Xu Xiao's words were like a sacred decree to the believers, especially the guards whose minds had already been planted with the Seed of Desire.
They completely ignored Evelynn's question and casually pointed to two natives.
"You two, open the lid; this is a test from our Lord!"
Upon hearing that it was a test, the two Egypt natives, despite their fear, mustered their courage and stepped forward.
Their faith in this Heavenly Venerable of Ten Thousand Desires stemmed entirely from their witnessing of his miraculous manifestations.
Xu Xiao doesn't use control methods on everyone. He has tried it before, and while those he controls do generate faith power, the amount is small and the quality is poor.
Only the faith of individuals with independent consciousness who are purely drawn to the doctrine is qualified.
Of course, fanatics don't count; their faith is pure and requires no mental control, and they are incredibly loyal.
If it were possible to easily control believers and obtain their faith through mind control, then many God would not need to worry about their followers.
In general, the only advantage believers have when facing God is the ability to choose whether or not to believe.
The same applies to God; they cannot force believers to sincerely worship them. A forced relationship is never sweet.
Fortunately, Xu Xiao has the ability to travel through countless worlds, and his adherence to the doctrine of following and indulging desires makes it very easy for him to attract believers.
The two natives shakily opened the box, but nothing happened, revealing a black scripture and five urns inside.
Of course, this is from the perspective of ordinary people, not from Xu Xiao's point of view.
The moment the two Egypt natives opened the box, an unseen force seemed to attach itself to them.
"Is this a curse? Interesting. It doesn't originate from Magic Power, but rather resembles the application of a power of belief. Is this a power derived from divine power?"
The power of belief is similar to Xu Xiao's Path of True Intent; a being's love, hate, or jealousy towards another is all a form of power.
This power can be transformed into either harm or protection—that is, a curse—through a unique method.
Xu Xiao followed the source of the curse and discovered that it was a force connected by three parties.
The curse on the box is linked to the cursed person on one hand, to Imhotep on the other, and to the curse itself on the third.
"The other spellcasters around the Pharaoh placed a curse on the box; whoever opens it will be cursed. And if the resurrected Imhotep wants to regain his body and Magic Power, he must follow the curse and kill the person who opens the box."
"That's a really good application of power; I could learn this unique casting method."
Xu Xiao quickly analyzed the nature of the curse's power and then turned his attention to the Book of the Dead.
"My dear, the Book of the Dead you've been searching for is right here in front of you. You can pick it up and study it now."
Xu Xiao's voice rang in her ears, and Evelynn then turned her gaze to the black books in the box.
'As expected, all the curses were fake; studying the books first is the real solution!'
Evelynn excitedly stepped forward and took the book containing numerous black magic spells from the native's hands.
It contains many spells and magic, making it a treasure that ancient Egypt priests and sorcerers dreamed of.
"Sun... moon... daytime..."
Driven by a strong desire to explore, Evelynn couldn't help but start reciting the words on the surface of the Book of the Dead in a low voice after seeing them.
Although she was just a mortal without any Magic Power, Xu Xiao could feel the fluctuations of Magic Power when she chanted the incantation.
"The scriptures themselves possess Magic Power; anyone can cast spells simply by reciting the incantation. This seems more like a magical artifact given to ordinary people by a high-ranking being!"
Xu Xiao could sense the power of the Book of the Dead; the book was spontaneously absorbing the Spiritual Energy in the air.
After Evelynn chanted the incantation, the book absorbed Spiritual Energy and transformed it into Magic Power, which then activated the inscribed spell.
This is essentially a fully automated spellcasting tool; all you need is to understand the text.
'Click!'
The sound of heavy objects hitting the ground came from beneath the archaeologists' feet.
What's that sound?!
Evelynn asked a question with some fear, but calmed down after seeing the guards beside her.
"Could you go and see what happened? I have a bad feeling about this."
One of the two guards nodded, then took a few steps forward to the statue of Anubis.
He raised one leg, gathered Chakra, and stomped it onto the stone slab.
The granite partition was kicked to pieces, revealing a large hole of about three square meters.
Looking through the opening, you can see a coffin moving on the ground on the next level, with mournful howls emanating from it.
Clearly, this is the coffin where Imhotep is buried.
However, Imhotep's coffin lid remained closed; although he had been resurrected, he could only struggle inside the coffin.
Before absorbing flesh and blood, he was just an ordinary undead monster, unable to break free of the coffin's suppression in a short time.
"What... what is that?!"
Evelynn was clearly startled, and she pointed at the coffin with a trembling voice, asking a question.
"Don't worry, the guards will take care of these things. Evelynn, give him the key."
Xu Xiao's voice rang out at just the right moment.
In this situation, it was clearly impossible to have Evelynn go forward and open the coffin lid.
Even the strongest desire to explore cannot overcome the fear stemming from one's physiological instincts.
Perfect timing! Xu Xiao also wanted to see just how this mummy under the Egypt curse fared, and whether it could compare to his ninja followers.
A guard holding a six-pointed star-shaped key jumped down from the hole and landed right on the moving coffin.
With a forceful push of both feet, the coffin was pinned down and unable to move, only the roars coming from inside could be heard.
With one hand, he drew a short knife as a precaution, while with the other, he opened the keyhole on the coffin and pressed the six-pointed star key into it.
Imhotep, inside the coffin, sensed that the person was about to open the coffin lid and stopped struggling.
"Undo it, let me see just how powerful this monster born from the Egypt curse truly is."
Xu Xiao's will was transmitted from the Seed of Desire into the guard's mind. The guard nodded and then easily twisted his body.
'Crunch!'
The mechanism in the coffin was unlocked, and the monster inside forcefully pushed the coffin lid open.
'Crack!'
It didn't move!
The coffin lid moved slightly, but there was no way to open it.
The guards had sealed the coffin lid with Chakra, so Imhotep had clearly underestimated its weight.
"Let it out, then deal with it."
Faced with this, Xu Xiao could only order his men to leave, and at the same time, he didn't have high hopes for his upcoming meeting with Imhotep.
'I have a feeling this thing isn't as powerful as I thought?'
'Bang!'
With the guards no longer restraining him, Imhotep flung open his coffin lid, and his withered mummy body emerged from within!
"The great Imhotep is back!!"