Chapter 4096 - The Dark Net Violates the Academy’s Rules

After Tan Fei left, Duan Ling Tian looked through the jade tokens about the Myriad Laws Academy. However, he was distracted by the Dark Net. After a moment, he accessed the Dark Net and looked through the tasks.

There were many tasks that could only be accepted by those below the realm of an Emperor of Gods and those without certain cultivation limits. However, there were no tasks for those in or above the realm of an Emperor of Gods.

'Perhaps, I can't see those tasks due to my low cultivation base. In my opinion, the Dark Net is either created by an assistive prominent divine artifact as rumored or it's created by an array of Formations that cover the Myriad Laws Academy. I could feel the Dark Net confirming my cultivation base when I accessed it for the first time. It must have done so by sensing my Divine Energy while I executed the series of hand gestures. In any case, there's no smoke without fire. It's more likely that the Dark Net is created by an assistive prominent divine artifact with a complete artifact soul. It's impossible for a single person to maintain the Dark Net for so long, but it's possible with the help of an assistive prominent divine artifact. Moreover, if more than a single person is behind the Dark Net, it'd be impossible to keep their identities a secret for so long. However, it's different if it's a prominent divine artifact since the artifact soul wouldn't betray its master.'

Duan Ling Tian was very familiar with soul artifacts. After all, his Seven Orifices Exquisite Sword had a complete artifact soul as well. In the beginning, Huang'er, his artifact soul, used to be another artifact's soul. Hence, she had been indifferent to him. However, after she merged with his Seven Orifices Exquisite Sword and became its artifact soul, her attitude changed dramatically. She became extremely loyal to him and would not hesitate even if he asked her to self-destruct. The purpose of an artifact soul was to serve its master, after all.

'The owner of that assistive prominent divine artifact must be the Academy Master of the Myriad Laws Academy. It must have been passed down from generation to generation. That's why the Dark Net is able to exist until now…'

Duan Ling Tian continued to browse the task until he came across a task that involved killing the target.

'I wonder if the target is a member of the Myriad Laws Academy or if it's an outsider? How can the Academy Master let it slide if it's a member of the academy?'

The Myriad Laws Academy strictly prohibited killing among members. Killing was only sanctioned if both parties agreed to a life-or-death battle. Otherwise, the murderer would be sentenced to death immediately.

In the end, Duan Ling Tian could not help but send a message to Yang Yu Chen, his Third Senior Brother and the Vice Academy Master of the Myriad Laws Academy. With Yang Yu Chen's position, he should know more about the Dark Net.

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Yang Yu Chen's reply came swiftly.

"Indeed, the Dark Net is created using an assistive prominent divine artifact. The Inner Palace faction possesses a few scrolls that were left behind by the previous Academy Masters, and they mentioned this matter. As such, the person, or people, behind the Dark Net should be the Academy Masters…"

"Should be?" Duan Ling Tian was puzzled.

"I can't say for sure, but I think it has one-third of a chance to be true," Yang Yu Chen said with a sigh.

"Just a third?" Duan Ling Tian was even more puzzled.

Before Duan Ling Tian could ask another question, Yang Yu Chen said, "There are two more possibilities. First, the Dark Net is controlled by the powerhouse of the academy who's living in seclusion. Only the Academy Master knows about the existence of this powerhouse. Unless the academy faces the threat of extinction, the powerhouse will never reveal himself. No one can confirm if such a powerhouse exists, but there have been countless powerhouses since the founding of the academy. It's not surprising if there's one or two left. In any case, the powerhouse has never shown himself. If he did, it's likely only to the Academy Master."

After a moment, Yang Yu Chen said again, "The second possibility is that the assistive prominent divine artifact is without a master. The Academy Master knows of its existence and acquiesced to its action."

"In any case, whichever possibility it is, there's no doubt the Academy Master is involved and acquiesced to the Dark Net's existence. As for the killing task you mentioned earlier, it's a rather delicate matter. For the longest time, no one dared to issue a killing task. At some point, someone issued a killing task, and shockingly, someone accepted the task as well. In the end, the task was even successfully completed. As you can imagine, it caused quite a commotion at that time. With that as a precedent, killing tasks would pop up every once in a while."

Duan Ling Tian's eyes narrowed upon hearing Yang Yu Chen's words. Then, he asked, "Third Senior Brother, was the target an outsider or a member of the academy?"

However, if the target was an outsider, how could the Dark Net verify the completion of the task?

"It's impossible for the target to be an outsider," Yang Yu Chen replied, "The Dark Net can only verify the completion of a task if it's in the academy. Hence, the target can only be students, teachers, or even the Academy Master. In fact, in the past, someone issued a task to kill our Academy Master. Needless to say, no one dared to accept the task."

Duan Ling Tian was shocked. "Someone dared to issue a killing task that targeted the Academy Master? Was that person crazy? Was he not worried his identity would be revealed since everyone suspects the Academy Master to be involved in the matter regarding the Dark Net?"

"That person was either crazy or trying to test the Dark Net. Also, that person might not be worried because he had another person issue the task so it could not be traced back to him. Who knows? Perhaps, the Academy Master was bored and issued the task himself."

Duan Ling Tian felt rather speechless when he heard Yang Yu Chen's last sentence.

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As though he could read Duan Ling Tian's mind, Yang Yu Chen said, "You must be thinking that the Academy Master wouldn't do such a ridiculous thing, right?" He smiled as he continued to say, "Our current Academy Master is very different from the past Academy Masters. For example, the past Academy Masters definitely wouldn't choose a member of the Inner Palace faction to be his successor. However, our current Academy Master chose me as his successor. Although he's the leader of the Legacy faction, he doesn't care about the opposition of his members at all. If I didn't know him, I'd find his actions baffling as well…"

Yang Yu Chen sighed after he finished speaking.

"In the past, many students and teachers were killed. However, only three were killed in the academy while the others were killed outside. The academy only found two killers who admitted to accepting killing tasks on the Dark Net. The people who made the posts were never caught. This is one of the reasons why most people suspect the Academy Master is behind the Dark Net. After all, the killing tasks violate the rules of the academy. If the Academy Master isn't behind it, why did he allow the Dark Net to continue to exist? Naturally, there are some who believe the Academy Master has no control over the Dark Net. That would also explain the Academy Master's inaction. That aside, very few people dare to accept a killing task unless they're certain that they can complete the task. They would usually complete the task outside before bringing back the target's corpse or belonging to verify the completion of the task. Needless to say, it's hard to catch these people since the Dark Net helps them to remain anonymous."

Duan Ling Tian learned a lot more about the Dark Net after listening to Yang Yu Chen. At the same time, he was no longer sure if the Academy Master was involved in the Dark Net. Moreover, he also could not figure out the point of the Dark Net. Was it a means to train the members of the Myriad Laws Academy?

Duan Ling Tian felt that the more he learned about the Dark Net, the less he understood it.

After ending his conversation with Yang Yu Chen, Duan Ling Tian thought to himself, 'I wonder when the person who accepted the task related to me will come?'

…

Duan Ling Tian finally obtained the answer to his question five days later.

A thunderous voice reverberated in Building 2.

"Duan Ling Tian, show yourself!"

A commotion broke out immediately.

A group of students who saw the person hovering outside Building 2 were shocked.

"It's Wang Yun Sheng!"

"So he's the one who accepted the task?"