Master of Nine Stars

Outside Hundred Corps Pass, Tiger, Sheep, Dog, and Pig galloped swiftly on horseback, heading toward Songbai Town.

’What a move,’

’You could call this ”a sheep entering the tiger’s den.”’

’Also known as ”clay pigs and pottery dogs”...’

With only two days until the New Year, Rong Yang, who was still recovering from his injuries, was preparing to reunite with his family.

Although his destination was also Songbai Town, he was definitely not going for a mission. With Yin Hu around, there was no way he would let an injured Rong Yang participate in one.

His brother had arranged to meet his girlfriend in Songbai Town today.

This injury of his could be considered a blessing in disguise.

Not only did Rong Yang get to spend a long time with Yang Chunxi and the Little Souls outside Qianshan Pass, but now he could also spend a peaceful New Year with his girlfriend.

At that moment, Rong Taotao was still sitting behind Gao Lingwei, his forehead pressed against her back. He had his eyes closed, the very picture of contentment.

It wasn’t that the position itself was particularly enjoyable. After all, no matter how smoothly the Snow Night Shock moved, the journey was inevitably bumpy, and no one could be truly comfortable.

The key was the new Snowflake Medal that had appeared in the upper-right corner of Rong Taotao’s Inner Soul Map... It made him absolutely ecstatic!

It was such an exquisite Merit Medal, shaped like a perfect snowflake, and what’s more, it looked like a hexagonal Star Disc.

This Merit Medal provided a full 10 points of Potential Value. Rong Taotao absolutely loved it!

’First Class Star Disc Snowflake Medal... Just listen to that name. Ah, it’s so beautiful!’

’With a Snowflake Medal this beautiful, I have to collect a whole row of them, right?’

”Oh, right, Brother.” Rong Taotao suddenly opened his eyes and peeked his head out from behind Gao Lingwei, looking toward Sheep to his front right.

Rong Yang: ”What is it?”

Rong Taotao asked, ”Besides the Snowflake Medal, what other medals does our Snow Burning Army have?”

”Haha.” Hearing this, Chen Bingxun, who was to the front left, laughed out loud. He turned his head to look over, and a rare flicker of admiration passed through the imposing man’s eyes.

Looking at Rong Taotao’s innocent expression, Chen Bingxun was the first to explain, ”They’re all called Snowflake Medals. The difference is in their shape, which represents different levels of merit.”

”Oh?” Rong Taotao’s interest was immediately piqued. He asked politely, ”Could I trouble you to tell me more, Captain Chen?”

”The vast majority of snowflakes are regular hexagons. While every single one looks different, they can be divided into several major categories,” Chen Bingxun began. ”The Snow Burning Army used this as a basis to create three different types of medals.

The lowest is the Third Class Merit Medal, the Fern Snowflake Medal. The extended parts of the snow crystal look a lot like fern fronds, and the patterns are very intricate.

The Second Class Merit Medal is the Pine Needle Snowflake Medal. We’re surrounded by pine trees, so you see pine needles everywhere. If you imagine those tiny pine needles as tiny ice crystal pillars, the hexagonal Snowflake Medal is constructed from those.

The First Class Merit Medal is the Star Disc Snowflake Medal you just received. It has an ice crystal Star Disc in the middle, surrounded by six small ice crystal stars.”

”Mhm...” Rong Taotao pressed his lips together, incredibly excited. He asked, ”Wiping out the Qian Organization this time should count as a huge achievement, right?”

”Hahahaha.” Chen Bingxun let out another hearty laugh. ”You little rascal, you just got officially instated and you’re already thinking about medals before the mission is even over?”

At this moment, Chen Bingxun’s thoughts were the complete opposite of Fu Tiance’s.

Fu Tiance believed they should focus on cultivating Rong Taotao’s sense of honor. Chen Bingxun, on the other hand, felt that Rong Taotao was already quite focused on these things and instead wanted to give him a bit of advice, cautioning him against being too eager for glory, lest he become reckless in pursuit of achievements in the future.

What had caused the captain and vice-captain of the Twelfth Squad to form such polar opposite evaluations of Rong Taotao?

The answer was... Potential Value!

From the moment Rong Taotao accepted the Star Disc Snowflake Medal, everything had changed...

’10 points! That’s a full 10 points of Potential Value!’

’This is awesome!’

’Whether or not I, Rong Taotao, can become a god in the future all depends on how many Snowflake Medals I can collect!’

Gao Lingwei also sensed Rong Taotao’s unusual excitement and felt a little puzzled. After all, the contrast in his behavior was stark.

She leaned back a little, turning her head slightly, and asked in confusion, ”Why the sudden interest in medals?”

But Rong Taotao just looked at her profile. In his excellent mood, he simply sighed with admiration, ”Beautiful~!”

Gao Lingwei raised an eyebrow slightly. ’Beautiful?’

’The medal is indeed beautiful, but you just put it in a small box and left it in a drawer in the office. I haven’t seen you carrying it around, unable to put it down.’

’You said it’s beautiful... uh... You’re not talking about the medal, are you?’

Gao Lingwei seemed to realize something. Her fair cheeks flushed slightly as she immediately turned her head away, leaning forward a little to resume her normal riding posture.

This time, however, she wasn’t wearing her padded hat, and her jet-black hair, tied in a ponytail, instantly whipped Rong Taotao right across the face...

Rong Taotao clapped a hand to his face, looking at Gao Lingwei’s back with a pained expression.

’She must have done that on purpose!’

”Haha.” Ever since Rong Taotao had asked about the medals, Chen Bingxun had been keeping an eye on the two youngsters. He saw the whole exchange and couldn’t help but laugh.

Rong Taotao shot Chen Bingxun a resentful look... He held back his retort, then held back again, and finally just leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Da Wei’s back and burying his face.

’Forget it, forget it. I’ll just endure it. Better not start a roast session just yet.’

’If that had been Xia Fangran, my sharp tongue would have already been firing on all cylinders.’

’But it’s Chen Bingxun... Hmm, I’ll spare his dignity for now.’

’Sigh, I kind of miss Coach Xia.’

’It’s so boring when there’s no one to trade barbs with. Tsk... Maybe I should drag Li Ziyi into the Twelfth Squad?’