Spellcasting Gods

“Faust? What did he get from you?” Zhang Cheng asked calmly, clearly having anticipated the outcome.

After all, this book was given to him by Faust, and it would be strange if the owner didn't get what he wanted from it.

“A secret about death. To be precise, I led him down the path of death, making him the last mortal in this world capable of manipulating the rules of death. Now, tell me, are you eager to glimpse the secrets of death and willing to pay the price?” The phantom opened its arms and provoked him loudly in an extremely serious tone.

If it were someone else, they might not have been able to resist the desire for power and would have agreed without hesitation.

But Zhang Cheng wasn't about to fall for that. He smirked and said coldly, "Hmph! Don't you think you should introduce yourself before saying all this? For example, who created you, and what is this so-called price you're talking about?"

"Oh? You seem more curious about my origins than knowledge and power?" The phantom was clearly encountering this kind of intruder who didn't play by the rules for the first time, and its attitude suddenly turned cold.

“I’m just more cautious than most people, and I also understand that the more you gain, the more you lose. There’s no way to obtain power without paying a price. If you truly master the secrets of death, the price you pay for it will certainly not be low,” Zhang Cheng calmly analyzed.

"What if I'm unwilling to give an answer? Do you intend to remain trapped in the world of consciousness forever?" the phantom asked with unwavering confidence.

Zhang Cheng shook his head meaningfully: "No! This place can't hold me back. I can destroy it whenever I want, but I'll have to pay a small price."

"Impossible! This is a world entirely composed of consciousness. According to the rules, only one person's consciousness can enter at a time, and to destroy it, at least two complete and independent consciousnesses are required."

"Hehe, well, it seems I need to show off my uniqueness..."

The words had barely left his mouth!

Zhang Cheng's body, which was entirely composed of consciousness, suddenly began to tremble. A short while later, another person appeared who looked exactly like him, but whose temperament was completely opposite.

"This...how is this possible?!" the phantom cried out in a trembling voice.

It's important to understand that there's no way to use any illusion magic in the world of consciousness. An independent consciousness is one person, while two independent consciousnesses are two people.

"Damn it! Why did you wake me up?" another Zhang Cheng roared angrily.

"Sorry, I've run into a little trouble and need your help." Zhang Cheng shrugged innocently, not taking the yelling to heart at all.

It goes without saying that he awakened the second personality that emerged when he awakened his psychic abilities.

"I want control of my body for three days!" The other Zhang Cheng immediately offered his terms after understanding the situation.

"Sure! But you have to promise not to ruin my plans."

"make a deal!"

……

Because the alter ego created by psychic abilities does not exhibit the same strong rejection and resistance towards the primary personality as most patients with dual personality disorder, the two quickly reached an agreement and turned their threatening gaze toward their only adversary.

The phantom was clearly frightened and immediately asked nervously, "What...what do you want to do?"

“It’s simple. We want to know all the secrets of the entire consciousness space, including yours.” The main personality’s eyes revealed undisguised malice as he said this.

"Of course, you can choose to keep it a secret. But believe me, this choice may not have a good outcome for you. Whoever created you, you now have your own life and consciousness. Even if it's just to continue living, you'd better think carefully before telling us your choice." The alternate personality was even more blatant, with a strong sense of threat between the lines.

After all, psychic abilities are a kind of supernatural power born from self-awareness. As long as the main and secondary personalities work together, the opposing thoughts generated in an instant are enough to easily tear the space of consciousness into pieces.

Chapter 818 The Mystery of Death (Part 2)

Some say that nothing is more terrifying than encountering a madman with a brilliant mind and clear logical thinking.

If so, it means you encounter two at the same time.

Clearly, the phantom standing in the spiritual world is facing a similar problem, and these two madmen are absolutely capable of destroying the entire space and destroying themselves, which have existed for thousands of years.

As the saying goes, life without intelligence is not afraid of death, not even death itself.

The end of all things means nothingness, the denial of all possibilities and existence, and also an eternal, unchanging stillness.

Anything with independent thought and wisdom will instinctively resist such an outcome.

After a long silence, the phantom representing the entire space of consciousness finally relented and spoke in a slightly ethereal voice: "I was born in ancient Egypt, created by Anubis, the god of death. Initially, he simply used me as a notebook to record the names of the dead, but as the names became more numerous and complex, I was given a new ability: to guide the souls of mortals to the realm of the dead. It was this ability that allowed me to glimpse the true mystery of death. It does not belong to any god, nor is it controlled by any god; the gods have only obtained a portion of its authority."

"You are the Book of the Dead?!" Zhang Cheng's main personality's eyes lit up instantly.

As a member of the highest council in North America, he had long known through books and notes that many powerful magical items and artifacts were hidden in this world, and the Book of the Dead was one of the most legendary items.

Legend has it that Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of death, wrote it himself and entrusted it to the high priest for safekeeping, in order to protect the dead, especially the tombs of the pharaohs, the direct descendants of the sun god.

But to everyone's surprise, the real Book of the Dead was not hidden in some corner of Egypt as people imagined.

In this way, Faust's unparalleled mastery of necromancy becomes easier to understand.

"The Book of the Dead? No, that's not my real name. My real name is the Book of Souls. Death is merely a secret I discovered through observation after awakening my independent consciousness. So, would you like to witness the ultimate death for yourself?" the phantom asked with ill intent.

"Why not?" The alternate personality raised its chin slightly, unabashedly displaying its domineering side.

"As you wish!" The phantom placed one hand on its chest and bowed slightly.

next second...

The entire bare forest began to change!

In an instant, all these things, which were already filled with a strong aura of death and decay, turned into nothingness at an extremely fast speed.

Within a few minutes, the entire consciousness space was gone, leaving only pitch-black darkness.

There was no sound!

There is no light!

There's no air!

There was no pulse or heartbeat!

Even their very existence is now in big question!

Thoughts and consciousness begin to fade and become blurred in this environment, as if everything has suddenly lost its value.

Time seemed to have frozen in an eternal stillness.

Clearly, this is the legendary true death, the end of all things withering away.

I don't know how much time has passed; maybe it's a few minutes, maybe a few hours, maybe a few years, decades, or even centuries...

As the first pale ray of light illuminated the darkness, the phantom immediately pressed on, asking, "How do you feel? Can you sense the grandeur and vastness of the rules of death? Yes! No matter how much we struggle, we will all eventually face eternal death, and no one can escape it."

"So what? What are you trying to express? Or what are you expecting?" Zhang Cheng's main personality asked with a half-smile.

"You're not crazy?" The phantom's tone revealed a hint of surprise.

"Madness? Why would we go mad?" A sarcastic smile appeared on the alternate personality's face. "Your so-called eternal death is just a conclusion drawn from a narrow perspective. In fact, life and death are inseparable twins; where there is death, there is bound to be new life. It is not terrible for a world to die, because a new world will be born."

"Looks like this guy has used this trick a lot to drive people crazy." Zhang Cheng's main personality exposed the dark tricks in the other party's heart.

Clearly, for most normal people, such an experience of facing ultimate death would have a tremendous impact on their values, so it is to be expected that they would turn to mental abnormality and schizophrenia.

"Should we kill it?" The alternate personality licked its lips, its eyes flashing with a strong desire for destruction.

The dominant personality hesitated for a moment, then immediately shook its head: "No, there's no need for that. It still has value; at least it can help us understand death more deeply and learn to control this omnipresent and powerful force. But now, we've stayed here for too long; it's time to leave."

The words had barely left his mouth!

The two completely independent consciousnesses exchanged a glance and immediately unleashed their psychic shockwaves to the maximum extent, tearing a hole in the closed consciousness space.

"No!!!!!!!!! Bastards! How dare you!" The phantom cursed wildly, then used all its strength to barely manage to close the tear.

After all, for it, this enclosed space is like its body; if it suffers serious damage, it will immediately be in danger of dying.

Unfortunately, Zhang Cheng could no longer hear these curses.

Upon returning to his body, he immediately put his alternate personality back into a dormant state, looked up at Lavern sitting opposite him on the sofa: "When did you arrive?"

"I've only been here for less than three minutes! How are you? Are you alright?" the old man asked tentatively, his tone uncertain.

"It's nothing! I'm fine!" Zhang Cheng shrugged casually, glancing at the clock in the living room out of the corner of his eye.

Less than ten minutes have passed since I first touched the book, which doesn't seem as long as I imagined.

"Very good? I don't think anyone who's touched this book would feel good. That Faust guy is getting more and more outrageous lately, actually giving away something so dangerous as a gift." Lavern rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Without even asking, it's clear that he knows exactly what the "Book of the Soul" is and how terrifying it is.

"Don't worry, although it has caused a little trouble and annoyance, it has brought many benefits overall. By the way, you came all this way just to see if this book has driven me crazy, didn't you?"

Chapter 0819 Lavern's Warning

"It sounds like you've already witnessed the power of this book, haven't you? Don't let your guard down. As far as I know, several of Faust's apprentices went insane after coming into contact with it. Remember Nathan we met in the Fragment World? He was one of the victims. As far as I know, no one has been able to remain sane after touching this book, even Faust himself was affected to some extent..."

As Lavern spoke, one of his eyes was fixed on Zhang Cheng's reaction, trying to find something amiss.

Unfortunately, he only saw an extremely calm young face and found nothing else.

“As I said, this kind of minor trouble is no problem for me. Besides, Faust was right, I am indeed the same kind of person as him, forever thirsting for knowledge and power. It’s an innate nature that can’t be changed.” Zhang Cheng carefully covered the cover of “The Book of the Soul” with a napkin.

Having personally experienced being immersed in a world of eternal death, he knew all too well why Faust's apprentices had all gone mad.

Normally, in that situation, any mentally sound person would be on the verge of madness and collapse, especially the feeling of gradually losing self-awareness, which is more terrifying than anything else.

Fortunately, his mental state was not ordinary; if we apply the definitions of modern medicine and psychology, it should be classified as deep schizophrenia with dual personality disorder.

Therefore, even when everything around you becomes blurry, you can still maintain contact with your alternate personality to ensure you don't lose yourself.

Lavern clearly didn't know these secrets and subconsciously frowned: "You shouldn't be misled by Faust. You know, I've known him for over eighty years and know better than anyone how morbid and dark he is. Promise me you won't touch that book again. You're strong enough; you don't need to learn from a mentally unstable madman."

"Oh? You think I'm the more normal one between him and me?" Zhang Cheng's face showed a strange expression.

There are just too many things to complain about here, I really don't know where to begin.

Having just orchestrated the massacre of an entire planet's population, he couldn't believe Faust could compare to the darkness within his own heart.

To be precise, through this heinous act of destruction, he completely freed himself from the identification with a simple human identity, no longer feeling that ordinary people were the same kind of people as him, or of the same race.

Under this mindset, no matter how much killing is committed or how many worlds are destroyed, humanity will not feel even the slightest bit of guilt or remorse.

“No! What I mean is, he’s been acting a bit strange lately, and there’s probably something wrong here. You need to be extra vigilant. After all, when he goes crazy, he won’t care whether you’re an ally or not.” Lavern pointed to his head.

"His mental state is unstable?" Zhang Cheng was extremely perceptive and immediately noticed the implication in his words.

Lavern nodded without hesitation: "Yes! Almost every thirty years or so, he enters a dangerous period. During this time, he cannot control his bloodlust and will most likely create a horrific killing spree somewhere in the world."

"Unable to control myself?" Zhang Cheng tapped the table thoughtfully, lost in thought.

He didn't think Faust was the kind of person who couldn't control his bloodlust; this abnormal behavior was probably related to the price he had to pay to master the rules of death.

“Alright, that’s enough about him for now. Just remember to stay away from him for a while. Here, this is the list I promised you. Hurry up and pick something as compensation.” With that, Lavern threw an A4 sheet of paper on the table.

"No rush." ​​Zhang Cheng picked it up, glanced at it, and finding nothing of interest, casually tossed it aside. "Nothing big has happened in the underworld these past few months, has it?"