Chapter 622 - 371: A Frost Beauty

Rong Taotao had failed.

His plan to recruit the Little Souls into the Cyan Mountain Army was stuck at the second step.

Consulting the individuals, seeking Headmaster Mei Hongyu’s approval, and requesting permission from the Snow Burning Army’s supreme commander.

Of these three steps, he had only reached the second before Headmaster Mei Hongyu rejected Rong Taotao’s proposal in the name of ensuring student safety.

Headmaster Mei Hongyu’s exact words were: "The Snow Burning Army is a good destination. The Cyan Mountain Army is even better, a future befitting the first-ever Junior Class students of Pine Soul Soul Martial. But that is the future, absolutely not the present.

The other students have a fundamental gap in strength compared to you and Gao Lingwei. They cannot be treated the same."

Anything concerning life and death is absolutely no small matter.

The Youthful Spirits were indeed existences their peers could hardly hope to match, and they had indeed reached the average strength level required to be stationed at the Third Wall. But at the end of the day, this was the Third Wall!

The absolute front line. Especially on a night with a blizzard of this magnitude, anything could happen.

Regardless of what the Little Souls thought, Mei Hongyu flatly refused Rong Taotao. During this blizzard, he kept the Little Souls firmly in the Martial Arts Hall, having them maintain their normal lives of rest, training, and study.

However, what Rong Taotao was slightly grateful for was that the old Headmaster Mei Hongyu didn’t make him and Gao Lingwei return to the school as well. The old headmaster also knew in his heart that Rong Taotao’s and Gao Lingwei’s identities were now a hybrid of sorts. Between being students and soldiers, the two of them leaned more toward the "soldier" side.

"SWOOSH~" An arrow shot out from the city wall, over 20 meters high, piercing through the vast snowstorm and embedding itself in the snow-covered ground.

Below the wall, a startled Moon Leopard turned and ran away.

Three days, then three days, then another three. On the night of every third day, Rong Taotao and the others would come to the wall for guard duty. Finally, under these special geographical circumstances, Rong Taotao had time to practice his archery.

Gao Lingwei naturally taught him everything she knew, holding nothing back.

However, the time had already come to early March, and Rong Taotao was still unable to create a Snow-made Bow and Arrow with his Snow Soul. In his Inner Soul Map, the Archery Proficiency column currently displayed One-Star, High-Tier.

To create a bow and arrow from his Snow Soul, he would need to be at least Two-Star, and maybe even Three-Star.

But in the field of archery, Rong Taotao’s Potential Value wasn’t low at all. The upper limit for his Archery Proficiency Potential Value was a full 6 stars.

In the month or so he had been stationed at the wall, Rong Taotao had rotated through guard duty more than ten times. Nothing eventful had happened, but his Archery Proficiency had shot up, consecutively increasing by two minor tiers from One-Star, Low-Tier to One-Star, High-Tier.

This was a testament to his diligence.

"SWOOSH~" Another arrow tore through the wind and snow, shooting out fiercely.

"Sigh..." Rong Taotao stood between the crenels of the wall, lowering the Longbow in his hand and shaking his head in resignation.

’Missed again~’

His physical constitution as a Soul Captain, coupled with the enhancement from his Douxing Qi, gave him more than enough strength,

but he had still underestimated the effect of the raging blizzard. Hitting a Soul Beast below the wall with any precision was not easy amidst the howling wind.

Perched on Rong Taotao’s head was a Snowball Cat. It was like a rifle scope, not only possessing night vision and the ability to see through the vast snowstorm, but also making Rong Taotao’s vision clearer, allowing him to aim at his prey with greater precision.

"A little setback is also a good thing," Gao Lingwei said softly from his side. She wore a pitch-black half-mask and stood with her hands behind her back, gazing at the seemingly endless snowstorm.

Rong Taotao retorted, "I’ve only been practicing for a little over a month. My skills aren’t refined yet. How does this count as a setback?"

"I was talking about you trying to recruit the Little Souls into the Cyan Mountain Army," Gao Lingwei said, turning to look at Rong Taotao. "You’ve always had it too easy, always getting what you want."

Hearing this, Rong Taotao just smiled. He drew an arrow from his back with a reverse grip and nocked its tail to the Sinew String.

Standing sideways, he nocked the arrow and drew the bow. In an instant, the Longbow was pulled into the shape of an autumn moon. The movement was incredibly smooth and stylish.

"Aren’t you ashamed to say that?" Rong Taotao gazed at the vast snowstorm below the wall, his muffled voice coming from behind the pitch-black half-mask. "I always get what I want?"

"SWOOSH~" The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp arrow cloaked in dense Soul Power shot out at high speed.

But the slightly expectant look in his eyes dimmed again. It seemed he had failed once more.

Gao Lingwei, however, just quietly watched Rong Taotao’s profile, watching the archery stance she herself had coached him into. Behind her half-mask, a smile touched her lips.

Rong Taotao seemed to sense something. Turning to look, he saw the bright look in Gao Lingwei’s eyes.

’Mm, just as I thought...’

’It doesn’t matter if I can’t hit the target.’

’As long as my form is beautiful enough... uh, I mean, perfect enough, Da Wei will love it!’

’Heh, women.’

"Huh? What’s that?" Although Rong Taotao’s eyes were on Gao Lingwei, most of his attention was on the image provided by his Snowball Cat.

Rong Taotao had been on guard duty for over a month, rotating through more than ten shifts and participating in three battles.

These "three battles" referred to incursions by packs of beasts attacking the wall. If you counted the sporadic Soul Beasts that tried to climb the wall, the number would be too high to count.

But then again, any Soul Beast that dared to climb this wall was either brainless or part of an organized, elite force.

Clearly, all the ones Rong Taotao had seen these past few days were the brainless type. They were savage and violent, with nothing but eating on their minds. They believed the humans on the wall were delicious, plump morsels of meat, and that a grand feast awaited them after the climb...