Lyle, the Healing Soul Master

"What?!" Upon hearing that Tang San had nearly been forcibly taken away, Yu Xiaogang's expression changed again. He had not expected Tang San to encounter trouble at the academy. "I'm sorry. It was my negligence that allowed Xiao San to be harmed."

"No, I was the negligent one. After all, I'm Xiao San's father." Tang Hao shook his head.

"But I have to leave. There are many things I must do." With a wave of Tang Hao's hand, a pitch-black token landed on the table with a clang. "Xiao San is your disciple too. Please take good care of him."

"Xiao San clearly depends on you. You've been absent from his side all year round, and now you're leaving again. Don't you think this is far too cruel to him?" Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, making his disapproval clear.

"His life is for him to choose. Staying with me would be the cruel thing."

"But Xiao San..."

"Enough. I've said what I needed to say. No matter when, remember this: he is my son." With that, Tang Hao decisively turned and left.

Watching Tang Hao's tall figure vanish from sight, Yu Xiaogang slowly came back to himself. He looked at the black token on the table, its six emblems clearly reflected in his eyes.

"This is... the Papal Edict?!"

The Dark Soul Guard's soul skill pierced through the entire dormitory building from top to bottom. Fortunately, the rooms beside the staircases on every floor were used for storing miscellaneous items. Aside from Dan Hong and Xiao Wu on the top floor, there were no direct casualties.

Of course, that excluded the unlucky people indirectly injured by the blast's aftermath.

Dan Hong and Xiao Wu were transferred to the academy's treatment room.

Nuoding Academy's treatment room was very small, and the academy had few decent resources. There was only one healing Soul Master in the room.

Under immense pressure, the Dean of Academic Affairs invited this healing Soul Master to treat the two girls' injuries. "Teacher Lyle, please treat them."

Director Su's polite tone was not how one would speak to a young teacher. It was more like the respect shown toward a strong individual.

This healing Soul Master's Martial Soul was a delicate seven-stringed harp.

"A lyre?" Jiang E Li murmured as she looked at the other woman's Martial Soul. "I never expected there to be such an ancient instrument among the Martial Souls of Douluo Continent."

The lyre, also known as the lyra or poetry qin, was an extremely ancient plucked string instrument from Blue Star.

"What, do you know it?" Nan Li asked in the Sea of Consciousness.

Jiang E Li explained, "Legend says this instrument was created by the gods of the West. Whenever a god plucked its strings, its music could halt rushing rivers, set still mountains walking, tame savage beasts, and make silent trees and stones speak... It was also called the 'Angel's Lyre.'"

As Lyle released her Martial Soul, four Soul Rings appeared beneath her feet. A heliotrope-colored butterfly flew out from each ring.

The butterflies danced and fluttered around Lyle. As the platinum harp briefly lit up, several butterflies slowly settled upon the instrument's pillars engraved with musical notes.

But Nan Li had no interest in observing Lyle's Martial Soul at that moment. Her gaze fell upon the Soul Rings on the ground.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple.

A four-ring Soul Ancestor, and with the optimal Soul Ring configuration. Why was there a Soul Ancestor-level Soul Master here, especially such a rare healing type?

Lyle lightly plucked the strings, and the notes on the platinum pillars gradually began to glow. "Poem of Heliotrope."

This harp was called Poem of Heliotrope.

It was not Nan Li being prejudiced, but such a high-end instrument did not seem like the kind of Martial Soul one would find in Nuoding City.

Lyle played and chanted at the same time. What she chanted was not the sort of song most people sang while playing an instrument. It sounded more like a verse.

Like poetry.

Like a benediction.

Like a prayer.

Her second and third Soul Rings lit up. Two of the butterflies resting on the harp flew toward Xiao Wu and Dan Hong respectively. The butterflies transformed into tiny golden specks of light and merged into their foreheads and arms. Dan Hong's wounds visibly healed at a rapid pace.

The sound of the lyre and Lyle's chanting echoed through the tiny treatment room.

Dan Hong had already secretly signaled that neither she nor Xiao Wu was seriously injured. Nan Li was not too worried. Ever since seeing the lyre, she had kept her head slightly lowered, seemingly lost in thought.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Nan Li's mind. She abruptly turned to look at Xue Qinghe.

Xue Qinghe still wore her usual gentle expression, a gentle falsehood like a mask pasted onto her face—if one ignored the sneer at the corner of her lips.

Angel's Lyre, Angel Martial Soul... Could Lyle be from Spirit Hall? So none of the letters mattered, because Qian Renxue had planted another piece on the board from the very beginning!

The golden specks of light re-formed into two heliotrope-colored butterflies on the harp's pillars. Lyle's hand stopped playing, and she turned to look at Xiao Wu.

Under Nan Li's gaze, Xue Qinghe walked step by step to Xiao Wu's side. "You should be awake."

Xiao Wu slowly opened her eyes, unexpectedly calm.

"Are you really human?" Xue Qinghe bent down to look at her. "Let me guess what exactly you are."

"Xiao Wu is obviously human, Xiao Xue. What are you talking about?" Nan Li stepped forward and grabbed Xue Qinghe's arm.

"A'li, this has nothing to do with you." Xue Qinghe looked coolly at Xiao Wu and pulled Nan Li behind her.

"Rattle, rattle."

An unusual fluctuation of Soul Power appeared in the treatment room, and Blood Pierce Douluo's eyes flashed brightly.

"Cough, cough. A'li, why did you take that thing out?" Dan Hong suddenly spoke, interrupting Xue Qinghe before she could give the order.

Nan Li bent down and picked up the bead from the floor.

This was the thing Nan Li had been holding earlier; Xue Qinghe remembered it. But the Soul Power fluctuation seemed to have come from this bead. She hesitated, looking from Xiao Wu to the bead, then asked, "What is this?"

"Coral." Nan Li held the bead up before Xue Qinghe. "It's just a little special. The Coral Worms that formed this piece of coral were all Soul Beasts, so it can be considered a crystallization of Soul Power."

"Oh, right, Nan Li. I forgot to return this to you." Xiao Wu also took out a Coral Bead.

Xue Qinghe said nothing, only frowned.

Nan Li took the Coral Bead from Xiao Wu and stored both of them in her Soul Tool. The Soul Power fluctuation in the room abruptly vanished, and Blood Pierce Douluo, standing nearby, was stunned!

Thornblood checked Xiao Wu again. Clean—there was not the slightest trace of a Soul Beast's aura! Realizing that he had misjudged her, Thornblood's voice tightened as he transmitted it directly to Xue Qinghe. "Young Master, the Soul Power fluctuation is gone. That little girl... is human."

Xue Qinghe secretly made a gesture, and several Dark Soul Guards quietly departed.

Nan Li had already returned to Dan Hong's side. Xue Qinghe stared at Nan Li's back, recalling another similar figure, but in the end, she said nothing.

"Today's accident was caused by me. I will bear all resulting losses." With a gesture from Xue Qinghe, a Dark Soul Guard immediately stepped forward and handed Director Su a storage Soul Tool.

"We have disturbed your academy for quite some time, so we will take our leave." Xue Qinghe glanced at Nan Li once more, then turned and strode away.

Every time the author remembered that Nan Li was still young, she wanted to activate the great time-skip technique. But some plot points could not be skipped over. Sighing silently. Countdown to Nan Li's graduation.

The author suddenly remembered: did Qian Renxue know Xiao Wu was a Soul Beast in the Original Work? Ah, this, this, this... everyone, just pretend she didn't know... personal setting, personal setting. Performing a dramatic knee-slide for everyone—bang.