Calamity of Tomorrow

Reaping greed entails triggering others' emotions of envy and jealousy. When their desires surge and greed for you develops, you then completely absorb that greed, thereafter erasing a desire of theirs.

The heavier the greed, the stronger the greed harvested, and the heavier the desire erased.

The stronger the cultivator's cultivation, the shorter the duration, the weaker the effect.

The range of effect is within a kilometer.

Zhou Bai looked at the description on the star point, a flicker of pleasant surprise crossing his mind.

If the previous disasters, Poverty and Ignorance, required written and verbal communication, and Ugliness needed visual perception, then the first star point of Greed, in theory, should take effect just by thinking about it.

'Within a kilometer, merely thinking of me or harboring greed for me or my belongings allows me to reap greed and erase desires?'

'But how exactly does this erasure of desires work?'

Zhou Bai pondered the connection, the so-called greed and desire are two sides of the same coin; you could say desire is the foundation of greed, while greed is the result of excessive desire.

'I suppose I still have to experiment to know the outcome.'

Next, Zhou Bai didn't rush to light up this star point but turned his attention to the cultivation method.

A dense array of cultivation methods amounted to hundreds of thousands of characters.

Under the enhanced presence of Wentian and Nasha, it took Zhou Bai over two hours to finish reading.

He felt the content could easily make a dozen or more papers, deep and extensive in its discussion of Heavenly Dao and the world, with endless connotations and profound implications.

"Damn it, I can't understand it at all. Is this something a person could practice? They dare call this a cultivation method?"

Zhou Bai felt irritable reading it: "This cultivation method, its theories, are definitely far beyond the level of the 5th realm. A 5th realm cultivator simply couldn't comprehend it, so how could they possibly cultivate it on their own?"

Zhou Bai wasn't boasting. Although he was originally just an ordinary person, ever since his talent got enhanced by Ugly Disaster and his Daoization level increased, repeatedly enhancing his talent...

"With my current talent, the term 'unparalleled genius' is an understatement."

Zhou Bai, stroking his chin, thought: "Even I can't learn it, so there probably aren't many in this world who can, and it might not even be a question of talent."

Zhou Bai scrutinized the content of the cultivation method, gradually asserting one thing: "The reason I can't learn it is that I must be lacking prerequisite knowledge. Could it be in the cultivation methods of the previous star points?"

The thought of the cultivation methods of the previous dozens of star points made Zhou Bai's scalp tingle.

However, thinking about how the White Shadow Man purified the disasters of Poverty and Ignorance from his Primordial Spirit this time, he felt a pressure welling up within him.

"I can't continue knowing the effects without understanding the causes."

So Zhou Bai resisted the temptation to directly learn the star points using laziness and patiently started reading from the first star point of the Sloth Picture, intending to take a look at all the star points' cultivation methods.

This perusal took three days and nights. Zhou Bai went from initial irritability and frustration to gradually calming his mind, his thoughts becoming serene, his understanding of the calamities of heaven and man deepening.

"Still can't understand it, there are too many areas that touch on my blind spots of knowledge," Zhou Bai said, looking at the cultivation method of Greed, finally able to confirm one thing: "There definitely is prerequisite knowledge, and it's not written in the auxiliary system."

Zhou Bai couldn't help but scratch his head and think: "Could it be that this auxiliary cultivation system for the calamities of heaven and man has other corresponding secret manuals or textbooks or something?"

Zhou Bai thought it was indeed possible, recalling how Christina had mentioned an operation manual before?

But if that silly cat claimed the operation manual was only two sentences, could there be other textbooks?

Although he still couldn't learn and cultivate the principles of the star points on his own, these three days and nights of study had led Zhou Bai to a new understanding of the power of the calamities of heaven and man.

"The Heavenly beings suffer nine calamities, which in the end, are also the use of the power of the Heavenly Dao in the void. Many of the abilities of the astral points are gained through communication with the void," Tina mused. "This is very similar to the Twilight Taoist Skill."

"And the knowledge I'm lacking seems to be about the void."

"The cultivation systems of the Four Great Taoist Schools know far too little about the void."

Zhou Bai shook his head and directly added 2.1 million points of laziness to the first astral point "Greed Lure - Greed Snatch."

In an instant, the entire world seemed to shift slightly in his eyes. Looking at Nasha and Zheng Wentian, he could see a black line connecting from each of them to himself.

The line from Nasha was faint, like a thread, while Zheng Wentian's was thicker, like a hemp rope.

This meant that both of them were envious of Zhou Bai, triggering greed, although Nasha's was lighter, and Wentian's deeper.

"Zheng Wentian, this kid, is actually so envious of me?" Zhou Bai was slightly startled inwardly. "Could it be that he covets my appearance?"

"Hehe, just kidding... What he most likely envies is my talent, the resources I control, or perhaps my current strength."

It was mealtime and seeing the food and buns that were brought in, Zhou Bai snatched a bun and took a bite, commenting, "This tastes quite good."

Seeing one less meat bun, Zheng Wentian said helplessly, "Didn't you say you don't need to eat anymore? That just by breathing in spirit energy, all your energy needs are met without extra food, right?"

"Having something to eat once in a while isn't so bad." Zhou Bai gestured for the staff to bring another ten buns while watching the black line on the other's body thicken slightly, appearing to become even coarser.

Zhou Bai thought to himself, "Does simple boasting also provoke greed? Then now it must be the desire for food."

So, Zhou Bai ate another five buns slowly and with relish, showing a hint of satisfaction on his face, "They are indeed tasty."

Then Zhou Bai gave another order for the server to bring over yet another ten buns.

Zhou Bai picked up the buns, eating them as slowly as possible, continuously praising their deliciousness and savoriness.

Watching Zheng Wentian, the black rope linking them seemed to grow a bit thicker as he stared intently at the meat buns in Zhou Bai's hands.

Clearly, at this moment, a turmoil of desire for food was swirling in Wentian's mind, making him long for the days when he could eat and buy as he pleased.

Observing the situation, Zhou Bai moved to act, and the black line connecting Zheng Wentian to him was suddenly shattered by an invisible force and vanished.

Zhou Bai fixed his gaze on Zheng Wentian, wanting to see what would happen to him.

He saw Zheng Wentian suddenly relax, thinking to himself, "Sigh, after all, what's eaten will just come out again. Not eating spares that trouble, and on second thought, there's nothing that good to eat."

Zhou Bai watched as Zheng Wentian turned away from the food and began to practice earnestly. Zhou Bai advanced toward him, grinning mischievously, "Let's practice together. Which level of the Tianhe Star Explosion swordsmanship have you reached? I can teach you."

"Speaking of which, your Primordial Spirit seems a bit weak. Aren't you following the Human Picture route?"

"Look at my physical body, I've trained it well, haven't I?"

"Actually, I haven't really trained much, just doing ten push-ups before bed every day..."

Twenty minutes later, Zheng Wentian was squatting on the ground, tracing shapes with his fingers and thinking, "What's the point of cultivating? No matter how much I practice, I'll never catch up to Zhou Bai. I might as well sleep more each day."

With that, Zheng Wentian simply laid down on the ground, intending to fall asleep.

Zhou Bai was intrigued to discover the limits of "Greed Lure - Greed Snatch."

So, he lay down next to him. "I'm quite tired myself, I'll take a nap as well."

A chill suddenly rose in Zheng Wentian's heart, feeling that something very ominous was about to happen.