Master of Nine Stars

「The next day, at four in the morning.」

Si Huan Nian opened her eyes right on time and slowly sat up.

She ran a hand through her messy long hair and sighed deeply, seemingly still trying to wake herself up, when she heard a THUMP! from beside her.

Si Huan Nian whipped her head around to see Rong Taotao leap right out of bed, looking for all the world like a reanimated corpse.

Si Huan Nian raised an eyebrow slightly. ”You succeeded?”

”Succeeded, I succeeded,” Rong Taotao mumbled, his mind still not entirely clear. He flicked on the bedside lamp and hastily pulled on a thick, white sweater. ”Who do you think I am?”

Seeing Rong Taotao’s dazed yet hurried state, Si Huan Nian couldn’t help but smile knowingly.

’This kid... He must have been waiting for a long time. He probably didn’t dare make a single sound because it wasn’t four a.m. yet, so he just waited for me to wake up.’

Rong Taotao had entered a state of advancement during the bonfire banquet last night. After climbing up to the second floor, he had collapsed head-first onto the bed. Advancing from a three-star Soul Technique to a four-star one had taken him the entire night.

In fact, Rong Taotao wasn’t sure if he had actually slept last night. All he knew was that he’d been constantly absorbing Soul Power and striving to advance, remaining in a dazed state the whole time.

Even now, Rong Taotao still felt half-asleep.

The first thing he did after getting up was pull two cream puffs and a pack of sandwich cookies from his desk cabinet. He tore them open and began eating ravenously as he walked over to the nearby coffee table, getting ready to boil water for tea.

Seeing his ravenous, bear-like state, Si Huan Nian snorted inwardly and walked into the bathroom on her own.

As Rong Taotao ate his cream puffs, his mind cleared up a bit. He opened his Inner Soul Map and nearly burst out in a silly grin...

Soul Technique: Heart of the Snow Realm: Four-star, initial-phase!

Hooray!

What did a four-star Soul Technique mean?

It meant he could add points to all his Soul Skills and raise their Potential Value caps!

So what was he waiting for?

’First up, Snow Burst, let’s go~’

Rong Taotao looked at his Snow Burst, which only had a 3-star Potential Value and had already reached the elite-grade. Without a second thought, he directly threw a Potential Point into it.

Immediately, Snow Burst’s Potential Value cap increased, reaching 4 stars.

Rong Taotao had a full 21 reserve Potential Points. He’d used one, so he had 20 left. ’Hmm... let me take a good look at my options!’

’White Lantern Paper Cage and Luminous Lantern Paper Cage... There’s probably no need to upgrade them. In the end, they’re just lighting tools, right?’

Rong Taotao hesitated for a moment, then looked at Snow Step.

This Soul Skill, which allowed him to walk on snow, also had only a 3-star Potential Value, and he had already maxed it out to the elite-grade.

’Should I raise it?’

’What more can I get from this Soul Skill?’

’It lets me walk on snow and move freely in snow-covered environments, so...’

’If the level gets higher and higher, could I ride a single snowflake to the ends of the earth?’

For a moment, Rong Taotao was lost in thought. He had always dreamed of being able to step on a snowflake for a second jump in mid-air.

This wasn’t just some wild guess. After all, a considerable number of Snow Realm Soul Martial Artists had Snow Night Shock as their Lifebound Soul Beast.

Although Snow Night Shock’s aptitude was very low, it would be balanced out by the Soul Martial Artist’s own aptitude. Therefore, the Soul Skills that Snow Night Shock itself possessed would also have their Potential Value caps raised.

Once a Soul Martial Artist reached the Soul School Ranks and could use Fusion Skills with Snow Night Shock, it was clear that Snow Step allowed them to reign supreme in a blizzard.

Xia Fangran was a living example. Snow Dance could make his body lighter, even allowing him to ride the wind, but his direction of travel was always determined by the direction the snow and wind were blowing.

For Xia Fangran to be able to change his trajectory in a snowstorm, he must have combined Snow Dance with a high-level Snow Step Soul Skill to achieve the effect of a mid-air jump.

Besides, at the Junior or even Middle Soul School level, the highest one could train Snow Step was probably master-grade or palace-grade, right?

If Rong Taotao could cultivate it to an even higher level, flying by stepping on snow didn’t seem like just a dream, did it?

Rong Taotao nodded to himself and tossed a Potential Point into it.

’Sooner or later, I won’t just be able to do a mid-air jump—I’ll even be able to stand in the air!’

Next up was Soul Skill: Snow Soul. This was another Soul Skill with a 3-star Potential Value that Rong Taotao had already maxed out.

’As for the weapon... there doesn’t seem to be a need to raise its Potential Value cap, does there?’

Rong Taotao felt that the weapon he wielded now was already very sturdy, not to mention it was protected by his Soul Power.

Enveloped in Soul Power, the snow-forged Heaven-piercing Halberd had never once broken in any of his past battles.

’Yeah, I’ll put that on hold for now. I’ll think about it later.’

The Potential Values for Frost Breath and Frost Flower Snowcake were both 4-star, Ice Path was 5-star, and his two core Soul Skills, Jade Dragon Gift and Snow Dance, were a whopping 7-star. He didn’t need to worry about any of them for now.

Ice Glass, Ice Pillar, and Snow Trap!

All three of these had 3-star Potential Values, and Rong Taotao had already maxed them out.

As for Ice Glass, Rong Taotao would soon be able to learn its advanced version, Ice Barrier.

Besides, he also had his self-created Soul Skill, Frost Flower Snowcake. Between Ice Glass and Frost Flower Snowcake, Rong Taotao was naturally more inclined to invest in the latter. The defining feature of Ice Glass was its brittleness, plain and simple. Frost Flower Snowcake, on the other hand, was thinner and countless times stronger defensively.

Its only drawback was the hollow filigree of the Snowflake Thin Slices. But with a Huilian petal by his side, Rong Taotao felt that the returns from improving Frost Flower Snowcake would be much greater.