Tang San had left, and the Nuoding Dean was shocked

"You're back."

Once the four returned, the dean of Nuoding Academy felt relieved when he saw Adola. Adola was a Ten-Year Soul Beast they had asked him to help look after. Adola had little fighting ability to begin with and was also very gentle, so the dean of Nuoding Academy had agreed to help care for Adola.

After all, he had heard that quite a few factions raised Soul Beasts in captivity so their young sect masters or heirs could receive suitable Soul Rings and grow stronger. In the dean of Nuoding Academy's view, this Soul Beast was probably one they had raised in captivity to make absorbing a Soul Ring convenient later.

So he had not objected.

But they did not know that Adola was not a captive Soul Beast. They were genuinely caring for Adola, who would not be absorbed as a Soul Ring.

In this era, that was difficult to understand. After all, it was understandable: humans and Soul Beasts had been fighting for who knew how many years. Even with Huo Yuhao stepping in to spread the Soul Spirit System, he could not change how later humans used it to inflict greater harm. The conflict between humans and Soul Beasts could truly be called immense.

Originally, if Huo Yuhao had developed the Soul Spirit System a little better and placed it in the hands of the Star Dou Great Forest, humans and Soul Beasts could still have taken the path toward peaceful coexistence. Even if their coexistence could not have been called perfectly peaceful, it would have ensured peace as far as possible, with well water and river water keeping clear of each other as much as possible.

But in the end, Huo Yuhao had placed the Soul Spirit Method in the hands of a bunch of unreliable people, especially Xuan Zi, that Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, who had never been reliable.

So it was easy to imagine why the Soul Spirit System had later brought disaster upon Soul Beasts.

"Thank you for taking such good care of Adola for us during this time."

"It's no trouble. I have no objection to you taking Adola back, as long as no harm comes to the students or the academy as a whole. But speaking of which, I wanted to ask something. Where did Tang San go?"

The dean of Nuoding Academy spoke. Today, he had discovered that Tang San had suddenly disappeared. Tang San's belongings had not disappeared, but the problem was that Tang San himself was gone.

"Seriously, where did Tang San go? I don't know either. I asked his dormmates, and they said they hadn't seen where Tang San went when they settled down to sleep last night either. So I wanted to ask you where Tang San went.

"Although he's only a Work-Study Student, and his Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, he's still our Work-Study Student, no matter what. If something happens to him, we'll be held responsible, and it'll damage the academy's reputation."

That was what the dean of Nuoding Academy said. He had no particular relationship with Tang San, nor was he trying to help him or anything like that. He did not even know Tang San's background. He simply wanted to protect the academy's reputation. In this matter involving Tang San, if a student suddenly disappeared and the academy did nothing, it would negatively affect Nuoding Academy's reputation. That was why he wanted to find Tang San.

"I can tell you something, but you'd better not tell anyone else."

"...Could it be about Tang San?" The dean of Nuoding Academy immediately guessed. He promptly closed the room's windows and door, then indicated for her to speak.

"Actually, Tang San's father is Tang Hao. You've heard of Tang Hao, haven't you? Clear Sky Douluo, the fearsome figure who injured the Pope a few years ago."

Leng Yulai revealed the matter of Tang Hao outright, directly stating that Tang San was Tang Hao's son and Tang Hao was Tang San's father.

"What?! You're joking, right? Tang San's Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and his father is Clear Sky Douluo? But how could the Clear Sky Hammer be paired with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul? Even if the son inherited Blue Silver Grass, what I want to say is, with his background and status, he still needed to come to Nuoding Academy as a Work-Study Student? You're kidding, right? With that sort of background, was there any need to snatch a Work-Study Student slot? Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?!"

The dean of Nuoding Academy spoke loudly. Fortunately, Leng Yulai quickly used her Soul Power to cancel out the sound.

"All right, Dean, consider this a plea from me. Don't speak of this. If you say it out loud and Tang Hao finds out, you'll be in serious trouble."

"We still can't be certain whether Tang Hao has left this place completely. If he finds out that you've told others about him, he might come settle the score with you. If we're not here, you'll definitely be dead. If we're still here, things would be manageable, but if we're not by your side, you'll definitely be dead."

"I'm sorry." Nuoding Xun's dean lowered his head in apology. He, too, felt that he had lost his composure. As the dean of an academy, he had actually behaved so improperly. Faced with a major matter, he had reacted like this and nearly leaked important information. It had indeed been a misstep.

"I'm truly sorry. I simply never expected it. Tang Hao is Clear Sky Douluo. Could a Titled Douluo possibly lack money? The very existence and worth of a Titled Douluo are worth a great deal of money, yet you're telling me Tang San still used a Work-Study Student slot to enter Nuoding Academy. Isn't that rather disgraceful behavior? Tang San is a noble child. He's Clear Sky Douluo's child, which makes him a child of the Clear Sky Sect. Does the Clear Sky Sect lack money so badly that it needs to snatch a Work-Study Student slot?"

The dean of Nuoding Academy said this because he did not understand the details. First, Holy Soul Village truly had no other children who could become Soul Masters at the time. Also, Tang Hao had wanted to protect Tang San better then, allowing him to grow into a sharp weapon for taking revenge on Spirit Hall.

So he had kept testing Tang San. Having Tang San use a Work-Study Student slot had also been intended to temper him, though this method of tempering him was rather laughable.

And it just so happened that Holy Soul Village had no other children capable of becoming Soul Masters then, so there was not much of a problem.

After all, on the Douluo Continent, ninety-nine percent of people could not become Soul Masters. Soul Masters were always fewer in number than ordinary people. Thus, to counter Soul Master factions, large numbers of ordinary people were trained, using armies a million strong to ensure that Soul Masters did not dare act recklessly.

"We'll discuss this later. You should know of Tang Hao, right? After all, he was the one who injured the Pope back then."

"Although I know he injured the Pope, and rumor has it that the Pope ultimately died because he was severely injured fighting Tang Hao and couldn't receive treatment in time, I don't really believe that rumor..."

"Although it may not be good for me to say this, the fact is that Spirit Hall's Soul Masters are the most elite Soul Masters on the entire continent. Spirit Hall could be called an organization that dares to take on the Two Great Empires alone. If the other Soul Master factions didn't get involved in a war between the Two Great Empires and Spirit Hall, the Two Great Empires could never be a match for Spirit Hall."

"Spirit Hall's healing-type Soul Masters are all Soul Douluo-level experts. Although none are Titled Douluo, they can still treat Titled Douluo. Even if the Pope was severely injured, he reportedly made it back to Spirit Hall, so how did he die of those injuries?"