Master of Strange Dao

Langya Institute.

The former Dean Cheng, now known as Cheng Jing, stood at the head, his gaze sharp as he surveyed the room.

"Dean Wu has fallen."

With these words, the surrounding light and candle flames seemed to flicker subtly, then grew brighter.

At this moment in the Langya Institute, the deans present at the meeting all wore solemn expressions.

Cheng Jing observed their faces, then spoke to himself.

"No one knows when he left the Langya Institute, nor where he fell.

I went to check on his soul lamp, and it was extinguished, with not a trace of his residual soul left behind.

I personally conducted the Soul Summoning Technique, but to no effect; he had truly perished, body and soul."

Hearing this, the faces of the deans present became even more grim.

Within ten years, two deans had already fallen.

Even though Dean Wu had questionable affiliations, Cheng Jing, as the acting dean and a Dao Cultivator, held a meeting and revoked his position as a dean.

Yet at that moment, Dean Wu was still considered a member of the Langya Institute.

There was no direct proof that Dean Wu had betrayed the Langya Institute.

If it was merely to research Magical Treasures, that fell within the permitted scope and control of the Langya Institute. Even though the Magical Treasure was lost outside, the only ones investigated were those from the An Family.

The An Family had since been completely wiped out.

With the crumbling of their power, after the extermination of their base, the few remaining members were targeted by countless predators, and they too met the fate of the An Family.

By today, there was no trace left to investigate.

Cheng Jing was determined to purify the Langya Institute, returning it to its former purity, and set it on the right path as before.

Even knowing how grave Dean Wu's issues were, to the point where his death was deserved, Cheng Jing had to maintain his position and first address external concerns.

It was imperative to clarify how exactly Dean Wu died, before addressing anything else.

Without irrefutable evidence, and without explicit defection from the Langya Institute, a former dean shouldn't have died by the hands of outsiders.

Investigation was certain. Since the mysterious death of an outstanding dean years ago, they hadn't even discovered how it happened.

With this repetition, they had to take some action.

At the very least, a statement had to be made.

Cheng Jing looked at an elder, whose face was marked with age spots.

"If I remember correctly, after the previous dean fell, the Life Plate, still in the research stage, had already begun trials, didn't it?"

The elder nodded and spoke.

"Indeed, aside from some Dao Cultivators in the institute, several deans were willing to personally test it, including Dean Wu."

As he finished speaking, with a wave of his hand, a hall seemed to emerge behind him.

Inside, like an ancestral hall, crowds of White Jade Tablets were densely arranged.

On nearly every tablet, a red cloth covered it, except for one where the cloth had vanished.

With another wave of his hand, the White Jade Tablet flew out, landing on the meeting room's table.

On it, there was only the word "Wu," the interior of the White Jade Tablet stained with a hint of black and a bloodstain running through it.

This was what the Langya Institute had been researching, the Life Plate.

The soul lamp had ancient origins, and wasn't difficult to refine. With the poorest materials, even a general Fourth-tier cultivator could afford them.

The soul lamp was essentially meant to benefit all cultivators. Basic materials had basic applications, and advanced materials had advanced applications.

But because it was too ancient, the preceding ancestors had thoroughly researched it.

However many variations were derived from the predecessors, the core remained unchanged.

And precisely because of this, over time, ways to deceive the soul lamp multiplied.

At the very least, the Langya Institute possessed several.

The initial purpose of Langya Institute's research was merely to find countermeasures.

Just like now, the methods possessed by the Langya Institute could confirm whether someone had truly died or deceived the soul lamp.

Yet, despite the flaws, the soul lamp, in normal usage, was reliable.

Over countless years, based on the soul lamp, a series of Secret Techniques, rituals, and spells were developed.

After the soul lamp extinguished, through rituals, the residual soul and thoughts could be summoned, possibly understanding the true cause of death, which was the most basic application.

Unfortunately, the Dao Cultivators or deans of Langya Institute, what were they doing?

Could they tolerate such flaws?

This was why they spent numerous years researching something that differed from the soul lamp's core logic, yet functioned similarly.

It had not been released, merely because it was still imperfect.

However, this imperfection referred not to the Life Plate itself, but to the accompanying Secret Techniques, rituals, spells, etc.

The deans' skills at securing funding were unmatched, always claiming insufficient funds and never running out of topics to research.

But those who could serve as deans all had real talent, genuinely yielding results in their research fields.

The supplementary aspects of the Life Plate weren't perfected, but usage trials began several years ago.

Given the lack of harm, it was merely an additional precaution.

The aged dean, covered in age spots, extended a finger to touch Dean Wu's White Jade Life Token.