Master of Nine Stars

"He’s a Magma Soul Martial Artist and is around fire all year, so he knows how to use Soul Power to protect his clothes. The microphone survived, too."

"Oh." Rong Taotao asked, puzzled, "What did I say?"

Mentioning this, Gao Lingwei’s heart filled with pride. She reached out and straightened Rong Taotao’s soft, naturally curly hair. "Wanqi Wu ran you through, stood over you like a victor, and told you to your face: You lose."

Hearing this, something stirred in Rong Taotao’s memory. He seemed to recall that happening.

It couldn’t be helped. He had been in terrible shape at the time, and even his memory of that moment was a bit fuzzy.

Gao Lingwei said softly, "And then, you locked him in place and told him, word for word: You didn’t win either."

Rong Taotao blinked. ’Whoa, really?’

’Whose kid is this?’

’So provocative?’

’Oh... it was me. Okay, never mind then...’

Seeing Rong Taotao’s mood lift a little, Gao Lingwei also chuckled softly. "Don’t be discouraged. If you see tying for first as nobody winning, then we’ll just have to settle the score with the Wanqi Siblings at the World Cup."

"Okay." Rong Taotao nodded immediately. ’By then, I won’t be the same person I am now!’

Just like in this National Competition, compared to the Outer Region ranking tournament three months ago, anyone could see that Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei’s rate of improvement was simply astonishing.

"Yip?" At his side, the Cloud Dog suddenly whimpered. It struggled to lift its little head and look at Rong Taotao.

The two of them had been speaking softly, but Rong Taotao’s sudden, firm "Okay" had clearly woken the little one up.

But... the Cloud Dog tried to push its small body up, only to find it was being used as a pillow by the Snowball Cat and couldn’t break free.

"Oof~" The Cloud Dog struggled for a moment before its head flopped to the side, and it lay back down on the bed, the very picture of one who had given up the fight and lost all hope in life.

Rong Taotao smiled at the sight, grumbling to himself.

’This little guy only knows how to act cute and spoiled. I wonder when it’ll ever show some real strength.’

’It’s said that a Soul Martial Artist and their Lifebound Soul Beast can only merge and use a Combined Soul Skill once they reach the Soul School Stage. For talented Martial Artists, however, they can get a glimpse of this at the peak of the Soul Captain stage. I hope that day isn’t too far off.’

"Are you hungry?" Gao Lingwei’s voice came from his side.

’She knows me best!’

Rong Taotao nodded repeatedly, saying just one word: "Starving!"

"I’ll go get you something." Gao Lingwei stood up and walked briskly out of the room.

Watching her leave, Rong Taotao sighed. Hearing the Cloud Dog’s "yip yip" next to his ear, he reached out, grabbed the Snowball Cat’s tail, and gently pulled it back.

"Mrow~" The Snowball Cat actually stretched lazily, rubbing its face with its little paws. Looking utterly relaxed, it took a moment to get up, finally noticing the Cloud Dog gleefully hopping around on Rong Taotao’s chest.

’The male master is awake?’

The Snowball Cat leaped up gracefully. It placed its little paws on both of Rong Taotao’s cheeks, lowered its absurdly adorable face, and looked left and right with its big, sapphire-blue eyes. "Meow~"

"Woof!" Behind it, the Cloud Dog seemed to be correcting the Snowball Cat’s pronunciation.

The Snowball Cat lifted one paw after the other, kneading Rong Taotao’s face as if giving him a massage. "Woof!"

Rong Taotao: "..."

And so, while playing with the cat and teasing the dog, Rong Taotao opened his Inner Soul Map.

’I have a vague memory... didn’t my Heaven-piercing Halberd technique level up during the battle?’

’When was it? Oh, right... I think it was when I turned into a pinball, CRASHING and SMASHING around inside the Corpse Fire Camel Array.’

’Looks like there are a lot of angles to approach training and growth!’

’Improving the Heaven-piercing Halberd technique involves many aspects. Using the halberd not on an opponent, but on myself... does that count as a way to improve the skill, too?’

’It did!’

Having opened his Inner Soul Map, Rong Taotao saw the information: [Heaven-piercing Halberd Mastery: Five-Star Peak].

’Its Potential Value is six stars. Should I spend the points now?’

’Or should I wait until Heaven-piercing Halberd Mastery is at the peak of six stars?’

’Whoa!’

Rong Taotao was startled.

’How many Potential Value points did I get for winning the National Competition!?’

’Let me count...’

The last time he’d gotten Potential Value points was for making it into the top eight and being selected for the national team. That had been a full 5 points, bringing his total to 12. And now...

points!

A total of 20 available Potential Value points!

’The reward for being the national champion is a full 8 points?’

’Holy cow, that’s incredible!’

’Fly free, Taotao, you’ve got potential points for days!’

’Calm down. No, I need to calm down...’

Rong Taotao settled his mind and began to think, sticking to the growth path he had previously set for himself.

’Snow Dance and Douxing Qi are obviously the top priority for upgrades.’

’Snow Dance is doing great on its own, with a Potential Value of seven stars, so I don’t need to worry about it for now.’

’Douxing Qi is another story. Its Potential Value is only four stars. In the future, I’ll inevitably have to spend 4 or 5, maybe even 6 or 7, points on this Soul Skill.’

’The second priority is Snow Burst. Its three-star Potential Value is maxed out, so it will also need 4 or 5, maybe even 6 or 7, points dumped into it.’

Rong Taotao did some quick math. ’Uh... that’s a pretty big drain, huh?’

’And that’s only counting two Soul Skills? There’s still a whole bunch of other basic ones.’

’Then there’s the Soul Pet: Snow General Candle that needs points. That’s a pet for life, so I’ll definitely have to nurture it carefully.’

’Speaking of which, what is the upper limit for Potential Value? Can it be raised indefinitely?’

Rong Taotao’s expression turned serious. From this perspective, even though he had collected a lot of Potential Value points, it was far from enough.

After all, ever since he’d gotten the Inner Soul Map, his methods for obtaining Potential Value points were mostly tied to competitions. He never got any rewards from daily life or training.

’Wait, didn’t I get 1 point for getting into Songjiang Soul Martial University?’

’In any case, as far as competitions go, you can only participate in each one once in your lifetime. That was a tough pill to swallow...’

’This isn’t sustainable, is it?’

’No, I have to find a way to farm Potential Value points.’

A short while later, Gao Lingwei returned with a food container. She saw the loving scene between Rong Taotao and his Soul Pets and couldn’t help the corners of her mouth from turning up slightly.

Not all Soul Pets got along so harmoniously with Soul Martial Artists, especially since the Snowball Cat wasn’t even Rong Taotao’s.

Perhaps this was a classic case of that affection extending to those close to its owner.

Rong Taotao exited his Inner Soul Map and propped himself up, sitting against the headboard. The movement finally made him feel like a patient; a dull ache spread through his lower abdomen.

He winced but didn’t dare say anything. After all, the pain was in his abdomen, so... he was afraid Gao Lingwei wouldn’t let him eat...

Clearly, there were different levels of foodies.

And Rong Taotao was one who would eat like his life depended on it...

Rong Taotao took the food container and asked, confused, "Where’s Coach Xia?"

Gao Lingwei: "He got another room. You need to rest quietly, after all, and you keep having visitors."

Rong Taotao held his spoon, puzzled. "Visitors?"

Gao Lingwei: "Rong came by the day before yesterday. After confirming your injuries weren’t serious, he left."

"Tch~" Rong Taotao curled his lip, dissatisfied. "Fine. That’s progress, I guess. At least he knew to come see me."

Since that was Rong Taotao’s father, Gao Lingwei didn’t comment on it. Instead, she said, "Also, Rong brought two bottles of wine."

"Wine?" Rong Taotao’s eyes lit up. ’Now that’s more like it! Nice, nice.’ "Where is it?"

Gao Lingwei: "It’s in Coach Xia’s room."

"Whoa!" Rong Taotao said hurriedly. "Don’t let him drink it! I got that for my father-in-law... uh..."

Gao Lingwei shot Rong Taotao a glare, then tilted her head slightly, pointing with her chin toward the distant windowsill. "Nanxi came yesterday, too."

"Ye Nanxi?" Rong Taotao paused, turning his head toward the windowsill. He saw again the golden tulips, bathed in sunlight and swaying gently in the breeze.

Gao Lingwei continued, "She’s a very thoughtful girl."

Rong Taotao: "How so?"

Gao Lingwei: "I looked it up online. Golden tulips are seen as a symbol of victory and good fortune."

"Oh." Rong Taotao nodded. ’To be fair, that girl Ye Nanxi... as long as she doesn’t open her mouth, she is indeed a lovely sight.’

’Too bad she had to have a mouth...’

Gao Lingwei: "She saw you weren’t awake and needed to rest, so she chatted with me for a bit and then left. She also said that she’ll celebrate your victory with you after you wake up."

Rong Taotao just focused on his food, not replying.

’Who wants to celebrate a victory with some girl?’

’With that time, wouldn’t it be better to have another meal or two and practice the Starfield Soul Technique?’