, as if they had no fatal weaknesses anywhere on their bodies.

So, according to Xia Fangran’s plan, he and her were going to be thrown into a pile of hundreds of Snow Corpses and Snow Ghosts... that...

’Could the two of them really fight their way out alive?’

"What’s wrong?" Gao Lingwei asked with concern, noticing the look on Rong Taotao’s face.

Rong Taotao said in a low voice, "The Snow Corpse pack is tricky. Even though they were forced to retreat and scattered by the pinecones, not a single body was left behind despite such a dense barrage of ice blades. This is going to be tough."

"Yes," Gao Lingwei nodded. "That’s right. Even if you slit their throats, a Snow Corpse’s head can still live on and bite its prey."

Rong Taotao: "No wonder Coach Xia said our goal isn’t to eliminate them, but to fight our way out of the corpse pile."

Gao Lingwei suddenly suggested, "We could go engage those Snow Corpses first, just to get a feel for them."

Rong Taotao immediately nodded. "Let’s go! Let’s see what they’ve got!"

Rong Taotao put down the Snowball Cat, and the duo quickly crept forward. Because the small team of Snow Corpses had been ambushed and utterly routed, one of them was fleeing in a panic. It crossed through the mountain forest, running right in their direction, and the distance between them closed rapidly.

Rong Taotao whispered, "Stop here. We’ll set up an ambush here too."

As he spoke, he rubbed his fingers together, clearly preparing his Snow Ghost Hand Soul Skill.

"Sounds good." Gao Lingwei picked up the Snowball Cat from her head and tossed it up into a large tree. The Snowball Cat landed gracefully and lightly on a branch, silently watching the panicked Snow Corpse run toward them.

"Here it comes," Gao Lingwei said suddenly.

Rong Taotao darted out from behind a tree. After confirming the Snow Corpse’s position, he thrust his left hand up sharply.

SWISH...

A Snow Ghost Hand burst from the snow beneath the Snow Corpse’s feet and seized its ankle.

THUD! The sudden "trap" sent the Snow Corpse falling face-first into the snow.

"Hiss... Ugh~" The Snow Corpse kicked wildly but couldn’t break free from the snowy hand. It quickly flipped over and swiped at the Snow Ghost Hand with its sharp claws.

SHINK! That was the sound of a blade piercing flesh!

Rong Taotao flung his halberd, and the Heaven-piercing Halberd accurately pierced the Snow Corpse’s skull. Instantly, the Snow Corpse was sent flying backward by the force of the halberd, only to be yanked back by the Snow Ghost Hand still gripping its ankle. It collapsed onto the snow, motionless.

Rong Taotao: ???

’Whoa, it’s that fragile?’

’Uh... that’s not quite right, actually. It’s not just Snow Corpses; even someone like Xia Fangran is pretty fragile. If you’re going to get stabbed through, you’re going to get stabbed through...’

’But just now, there was a Snow Corpse that had half its head sliced off and was still jumping around. And this one...’

Rong Taotao: "Is it playing dead?"

Gao Lingwei: "No. This creature’s power source is the Soul Pearl inside its skull. Harming any other part of its body is useless. But if the Soul Pearl is dislodged from its head, it will become a true corpse."

"Oh?" Rong Taotao raised an eyebrow slightly and walked forward. He controlled the Snow Ghost Hand to flip the Snow Corpse’s body over.

’Tsk, tsk... this appearance is just like a zombie. But it looks like a high-budget one; its skin is way better-looking than a regular zombie’s.’

It had a snow-white body, but with ice-blue liver mortis spots. Its fingernails were especially long and looked incredibly sharp.

Rong Taotao: "So it’s because the Heaven-piercing Halberd is so big and has a wide blade that I got lucky! If I had thrown the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow just now, it probably would have been very difficult to knock the Soul Pearl out of its head."

Gao Lingwei suddenly said, "We can use this as part of our training."

"What do you mean?"

Gao Lingwei: "We can start by studying and confirming the exact location of the Soul Pearl within the Snow Corpse’s skull. From now on, we’ll fight them with the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow and practice the precision of our strikes by aiming to knock the Soul Pearls from their heads."

Rong Taotao: "..."