Master of Nine Stars

"Wh-what is this?"

"Did they max out their evasion stat!? Is their teamwork off the charts!?"

"Holy hell... you wouldn’t even see this in a movie! This is insane, isn’t it? Don’t tell me these two spend their days fighting inside a Corpse Fire Camel Army?"

Well... while the two had never fought among Corpse Fire Camels, they *had* fought their way through a Corpse Tide numbering in the hundreds of thousands!

And they had slaughtered their way through the Corpse Tide every single time, for three whole months!

Watching the pair navigate the treacherous Fire Camel Array, their every move a dance with death, Wanqi Wu’s eyes widened. He was completely stunned!

The scene unfolding before him had completely shattered his expectations!

"Hm?" Wanqi Yan’s expression shifted. She realized something was wrong. ’The Corpse Fire Camel Array’s charge is almost over, yet our opponents are completely unscathed?’

She immediately raised her right hand, calling upon the heavens...

’Dammit,’ Rong Taotao cursed internally. ’This stupid Molten Rock field is too hot!’

Even on a Starfield terrain, fighting like this would have left the area coated in frost. Gao Lingwei’s Wind and Snow Blade would have been able to pierce through the enemy ranks. But now?

’With this heat, with these scorching flames, how could there be even a trace of frost left?’

’The environment makes it impossible for Gao Lingwei to use her Wind and Snow Blade. Forget her Wind and Snow Blade, I can’t even summon a single Ice Pillar!’

"Hah!" Sliding sideways, Rong Taotao thrust his halberd out. In an unconventional pole-vaulting maneuver, he used his sliding momentum to plant the long halberd and vault into the air, landing perfectly on the back of a Corpse Fire Camel.

At that very moment, only one thought ran through Rong Taotao’s mind:

’So damn hot!!!’

Protected by his Soul Power, the flames didn’t burn his skin, but his clothes were already starting to smolder.

"HISS!"

Without a word, Rong Taotao thrust his halberd forward!

"ARGH!" With a furious roar, Rong Taotao’s arms swelled with Douxing Qi. He drove the Ironspear Point of his halberd straight into the Corpse Fire Camel’s eye socket, then brutally twisted its head, again and again...

To everyone’s utter astonishment, Rong Taotao, wielding his Heaven-piercing Halberd, wrenched the Corpse Fire Camel around and changed its direction. And then... he charged straight at the Wanqi Siblings!?

Suddenly a cavalryman, no longer a foot soldier, Rong Taotao was shrouded in Soul Power. His legs gripped the skeletal beast beneath him as he thrust and parried with his halberd, his skill simply breathtaking!

He had no explosive Soul Skills to unleash. All he had was the mount he’d just stolen, the Heaven-piercing Halberd in his hands, and his consummate Martial Arts!

"Yah!" Rong Taotao roared. His scorched face, streaked with grime and blood, radiated an incredible aura!

A lone rider on his steed, charging against the tide of the Corpse Fire Camel Array!

Even though the main wave of the Corpse Fire Camel Army had nearly passed, the image was still utterly breathtaking!

"SHINK!"

With a single thrust of his halberd, Rong Taotao shattered the skull of a skeletal beast charging from his left.

"CRACK!"

He followed the motion with a horizontal swing of his Heaven-piercing Halberd, batting away a roaring Fire Camel that charged from his right.

Once the roaring torrent had surged past, the lone rider and his mount stood out, stark and clear.

He gave off the bizarre air of a vanguard leading the charge!

He rode in the opposite direction of the skeletal army behind him, making a beeline for the Wanqi Siblings!

"Rong Taotao! You still want more!?" A brilliant light flared in Wanqi Wu’s eyes. His face was filled not with anger, but with pure excitement, his fighting spirit surging to an unprecedented peak!

Throughout this entire tournament, including the previous intra-division battles, Wanqi Wu had never felt his will to fight burn so brightly!

’Exhilarating! This is absolutely exhilarating!’

Rong Taotao remained silent, but on his soot-blackened face, his eyes shone with startling brilliance!

’Yes, on the battlefield,’

’respect is earned through battle!’

’And from the looks of it, you... are still not quite there!’

As if sensing the meaning in Rong Taotao’s gaze, Wanqi Wu brandished his Ma Shuo and shot forward. He leaped into the air, and as he did, a solitary Corpse Fire Camel materialized beneath him.

"Brother!" Wanqi Yan’s face fell. She had already called upon the heavens; the Phoenix Group was ready to be unleashed. But Wanqi Wu was charging in himself!?

But it was as if Wanqi Wu couldn’t hear his sister at all. He was already lost in another world.

He spurred his fiery skeletal mount on, charging straight for Rong Taotao. "I’ll give you what you want, Rong Taotao! From this moment on, all decorum is gone!"

"VMMMM..."

Hearing those words, the rapidly advancing Rong Taotao felt the Heaven-piercing Halberd in his hands begin to thrum with energy.

The Snow Realm Soul Skill: Snow Soul, one he had forged an ultimate bond with, merged completely with his spirit in that instant.

In the past, Rong Taotao would press the Heaven-piercing Halberd to his forehead, reliving his techniques with it, reminiscing together about the endless days and nights of arduous training.

But today, the imperious Heaven-piercing Halberd: Snow Soul was no longer just subtly influencing Rong Taotao. For the first time, it displayed a raw, palpable emotion:

Battle!

A battle to the death!!!

"Oh my god, oh my god..." Su Wan’s body trembled with excitement. Watching the two horsemen closing in on each other, she knew what was coming!

She wasn’t intentionally commentating; the words were an unconscious murmur.

Beside her, Dai Liunian was speechless. And it wasn’t just him; the entire stadium, holding tens of thousands of spectators, had fallen almost completely silent!

The whole world went silent!

In that moment, it was as if everyone had been transported back to an ancient Arena.

Two riders, charging head-on!

After their figures flash past one another, who will be left standing!?

Wanqi Wu, clad in his Flame Armor, raised his long, glowing Flaming Horse Armor. He assumed the textbook stance of a heavy cavalryman’s lance charge. "This time, you either die or surrender!"

’Surrender!?’

’What a joke!!!’

Rong Taotao gripped the thrumming Heaven-piercing Halberd with both hands as the Corpse Fire Camel beneath him charged forward with abandon.

The two riders grew closer, and the pressure in the air became immense!

Without a doubt, the moments of a cavalry charge like this are designed to make one feel fear, to flinch, to retreat, to break down mentally, and finally, to surrender.

But for Rong Taotao...

His eyes saw nothing but Wanqi Wu’s fierce gaze. His heart knew nothing but to charge forward!

The Heaven-piercing Halberd yearned for a battle to the death; how could its Spearman be the first to surrender?