Withered Reincarnation, having had Zahra’s life force extracted, was currently in an extremely poor state.
Though he still maintained his skeletal humanoid form, he had shriveled significantly.
Overall, he looked like a malnourished, skin-and-bones vagrant.
The shackles binding Zahra now seemed a size too large.
The Forbidden Fire continued to burn, yet it still couldn't kill Withered Reincarnation.
Every time he was on the verge of death, Withered Reincarnation would suddenly erupt with powerful life force, just as before.
In fact, after extracting the "impurity" that was Zahra, although his power had weakened, his immortal trait had become even stronger.
On Withered Reincarnation’s arm, the chains extending from the Book of Death also hung limply.
“...Sooner or later, you will pay the price for your arrogance and blasphemy.”
At this point, Withered Reincarnation had given up struggling and pleading, turning instead to threatening Dalun Li.
Withered Reincarnation knew the man before him would never let him leave.
He also knew that the man before him had no way to truly kill him.
Dalun Li was indifferent to whatever thoughts were in Withered Reincarnation’s head.
He was only thinking about how to exploit the evil god.
Moreover, he was curious about the abilities of the Book of Death. He had initially thought it was merely a medium for summoning the power of an evil god, with no other use.
But now that he had purified the "impurity" of Zahra from Withered Reincarnation, the book remained unchanged, still maintaining its form.
This indicated that the Book of Death was more than just a medium; it possessed other value.
He transferred the Life Casket to the Well of Eternal Imprisonment Learning Group for them to continue their studies.
Dalun Li then began to research the Book of Death.
To prevent Withered Reincarnation from acting out of desperation, Dalun Li brandished the Collapsed Atmosphere, manipulating spatial power to firmly immobilize the evil god's arms.
Even after that, Dalun Li did not lower his guard.
One could never be too careful when facing an evil god.
Especially an evil god with such persistent abilities; they usually had some sinister plot brewing in the shadows.
The more cautious a person was, the more despicable they tended to be—Dalun Li understood this logic well.
Thus, he activated his ability to condense a vine with an eyeball, sending it close to the Book of Death.
Then, he created a skeletal apprentice and linked it to the eyeball vine.
This way, he wouldn't have to look at the book's contents himself.
Instead, the skeletal apprentice would read and comprehend it. Only after confirming there were no issues would the knowledge be transmitted to him.
One could not afford to be careless when dealing with an evil god.
Watching the incredibly cautious Dalun Li, Withered Reincarnation was gnashing his teeth in rage, while also feeling a wave of sorrow.
The more cautious a person was, the more despicable they were—Withered Reincarnation understood this logic too.
Therefore...
His chances of escape were truly slim.
Could it be that the great Withered Reincarnation was to be imprisoned in this godforsaken place forever?
As the Book of Death was flipped open, the skeletal apprentice began to see its contents through the eyeball vine.
Dalun Li watched the skeletal apprentice warily, checking for any signs of mutation.
Meanwhile, at Dalun Li’s request, the Well of Eternal Imprisonment Learning Group quickly extracted Zahra’s memories regarding the Book of Death and Withered Reincarnation.
The skeletal apprentice showed no signs of mutation, and the learning group had already transmitted Zahra’s relevant memories.
Dalun Li finally understood how Zahra had obtained the Book of Death and become the vessel for Withered Reincarnation’s descent.
Zahra was a noble of the Geri Kingdom; after all, it was nearly impossible for a commoner to become a 5th-rank mage.
Most top-tier mages were nobles.
The Book of Death wasn't some treasure Zahra had stumbled upon in the Geri Kingdom.
Rather, it was a gift he had received five years ago.
A gift from the Geri royal family, a treasure from their treasury.
Receiving this gift was also a mark of honor from the Geri royalty.
After obtaining the book, Zahra began to study the knowledge within.
At that time, the Book of Death only had its first chapter; the remaining pages were blank.
That first chapter recorded power related to plant life, with nothing related to death.
The reason Zahra had come to the Lanxi Kingdom was also because of the Book of Death.
Zahra had realized the value of the Book of Death.
The first chapter alone had allowed him to master a vast amount of knowledge, and he hungered for the rest of the book’s contents.
In his pursuit of knowledge, Zahra had received guidance from a member of the royal family, Princess Wildra Geri.
He came to the Lanxi Kingdom and watered the Book of Death with water of life and his own blood.
The Book of Death finally began to reveal its subsequent chapters, showing the power of death.
This continued until the Book of Death took root in his arm, devoured his heart, and killed him.
Then it resurrected him, absorbing his death power and turning him into a conscious walking corpse, constantly tormented by the agony of death.
Only then did he realize he had been turned into a vessel.
He had fallen into some kind of conspiracy by the Geri royalty.
Fearing his consciousness would not last long, he had to save himself.
He began searching within the Lanxi Kingdom for a way to destroy the Book of Death.
Upon learning of the existence of Forbidden Fire, he hurried to the Northern Territory, hoping to use it to burn the Book of Death and gain his freedom.
Just as Dalun Li had guessed, Zahra was indeed merely a pawn.
Someone behind him wanted to use him to achieve some goal.
That entity was most likely the Geri royalty who had given him the Book of Death.
Princess Wildra Geri was likely one of the masterminds.
Was the Geri royalty serving the evil god Withered Reincarnation?
Or was it only a faction of the royalty, like Princess Wildra, who served Withered Reincarnation and sought to exploit his power?
This was a significant matter.
A thousand years ago, both the Geri Kingdom and the Lanxi Kingdom were part of the Mahr Kingdom, and both worshipped the Goddess of Light.
This faith had not wavered or changed even after the Mahr Kingdom split.
Yet, members of the Geri royalty were secretly consorting with the evil god Withered Reincarnation under the holy light of the Goddess.
If they wanted a thrill, they certainly went all the way.
The Geri royalty was definitely hiding something.
Aside from that, there were no other dangers within the Book of Death in Zahra’s memories.
It recorded genuine knowledge. As for why the Book of Death possessed such special power and could serve as a vessel for Withered Reincarnation despite having no mana and not being a magical artifact...
That involved another piece of information.
The weight inherent in knowledge and knowledge originals.
These were precious things no less valuable than magical artifacts, part of an entirely different system of special power.
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