Volume 9 – Chapter 77: You May Be A Dummy (Part 1)
To Wang Yuechuan’s surprise, they drove out all the way. In the end, Professor Trevor led him to a mountain top in the suburbs.
On the road, they saw a few brick houses dedicated to farmers. This place was considered rural.
In the end, the two got out of the car and climbed onto the mountain top on foot. As a police officer, Wang Yuechuan’s physical fitness was quite good, but Professor Trevor was not that well off. After a while, he was panting and full of sweat. Wang Yuechuan was concerned whether the professor could make it.
Besides, Professor Trevor kept looking around and frowned when he was traveling… Wang Yuechuan believed that this old professor came to this place for the first time, so he was not familiar with it.
“Professor, what are you looking for?” asked Wang Yuechuan calmly.
“Graveyard.” Without looking back, Professor Trevor said, “To be precise, it should be called a mass grave. I noticed this place when I saw some local residents chatting online. It should be in this direction; let’s hurry up.”
Wang Yuechuan didn’t say much. The professor translated the “Book of the Dead.” Although he had doubts, he did not have a tenable viewpoint. It was more about the possibility of finding someone else to translate besides Professor Trevor.
Wang Yuechuan believed that besides Professor Trevor, someone could translate it, but it would not be easy to find. Most importantly, the lesser the people knew about “Book of the Dead,” the better it would be.
“We’re here!” Professor Trevor stopped suddenly, smiled, and said, “Wang, if we use your Eastern synonyms, Heaven will not disappoint the person who tries!”
“Really?” Wang Yuechuan nodded, “What should I do next? You seem to have mentioned a certain ritual before we head out?”
Professor Trevor mentioned a specific ritual before going out. The ritual would accelerate their grasp on magic while improving their magic power at the same time. However, the conditions were harsh.
Professor Trevor nodded at this moment and looked around. This was a part of the mountainside with concave terrain. The surrounding area was already shaded and humid. In the exposed soil, some urns used to bury the deceased could also be seen.
“As mentioned in “Book of the Dead,” the composition of our magic power is mainly physical strength, will, spirit and so on.” At this time, Professor Trevor put down the backpack he was carrying on his back and took out the items he prepared beforehand. He looked at Wang Yuechuan, “This is why you can master magic and use magic faster than me. You are younger than me.”
Wang Yuechuan said calmly, “I knew this a long time ago. Then, what does it have to do with this mass grave?”
Professor Trevor added, “I don’t know who wrote “Book of the Dead.” Although there are many meanings in translation and some differences in modern word formation, it can still be inferred. For example, will and spirit. It seems to be the same thing to modern folks, but “Book of the Dead” is different. Physical strength is easy to explain, so why are the will and the spirit separated? I interpret it this way. The will is our thought, and the so-called spirit refers to mental power. It’s a unique energy that can be expressed in numerical values.”
Wang Yuechuan frowned and said, “You mean, this place may have this special energy… mental power?”
Professor Trevor nodded and said, “You’re right. It was mentioned in “Book of the Dead” that all life has a soul. The difference is only the intensity, but the birth and destruction of the soul are the same processes. If the body as the carrier is dead, then the soul will disappear in most cases. However, the soul will always die slower than the body. If some souls are emotionally strong enough prior to death, they can easily transform into some sort of energy body after death. This kind of energy body should be called a ghost, or the predecessor of a ghost. Through this special ritual, we can absorb these special energy bodies’ energy and transform them into our spirit. That is mental power.”
“In this case, let’s start,” said Wang Yuechuan directly.
Professor Trevor did not hesitate any longer. After receiving “Book of the Dead” from Wang Yuechuan, he opened one of the pages. Then, he followed the pattern on this page and placed the crystals bought from the market in different locations in the humid mass graves.
If a wire connected these different crystals, there was a specific pattern, probably based on the “Book of the Dead.”
“Professor, when did you buy this crystal? Why don’t I have memories of it?” Wang Yuechuan looked at Professor Trevor nonchalantly. He was looking at a black crystal.
This crystal was polished to look like a typical diamond.
“Oh? This?” Professor Trevor said casually, “When I was strolling on the street previously, I bought it through an antique shop. This black crystal is of good color. I have intended to use it as a raw material for magic initially, but it just happens we needed it for the current ritual.”
“Yeah.” Wang Yuechuan just nodded.
Professor Trevor busied for a while before finishing up the arrangement. Then, he looked at Wang Yuechuan, hesitated, and said, “Wang… Look, who shall go through this ritual first? Honestly, I just finished the translation. I can’t be sure if it will be fruitful or is there any adverse effect to it. How about I go through it first?”
Wang Yuechuan stared at Professor Trevor. He found Professor Trevor’s eyes mystical. Of course, it was not due to the magic power, but the gaze appeared flustered.
“Nope.” Wang Yuechuan suddenly shook his head, “I shall go first. Your role in translation is important. In case you get injured, it will only slow down the progress of translation. Besides, I am physically stronger than you. Even if an accident occurs, I should handle it better than you.”
“En… alright.” Professor Trevor nodded, then looked at Wang Yuechuan, and said sternly, “Wang, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Wang Yuechuan said calmly, “It is just more logical that way. Then, what should I do?”
“You go straight inside.” Professor Trevor pointed to the ritual circle, “Then I will try to activate these crystals outside. If there is still a spiritual body in this place, these crystals will gather it. When the spirit body enters the ritual circle, it will be reduced to pure mental power. You should be able to feel it. Then, you may start your meditation.”
Following Professor Trevor’s instruction, Wang Yuechuan sat cross-legged on the ground while closing his eyes.
Professor Trevor squinted his eyes at this time. This place seems like a good opportunity.
It was a pity that he wasn’t capable enough. Simultaneously, even though Wang Yuechuan offered to make the first attempt, Professor Trevor was still quite wary. Wang Yuechuan did not completely trust the professor due to the previous exchange of gaze.
But, from the moment you peeked at my notes, you were already trapped.
As Professor Trevor thought, he started the ritual. When the surrounding crystals suddenly lit up with a gleam of light from inside, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop slightly.
Wang Yuechuan also felt that something strange began to emerge around him.
“Sure enough, there are still some spirit bodies! Quickly absorb it!” Professor Trevor said quickly at this time.
It was an other-worldly feeling for Wang Yuechuan. Since the birth of magic power, he could sense it in his head all the time, as if there was a particular seed. This was the so-called magic seed.
At this time, the magic seed was absorbing the energy of the spirit bodies. It was not much, but it was slowly nourishing the magic seed.
Sometimes had passed, this nourishing feeling suddenly stopped. Wang Yuechuan opened his eyes, subconsciously, “Why did it stop?”
Professor Trevor outside the ritual was pale, seemingly over exhausted. He slumped on the floor, “Wang, I can’t hold on anymore. It costs a lot to maintain this ritual.”
It was too slow to rely on meditation to increase the magic’s upper limit. The absorption made Wang Yuechuan’s magic seed nearly three times stronger. When it suddenly stopped, he felt a sense of loss.
