Master of Nine Stars

Chapter 49 - 41: First

THUD!

With a soft sound, a tall figure completely blocked the classroom door.

Yang Chunxi frowned. She looked at the newcomer and opened her mouth as if to speak, but after a moment’s hesitation, she said nothing.

The tall figure staggered in. From the look on his face, he still seemed to be in a daze.

Rong Taotao turned his head to look, his face immediately lighting up with delight.

Teacher Li Lie!

"Nice!" Jiao Tengda’s excited voice came again from behind and to his right. "The Wine of the Pine Soul Four Rites, ranked 28th among the top 100 master teachers!"

Hearing this, Rong Taotao couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Rank 28?

’His rank is that high?’

With Si Huan Nian ranked 87th as a baseline, just how much stronger must Li Lie be to be ranked 28th?

’Well... judging by age alone, it’s not too surprising that Li Lie is more powerful.’

After all, Li Lie had to be in his early forties, while Si Huan Nian was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

Li Lie’s personality was unchanged. Seemingly indifferent to anyone’s opinion, he didn’t walk around the side to get to the lectern, but cut straight through the classroom.

As he passed Rong Taotao, a very strong smell of alcohol hit him.

’Damn, drinking this early in the morning?’

’And this is a military camp!’

’He dares to drink here?’

Rong Taotao watched Li Lie’s tall back as he walked to the lectern, a thousand question marks popping up in his mind.

’You’ve got some serious nerve~’

’When I saw him at the school’s Martial Arts Hall last time, this teacher seemed so proper, didn’t he?’

’How did he turn into this?’

’Or... is this his normal state, and our first meeting at the Martial Arts Hall was a rare moment of sobriety for him?’

"Um..." Li Lie rested one hand on the lectern. He wore a pure white down jacket with a thick white scarf wrapped around his neck. Paired with his tall frame, he looked just like a polar bear.

Li Lie seemed a bit lost. He looked at the six kids below, smacked his lips, and turned to Yang Chunxi. "Who are they again?"

Yang Chunxi gave Li Lie a rather helpless look and said, "Lu Mang, Xu Taiping, Jiao Tengda."

"Yeah!" Jiao Tengda clenched his fist and pumped it, his excitement plain to see.

"Heh." Seeing this, Li Lie grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. He gestured at Jiao Tengda and said, "From now on, you’re the captain of this team."

Everyone: ???

Completely ignoring their reactions, Li Lie said, "Ten minutes. Assemble at the North Gate of Hundred Corps Pass. Remember to bring... *hic*... your weapons."

That drunken hiccup struck a chord with Lu Mang. He was already starting to doubt the authenticity of the information he’d found online.

Although Lu Mang didn’t say anything, his mind was in an uproar. ’Is this bum really my master? He’s so sloshed he can’t even stand straight. How is he supposed to teach...?’

Seeing the three kids staring at him eagerly, Li Lie rolled up his sleeve, glanced at his watch, and said, "Is that enough time? How about I give you fifteen minutes..."

Lu Mang and Jiao Tengda exchanged a look and quickly got up to head for the door. Xu Taiping silently followed.

"I’m off, Chunxi." Li Lie said with a smile to Yang Chunxi beside him. He stepped down from the lectern, and as he passed Rong Taotao, he suddenly reached out his hand.

The Cloud Dog, seeing that something was amiss, immediately dissipated into a cloud of mist.

Li Lie’s broad palm passed through the layer of mist and landed on Rong Taotao’s head. He gently ruffled the boy’s naturally curly hair and said drunkenly, "Work hard."

With that, he staggered out the door.

Rong Taotao: "..."

Only after Li Lie had left did Rong Taotao eagerly turn to Yang Chunxi. "Teacher Li wasn’t like this last time I saw him. Drinking this early in the morning?"

"Mm," Yang Chunxi sighed softly but offered no explanation.

Sun Xingyu, clearly noticing Yang Chunxi’s reluctance to explain, asked, "Teacher, what about the instructor for the three of us?"

Yang Chunxi: "He’ll be here soon. Just wait a bit."

Who would have thought that "a bit" would turn into an hour?

Just as Rong Taotao was listlessly flipping through his *Modern History* textbook, the stone classroom’s door was pushed open again.

A man in a plaid shirt and casual trousers, covered in frost and snow, strode inside.

Rong Taotao jumped in surprise. For a second, he thought he’d run into his middle school math teacher!

’In this frozen wasteland, you’re wearing a shirt?’

’Isn’t Li Lie powerful? He’s absurdly strong, yet he still wears a down jacket and a thick scarf!’

’This shirt guy’s very existence is a provocation to the Snow Realm.’

"I’ve had enough," the man in the shirt said, smoothing his parted hair and brushing the snowflakes from it. He walked forward, but instead of going to the lectern, he casually grabbed a chair and plopped down into it.

Yang Chunxi quickly stood up straight, her attitude quite respectful. "Xia."

"Mm." The man in the shirt waved his hand dismissively and let out a deep sigh. "Aigh..."

Rong Taotao couldn’t help but marvel at this. Si Huan Nian and Li Lie were both famous figures, but when Yang Chunxi interacted with them, she treated them as colleagues. Yet with this man, she was especially deferential.

’Xia...’

Rong Taotao’s brow furrowed as the image of the man before him merged perfectly with a picture from his online search.

’This is the Summer of the Pine Soul Four Seasons!?’

’Xia Fangran?’

Songjiang Soul Martial had really spared no expense. The instructors assigned to the Junior Class were all legendary Great Gods!

Xia Fangran was of average height, around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. He had a sour look on his face and seemed to be in a very bad mood.

Yang Chunxi inquired, "What’s wrong, Xia?"

"Don’t even ask," Xia Fangran clicked his tongue and sighed heavily again. "I’ve been leading a few groups of senior students north of the Second Wall for the better part of six months, working from dawn till dusk, grinding through hell and back."

"Every last one of them was more trouble than the last, each one worse than the one before!"

"Last night, the final group of seniors nearly died in the Snowfield because of a coordination error. I was so pissed I almost had a heart attack. I failed them all, delayed their graduation, and told them to get back and repeat their senior year."

Rong Taotao’s group of three exchanged glances. This teacher... seemed a little strict.

Xia Fangran glared at the three of them. "I thought I’d finally get a couple of days off, but the university suddenly informed me I have to lead another batch of students—and fresh middle school graduates, at that!"

"I’ve had enough. You don’t work a beast of burden this hard!"

"Hehe." Yang Chunxi covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, but she felt Xia Fangran’s menacing gaze on her. She quickly suppressed her laughter and lowered her head slightly.

It was the first time Rong Taotao had ever seen her act like a young schoolgirl.

’Could Yang Chunxi be one of Xia Fangran’s former students?’

Xia Fangran was clearly furious. He looked like he wanted to say something, but perhaps mindful that there were children present and not wanting to embarrass Yang Chunxi, he refrained from scolding her.

He muttered under his breath, "No, this won’t do. I’m going to go find Old Mei and ask him what’s going on. Not letting me rest for a single day!"

"I refuse to believe it! In a university as huge as Songjiang Soul Martial University, there’s not a single other teacher available?"

The more Xia Fangran spoke, the angrier he got, until he finally stood up and stormed toward the door.

Rong Taotao blinked in confusion. ’What’s happening?’

’Is he refusing to teach? Going on strike?’

"Hey! Hey! Teacher!" Yang Chunxi hurriedly chased after him. "Only you can lead these kids, no one else can! I’ve petitioned the university three times, and I was rejected every time."

Yang Chunxi was incredibly fast, her long legs working at full capacity. She rushed up and grabbed Xia Fangran’s arm. "Besides, Principal Mei isn’t at the university right now."

"Holy shit! The nerve of that guy!" Xia Fangran’s face was livid. "He has the gall to take a vacation?"

Yang Chunxi quickly explained, "No, no, he’s at the Third Wall. I went there three times to appeal. The first two times he saw me, but the last time he wouldn’t even grant me an audience..."

"Huh?" Hearing this, Xia Fangran stopped in his tracks.

She whispered, "The Junior Class is a huge new project for Songjiang Soul Martial. We’ve been preparing for so long, we can’t afford any mistakes. That’s why the university specifically sent you. These kids are exceptionally talented, and..."

As she spoke, Yang Chunxi tilted her head in Rong Taotao’s direction and whispered, "Rong Taotao. He’s *that woman’s* son."

"Hm?" Xia Fangran raised an eyebrow slightly. Clearly, the student’s identity had taken him by surprise.

In the entire Outer Region of Huaxia, "that woman" didn’t just refer to any random person. Only the "Number One Soul General of the Outer Region" had earned the right to be referred to with such a unified moniker.

Xia Fangran was visibly stunned for a moment. "Xu?"

Having spent the better part of six months beyond the Second Wall, fully dedicated to leading university graduates, Xia Fangran was cut off from news and knew very little about what had happened in the outside world.

"Correct." Yang Chunxi half-pulled, half-dragged Xia Fangran back into the classroom, continuing, "Besides, you’re the only presentable teacher at Songjiang Soul Martial University who uses a Heaven-piercing Halberd."

In the world of adults, sometimes all you need is a way to save face.

And what Yang Chunxi offered wasn’t just a step down, it was a slide...

Only then did Xia Fangran carefully size up the three kids. He also noticed the Cloud Dog resting on top of Rong Taotao’s head and remarked, "Hm, that Lifebound Soul Beast is certainly rare."

Yang Chunxi quickly explained, "Rong Taotao placed second in the assessment, so he had the second pick of the Lifebound Soul Beasts."

The implication was that Rong Taotao had earned his rare Lifebound Soul Beast himself.

But this explanation was rather flimsy. After all, the Cloud Peak: White Clouds and Grey Dogs was provided to the school by Rong Taotao’s father, Rong Yuanshan.

"Ha? What Lifebound Soul Beast did the first-place student pick?" Xia Fangran asked curiously.

Yang Chunxi smiled. "The first-place student didn’t pick anything. During the assessment, they encountered a Snow Night Shock, went through life and death together, and made a pact."

"When faced with the Lifebound Soul Beasts we provided, the top-ranked student didn’t really choose, but instead honored their promise to that Soul Beast."

"Oh? Not bad! Not bad at all!" Xia Fangran said with considerable appreciation, nodding repeatedly. He gestured toward Sun Xingyu and Li Ziyi. "Which of them is number one?"

Yang Chunxi looked embarrassed. "The first-place student isn’t in this team. Si Huan Nian took them."

"Mm." Xia Fangran nodded without another word and strode over to Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao blinked, sat up straight, and looked up at Xia Fangran, who had come to stand before him.

Unexpectedly, Xia Fangran’s first words were a blunt interrogation: "Why didn’t you get first place?"

Rong Taotao: "I..."

Xia Fangran: "Hm? Why?"

Rong Taotao: "Uh..."

Xia Fangran: "Get your weapon. To the Martial Arts Arena!"

"Okay, right." Rong Taotao scrambled to his feet and ran out of the classroom. Xia Fangran’s two soul-crushing questions had made his scalp tingle!

After Rong Taotao stumbled out, Xia Fangran walked over to Sun Xingyu and hit her with the same blunt question: "Why didn’t you get first place?"

Sun Xingyu blinked her big, pretty eyes, her small face filled with confusion.

Xia Fangran: "Why?"

Sun Xingyu’s lips trembled. She lowered her head and whispered, "I-I’m sorry."

"One and a half months. I will teach you for one and a half months. When school starts on September 1st, I want you to defeat that first-place student."

Sun Xingyu summoned her courage and shouted, "Yes, sir!"

Xia Fangran: "Get your weapon! To the Martial Arts Arena!"

Sun Xingyu scrambled up and scurried out, her short legs churning.

Xia Fangran strode forward and came to Li Ziyi. "Why didn’t you get first place?"

Li Ziyi immediately shot up, turned around, and bolted...

Xia Fangran: ???