Master of Nine Stars

「The next day, in the early morning.」

In the small grove north of the Martial Arts Hall, two people were wielding Heaven-piercing Halberds, writing and drawing in the snow.

The deserted grove was indeed a good place to cultivate one’s mind and character. Today, Gao Lingwei was writing Lord Su’s ”Nian Nu Jiao: Remembrance of the Red Cliffs.” The moment the first few words, ”The great river flows east,” appeared, Rong Taotao was absolutely delighted...

Gao Lingwei wrote with elegant ease, and Rong Taotao traced the characters with great satisfaction.

Writing such a bold and heroic poem was truly exhilarating.

’To be honest, I should drag Xia Fangran over here and cultivate his temperament,’ Rong Taotao thought. ’He needs to stop being so sarcastic all the time and see what true magnanimity and boldness look like...’

”Hey, kid.” A man’s voice suddenly came from above.

Rong Taotao froze. He turned and looked up to see a head poking out of the window of his own dorm room on the second floor of the Martial Arts Hall.

Oh ho?

Speak of the devil, and Xia Fangran appears.

Xia Fangran curled his lip as he watched Gao Lingwei’s fluid, masterful strokes in the snow. He couldn’t help but call down to Rong Taotao, ”Haven’t you graduated from your apprenticeship yet? Is trailing behind her and copying her every day really going to get you anywhere?”

But Rong Taotao just grinned. ”Heh heh, you’ve hit on the most important part.”

Xia Fangran: ”Huh?”

Rong Taotao shrugged. ”What’s important isn’t practicing calligraphy, but who you’re practicing it with.”

Xia Fangran: ???

’Is this brat mocking me for not having a girlfriend?’

Gao Lingwei paused, her Snow Halberd resting on the horizontal stroke of the character for ”stone.” She turned her head and shot Rong Taotao a smiling glare.

’He just had to touch a nerve, didn’t he?’

Xia Fangran immediately snapped, ”Get up here!”

Rong Taotao: ”Nope.”

Xia Fangran bristled. ”I said, get up here!”

Rong Taotao said weakly, ”No~pe.”

The window on the other side opened, and Si Huan Nian looked down at the two. ”Principal Mei is here. He wants you both to come up.”

”Ah.” Rong Taotao casually planted his Snow Halberd in the snow, and he and Gao Lingwei quickly left the grove. They circled around to the southern entrance of the Martial Arts Hall and hurried up to the second floor.

The moment Rong Taotao pushed open the door to his dorm room, he froze!

On the sofa directly opposite the door, Mei Hongyu sat in the very center, his hands clasped over his cane. He was staring with his one solitary eye, his lifeless, ancient face aimed at the doorway. The sight nearly scared the soul out of Rong Taotao...

Flanking him on the left and right of the sofa stood two of the Four Seasons—Spring and Summer—and two of the Four Rites—Sugar and Wine.

’Is this a ”World-Famous Painting”?’

’Or maybe ”All Villains”?’

Tsk tsk... what an imposing aura!

’Now this is what you call an all-star lineup, huh?’

When he saw Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei enter, a rare smile flickered across Mei Hongyu’s face. But... to be honest, it would have been better if he hadn’t smiled. On his wrinkled, bark-like face, the expression was rather creepy.

The two of them hurried inside, closing the door behind them, and greeted him one after another.

”Hello, Principal!”

”Hello, Principal!”

”Mm.” Mei Hongyu nodded in satisfaction. As strict as he was, it was truly difficult for him to be severe with these two outstanding disciples.

Without exaggeration, the performance of these two kids and the achievements they’d earned could only be described as ”meritorious.”

”Hua Nian has reported the situation to me,” Mei Hongyu said, looking at the two youngsters, his voice hoarse. ”You can now make rudimentary use of the Lotus Petal and have also discovered some of its clever applications.”

”That’s right, Principal Mei,” Rong Taotao said with a nod. ”The Prison Lotus petal I absorbed later—the one Coach Xia and I took from the Frost Beauty—it truly allows me to determine the location of other Lotus Petals.”

Mei Hongyu’s voice was raspy as he asked, ”Are the locations accurate?”

”Uh... they should be,” Rong Taotao said after a moment’s thought, gathering his words. ”If it’s far away, I can determine the general direction of the Lotus Petal.

If it’s close, like Coach Si standing in front of me right now, I can determine their precise location.”

Si Huan Nian and Li Lie were standing side by side to the left of Mei Hongyu. Even though they were standing very close together, Rong Taotao could accurately lock onto the target and know exactly who had the Lotus Petal.

The aura of a Lotus Petal was a unique sensation. It wasn’t a floral scent, but rather a feeling of a ”shared origin.” This feeling came from the Prison Lotus within Rong Taotao’s body, and there was no mistaking it.

Mei Hongyu nodded and continued, ”You said there is a Lotus Petal to the west.”

Rong Taotao: ”Yes. It’s still in the west. Its general location hasn’t changed.”

Mei Hongyu suddenly asked, ”What about the other Lotus Petals?”

Rong Taotao paused, seemingly sensing for something. After more than ten seconds, he finally replied, ”Most of the others are to the north.”

Mei Hongyu: ”How many exactly?”

Rong Taotao: ”I can sense three auras from the same source. One is due north and has never moved. If I’m not mistaken, that should be the one at Dragon River.”

As Rong Taotao finished speaking, the expressions of the others in the room shifted, especially Yang Chunxi’s.

Although Rong Taotao’s expression was normal when he mentioned this Lotus Petal, Yang Chunxi knew just how deep his obsession with Xu Fenghua was...

’He’s grown up. He knows how to hide his emotions now.’

’In fact, Yang Chunxi was thinking about much more. Ever since Rong Taotao gained the ability to locate other Lotus Petals with his Prison Lotus, had he... hmm, been regularly pinpointing his mother’s location, just to feel her presence?’

’He probably has.’

Mei Hongyu: ”Continue.”

Rong Taotao showed no particular reaction and continued, ”There’s another Lotus Petal to the northwest. The aura is faint, barely there. I can tell it’s extremely far away from me.”