Master of Nine Stars

DING! DING! DING! Amidst the crisp, piercing sounds, Ice Spikes sprouted from all directions, striking one after another against Yang Chunxi’s defensive barrier and Gao Lingwei’s Frost Snow Armor.

Yang Chunxi’s evasive maneuvers, however, weren’t very strenuous. Compared to these painless and harmless Ice Spikes, her primary objective seemed to be maintaining her balance.

She was currently crouching on a thick Ice Spike, one hand shoved into her pocket, holding her phone and dialing an emergency contact.

It was unclear if the call connected. In any case, Yang Chunxi had no intention of actually speaking. Right after dialing, she kicked off the spike and darted toward Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao. "This way!"

Gao Lingwei held Rong Taotao from behind, using her Frost Snow Armor to shield his body as best she could. But... while she could protect his back, she couldn’t block the Ice Spikes stabbing at him from the front.

Hearing Yang Chunxi, Gao Lingwei stepped on a jutting Ice Spike and leaped hurriedly toward her.

Rong Taotao’s expression, however, turned to one of shock.

The Ice Spikes sprouting from the pit were incredibly dense; it was an attack from all directions.

Although Gao Lingwei was leaping toward the center of the large pit, at this angle, that Ice Spike to their front-left... ’Isn’t that going to run me straight through?’

Rong Taotao stretched out a hand, and a patch of frost and snow condensed within it.

’At a time like this, I definitely can’t use Ice Glass, but Frost Flower Snowcake is perfect!’

The Ice Spike was extremely thick; even its tip couldn’t possibly pass through the openwork pattern of the Frost Flower Snowcake.

DING!

With another crisp clang, Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei were knocked askew. The Ice Spike, pressed against the Frost Flower Snowcake, altered their trajectory, sending them plummeting diagonally downward again.

And the bottom of the pit... was densely packed with a forest of Ice Spikes!

Gao Lingwei hurriedly flipped her body over, positioning herself beneath Rong Taotao. She was trying to use herself as a cushion to keep him from being impaled.

"Up!" Rong Taotao suddenly shouted. He lifted his left hand, and from within the deep pit suffused with frost and snow, a Snow Ghost Hand abruptly emerged. It shot straight up, as if to carry him and Gao Lingwei out of the chasm!

Seeing this, Yang Chunxi let out a huge sigh of relief. However...

WHOOSH... It was the sound of a gathering breeze.

Yang Chunxi’s heart tightened, and she rushed after the two of them.

WHOOSH! The breeze instantly became a furious gale!

In an instant, a massive Snow Dragon Tornado rapidly formed!

The Money Organization had lain in ambush for so long and meticulously set this trap; there was no way they would let their prey escape so easily.

In fact, the situation had already deviated from the Poachers’ plans.

These two Pine Soul teachers were simply terrifying!

Almost at the very first moment of the attack, Xia Fangran, with Yang Chunxi’s coordination, had immediately leaped out of the ten-plus-meter-deep pit and engaged the enemy in a fierce battle.

Meanwhile, the three who had fallen into the pit had withstood the assault of snow spikes and broken through a rolling torrent of snow and mud. Just as they were about to escape, how could the Poachers possibly let them have their way?

At the edge of the pit, a tall woman stood proudly. She thrust a hand downward, and a furious wind swept forth!

The strong wind whipped the woman’s long hair about and blew the bangs from her forehead, revealing a grim, severe face. "Shatter your Soul Pet, and I’ll spare your life!"

’Shatter my Soul Pet, and you’ll spare my life?’

’At a time like this, who would listen to that? Who would believe it?’

The Snow Dragon Tornado’s power was astounding. It had to be from a Neutral Creature: a Frost Beauty!

Soul Skills like this, not typically found among Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists, were of course a possibility for Poachers.

"Lunatic, where do you think you’re looking!?" Xia Fangran roared furiously. While dodging a rain-like assault, he suddenly produced a massive Heaven-piercing Halberd nearly thirty meters long!

With a violent swing of his arm, Xia Fangran sent the enormous Heaven-piercing Halberd stabbing viciously toward the woman!

An advanced Snow Soul skill: Soldier’s Soul!

The sight was spectacular. Xia Fangran couldn’t possibly grip such a massive weapon manifested from Soldier’s Soul, and yet his loosely clenched hand seemed to be in complete control of it.

Mind you, Xia Fangran wasn’t "throwing" the weapon; he was actively controlling the gigantic Heaven-piercing Halberd as it attacked.

The woman leaped back to dodge. "I’m not ’Lunatic’!" she shouted in fury. "My codename is Feng Zi!!!"

Feng Zi, one of the Eight Great Coins of the Money Organization.

Without a doubt, she was at least at the Soul School level!

"Feng Zi my ass! You’re just a damn fool!" Xia Fangran cursed furiously. "I should’ve run you through with my halberd back when we were at the academy!"

"Heh~ Back when you were a senior at Pine Soul, you were far more of a degenerate than me. And now you’ve transformed into a renowned teacher?" Feng Zi actually rode the wind and snow, flying backward as taunts spilled from her lips. "Old Ghost Mei truly must be blind!"

As they exchanged words, Feng Zi’s Casting was interrupted, and the situation for the three in the pit improved considerably. However, the target of the Poachers’ encirclement wasn’t Xia Fangran, but Gao Lingwei!

The Poachers’ strategy was clear, their objective perfectly defined.

In fact, just as Feng Zi began to conjure the Snow Dragon Tornado, a bald, burly man with rough features on the opposite side of the pit had swiftly raised his right hand, palm open, in a gesture that seemed to be beckoning the heavens.

That accompanying motion... What was this?

Directly above the pit, layer after layer of frost-mist rapidly spread out. The mist should have been pure white, but as it converged, it turned an inky black like a storm cloud.

Snow Realm Soul Skill: Ice Burst Black Frost!

WHOOSH...

Just as Xia Fangran forced Feng Zi to retreat, the Ice Burst Black Frost finished forming!

Suddenly, countless irregularly shaped chunks of ice began to bombard them from the layered, black frost-mist cloud!

"You can go to hell!" Seeing the dire situation, Xia Fangran landed hard, plunged one hand into the ground, and instantly ripped up a "Snow Carpet"!

In an instant, the area around the deep pit—in fact, the entire patch of snowy ground—was flipped over by Xia Fangran in one fell swoop!

Inside the pit, Yang Chunxi had already regrouped with her two disciples. Terrifying Soul Power surged from the Soul Slot on her chest, and a thin defensive barrier spread out to envelop the other two.

Snow Realm Soul Skill: Silk Mist Enchanting Robe!

This thin garment, formed from wisps of frost-mist, would remain essentially colorless and formless unless its master was under attack.

BANG! CRASH! BANG! CRASH!

Irregular chunks of ice smashed against her defensive barrier, exploding one after another. Shockwaves surged out, and the sound of the relentless bombardment was deafening!

Indeed, Yang Chunxi’s full-body defensive Soul Skill, Silk Mist Enchanting Robe, was far more advanced than Gao Lingwei’s Iron Snow Armor.

It didn’t just protect its wearer; the robe could even expand indefinitely to shelter others!

Back when the Ice Soul Guides led the Snow Realm Army to invade Pine Soul Soul Martial, Yang Chunxi had used it in the Martial Arts Hall to shelter a large group of students, saving countless lives.

SWOOSH~ The Snow Ghost Hand shot straight up from the pit, carrying the Silk Mist Enchanting Robe. Seizing the moment the ground was upended and snow filled the air, it finally lifted the three of them out of the chasm!

THUD. Rong Taotao tumbled to the ground. The Snow Carpet that Xia Fangran had raised fell back down at that moment, blanketing the area in a thick layer of snow...

Rong Taotao hastily threw off his backpack and scrambled to his feet. Through the heavily falling snow, he saw the figures of a crowd of people!

’Xia Fangran... a True Divine General!’

Even though the group of Poachers had been focused on the pit, he had still single-handedly tied up all of them, giving the three inside a chance to escape.

The Poachers had lain in wait for so long, and their meticulously prepared trap had not only failed to kill their targets but hadn’t even managed to hold them for more than a few moments.

Ten, twenty, thirty...

’More than thirty people? More than thirty Poachers?’

Rong Taotao had reason to believe these were all experts from the Money Organization. No wonder the Poachers had hesitated to strike earlier; it was because someone like Xia Fangran had always been by his and Gao Lingwei’s side.

The proof was right before his eyes. Xia Fangran’s astonishing performance under such disadvantageous circumstances was more than enough to prove his strength.

Thinking back, the last time they were hunted by the Frost Beauty and Xiao Ziru, Xia Fangran had been in such a sorry state. It wasn’t because he was weak, but because they had run into an even higher level of existence...

"Hsss..." Just two meters away, Gao Lingwei, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly let out a pained hiss.

Her posture indicated she had been trying to get up after landing, but it was as if she’d been struck mid-motion. She seemed possessed; her movements were stiff, and she stared blankly at the dense forest ahead.

And in that dense forest, a tall figure hid beside a tree. His simple, honest-looking face wore a surprisingly rustic smile, and the light in his eyes was utterly bizarre...

’Mi Tu?’

Rong Taotao’s heart leaped in alarm, and he violently flung his hand out in front of Gao Lingwei.

Snow Realm Soul Skill: Bailing Vine!

CRACK! A sharp snap echoed!

A long whip, a Spiritual Materialization, glowed with a strange light as it lashed the snow in front of Gao Lingwei, leaving a deep gash.

"Ugh." Gao Lingwei gritted her teeth and finally regained control of her body. Her stiff frame trembled violently as she scrambled backward, collapsing onto the ground and shaking her head hard.

Apparently, she had been trapped in an Illusion Technique, and Rong Taotao’s whip had shattered the Illusion Realm, snapping the invisible Soul Power Threads and freeing her.

"DIE!!!" With a hoarse roar, a figure suddenly shot out from the woods to their front-left, a Snow-made Dagger in hand thrusting straight for Gao Lingwei!

Gao Lingwei, originally clad in Frost Snow Armor, had been dragged into Mi Tu’s Illusion Technique. Who knew what brutal, stabbing tortures she had just endured, but her mental state was poor, and her Iron Snow Armor had long since shattered.

Unarmored, in a poor mental state—right now, Gao Lingwei was completely vulnerable!

Clearly, among the four of them, Gao Lingwei was the Poachers’ sole target. Everyone had eyes for only one person: Gao Lingwei!

"The bounty is mine!" The shout, practically a declaration of victory, accompanied the lunging figure and his sharp dagger as they stabbed straight for Gao Lingwei!

However, Rong Taotao was standing just two meters away from her.

The male Poacher, a savage light flaring in his eyes, acted as if he couldn’t even see Rong Taotao!

’What is this, an insult?’

’You’re going to do this right in front of me? You expect me to just stand by and watch you stab Gao Lingwei to death!?’

’Bounty? I’ll give you a fucking bounty!!!’

Rong Taotao’s hands clenched around empty air. He lunged forward decisively, and as his hands thrust out, a Heaven-piercing Halberd materialized!

SWOOSH~

A cyan butterfly instantly shot out from the Heaven-piercing Halberd, spinning rapidly like a sharp blade as it flew!

SHLICK...

It was the sound of a blade slicing into flesh!

The Poacher, lunging forward in a frenzy, was killed almost instantly!

A bloody hole had been torn open in his forehead—the mark left behind by the cyan butterfly!

The Poacher’s forward momentum came to an abrupt halt. His body hung bizarrely in mid-air for a moment before Rong Taotao kicked out!

THWACK!

With a heavy thud, the male Poacher was sent flying by Rong Taotao’s kick like a soccer ball.

The corpse left a trail of crimson blood as it flew, slamming heavily into a distant tree. Its body bent into an arc upon impact before crashing to the ground, lifeless...

The blood-stained petals fluttered back, and in the blink of an eye, they returned to Rong Taotao, merging into his chest.

For a moment, the chaotic battlefield fell silent...

He had struck with Lotus, a single, fatal blow! He left no one alive and gave them no chance whatsoever!

’Did you think only Gao Lingwei would show you no mercy?’

’I, Rong Taotao, won’t either!’

Rong Taotao stood with his Long Halberd, blocking the path to Gao Lingwei as his Ironspear Point swept over the figures in the forest.

Beneath his rigid expression was a churning inferno of rage.

"Come on. Come and get your bounty!"