Master of Nine Stars

With Si Huan Nian gone, Rong Taotao felt the emotional fluctuations from the Lotus Petal lessen considerably. Consequently, his own emotions also stabilized quite a bit.

At this moment, Rong Taotao had a premonition: even if he could use the Lotus Petals, his emotions would probably be under their constant influence from now on.

It was just that in the past, Rong Taotao had to basically hypnotize himself, changing his own emotions in an attempt to lure the Lotus Petals out to kill his enemies.

But now, having advanced to the Soul Captain stage, his physical strength had risen to a new level. With this greater physical foundation, he could exercise some slight control over the Lotus Petals, but...

The Lotus Petals had established a tangible connection with him. They could now, in turn, influence his emotions.

’This is not good. This is very not good.’

Setting aside the Prison Lotus, which he was just beginning to understand, the Sinful Lotus alone was basically a symbol of "Rampancy" and "Arrogance."

’If the Sinful Lotus can influence me in return...’

Rong Taotao had a feeling this could cause major problems down the line. After all, he was a Soul Martial Artist, constantly fighting on the edge of life and death.

When facing enemies, Rong Taotao wanted to have the most humble heart while committing the most ruthless deeds.

He didn’t want to be that arrogant, nor did he want to treat all his opponents like trash... Wait!

Rong Taotao’s expression froze, and his world suddenly seemed to darken. "Oh, no."

Yang Chunxi asked with concern, "Taotao, what’s wrong?"

Rong Taotao suddenly remembered who this Lotus Petal used to belong to.

It belonged to the Ice Soul Guide, the one who plotted for sixteen years and led the Snow Realm Soul Beast Army to invade Pine Soul Soul Martial!

And on the night of the invasion, everything the Ice Soul Guide displayed was not the behavior of a sane person!

Facing Si Huan Nian, Yang Chunxi, Li Lie, Cha Er, and a host of other experts, the Ice Soul Guide showed no fear. It was so arrogant, proclaiming, "All of you will die," before unleashing the Lotus Petals, determined to raze all of Pine Soul Soul Martial to the ground. Its assessment of its own strength was wildly inaccurate.

And the result?

The Ice Soul Guide died!

It was killed by the combined efforts of the Pine Soul instructors. But even at the moment of death, it remained boundlessly arrogant. If the Ice Soul Guide had been even a little more cautious, or had a slightly better grasp of the situation, it wouldn’t have died so miserably right then and there. This...

Rong Taotao realized that the Lotus Petals inside him were a double-edged sword!

If they could influence his emotions and mentality, it would completely change his fighting style, leading him down a path of self-destruction.

There’s a saying that goes, "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad!"

’Reckless, arrogant, and domineering... okay, that’s very Lu Bu.’

’Damn it!’

’I may use a Heaven-piercing Halberd, but I only want Lv Fengxian’s strengths, not his weaknesses.’

"Taotao?" Yang Chunxi’s face was filled with worry. Seeing the silent Rong Taotao, she was extremely anxious but didn’t dare to act rashly. She didn’t even dare to get close, afraid the Lotus Petals might cause some trouble.

To Yang Chunxi’s surprise, the Lotus Petal resting on the tip of Rong Taotao’s nose quietly merged into his body and vanished without a trace.

A look of joy spread across Yang Chunxi’s face. ’Is he getting better?’

"Hey, Sister-in-law! Hey, I’m here. I’m fine, really fine..." Rong Taotao snapped back to his senses. He propped himself up with one hand on the long-collapsed ice bed, trying to sit up, but he couldn’t control his strength for a moment.

"WHOOSH..." Rong Taotao had intended to sit up, but with a single push of his palm, he shot up, his head rocketing toward the ceiling.

Rong Taotao: ???

’I didn’t even activate Douxing Qi, did I?’

Rong Taotao hastily raised a hand to push against the ceiling, but again, he used a bit too much force...

With a THUD, he tumbled to the floor.

He was like a pinball, bouncing around the room...

"Ugh," Rong Taotao grunted in pain. Although the fall hurt a little, his heart was filled with joy!

’Is this the physical constitution of a Soul Captain?’

’What is this strength? It’s like I have Excellent Level Douxing Qi activated!’

And this was just his Strength Attribute. The Soul Captain stage provided a Soul Martial Artist with an all-around boost to their physical condition!

’No wonder those Soul Captains never took me seriously as a Soul Warrior. When a person’s physical strength reaches this level, even if you don’t want to bully the weak, your mentality is bound to change.’

’After all... when you can crush an ordinary person standing in front of you with a flick of your fingers, that’s a huge deal!’

’I bet a good number of Soul Martial Artists get the illusion that they’ve ’become a god’ after advancing to the Soul Captain stage, huh?’

Fortunately, Rong Taotao had used Excellent Level Douxing Qi for a long time, so he could adapt to this level of strength rather quickly.

’So, here’s the question. If I activate Douxing Qi on top of this Soul Captain’s body...’

’Ah~ Now that’s what I’m talking about!’

Rong Taotao was suddenly reminded of the scene where Ye Nanxi’s teammates, the Xiang Brothers, had grabbed an opponent who was over two meters tall and weighed 220 to 330 pounds, and swung them around wildly!

Rong Taotao carefully picked himself up and clenched his fists, feeling the abundant power coursing through his body.

This feels amazing!!!

’So, in Da Wei’s eyes, I used to be such a weakling...’

However, this only served to highlight Rong Taotao’s combat intelligence, his application of Soul Skills, and the high level of his Martial Arts!

After all, as a mere Soul Warrior, he had forced his way into competitions meant for Soul Captains, and the combat prowess he displayed was on par with most of them.

And now that Rong Taotao’s physical strength had caught up, if he were to face those Soul Captains again...

’Wouldn’t that be a complete slaughter!?’

Dong Dongdong pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. Seeing that Rong Taotao’s emotions had stabilized and he was now assessing his physical condition, he said, "Don’t be impatient. Give yourself some more time. If you need to, you can go for a walk to get used to a Soul Captain’s body."

Rong Taotao turned to look at Dong Dongdong and nodded politely in thanks. "Thank you for your help tonight, Coach Dong. Without you instructors, I’m afraid my breakthrough tonight would have failed."

Dong Dongdong raised an eyebrow slightly. ’The kid is quite polite.’

Little did he know, Rong Taotao was being consciously polite because he subconsciously believed the Lotus Petals were already influencing his emotions.

Dong Dongdong smiled. "No need to thank me. Since I’m a Pine Soul instructor, it’s my duty to help students. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now."

Yang Chunxi quickly said, "Take care, Coach Dong. Thank you."

"Don’t mention it." Dong Dongdong waved with a smile, gave Rong Taotao one last deep look, and turned to leave.

With the two of them left in the room, Rong Taotao said to Yang Chunxi, "I’m fine, Sister-in-law. It just feels a little strange."

"Mm, you’ll need some time to adjust," Yang Chunxi said after a moment of thought. "Go find Ling Wei and take a walk with her. I’ll take care of this dorm room."

Rong Taotao stood on a layer of frost and snow and looked around. This wasn’t a dorm room anymore; it was an icehouse.

"How could I let you clean up by yourself? I’ll do it. It’s all the same whether I’m adapting to my body here or somewhere else," Rong Taotao said. With a flick of his hand, he drew the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow and plunged it into the ground.

"CRACK." The frozen ground shattered. Rong Taotao used the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow like a crowbar, and with a slight exertion of force, he pried up a chunk of ice.

Seeing this, Yang Chunxi felt much more at ease. At least Rong Taotao seemed normal on the outside.

"Don’t just stand there, Rong Ling. Help me clean the room," Rong Taotao said, summoning Rong Ling.

The little fatty seemed to know what had happened and was very well-behaved. It picked up a wooden slat from the shattered bedframe, coated it with Soul Power, and started chipping away at the ice with Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao never would have imagined that the first thing he’d do after advancing to the Soul Captain stage would be to clean his room...

Then, Rong Taotao discovered an even more effective method!

Under Yang Chunxi’s stunned gaze, Rong Taotao raised his left hand. A Snow Ghost Hand burst forth from the snow—an exquisite appendage with powerful knuckles and sharp nails, just like a Snow Charm Demon’s. It was the perfect tool for the job!

Like an orchestra conductor, Rong Taotao waved his hand, and the Snow Ghost Hand quickly scraped the ice off the floor, revealing the wooden floorboards beneath.

While controlling the Snow Ghost Hand, Rong Taotao also started moving blocks of ice and tossing them out the window into the small woods outside.

’A Soul Captain’s body is really efficient for manual labor!’

As he worked, Rong Taotao suddenly said, "If I learned Magma Soul Technique and mastered Molten Fire Contract, could I raise the temperature and dry out this room?"

Yang Chunxi, who was sweeping the floor, casually replied, "I suppose you could."

"Man, you can never have too many skills. And then there’s the Ocean Soul Technique. Even at one star, you get Walking on Water and Underwater Breathing. They’re like little life-hack Soul Skills," Rong Taotao muttered to himself. "I’ll have to learn them if I get the chance."

Yang Chunxi nodded in agreement. After they had been cleaning for a while, she finally asked, "How are the Lotus Petals?"

Rong Taotao thought for a moment, organizing his words. "At the very least, I can now control whether they’re inside my body or out."

Yang Chunxi: "Is that all?"

Rong Taotao immediately replied, "I’m not sure about the Prison Lotus yet, but I’m very familiar with the Sinful Lotus. I can feel that it’s quite satisfied with my current body and has now established a connection with me.

I no longer need to use extreme emotions to lure it out. I can actively use it now, though it consumes a lot of stamina."

As he spoke, Rong Taotao walked to the window and tossed a block of ice out into the deserted woods.

When he turned back to face Yang Chunxi, two Lotus Petals suddenly shot out from his body, circled around him once, and then merged back inside.

Joy flickered in Yang Chunxi’s heart. "Oh?"

Seeing Yang Chunxi’s happy expression, Rong Taotao didn’t spoil her mood.

It was true; he no longer needed extreme emotions to lure out the Sinful Lotus. But, just as he had thought, the Sinful Lotus had connected with him and would now actively influence his emotions.

Just now, from that simple rotation of the Lotus Petals, Rong Taotao had already experienced their emotions.

Utter contempt for everything, insufferably arrogant.

Everywhere the eye could see, there were only bones.

It was very... well, very Arrogant.

’If I acted like that, I’d get myself beaten to death in no time.’

Without a doubt, one’s environment could change a person. What’s more, the Sinful Lotus and Rong Taotao were now linked in mind and spirit, so the influence was even deeper.

Rong Taotao sighed deeply in his heart. ’It seems this is the price for controlling a Divine Artifact.’

’In the future, I’ll have to not only cultivate my Soul Techniques and Soul Power, but also focus on cultivating my mind and character.’

How to use the Lotus while avoiding its negative side effects—this would have to be the absolute top priority of his training.

’It’s reversed! Everything’s been turned on its head!’

In the past, Rong Taotao had to do his utmost to "package" himself to be just as foul as the Sinful Lotus, fawning over it and trying to build Empathy with it.

But now that he had won the "goddess," Rong Taotao no longer had to grovel and please it. He could reveal his true nature and show that he wasn’t some reckless, domineering brute.

As for the goddess of the past... who cares about her anymore?

’Just gotta make do. It’s not like we can get a divorce, right?’

’Sinful Lotus, you really did give your heart to the wrong person.’

’The truth is... I’m a scumbag!’

’A kind-hearted, gentle, and humble scumbag!’