Master of Nine Stars

Atop the cliff, in the mountain forest.

Rong Taotao sat in the snow, his back against a large tree, letting Li Lie rip the Snow Corpse hand off his calf.

The sharp nails of the Snow Corpse’s hand had dug deep into his calf, leaving several bloody holes.

Li Lie’s palm was covered in a white glow. He pressed a hand to Rong Taotao’s calf, slowly healing the wound, and asked with a chuckle, ”How is it? Does it hurt?”

Hearing this, Rong Taotao shook his head.

It wasn’t that Rong Taotao cared much about the pain. It was the content of the recent assessment that left him feeling dejected. He had been full of confidence, only to be ruthlessly crushed by reality.

Of course, Rong Taotao could withstand such a blow. It was just one failure, nothing more. He had a much grander goal. ’How could I fall here?’

Not far away, Gao Lingwei stood with her arms crossed, leaning against a tree. Watching Rong Taotao get his wounds treated, she couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.

It was certainly a good thing that the two of them were confident and unafraid of difficulty.

But when faced with an assessment that exceeded their capabilities, confidence alone wasn’t enough. It had to be backed by actual strength.

So, how were they supposed to break this impasse?

”Da Wei.”

”Hm?”

Rong Taotao turned to Gao Lingwei and said, ”Physically, I’m at a disadvantage. If we want to break through, you’ll have to be the vanguard. I’ll hold the line while you break new ground.”

Gao Lingwei nodded lightly. ”Alright. But we still can’t solve the problem of the Corpse Tide.”

Rong Taotao continued, ”We can’t just let them swarm us. Three or five Snow Corpses, I can knock them back with a single Star-Stepping Split. But if they come at us layer by layer, one pushing the next, we don’t stand a chance.”

Gao Lingwei thought for a moment and said, ”We could try using Ice Pillars more often to break up their formation. The more sparse the Corpse Tide is, the better it will be for our charge.”

”Mhm,” Rong Taotao nodded. He grabbed a bandage and wrapped his wound, tying it viciously tight before getting to his feet and stomping his foot. ”Let’s go.”

Li Lie was taken aback. ”Now?”

”Yeah,” Rong Taotao nodded immediately. ”It’s just a few puncture wounds. You healed them a bit, and I’ve got it bandaged now. It won’t affect my movement.”

Li Lie glanced at Rong Taotao, then turned to look at Xia Fangran, who was a short distance away.

”Go ahead, no one’s stopping you.” Xia Fangran shrugged. ”Your Coach Li and I came here to create difficulties for you, and then to escort you to safety.”

Li Lie: ”...”

Xia Fangran walked to the edge of the cliff. ”You two can just head down. We’ll watch from here. But you need to remember, Rong Taotao.”

Rong Taotao watched Xia Fangran’s back. ”Hm?”

Xia Fangran: ”You’ve already failed once.”

As he spoke, Xia Fangran turned his head, a nasty grin on his face. ”To be precise, you’ve already died once. Without me and Old Li, you would’ve been swallowed by the Corpse Tide, eaten clean to the bone.”

Rong Taotao pressed his lips together and didn’t respond.

”Same goes for you.” Xia Fangran turned to Gao Lingwei. ”Your teammate died. You should have been left all alone, probably going crazy, or crying, or maybe you’d have died right along with him.”

Gao Lingwei clenched her fists and strode to the cliff’s edge. Her expression was grim, her silence terrifying.

With the help of a Snow Ghost Hand, the two once again descended to the bottom of the valley.

Li Lie walked over to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Xia Fangran. ”Did you have to provoke them like that?”

”Yeah.” Xia Fangran nodded immediately. ”Those two are always winning. Winning against their peers, winning when fighting above their level. I really don’t think that’s a good thing.”

Li Lie nodded thoughtfully, understanding Xia Fangran’s intention.

Who would have thought that Xia Fangran would suddenly start cursing, ”Damn it all! I’ve never had students this outstanding. I’m almost forgetting how to teach.”

I held back for the entire Outer League, just waiting for them to lose so I could properly teach them a lesson, but in the end...

”Ah, this feels great! I’ve finally gotten back to my normal teaching style!”

”I need to think up some good lines. When they fail again in a bit, I’m going to really let them have it.”

Li Lie: ”...”

From the bottom of the canyon, roars echoed once more.

Li Lie looked down and saw pillars of ice shooting up, one after another, sending Snow Corpses flying.

Li Lie raised an eyebrow slightly. ”Their choice of tactics is good. It looks like they’ve found the right method.”

Xia Fangran cried out in alarm, ”No way! Don’t you dare succeed!”

Li Lie: ”...”

「At the same time, at the bottom of the canyon.」

Gao Lingwei, Long Halberd in hand, led the charge. She unleashed a vicious horizontal sweep, but instead of knocking away the several Snow Corpses before her, she was forced back several steps by an immense force!

”Rise!” Rong Taotao suddenly raised his hand. A Snow Ghost Hand burst from the snow, caught the sole of a Snow Corpse’s foot, and viciously shoved it upward.

”HISS...!” But the Snow Corpses behind it never stopped advancing. With their sharp fangs and claws, they instantly tore the Snow Ghost Hand to shreds!

Gao Lingwei took another step back, pressed one hand to the ground, and an Ice Pillar shot up in front of her.

WHOOSH...

The Ice Pillar was clearly much more effective, sending three Snow Corpses flying at once and instantly creating a small gap in the dense Corpse Tide.

”CRASH...” However, the Ice Pillar was immediately shattered by the surging Snow Corpses from behind.

Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao retreated quickly as a succession of Ice Pillars burst from the snow, flinging one Snow Corpse after another into the air.

Unfortunately, to cast an Ice Pillar, they had to press a palm to the snow to create a connection. On this chaotic battlefield, such an action was obviously a major inconvenience.

”Fall back, Da Wei! It’s no good! They’re still too dense!” Rong Taotao shouted, summoning another Ice Pillar.

”Damn it!” Gao Lingwei retreated quickly, her pupils shrinking slightly.

At the bottom of the 50-meter-wide canyon, under the assault of the Corpse Tide, dozens of Snow Corpses had already circled around them, attacking from their left-rear and right-rear to quickly form an encirclement!

Rong Taotao yelled urgently, ”Break out! Break out toward the rear!”

At this point, they no longer hoped to cut a path forward. They would be lucky just to fight their way out the back!

”CLANG!” With a crisp ring, Rong Taotao’s hands, infused with Douxing Qi, collided hard with a Snow Corpse’s sharp claws.

Rong Taotao swept with his long halberd, pushing the Snow Corpse aside, stomped his foot, and quickly charged forward.

Gao Lingwei, who was supposed to be the vanguard, was now bringing up the rear. She viciously kicked an oncoming Snow Corpse in the face and used the rebound to propel herself toward Rong Taotao.

”ROAR!!!”

But as she flew toward Rong Taotao, a Snow Corpse shot out from the side and snatched her by the ankle mid-air!

And this Snow Corpse... had four icy corpse spots on its right cheek, and a portion of its forearm was missing!

”Da Wei!?” Rong Taotao whipped his head around, only to see Gao Lingwei’s face contorted in a snarl. A Snow Burst Ball was rapidly forming on the sole of her boot, but while it gathered, the Snow Corpse violently swung her back into the Corpse Tide.

”ROAR!!!” The broken-armed Snow Corpse watched Gao Lingwei get thrown into the Corpse Tide and couldn’t help but rear its head back and let out a triumphant, bellowing roar!

”WHOOSH...”

The very instant Gao Lingwei was swallowed by the Corpse Tide, the thick carpet on the canyon floor was once again lifted away...

...

「Atop the cliff, deep in the forest.」

Li Lie knelt before Gao Lingwei, one hand covered in a white glow, holding her ankle. His eyes, however, glanced at her left cheek as he said, ”It didn’t leave a scar.”

Just moments ago, when Gao Lingwei was rescued, there had been Snow Corpse claw marks on her face. The sharp nails had left three bleeding gashes, which were now completely healed by Li Lie.

”Thank you,” Gao Lingwei said in a low voice. In truth, she didn’t care about the scar; she was just filled with a burning hatred for that broken-armed Snow Corpse.

Unsurprisingly, that Snow Corpse was indeed of a higher level. It was also more sinister and skilled at seizing opportunities. Amidst the ferocious Corpse Tide, every move it made was a fatal blow.

”Heh. The same Snow Corpse killed each of you once. I guess you could say it’s distributing its favors evenly.” Nearby, Xia Fangran leaned against a tree, seemingly making sarcastic remarks, but in reality...

Alright, he really was just making sarcastic remarks. Xia Fangran was doing his utmost to be derisive, seizing the opportunity to relentlessly crush Rong Taotao’s and Gao Lingwei’s spirits.

Gao Lingwei bit her lower lip so hard it lost its color. With her head down, she was clearly trying her utmost to endure something.

Rong Taotao, his clothes in disarray, walked over, leaned down, and patted Gao Lingwei’s shoulder. ”Don’t mind him.”

Gao Lingwei: ”Mhm.”

Xia Fangran: ”...”

Rong Taotao crouched down and said, ”It seems our only option is to retreat first.”

Gao Lingwei: ”What’s the plan?”

Rong Taotao: ”Facing the Corpse Tide head-on is unrealistic. We have to fight while falling back.

”And we can’t be impatient. We need to keep using Ice Pillars until we’ve completely separated the hundreds of Snow Corpses that are clustered together. Only then will we have a chance of breaking through.”

Gao Lingwei thought it over and over, then nodded silently.

As Li Lie released his hand, Gao Lingwei ripped away the tattered pant leg at her ankle, took the gauze from the side, and quickly wrapped the wound.

Li Lie smiled as he watched the two students conversing in low voices. They weren’t scared, and they hadn’t backed down. This was very good.

Similarly, despite suffering consecutive setbacks, they hadn’t lost heart. Instead, they were actively trying to find a solution.

Compared to them succeeding in their breakout, this scene was actually what Li Lie and Xia Fangran preferred to see.

”Figure it out before you go down again, you hear!” Xia Fangran was impressed in his heart, but his words were merciless. ”Coach Li and I are getting pretty tired.”

”They say saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda. At the rate you two are throwing your lives away, it won’t be long before Old Li and I have built a whole Heaven-Reaching Tower.”

Rong Taotao shot Xia Fangran an impatient look. ”You talk too much!”

Xia Fangran: ???

Xia Fangran turned to Li Lie and asked dumbly, ”Was that kid talking about me?”

Rong Taotao pulled Gao Lingwei up from the ground, and with a great stride forward, the two of them actually leaped straight off the hundred-meter-deep cliff!

Unwilling! Unyielding! Unconvinced!