Desova's Shock

Master, was this a rule added specifically for me?

—The instant Lucia saw the Pinned Featured Post, that thought sprang into her mind.

But the next second, she instinctively dismissed it.

It was probably just a coincidence, right?

But why had this "Pinned Featured" feature appeared only after I argued and debated with someone?

Thinking of what her master had said about Sadako, the two pieces of evidence together sent Lucia's heart racing wildly.

At the same time, a young Magic Apprentice in white robes far away in Willis City, the capital of the Kevil Empire, was equally distraught.

Anger, shame, pain, relief... all sorts of emotions churned within him, leaving him deeply unsettled.

His name was Desova.

A Magic Apprentice at Felix Magic Academy, he was considered quite the prominent figure there.

He had ranked first in his year twice during same-level examinations.

When he had been a second-year student, he had even optimized a second-tier spell. Although he had merely optimized a Six-Degree Magic Rune, the achievement had still been remarkable.

After all, he had only been a Magic Apprentice at the time!

Of course, many believed he was already a qualified mage; he simply had not yet gone through the Apprentice Mage assessment process.

In short, all of this had made him hold himself in very high regard.

He even looked down on some of the academy's teachers, believing them to be nothing more than rule-followers—humanoid magic books, that was all.

Yet the argument that had just ended had dealt him a devastating blow.

The whole matter was rather surreal.

Recently, he had heard that a new Divine Art had appeared in Willis City. Out of a top student's instinct, he had casually obtained it for a look, keeping it as a backup.

Although "those who use Divine Arts will surely be watched by gods," everyone had to admit that Divine Arts possessed an immense power that other forces could neither explain nor replace.

For example: Contract Documents.

They held an absolutely pivotal position in the history of Divine Arts.

They allowed many transactions to continue without third-party guarantees or endorsements. Or rather, the Contract Godhead itself was the third-party guarantor everyone trusted.

Back to the point.

After obtaining the Internet Divine Art, Desova keenly recognized its practicality.

If not for the drawback that "those who use Divine Arts will surely be watched by gods," it would simply have been the finest magic for communication and contact.

It could be adapted to countless situations, including Mercenary Corps, Trade Associations, kingdoms... and so on.

Unfortunately, its drawback was far too obvious.

He would bet his toes that, aside from the impoverished masses at the bottom, none of the upper-class bigshots would ever use it.

After all, no one wanted their private life peeped at. If this so-called God of the Internet ever took a side and became their enemy, they would be utterly finished.

Still, Desova kept the Mithril Ring.

No particular reason. He simply treated it as a collectible!

Then, just the day before yesterday, his friend suddenly told him that new content had appeared on the Internet.

The God of the Internet had actually made public the most precious wealth in the world—knowledge.

It even included Forbidden Magic that only a Magic God could master.

That discovery utterly stunned Desova and even drew him in!

After all, even at Magic Academies, advanced magical knowledge was closely guarded. Only by becoming an academy teacher or serving the academy could one possibly gain access to such advanced magical knowledge.

Just as Desova was wondering whether this was the temptation of an Evil God, deliberately driving users to spread his Divine Art for him, he discovered that a Forum had also appeared on the Internet.

Through that Forum, he was astonished to discover that the Internet Divine Art had long since permeated human society. They simply had only just learned of it.

The people making posts came from every sort of background.

Commoners, mercenaries, merchants, nobles, mages, Battle Disciples... there were far too many to count.

That discovery shook Desova's view of the Internet Divine Art.

What truly shattered his reservations toward the Internet Divine Art was the argument from earlier.

He had seen someone asking about a piece of magical knowledge. Several people had answered, but their answers had been wildly off the mark.

Unable to resist showing off his skills, he instinctively replied with an answer.

His response immediately drew countless likes and comments.

Watching the notifications for likes and comments flood in nonstop, even Desova, a prominent figure at the academy, could not suppress his sense of pride!

What Youth had not been reckless?

Yet just as he was feeling smug, someone actually refuted his argument.

How could Desova possibly tolerate being questioned?

He immediately began arguing and debating.

Who would have thought that the quarrel would go on for hundreds of replies?

Their discussion ranged from beginner magic all the way to advanced magical fields Desova had yet to touch.

In the end, the facts proved that Desova had been wrong.

His argument had been far too one-sided. It could only support low- and mid-tier magic; the moment it entered the realm of advanced magic, it would collapse on its own.

Desova was dumbfounded!

He could not believe that the knowledge taught to him by the Magic Academy was actually wrong!

In the words of that person he had never met: "The Aibis Formula is still too complicated for you, so the academy generally does not tell you about this in order to save trouble. They do not want you to lose track of the logic and fall into paradoxes. Once you reach the realm of an Archmage, your teacher will naturally tell you!"

An Archmage?

Their academy only had a little over twenty Archmages. Across the entire country, there were probably fewer than a thousand.

They were the pillars of the Empire!

Only Grand Archmages could teach Archmages.

Judging from that person's tone, even Archmages seemed insignificant.

How profound must that person's mastery of magic be?

An Archmage? A Grand Archmage? Or perhaps... a Magic God?

Desova fell into profound shock. His entire worldview shattered, then reassembled itself.

He no longer trusted the academy's teachers.

Nor could he view the Internet Divine Art through the same eyes as before.

For the first time, he realized that outside the academy, he could actually learn magical knowledge through a Divine Art—and even encounter beings far superior to his teachers!

Yes, he was certain that the mage who had debated with him possessed magical mastery far beyond that of his teachers.

In his mind, he had even begun to sketch out the other person's image.

A white beard, a purple magic robe representing a Grand Archmage. He was kind, benevolent, learned, and tolerant.

He appreciated diligent juniors striving to improve and was willing to offer them guidance.

Unlike the Magic Academy teachers, who always put on an unfathomable air, saying that certain fields were beyond one's reach before refusing to speak about certain questions. In truth, perhaps even they did not understand them.

At that thought, a question arose in Desova's mind:

Why would such an important figure be willing to use the Internet Divine Art?

Did he not know the mages' common knowledge that "those who use Divine Arts will surely be watched by gods"?

No, he definitely knew.

Yet he had still used it. That meant the God of the Internet was benevolent.

That was right. Look at the God of the Internet—he had made public all mainstream cultivation systems, including not only the Five Great Gods, but also the Divine Arts of mainstream Evil Gods and false gods.

What incredible tolerance was that?

Then look at those so-called Five Great Gods and Evil Gods. For the sake of believers, they shouted about killing and fighting every day. Aside from their own Divine Arts, they wished they could label every other Divine Art as heretical evil arts.

With such a comparison, was the God of the Internet's vision and broad-mindedness not obvious?

At that moment, Desova finally understood the meaning of the strange term "Internet."

He was also shaken by the God of the Internet's magnanimity!

"Desova! Desova!"

Just then, an urgent shout came from outside. His friend Lides rushed in, his face filled with excitement and disbelief. "Was that Pinned Featured Post on the Forum yours?"

Desova froze. "How... how did you know?"