Calamity of Tomorrow-Chapter 507 - 506 Human Heart

People's actions are mostly driven by various kinds of desires.

Eating can be said to be one of the important innate desires of human beings, a prerequisite for survival, and many of human actions are driven by the need to eat, to act in order to eat.

The practice of Taoist arts, the pursuit of the Heavenly Dao, the striving for realms, and even all desires for power and knowledge are major driving forces that get cultivators to act.

It can be said that aside from emotions such as responsibility and dreams that are not desire-based, the actions of most humans and cultivators are primarily driven by their own desires.

When Zhou Bai wiped out the desires for both eating and power, both Yan Shan and Meng Ruocun seemed to lose their life goals all at once, their entire beings radiating a sluggish aura from the inside out.

Yan Shan suddenly reclined in his chair, thinking to himself, "Ah, facing a peerless genius like Zhou Bai, I might only match a few days of his cultivation with several years of mine. What was I even thinking, entertaining the notion that I could surpass him?"

All of a sudden, having lost the twin driving forces of food and cultivation, Yan Shan felt a total lack of interest in life, thinking to himself, "When I think about it, women are interesting. Should I go back to Central City and find a woman to have children with?"

He suddenly turned his head, "This Meng Ruocun seems quite alright."

He... was quickly distracted by another desire.

On the other hand, Meng Ruocun, who had climbed up step by step from the bottom relying on her talent, had her desires mostly centered around food and the longing for great power. Suddenly devoid of these desires, she felt life was utterly meaningless.

"Zhou Bai's casual meal each day is enough to last me for half a month of frivolous spending," Meng Ruocun sighed inwardly. "I struggle to climb upward, practicing diligently, only to be no match for his casual few days of cultivation. Compared to him, I am nothing but a pile of mud."

"What's the point of everything I'm doing now?"

Meng Ruocun dropped her head onto the table, plunging into a state of despondency, like a salted fish that had lost all will to live.

Zhou Bai, upon seeing the two's condition, gradually gained some enlightenment, "It seems that food and power are indeed the main desires of most people. Once those two main desires are removed, people become listless. But..."

Zhou Bai looked toward Qiu Xingze, who, unlike Yan Shan and Meng Ruocun, still had not lost interest in life despite the added weariness in his eyes, because in his life, besides desires, there were responsibilities and ideals.

Qiu Xingze looked at Zhou Bai and thought to himself, "Compared to a towering genius like Zhou Bai, I am no better than a toad stuck in the ground, unable to match him no matter how long I cultivate."

But the next moment, a new fighting spirit sparkled in his eyes, "In the future, I should focus my work on the Plague Department's projects and the matters concerning Gu Letian, especially this time, with the danger being so great, I must catch him."

Qiu Xingze, staring at Zhou Bai, said, "Zhou Bai, could you please tell us how you encountered Gu Letian and how you started doing business with him, and tell us everything you know about him?"

Zhou Bai, observing the behavior of the three before him, saw through their changes as clear as day, and, combining his understanding of greed, made a judgment.

"After erasing some desires, everyone reacts differently. It all depends on what their original personality and values are like," Zhou Bai mused, feeling a sense of amusement as if he were casually toying with human hearts.

"In the past, my applications of poverty and ignorance were very crude."

"If I now added the ability to be greedy, I could control human hearts more subtly. Although the duration of each instance is limited, with true gradual influence, it's enough to change a person's thinking."

"And what if I continued to use it as before, directly and crudely coordinating with each other to erase other desires? Would it become more like giving up on life, or some kind of more extreme reaction?"

Zhou Bai wanted to continue to try out the power of greed, he was very curious as to what it would turn into if the eradication of desires continued. However, the next experiment was not suitable to continue under the identity of Zhou Bai.

'Well... I need to modify the original plan; the effect of greed is more useful than I imagined.'

Previously, Zhou Bai had made preparations after his last heist in West Mountain City, planning several strategies to clear himself of suspicion for the investigators that Heaven might send.

But today, after unlocking the ability to be greedy and feeling good about the experiment, he was filled with many new ideas and curiosities.

So now he decided to slightly change the original plan.

Thus, hearing Qiu Xingze's question, Zhou Bai fell silent, a flicker of fear flashed through his eyes, and he said with some reluctance to recall, "Let's just leave the past in the past, shall we? I'll pretend the points were thrown into the water, and you should give up on the investigation too, you won't find anything."

Seeing Zhou Bai's fearful victim facade, Qiu Xingze immediately felt there was hope and asked eagerly, "Rest assured, Zhou Bai, this investigation is led by the Plague Department, with the deity Luo Zhenjun in charge. The forces mobilized far exceed those of the past. How could even Gu Letian stand against Heavenly Dao?"

Zhou Bai, comforted by Qiu Xingze, gradually mustered the courage and began to tell of how he came to know Gu Letian.

"The first time I saw him was in a dream," Zhou Bai said with a flicker of fear and hesitation on his face, like a frightened child, he spoke in fits and starts, "I dreamed of him."

"In a dream?" Qiu Xingze said, surprised.

Zhou Bai said painfully, "He whispered to me in the dream, spreading evil, taboo knowledge, and kept telling me to go see him."

"Evil, taboo knowledge refers to?" asked Qiu Xingze.

Zhou Bai said, "It's all about investment, about wealth, about financial management. At first, I thought it was a treasure, but later I realized it was part of some evil ritual."

Remembering the experiences of those immortal beings, several of whom went mad, Qiu Xingze nodded in agreement and took out paper and pen to start taking notes, "Do you still use this knowledge?"

"No!" said Zhou Bai, "What I hate most now are those damned points, I don't want to touch points ever again!"

Qiu Xingze made a note: The subject is very sensitive and averse to points.

Qiu Xingze asked, "Then do you know why you were able to dream of him?"

A glimmer of confusion appeared in Zhou Bai's eyes, "It was because of a book. On the campus road, I picked up a book." He suddenly looked at Qiu Xingze, "After reading that book that day, I dreamed of the other party at night."

"A book?" A look of excitement flashed in Qiu Xingze's eyes, feeling that he had finally found a crucial clue, this trip to Eastern City was really not in vain.