Master of Nine Stars

The security guard’s words trailed off, and he seemed a bit dazed.

Gao Lingwei: ”Sorry to trouble you. Just a moment.”

”Ah, alright...”

Before the security guard could finish, another wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.

”Whoa! That girl is seriously on fire!”

”What the hell are all these bizarre Soul Skills? How come I’ve never seen them before?”

”Watching the kids of Soul Generals compete is really an eye-opener, haha!”

Listening to the waves of cheers, Rong Taotao was itching with curiosity. Just what kind of Soul Pearls and Soul Skills had Nan Cheng equipped Ye Nanxi with?

He subconsciously turned his head, only to see the security guard’s large face on the steps below, staring at him curiously...

Rong Taotao jumped in fright and quickly turned his head back. Gao Lingwei noticed this too and kicked Rong Taotao, both annoyed and amused. She then shifted her position to block the security guard’s line of sight to Rong Taotao.

A full five minutes later, a message finally came from his Inner Soul Map.

”Advanced! Soul Technique: Starfield Heart, Two-Star Mid-Tier!”

’Ah, that feels good.’

Rong Taotao stood up and let out a sigh of relief. His Starfield Soul Technique had been at the Two-Star Low-Tier for a long time. It was only because he was always in the Snow Realm that he lacked the right environment to train it.

During the competition in Fengtian City and now this one in Imperial Capital City, Rong Taotao had been training every single moment he could, even while watching the match today.

Finally, his hard work had paid off!

Starfield Soul Technique, Two-Star Mid-Tier!

It was just a bit of a shame that his Soul Technique was still too far from reaching Three-Star. If Rong Taotao could use a Three-Star compatible Starfield Soul Skill, his power would increase by a huge margin!

Gao Lingwei gave the security guard a polite nod of thanks, then dragged Rong Taotao into the stands. She chose a spot near the edge, basically pushing two excitedly cheering spectators further inside...

”A pleasant surprise, huh?” Rong Taotao tilted his baseball cap and leaned close to Gao Lingwei’s ear. ”This Fengtai area is closer to the Starfield Vortex, so the Soul Power is denser.”

”Mm,” Gao Lingwei nodded. She was happy that Rong Taotao’s Soul Technique had advanced, but as a contestant herself, she had no desire to compete in the Fengtai Sports Center. If her opponents were Starfield Soul Martial Artists, it would be even worse.

This place was very close to Imperial Capital City’s Starfield Vortex. The Soul Power was terrifyingly dense, basically a cheat code for Starfield Soul Martial Artists!

”Whoa—damn, damn...” Rong Taotao suddenly cried out, and the surrounding crowd also gasped in astonishment.

Gao Lingwei looked down and saw what looked like a tiny ant on the green field, picking up another tiny ant and smashing it wildly against the ground.

She shifted her gaze to the large screen and saw a burly man with a rugged face grabbing another equally heavyset man and swinging him around, smashing him left and right. Two large pits had already been gouged into the turf on either side of him!

The man being swung around... judging by his build, he probably weighed over 200 pounds!

Without a doubt, to lift such a heavy opponent, the rugged-faced man must have been enhanced by Douxing Qi.

’So, Starfield Soul Martial Artists really are The Chosen Ones, huh?’

Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists have Snow Dance, but it only increases Movement Speed and allows them to maneuver. Against absolute power, it’s really hard to resist.

And this power gap would only continue to widen as the opponent’s Douxing Qi level increased.

Fortunately, however, Snow Dance had an extremely high Potential Value, a full three or four tiers higher than Douxing Qi’s.

”The highest level of Douxing Qi is Master-tier, right?” Gao Lingwei suddenly asked.

”Yeah,” Rong Taotao said, watching as the burly man threw his opponent toward Ye Nanxi. And Ye Nanxi truly transformed into the Tulip Legion, delivering a volley kick, her ankle wreathed in several brilliant stars.

BANG!

Rong Taotao couldn’t hear the sound; he was just imagining it.

What a volley kick!

And she wasn’t kicking a soccer ball, but the opponent’s head.

’Holy crap, is she trying to kick him to death...’

’Huh?’

’Did Da Wei just ask me something?’

Rong Taotao quickly answered, ”Right, the highest level of Douxing Qi is Master-tier.”

Douxing Qi has a Potential Value of four stars, which is considered a relatively powerful Soul Skill.

It was just a shame that most of Rong Taotao’s Starfield Soul Skills were Excellent Level. Only the illumination-type Star-shaped Lamp and his Douxing Qi were still Normal-tier, not yet advanced to Excellent Level.

Rong Yuanshan had taught Rong Taotao how Excellent Level Douxing Qi worked.

Normal-tier Douxing Qi has one spiral of Soul Power surging through it. Excellent Level Douxing Qi has two spirals, and so on.

But back then, Rong Taotao’s use and understanding of Douxing Qi were still clumsy and not very deep.

’But now...’

An idea sparked in Rong Taotao’s mind. ’Should I ride the momentum of my Soul Technique’s advancement and try to add another spiral to my Douxing Qi?’

”TWEET! TWEET!”

Rong Taotao snapped back to reality and quickly looked down at the field.

Although he couldn’t hear what was happening on the field, the referee’s whistle was sharp and piercing, echoing in every corner of the stadium.

”ROAR...” In an instant, applause erupted, and the crowd’s exclamations of praise were endless.

There was nothing interesting to see with the tiny ants, so Rong Taotao turned to look at the big screen and saw Ye Nanxi’s ”crowd-pleasing” side.

Her face was flushed red with an excited smile. Although she was panting, she held up both of her teammates’ wrists, one in each hand, raising their arms high to receive the tidal wave of applause from the audience.

But her two twin teammates looked a bit unwell. Their clothes were disheveled, and they seemed to have taken quite a bit of damage.

Rong Taotao didn’t know how badly they were hurt, but from Ye Nanxi’s ecstatic expression, he knew she’d had a blast ”kicking the ball”...

”Let’s go. We can congratulate them on their win, and I can pick up some pointers,” Rong Taotao said, making a resolution in his heart.

’Ye Nanxi and her two Great God teammates are all Starfield Soul Martial Artists. Their Douxing Qi must be at least Excellent Level, right? Maybe even Elite-tier!’

’I can’t let this trip be for nothing. I’ll ask them for some advice. It’d be even better if I could get some tips or tricks out of them.’

The two of them called over to their teachers and headed down the steps.

Yang Chunxi naturally had no objections. Xia Fangran was even less interested in this kind of competition, merely doing his duty as a bodyguard. The moment he heard they were leaving, Xia Fangran wished he could just Instant Teleport back to the hotel, lie on the couch, and play on his phone...

As spectators, they couldn’t enter the players’ locker room. They found a food court inside the stadium, and Rong Taotao made a call while waiting in line to buy french fries.

However, the group of four—two teachers and two students—had almost finished their combo meals by the time Ye Nanxi finally called back.

”What’s up?”

Rong Taotao stuffed a chicken nugget into his mouth and said, ”Congrats.”

”You watched my match! So, how did I do?”

Rong Taotao mumbled, ”I didn’t see the whole match. My seat wasn’t great, and I also happened to advance a tier while watching, so I wasn’t fully focused.”

”Uh... advanced a tier? You... Wait a minute!” Ye Nanxi’s voice was full of disbelief. ”Your seat wasn’t great? You came to watch the match in person?”

”Yeah.”

Ye Nanxi: ”Where are you? Did you already leave?”

”Nope. First floor, southwest food court, eating chicken nuggets.”

Ye Nanxi: ”I’ll come find you. Wait for me.”

Rong Taotao shook the small box of chicken nuggets. ”Hurry up. There are only six left. I’m leaving once they’re gone.”

”Then go ahead and leave.”

Rong Taotao: ”...”

”I’m going to take a shower. See you around, if fate allows~”

Rong Taotao: ”Ye! Nan! Xi!”

”Hehe,” Ye Nanxi chuckled. ”Be right there.”

A short while later, Rong Taotao saw a few people who looked like spectators whispering to each other around the corner, their gazes fixed on one spot.

Sure enough, a girl in an orange-red tracksuit emerged, looking around in their direction.

Rong Taotao raised his arm and gave a small wave.

Ye Nanxi’s eyes lit up. She came skipping over, and it was clear that having just won the match had put her in a wonderful mood.

Where was the foul-mouthed girl from before?

This world was truly a realistic place.

Winning solves everything!

Whether it’s other people’s problems or your own...

As Ye Nanxi walked over, she also spotted Gao Lingwei in her baseball cap. For a moment, their eyes met.

”Da Wei?”

Gao Lingwei smiled and nodded. ”Hello.”

”Wow, we finally meet!” Ye Nanxi giggled, approaching their small table and studying Gao Lingwei closely. ”No wonder that when Taotao was trekking through the Starfield Vortex, he always said he wished you were by his side. Tsk... You’re even more beautiful than on TV!”

Gao Lingwei raised an eyebrow slightly, then turned her gaze to Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao’s face flushed with embarrassment. ”To be fair, the scenery in the Starfield Vortex is quite beautiful...”

...

Author’s Note: My new book, ”Starting From the Red Moon,” is a sci-fi novel. Please check it out if you’re interested!

Also, it’s the end of the month~ If you have any voting tickets, please use them for this book~