"ROAR!!!!!!!!!!"

  As life ebbed away, the deceased opened their eyes and let out a low growl like that of a beast. Their pupils began to dull like dusty glass beads, as the power of death swept through their body with lightning speed, granting them a brand new life.

  "Very good, it seems everything is going smoothly."

  Looking at those half-beasts that had gotten back to their feet, now nothing more than mindless zombies, Zhan Yan nodded. This trip hadnt been a waste after all; not only had they taken care of a Devourer, but theyd even gained a few new subordinates. They might not be much use in a big battle, but having them was still better than having nothing at all.

  As for that half-dark elf...

  Zhan En glanced at Verena, who was still unconscious, but said nothing and quickly turned around to head towards the crystal forest in front of him. For him, what mattered most was the reward here. There would be plenty of opportunities to study that dark elf mouse later, no need to bother with her for now.

  As they walked to the Crystal Forest, Zhan discovered that this place was not formed naturally. Underneath the enclosed crystal forest, a structure similar to an altar could be seen. The Food Brain Demon from before was guarding the altar and launched an attack on Zhan and his group.

  "Thats right..."

  Seeing the altar, Zhan En nodded. The Food Brain Demon was a subspecies of demon that mostly lived in the bottomless abyss, unless it was summoned out. Otherwise, Zhan En couldnt understand why any Food Brain Demon would be willing to stay in this dark region, which was so barren that even birds wouldnt shit there, and had been forced into hibernation due to lack of food. If it werent for those gray dwarves, this guy would probably have slept until the end of the world.

  It now appears that this Cerebral Devourer was summoned to guard something.

  The altar wasnt very high, and Jian En and Enoia didnt take long to climb up the stairs to the top. As soon as they stepped onto the top, a strange scene appeared before their eyes.

  All that can be seen is a skeleton sitting upright on the stone chair in the center of the altar, wearing tattered long robes. Its left hand holds onto the armrest of the chair, while its right hand tightly grasps a book with a pitch-black cover. Around it can be seen stone tables and various magical artifacts that have been damaged and worn away due to time. Judging from their state of disrepair, aside from what was originally here, the rest were probably spoils of war from the Brain-Eating Demon.

  "It seems that in his previous life he should have been a Taoist priest..."

  Walking in front of the white bones, Zhan En narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the poor guy in front of him. His eyes flashed with a few points of astonishment. This was not surprising, after all, this skull was indeed too strange.

  Generally speaking, bones are white. However, the color of this skulls bones is extremely strange. The left half of its body is no different from ordinary white bones, but the right half of its body is crystal clear. At first glance, it looks like someone has made a lifelike human skeleton model out of crystal.

  If it were those ignorant adventurers, they would probably be more or less vigilant by now. However, Jain and Ennoia didnt take it seriously at all. Whether it was Jain with his rich knowledge or Ennoia as an undead creature, they could both tell that this poor guy was already dead beyond death, and the skull in front of them was just a useless piece of junk.

  So Zhan En didnt hesitate at all, and stepped forward to the skulls face, picked up the book in his hand and flipped through it. And on the first page that Zhan En opened, a string of beautiful but somewhat unfamiliar fonts immediately appeared before his eyes.

  "In the year of autumn frost, December 1st..."

  This is universal language.

  Upon seeing this, Zhan En took a glance at the skull. He had studied much knowledge in the library of the Wanmo Temple and could recognize at a glance that the font recorded on the book was the standard common language used by humans in this world. In other words, eight or nine out of ten chances, this skull should be that of a human.

  And the records afterwards also proved Zhan Ens judgment.

  From this diary, it seems that the skulls previous owner was a noble named "Landon Drako". His story itself isnt particularly noteworthy, and is similar to those of the miserable network novel protagonists that Jian saw before his rebirth. At first, he had a young and beautiful fiancée who was his childhood sweetheart, as well as a happy family. Later on, however, his family fell into turmoil, his fiancée was taken by the Minotaur, his property was seized, and his noble title was usurped. He barely managed to escape with his life under the protection of his vassals. And then came the process of the network novel protagonist defying fate and changing his destiny...

  To enhance strength, learn magic, and during this period, encounter a second spring. Go on adventures to accumulate experience, upgrade, and recruit allies to take revenge together... ...and so on, following the online novel routine, in the end, the protagonist will surely defeat his enemies, avenge his grievances, and everyone will live happily ever after.

  However, reality and ideals are often different.

  The cousin who took the title of Landon was not a fool either. While Landon went out to upgrade and change his fate, he also relied on his own strength to curry favor and grasped the power of Tianchao. When Landon came with his allies to settle accounts, his cousin had already become the role of one person under the whole country and above all people.

  It was only natural that Landons revenge failed. His allies were also annihilated by the king ****. And Landon himself was beaten to a pulp by his cousins legendary mage, almost losing his soul, if not for Second Spring risking her life to save him, this hapless protagonist would have been done for.

  In the end, Landon fell and became a necromancer, determined to turn himself into a lich and then thoroughly destroy that country. However, the legendary wizard was always chasing after him, forcing Landon to find a quiet enough place to rest and recover.

  It seems this is why he designed that fake tomb after all.

  In theory, with Landons magical powers, becoming a lich shouldnt be difficult. However, our protagonist has his own ideas and doesnt want to become an ordinary lich; instead, he wants to take a unique path by using crystals to neutralize his body and become a semi-divine lich. This way, almost no one can stop him from taking his revenge.

  However, its common knowledge that what makes you the protagonist isnt whether or not you have a rare encounter, but rather if youre lucky enough to always make the right gamble... Unfortunately, this guy lost his bet.

  And then everything that followed was very simple, life has many choices, sometimes taking a wrong step can lead to complete failure, and the half-baked skull in front of you is the best evidence.

  "Haste makes waste."

  After finishing reading the diary in front of him, Zhan En let out a sigh. This Landon is also like this, with his magical abilities, he can slowly and steadily succeed eventually. However, his biggest problem is that he cant wait, because his enemy is human, and humans can live for at most a hundred years. Landon himself can of course slowly recover and cultivate, then wait until he achieves great success before going to take revenge - by that time, perhaps even the great-great-grandchildren of his enemies would have been born.

  So in order to save time, Landon had no choice but to take a gamble.

  In some ways, this is also a tragedy of humanity.

  A book with an abusive master and a rotten ending.

  That was Jens only comment on Landons diary, but at the end of the diary, Landons record sparked Jens interest.

  "My gamble has failed, death is approaching me, this is my fate. I know that my days are numbered, but if someone can see everything Ive recorded, I hope you can help me fulfill my wish... As a reward, I will give you everything I own..."

  "Ahh...!!"

  Just as Zhan En finished reading the sentence, a shrill and mournful cry suddenly burst out from the book. Immediately afterwards, an arm condensed from black mist suddenly sprang out from between the pages of the book and grabbed towards Zhan En!

  "Hmm!"

  Seeing this arm, Zhan Ens expression didnt change, but he let out a cold snort. The next moment, his empty left hand suddenly shot forward and grabbed the black arm with great force. Then, Zhan En pulled upwards, and immediately a black figure was forcibly pulled out of the book!

  It was a baby, or at least it looked like one. On the surface, it resembled the refugee babies Jan had seen on TV before - all scrawny arms and legs, big head and small body, looking malnourished, with its entire body shrouded in a black mist. Only those eyes were wide open, looking particularly terrifying.

  At this moment, the baby stared at Zhan En with wide eyes, looking at him incredulously.

  "How could you...?!"

  "Not bad idea, unfortunately... ...its just a good idea..."

  Looking at the astonished expression of the infant in front of him, Zhan En shook his head helplessly. He certainly knew what this guy was going to do. In fact, before that arm stretched out, Zhan En already knew that there must be something fishy about this book. Think about it, after all these hundreds of years, even the long gown on this skull had become tattered and worn out. Only this broken diary, which couldnt even be considered a magic book, was still as good as new without any damage at all - who would believe that theres nothing fishy inside?

  As soon as the other party stretched out his arm, Zhan En knew what was going on. This Landons transformation into a vampire had indeed failed, but he hadnt really died. Instead, he had hidden his soul in this diary. Whoever finished reading this diary would have their soul appear and connect with the other partys soul through a contractual method.

  Once bound by contract, the two souls can never be separated again. At that time, whether to manipulate the person as a puppet or directly devour the others soul depends on Landons thoughts.

  Cant help but admit that Landons idea isnt bad, just like his plan to use crystal refining to manufacture semi-divine witches.

  Unfortunately, as Zhan En said, its just a good idea.

  If it were someone else, Landon would probably get away with it. But the problem is that Zan is a demon! On this continent, contracts are either made with divine power or demonic power. Landon is a necromancer, so his contract must be made with demonic power, not divine power. And Zan is from the royal family of demons, using demonic power to bind the Demon King, isnt that ironic?

  "Spare me... spare me..."

  At this moment, the baby was already trembling with fear, his face revealing terror. He wasnt stupid, and with a single movement of the other partys hand, he had broken through his own contractual powers and directly bound up his soul as well. This wasnt something that just anyone could do!

  "Spare my life, sir, and Ill be loyal to you. And my treasure... "

  But Landons words were cut off by Jan before he could finish.

  "Not a bad idea."

  "Huh?"

  Facing the souls confusion in front of him, Zhan En smiled slightly and pushed his glasses up.

  "I think your idea is good, but its a pity that you still cant help but play tricks at this time. However, I dont need you to tell me anything..."

  At this point, Zhan En raised his head and looked forward.

  "Enya, its up to you now."

  "Alright, master."

  Before anyone knew it, Enyo had quietly appeared behind Landon. Upon hearing Jans command, the girl merely smiled lightly.

  The next moment, her slender fingers ruthlessly pierced into the other persons brain.