Master of Nine Stars

The next morning, the stadium of Songjiang Soul Martial University was a veritable sea of people.

The spectator stands at the edge of the field were already filled with students who had come to watch the battles.

Only the biennial intramural selection tournament could draw so many students to the stadium.

The team chosen to represent Songjiang Soul Martial University would inevitably be the most outstanding of the year. To the student body, these competitors were all renowned Great Gods—figures who had been calling the shots for the past three or four years of their university careers.

The weather today was exceptionally clear, without even a hint of wind or snow, making it perfect for spectating.

A group of youths from the Soul Class sat at the edge of the field, eagerly watching the drama unfold. They observed the combatants fighting their hearts out in the stadium, shouting their approval from time to time.

All in all, twelve teams would be chosen to represent Songjiang Soul Martial University.

Four solo champions, four duos, and four trios.

Among these three event types, the trio held the highest prestige and was the most widely recognized format, followed by the solo competition.

A title like ”Solo King” sounded especially impressive and represented the pinnacle of one’s individual martial prowess within the university.

In comparison, the duo scene was smaller, but it was brimming with elite talent.

Under the unique rules of the Soul Martial World, twins held a natural advantage in duo combat. This, combined with the prevailing view that trios were the most prestigious format, meant that the number of participants in duo events was always low. The skill level, however, was exceptionally high.

Right now, the competition taking place on the vast green field was for the solo spots.

Nearly 60 students were battling fiercely on the field, forming temporary teams of two or three. The fighting was so intense that the spectating students were roaring with excitement.

The day’s events would determine the top eight for each category. The final winners, who would represent Songjiang Soul Martial University in the Outer League, would be decided tomorrow.

”Damn, it’s a total battle royale,” Rong Taotao muttered, grimacing. The solo competition was explosively intense!

The vast soccer field was covered in pockets of combat. Instructors stood at the edge of each skirmish, ready to call a stop to the fight at any moment and escort away students who had surrendered or were no longer able to battle.

At the edge of the field, the ”White-Clad Angel” medic team, led by Dong Dongdong, was completely swamped. Stretchers carried students off the field one after another. After today, the school hospital would surely be packed to the gills...

But even such a high risk of injury couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the Soul Martial Students. A past comment from Zhao Tang probably summed up the sentiment of all these Soul Martial Students: ”If I were afraid of losing, I never would have become a Martial Artist.”

If you wanted a safe and peaceful life, you really shouldn’t become a Soul Martial Artist. Even if you awakened a Soul Slot, you could still live as an ordinary person.

You could learn a few basic Soul Skills, embed some Soul Pearls with interesting abilities to add a bit of spice to your life, and live as an ordinary, yet envied, person. That was certainly another way to live.

In the stands, Gao Lingwei, who was sitting beside Rong Taotao, leaned in and whispered in his ear, ”It’ll be our turn soon, and I’m afraid it will be just like this.”

She hadn’t expected the solo event for this final round of selection trials to have a full 60 competitors.

The list of participants wasn’t made public; only their respective instructors knew who was competing, and it was all revealed at the last possible moment.

So, when the instructor called for the solo trial competitors to enter the field, more than 60 people suddenly stood up from the stands, leaving everyone completely stunned.

Not only were the spectators stunned, but the competitors themselves were as well...

’Didn’t you say you weren’t competing? You lied to me?’

’Oh, what a coincidence. So you were lying to me, too?’

’For the first three rounds, it was considered a lot if 30 or 40 people participated. Did everyone just go crazy for this final round?’

”Woohoo! Huh?” Sun Xingyu cheered excitedly, pumping a small fist. The girl she was rooting for had just kicked another opponent out of bounds. Even though her opponent could still fight, they were automatically disqualified for stepping outside the designated area.

Sun Xingyu was still in the middle of her celebration when a tall figure suddenly walked past. She didn’t pay much mind at first, but then she realized the tall student had actually crouched down beside Rong Taotao.

’He’s not leaving?’

’What’s going on?’

Sun Xingyu leaned forward, peering curiously in Rong Taotao’s direction. ’Who is this upperclassman? He seems to know Rong Taotao really well. Why don’t I recognize him?’

”Whoa!” Fan Lihua let out a soft yelp as her own petite frame was suddenly scooped up by the equally petite Sun Xingyu.

Sun Xingyu hopped one seat to her left, plopped Fan Lihua down in her original spot, and moved closer to Rong Taotao! ’Can I hear them clearly now?’

Li Ziyi had been engrossed in the match, but when he finally looked away from the field, he was dumbfounded.

’One moment of inattention, and my girlfriend gets switched out? What is this, a magic trick?’

’Sun Xingyu turned into Fan Lihua?’

Sun Xingyu was dying of curiosity. Amidst the roar of the stadium, she still couldn’t hear what the upperclassman was saying to Rong Taotao. She tilted her head up, giving Zhao Tang a pitiful, pleading look.

’This guy... hmm, I can’t pick him up.’

Zhao Tang shook his head with a smile. He put an arm around Jiao Tengda, who was sitting beside him, and had him stand up. Then, he gestured for Sun Xingyu to take the now-empty seat to his left.

”You’re the best, Tang!” Sun Xingyu giggled, hunching over as she shuffled past.

As it turned out, plenty of people were willing to help her. As Sun Xingyu shuffled past, Lu Mang thoughtfully scooted over one seat to sit next to Zhao Tang, freeing up the spot even further to the left.

Sun Xingyu felt a warm, fuzzy feeling as she plopped down in the empty seat, landing right beside Rong Taotao.

When it came to getting the inside scoop, she was dead serious!

This move was called... Front-Row Gossip!

Finally, she could hear the upperclassman’s friendly voice: ”That’s right, junior. I’m Zonglu, a senior. I’ll be participating in the duo selection trials later.”

Rong Taotao glanced at the small hand that had just landed on his knee, then shot a disgusted look at Sun Xingyu beside him. ”Ah, hello, senior. What can I do for you?”

”I heard the two of you are planning to enter the duo competition?” Zonglu asked in a very friendly tone.

”Hm?” Rong Taotao’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the friendly-faced Zonglu crouching before him.

Gao Lingwei raised an eyebrow but admitted it forthrightly, ”Yes. And?”

”Mm,” Zonglu nodded. ”Thank you for your honesty. I just want to say, you two still have plenty of opportunities ahead of you. There’s no rush to compete right now. Many of the juniors and seniors have contacted me. We’ve already formed large alliances, and we’re preparing to clear out any obstacles before the quarterfinals.”

Gao Lingwei said coolly, ”What are you trying to say?”

Zonglu smiled. ”I think you could wait and compete in two years. Participating now is unfair to you, both in terms of your current strength and from the standpoint of potential allies.”

Rong Taotao rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, studying the senior who had popped up out of nowhere. ”How do you know we’re planning to compete?”

Zonglu didn’t try to hide anything, laying it all out on the table. ”There’s a student in the Martial Arts Class named Ji Qingmei. He’s been following you two very closely and provided a detailed list of your recent activities. He concluded that you would choose to compete.”

”Ji Qingmei?” Rong Taotao’s expression darkened. ”He’s watching us that closely?”

”Taotao, you’ve made an enemy of a real scoundrel!” Sun Xingyu fumed. ”It must be because you defeated him, and now he’s holding a grudge! He’s probably still after your spot in the Soul Class! Dammit, how can someone be like that? Haven’t you beaten him into submission yet?”

Zonglu suddenly cut in, ”Regardless, your team is on our radar now. We all know you two are strong. A lot of people have seen your Lotus Petal, and they’re extremely wary of you. So...”

Rong Taotao just laughed. ”What’s this? The ’courtesy before the conflict’ approach?”

A hypocritical smile appeared on Zonglu’s face, maintaining the pretense of offering friendly advice. ”I’m just trying to persuade you. After all, your best opportunity will be two years from now.”

Gao Lingwei cut him off directly. ”And if we don’t withdraw?”

Zonglu nodded silently. ”Of course, if you insist on competing, I have no way to stop you. It’s just... I need to make things clear in advance.”

Gao Lingwei uttered a single word: ”Speak.”

Zonglu glanced at Gao Lingwei, then his gaze returned to Rong Taotao. ”We aren’t targeting you specifically. This has nothing to do with personal grudges.

”Our targets are all the top-tier teams. Only by doing this will we have a better shot at taking first place once we get to the quarterfinals.”

Gao Lingwei’s face was impassive. She stated coolly, ”You mean, you’re going to gang up on us.”

Zonglu smiled. ”Don’t hold it against the competitors. If you’re going to blame something, blame the selection system.”

Gao Lingwei said coldly, ”You can see yourself out.”

She rarely spoke with such icy coldness. As a public figure of sorts, she always wore a perfectly composed smile. At most, she would project a faint sense of detachment, but she would never outright ”freeze” someone out.

For her to react this way today, it was clear she was genuinely angry.

Zonglu gave Rong Taotao an apologetic smile, then stood up and walked away.

To Rong Taotao, however, that apologetic smile looked utterly insincere.

”What’s wrong with that guy? He’s going to target you, and he goes out of his way to come and announce it?” Sun Xingyu pouted, speaking with dissatisfaction.

”Oh, he’s very clever,” Gao Lingwei sneered, her voice laced with contempt. ”If their alliance targeted us right from the start without any warning, it would look bad. No one is stupid; everyone wants weaker teams to make it to the quarterfinals so they’ll be lambs to the slaughter.

”Taotao’s background carries a lot of weight. That guy first put on a show of offering friendly advice, then revealed his true intentions, explaining why we’d be targeted. He did all that because he’s wary of who’s backing Rong Taotao.

”If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t have bothered giving them a heads-up.”

Sun Xingyu nodded thoughtfully as she listened to Gao Lingwei’s analysis. It was obvious he was afraid of Rong Taotao’s mother, the Soul General.

Gao Lingwei snorted. ”He’s clever, all right. He threw Ji Qingmei under the bus, telling us exactly who we should be holding a grudge against. Then he tells us not to resent our opponents, but to blame the rules instead.”

Rong Taotao nodded in agreement. ”A hypocrite from the senior class and a true scoundrel from the Martial Arts Class... Tsk, I’ve got the whole set. My life really is full of colorful characters, isn’t it?”

Gao Lingwei said, ”We need to change our strategy.”

Rong Taotao: ”Oh?”

Gao Lingwei: ”Since we’re being treated as a top-tier team, we’ll act the part.”

Rong Taotao: ”You mean team up with Bai Xiweng, Bai Xiwu, Qi Dao, and Qi Tian?”

Gao Lingwei leaned back in her seat, elegantly crossing her legs as she watched the chaotic scene on the field. ”We won’t even have to ask. When they see us getting ganged up on, they’ll come to our aid on their own.”

”Wow...” Sun Xingyu’s mouth hung slightly open as she gazed at Gao Lingwei’s unbelievably cool and commanding presence. Little stars were practically sparkling in her eyes.

Rong Taotao: ”Why’s that?”

Gao Lingwei, having shed her usual restraint, gave a wild smile. ”Because if we fall, they’re the next ones to be targeted.

”There are only two or three top-tier teams in this competition. When the other top teams see all these alliances ganging up on us, they’ll realize they’ve suddenly got an ally. They’ll probably be ecstatic.”

”Mm,” Rong Taotao nodded thoughtfully.

Gao Lingwei: ”We strike fast. Since getting ganged up on is a foregone conclusion, we’ll face those second-tier teams and take out as many as we can right at the start. That’s how a top-tier team should fight.”

Rong Taotao looked up at Gao Lingwei, their eyes locking.

Gao Lingwei raised a challenging eyebrow. ”Care to raise some hell with me?”

A smile played on Rong Taotao’s lips. He took her hand, giving the pads of her fingers a gentle squeeze. ”It would be my pleasure.”

...