Nine Star Burden

Chapter 207: Palm

At night, the students put up in the hotel.

Just like the previous time, Jiang Xiao and Li Weiyi gathered in Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan’s room to watch the video recording of the competition.

During the day, Jiang Xiao and the others had already seen the battle between Jiacheng High School and Xindan Creek High School No. 11 for the first place in Group B with their very own eyes.

The final result was that Xindan Creek High School No. 11 had come in the first place and both teams put up a good fight, which was a feast for everyone’s eyes.

Wu Haoyang’s power was unquestionable, but Jiang Xiao was surprised that Qian Zhuang, who often stuttered, was actually rather competent.

He had a round face which was indeed really deceiving. As a Rules Awakened, his standards in terms of control and output should be the top amongst the students of this cohort.

At this moment, everyone was collating the list of Star Techniques belonging to the students which the school had sent them and carefully observing his fighting characteristics.

Han Jiangxue pressed the pause button.

In the scene being displayed on the screen, Qian Zhuang had an ice shield in his hand, which blocked the melee fighter of Jiacheng High School.

Han Jiangxue said, “Frozen Heart had a great effect on the melee fighter of Jiacheng High School.”

Xia Yan and Li Weiyi nodded, for they were no strangers to that Star Technique.

Frozen Heart was considered a passive Star Technique, but it had to be actively activated.

After the activation, it would continue to consume star power. At this stage, when the user was subjected to a melee attack by the enemy, there would be a slight chance of the opponent’s body becoming frozen.

When Xia Yan and Li Weiyi saw the Shield Warrior Zhang Weiliang from Jiangbin High School No. 3 at that time, their faces were particularly sullen. Even though the effect was slight, they had still gotten attacked.

At that time, a thin layer of frosty mist rose from their bodies, and even though they were not immobilized, any slight impact on them would likely change the entire situation on the rapidly changing battlefield.

Back then, Jiangbin High School was dominating Jiangbin High School No. 3. Hence, Zhang Weiliang couldn’t afford to stir much trouble.

However, judging from the aura that Xindan Creek High School No. 11 was giving off, Qian Zhuang, the only Rules Awakened of the team, didn’t seem to be the target.

Frozen Heart was indeed a Star Technique that was hard to deal with. Besides, Qian Zhuang was a Rules Awakened and yet, he had a Star Technique like Ice shield.

Perhaps, it had something to do with Qian Zhuang’s Star Map.

Qian Zhuang’s Star Map was in the shape of a beautiful snowflake. He had 24 star slots and was also a genius.

“Those who can enter the finals are definitely not simple. These Star Techniques are all from Dimensional Spaces that are not open to the public.”

Frozen Heart and Ice Shield were from a creature called Ice Walker from the Ice Cave of a special Dimensional Space in Zhongji Province.

The Ice Walker also had the Star Technique “Ice Spear” which could be used for Melee or long-range attacking. Zhang Weiliang had once used “Ice Spear” against Jiang Xiao. However, the list showed that Qian Zhuang didn’t have that Star Technique.

Apart from the Ice Walkers, there were also two other creatures in the Ice Cave—Ice Soul and Ice Demon.

As mentioned earlier, Ice Soul contained three Star Techniques: Ice Bomb (Brass Quality), Ice Mist Armor (Silver Quality), and Ice Roar (Gold Quality).

On the other hand, Ice Demon had Ice Thorn (Silver Quality), Snowstorm (Silver Quality), and Heart Of Ice (Silver Quality).

Jiang Xiao had seen the Ice Demon’s Star Techniques before. When he was attacked by a mercenary group in the snowfield, he saw the three Star Techniques of the Ice Demon in the “stinky mud” Star Technique.

Qian Zhuang had Ice Thorn and Snowstorm, which were amongst the three.

When Jiang Xiao learned about Qian Zhuang’s Star Map and Star Techniques, he felt thankful on several occasions that he hadn’t fought with them in the snowfield.

Qian Zhuang was already so fierce and menacing on the football field. If it were in the snowfield which he was familiar with, Jiang Xiao would have probably been badly bombarded by Ice Thorns...

“Why? Is that round-faced Remote kid assistive for a mob?”

Han Jiangxue frowned slightly and said softly, “The assistive of this team is not easy to fight. The defensive abilities of the pair of twins are very strong.”

Xia Yan rubbed her short hair anxiously and said, “They’re like two nurses who have strong endurances. Unless we defeat them, we can’t win the battle.”

Li Weiyi’s face grew sullen and he said solemnly, “Wu Haoyang, Qian Zhuang and the An sisters are not good breakthroughs.”

Xia Yan turned to look at the silent Jiang Xiao and asked, “Xiaopi, how do you think we should fight?”

Jiang Xiao grabbed the information sheet and looked at An Youyou’s and An Luming’s Star Techniques, only to feel as if he had seen what a real healer should be like.

Xia Yan leaned over and said, a little uncomfortable, “Your Blessing is probably really weak.”

Jiang Xiao asked, “Uh-huh?”

Xia Yan extended her long index finger and clicked on a Star Technique on An Luming’s Star Technique chart.

Purification Scepter: Dispel the negative state of targets within a certain range.

Jiang Xiao smiled and curled his finger at Xia Yan.

“Yes?” Xia Yan asked as she bent down and leaned in curiously.

Jiang Xiao held Xia Yan’s head with both hands and shook it left and right. “Did you hear that?”

Xia Yan was a little dizzy and asked impatiently, “What?”

Jiang Xiao said, “It’s the sound of water.”

Xia Yan was dumbfounded.

Jiang Xiao said with a smile, “My Blessing is not in a negative state. Unlike all other control-type Star Techniques, mine heals others. You guys feel giddy because of the comfort, not queasiness...”

“Oh.” Xia Yan blinked and nodded, seemingly deep in thought.

A few seconds later, Xia Yan suddenly pressed Jiang Xiao’s head with one hand and shook it from side to side forcefully. She then questioned fiercely, “Are you trying to say that my brains are fried?”

Li Weiyi ignored the two elementary school children. “These girls indeed have incredibly strong Star Techniques. With them around Wu Haoyang is basically unbeatable, and we don’t seem to have the ability to defeat Wu Haoyang with one blow. Han Jiangxue’s Sky Smasher...”

Dong-dong-dong.

The sounds of the door being knocked suddenly filled the air and everyone fell silent.

Li Weiyi got up and walked to the door. Through the peephole, he saw a familiar figure.

“Teacher Hai,” Li Weiyi said in a tone of surprise when he opened the door.

“I heard that your competition is very good, so I decided to come and visit you guys,” Hai Tianqing said as he walked in with a smile, only to see Xia Yan pressing Jiang Xiao’s head on the table and berating him. Hai Tianqing then smiled awkwardly.

“Hai Tianqing, what are you doing here?” Xia Yan asked as she let go of Jiang Xiao and looked at him curiously.

“Haven’t I already explained that?” Hai Tianqing shrugged his shoulders and continued, “I heard that you guys are up against Xindan Creek High School No. 11. How’s it? Are you confident?”

Xia Yan muttered, “Um...”

Hai Tianqing raised his brows and looked at Han Jiangxue.

Han Jiangxue simply looked at the information sheet about the enemies silently, completely ignoring him.

Hai Tianqing pushed his gold-framed glasses up and said, “Let’s go, I’ll treat you to a good meal.”

Xia Yan muttered, “Um...”

Han Jiangxue refuted. “Nah.”

Li Weiyi said apologetically, “Teacher, we’re going to compete tomorrow. It’s better for us to study the other team.”

Hai Tianqing smiled slightly and said, “I’m here to give you some guidance, let’s go.”

Hai Tianqing then opened the door and gestured for them to come out.

Everyone looked at each other, and Han Jiangxue finally looked up at Hai Tianqing before asking coldly, “Really?”

Hai Tianqing said with a sullen expression, “I’m your teacher.”

Han Jiangxue expressed assent and finally stood up.

Since the commander had already agreed, everyone decided to go too.

To their surprise, they heard a crisp sound as soon as they opened the door of the hotel room.

Clap! The crisp sound made everyone feel stunned.

In the pitch darkness of the cold winter night, a man and a woman stood beside the street near the hotel entrance in front of the dim street lights.

Several people heard the crisp sound and looked over, only to get a great shock.

The boy who had gotten a tight and hard slap and was covering his face turned out to be Gao Junwei?

Gao Junwei was trembling slightly, though it was unknown if it was out of fear or anger. He held his red face with one hand, lowered his head, and gritted his teeth forcefully while remaining silent.

However, a woman was standing opposite him. Due to the angle, only her silhouette could be seen.

She was shorter than Gao Junwei by half a head and had short dark hair and a voluptuous figure.

Jiang Xiao only saw half of her face, but it was enough for him to tell that she was cold, aloof, and domineering.

The woman clearly felt that someone had exited the hotel. Perhaps trying to save some of Gao Junwei’s pride, she put her hand down and did not slap him again.

Gao Junwei hung his head low as blood ran down the corners of his lips. Clearly, she had slapped him hard.

“Xiaopi, keep up with us,” Han Jiangxue said suddenly.

It turned out that Jiang Xiao had gotten distracted by Gao Junwei’s situation. His team members had already taken a few steps away, so Han Jiangxue called Jiang Xiao.

However, Gao Junwei had clearly heard Han Jiangxue’s voice. He subconsciously shivered.

Although it could be because of mental illness, his current behavior seemed to show that he had really been traumatized by Han Jiangxue.

The woman in front of him noticed his reaction and immediately flew into a rage. She raised her hand again and slapped him once more!

“Patter!”

“Look how cowardly you are!” The woman barked and got increasingly infuriated. She kicked Gao Junwei’s thigh, causing him to fall onto the ground. “Are you afraid just after hearing her voice? Useless! You’ve completely embarrassed me!”

Gao Junwei crawled and tried to get up. Compared to his past arrogant and composed self, he was like a meek, weak, and obedient child now.

The woman turned around and stared at the team from Jiangbin High School with a gloomy gaze.

To be precise, she looked at Han Jiangxue.

Her eyes were sharp like a dagger and she kept them fixed on Han Jiangxue’s body.

Han Jiangxue stopped in her tracks because she could feel a cold and murderous intent which made her feel like she had fallen into an ice cave.

Beside her, Jiang Xiao suddenly stretched out his hand to grab hers. “What do you want to eat? Skewers or hotpot?”

Han Jiangxue pursed her lips and held onto Jiang Xiao’s palm tightly, feeling a rare sense of warmth. She answered gently, “You decide.”