Calamity of Tomorrow

Upon hearing what Zhou Bai said, the Xuan Nu looked in astonishment at the crazed seed that was constantly distorting and deforming before her eyes.

"As long as I believe in you forever, I can share your power?"

Zhou Bai nodded, "That's right, you once said that the strength of a mutation is to see the Power of Deformation within it, right? Just eat this crazed seed, and you can become my follower. I can then freely inject my Power of Deformation into your body."

The Power of Deformation mentioned by Xuan Nu, in Zhou Bai's view, was very likely what the Heavenly Dao referred to as 'pollution degree,' both being a force that could cause the target to go mad or mutate.

Zhou Bai continued, "Of course, I can also reverse this process and extract the Power of Deformation from your body back into mine."

"The premise is that you believe every word I say from now on, with your whole heart and soul."

"A person can only plant one crazed seed. Once you doubt me, the seed will disappear, and you can no longer plant it again. The Power of Deformation I have bestowed will disappear completely."

"Furthermore, after planting this seed and becoming my follower, you will occasionally enter a state of enforced honesty. The longer the time spent as a follower, the longer this state of enforced honesty will last."

Zhou Bai knew that the seed needed the follower's belief, so he had no intention of concealing the abilities of the seed because once one became a follower, Xuan Nu would taste all those consequences. Concealment was pointless.

'However, this so-called one hundred percent belief...'

Zhou Bai initially didn't wrap his head around this ability, but the more he thought about it, the more he sensed the evil within it.

'The reason that humans are human is that they have the ability to think independently. Even the closest partners, the most trusted comrades cannot achieve what is called one hundred percent trust, to believe every single word.'

'Eating, drinking, preferences, interests, time, space... discussions on various topics, answers to different questions. Under normal relationships, there is no possibility of trusting every single word. Because questioning is the instinct of intelligence.'

'To reach the so-called one hundred percent belief... there is only one scenario... Weave beautiful lies to fully envelop the follower, making every single word spoken consistent with the truths perceived by the follower.'

'Humans... will only believe what they choose to believe.'

'Only a reality cloaked in woven lies can create a scenario where all answers are truths that the follower is willing to believe.'

'Absolute trust, then, is an absolute lie. Absolute honesty is a kind of madness. Is this the meaning of this star point...'

As Zhou Bai contemplated the implications of the crazed seed, Xuan Nu's eyes blurred as she watched Zhou Bai, whose mind was occupied with thoughts of the crazed seed. At that moment, Zhou Bai exuded bouts of insane, twisted, pathological, and ominous charisma to Xuan Nu.

Zhou Bai looked towards Xuan Nu and said, "What do you think? Are you willing to accept such an outcome?"

"Of course," said Xuan Nu with a smile as she looked at Zhou Bai. "After all, you would never lie to me, right Zhou Bai?"

"Yes, how could I ever deceive you," Zhou Bai smiled in return, touching Xuan Nu's head. "Although I've acquired the ability of this crazed seed, it seems... the only person I can confidently plant this seed in is you."

"Our world is one of chaos and disorder. Under the shadow of the Heavenly Dao, madness and distortion will be the ultimate destination of all intelligence."

As Zhou Bai spoke, the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor flickered in and out of existence on his body, and two dark golden colossal horns stood erect on his forehead, accompanied by the raging black Primordial Spirit Flame.

"Distortion is Heavenly Dao's blessing; mutation is the void's reward. As the blessed of distortion and the controller of mutations, I intend to let this torrent of frenzy scour the entire world, bringing this gift to every living being."

It seemed as though black flames were burning in Zhou Bai's eyes as he extended his hands towards Xuan Nu, saying with a smile, "Xuan Nu, lend me your power, let me achieve my ambition, and create a world that belongs to the mutated."

Xuan Nu looked at Zhou Bai, seemingly feeling the surging yet sinister emotions in his eyes, tumultuous like the waves of the sea.

Watching Xuan Nu's expression, Zhou Bai thought to himself, 'Xuan Nu is really easy to read... she really buys into this. After all, in the end... this is the truth she desires and is willing to believe. Once I understand the newly added battle power, I can move on to the next step.'

"Zi—Yang—"

Zhou Bai's eyes flashed with a cold light as he thought of Zi Yang from the Primordial Dao Treasury 06.

Xuannü cradled Zhou Bai's palm, feeling the warmth on his hand with her face, and slowly said, "Zhou Bai, I can feel the loneliness and suffering in your heart, let me share these with you."

Hearing Xuannü's words, Zhou Bai was slightly startled.

"Take all my abilities, use my strength however you wish. I will do everything in my power to trust you, and use them to fulfill your ambitions."

The next moment, Xuannü swallowed the Seed of Madness, and veins violently burst forth on her face as she showed an expression of suffering.

Apparently, due to the intense pain, Xuannü bent her waist like a cooked shrimp.

'Feeling my loneliness and suffering...' Zhou Bai watched the Xuannü in front of him, clearing his mind of distractions, carefully observing Xuannü's current state.

Xuannü's suffering came suddenly and left quickly.

Just a few seconds later, she seemed to have returned to normal, but in Zhou Bai's perception, the Xuannü before him had become an indescribable, indefinable... container.

Yes, at this moment, if all the normal sensory information from the five senses were excluded, the sensation that Xuannü gave to Zhou Bai was that of a container.

It seemed that no matter the distance, he could sense this human-shaped container's existence; he could even directly sense the twisted, deformed power within the container.

'Is this the Power of Deformation Xuannü spoke of? It does indeed appear to be very similar to my own contamination level.'

And Zhou Bai felt that he could extract the power within this container at any time, as well as add his own contamination level into this container.

'Followers... are they types of containers? Able to hold my power?'

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Bai directly spoke, "Xuannü, let me try and extract your power first."

Upon seeing Xuannü nod her head in readiness, Zhou Bai moved his thoughts, and saw the dark, twisted power being extracted from the container Xuannü represented, continuously flowing into his body.

Contamination Level: 110/110

Contamination Level: 111/110

Contamination Level: 112/110

As the Power of Deformation from Xuannü's body surged into him, Zhou Bai saw his contamination level rise unceasingly.

Ever since he had been traveling with Xuannü, in order to maintain her trust, Zhou Bai had been constantly using the Tianhe Star Explosion Sword, suspending his body in mid-air for most of the time, thus continuously maintaining a critical contamination level of 109/110.

On the other side, Xuannü felt the changes in her own body: "My Power of Deformation is weakening, the strength of my body, and the abilities brought about by the deformation are all diminishing."

Accompanying Zhou Bai's extraction, Xuannü pressed her forehead fiercely, speaking with difficulty, "It feels... so uncomfortable... my body... feels nauseous."

Hearing Xuannü's words, Zhou Bai immediately stopped the extraction, looked at his contamination level which had reached 139/110, and thought to himself, "Different from me, the Power of Deformation, or the contamination level, is the power Xuannü, as a deformed being, relies on to survive.

If I completely extract the contamination level from Xuannü's body, might she die? Or... become human?"

Although he was curious, it would be too risky to proceed directly, so Zhou Bai did not continue extracting. Instead, he changed his thoughts and began to inject his contamination level back into Xuannü's body.