A new week has arrived; votes, collections—not a single one can be missed. Of course, to reward everyone, I’m usually posting two chapters a day, and three on Sunday—not one chapter less, haha~~~~~~ Thank you all for your continued support, thank you.)

Zheng Zha fell silent for a moment, glancing at the few people around him. “Let’s test the power of the Necronomicon first. Necromantic dark spells? That sounds incredibly potent… Eve, lend me that disc.”

O’Connell and the other two stood dumbfounded nearby, unaware of what Zheng Zha and the others were discussing, until Zheng Zha’s shout broke the silence. Only then did Eve hurriedly rummage through her pack and pull out the ancient artifact disc; this disc was the key required by the Necronomicon.

Zheng Zha took the disc and gently opened the Necronomicon, then passed the opened book to Qi Tengyi.

This man, who claimed to be an otaku, eagerly took the thick, ancient tome. He stroked the raised Egyptian hieroglyphs on the heavy pages, continuously muttering the pronunciation and meaning of these characters. Unbeknownst to him, the surrounding people had been standing there for over ten minutes, and the otaku was still excitedly chattering away.

“Qi Tengyi! What does it say on there? Now is not the time for you to be indulging in scholarship!” Zheng Zha sighed.

Qi Tengyi scratched his head with a hint of shyness. “My apologies, I got completely engrossed, hahaha! It really is ancient Egyptian script. Some of the characters have meanings very similar to ancient Chinese oracle bone script…”

Zheng Zha and everyone else sighed. He said loudly, “I’m not asking what the characters look like; I’m asking if they record anything specific?”

Qi Tengyi immediately nodded. “Yes, yes, they record many ancient spells! For instance, this section is for creating life from sand: as long as you mix human ashes with sand while chanting the spell, you can summon several mummy guardians. And this section, it’s said, can gather lingering spirits into a storm, eventually forming a tornado. And this section…”

Zheng Zha took half of the Necronomicon from his hand. “Translate it for me, sentence by sentence. Just chant… chant the tornado sentence.”

Qi Tengyi nodded, touching the runes. “Spirits of the storm, gather in form at the command of the Death God… Form a tornado and tear everything apart!”

Zheng Zha followed along, chanting the words, but after reciting it once, nothing happened. The vampire energy in his mind hadn't diminished at all, and the surroundings remained the dead quiet of the yellow sand desert.

“Useless?”

Zheng Zha silently exchanged glances with the others. Disappointment and frustration showed in everyone’s eyes. Given the current situation, their greatest hope lay in this Necronomicon. If they could utilize the immensely powerful skills recorded within, they might stand a chance against the Indian Continent team. Who knew that this Necronomicon didn't possess the imagined power, or perhaps? They simply couldn't use it yet?

A thought sparked in Zheng Zha’s mind, and he suddenly said, “Tell me the original Egyptian pronunciation of these runes, and I’ll repeat them exactly as you say them.”

Qi Tengyi took a deep breath and once again touched the runes, murmuring them aloud. Zheng Zha also began to mouth the difficult phonetics. It was only then that he was finally certain the Necronomicon was truly functional. Because as he recited the sounds, the vampire energy deep within his head began to circulate slowly. This energy grew more intense with each repetition of the chant. Within seconds, the vampire energy seemed to boil, surging madly into the Necronomicon.

Zheng Zha felt the points where his hands touched the Necronomicon become scalding hot; the intense pain almost made him want to cast the entire book away. But it clung to his hands motionless, as if fused there. Meanwhile, Qi Tengyi let out a sharp cry and was violently thrown back. The entire Necronomicon faintly emitted a blood-red glow—though, under the direct sunlight, it was hardly noticeable.

The vampire energy in Zheng Zha’s mind surged until it was completely drained. Only then did the Necronomicon cease being scorching hot; instead, faint wisps of chilling air seemed to emanate from it. However, having been utterly depleted of his vampire energy, Zheng Zha slumped unconscious to the ground. He failed to notice that a thousand meters in front of him, a small tornado was whistling into existence, slowly coalescing, then rapidly devouring the yellow sand beneath it. In moments, the area where they stood was choked with rolling sand; it was as if they had encountered a sandstorm, and the boundless yellow dust instantly buried them all…

Who knew how long he was out. Zheng Zha suddenly snapped his eyes open. The sunlight was dazzling, but all traces of the yellow sand were gone. The weather was clear to an indescribable degree; there wasn't even a hint of a breeze.

Zheng Zha groaned and sat up, only to find himself gently tied onto the back of a camel. The group was currently moving through the desert; it seemed the sandstorm he witnessed before passing out had been an illusion.

Seeing Zheng Zha sit up, the surrounding people shouted loudly and stopped. Zhang Jie and Zhan Lan were the first to dismount and rush to his side. Zhang Jie laughed heartily as he untied him, while Zhan Lan quickly opened a canteen and handed it over.

“How many hours was I unconscious? It looks like the sun is setting… So, the tornado I saw before passing out was just an illusion?” Zheng Zha took the canteen and took several long gulps of water, asking with a wry smile.

The others could only offer wry smiles, speechless. Zhang Jie forced a hearty laugh. “You were out for a full day and night. This should be the twilight hour of the second day… The tornado you saw was definitely an illusion, I swear it was an illusion! Hahahaha.”

Zheng Zha looked at the others; they all nodded in confirmation. He could only smile bitterly and say, “As expected. How could something that exaggerated be created by mere human effort… But I did pass out from the Necronomicon, so the book itself must be real.”

Ling Dian also took the canteen and drank some water. “It’s definitely real… You failed to summon the tornado, and we don't know what you actually did, or perhaps you couldn't control the force. In the end, you triggered a massive sandstorm. If the camels hadn't been leading the way, we probably would have all been buried in quicksand…”

“The power of the Necronomicon exceeds our imagination,” Xiao Honglu also exclaimed excitedly. “As long as you can control the force, and don't have too much energy sucked out at once to the point of collapse… its power is enough for us to completely annihilate the Indian Continent team!”

Zheng Zha stared blankly at the palm of the hand that had held the Necronomicon. A strange, faint symbol flickered in the center of his palm—the distinctive mark from the book’s cover, the symbol of the Egyptian god of death…