Novels online

Chapter 163: Thinking

"Two new universal Spirit Arts have been uploaded to the Contribution Points System. If I don't keep improving my learning speed, it won't be long before I'm drowned in this explosion of new knowledge, even in terms of cultivation." Bai Mo muttered to himself, head lowered, as he walked alone along a street in Tianqing.

"That's right, you'll soon be drowned by us."

"Return to our embrace."

"One is all, all is one." In his mind, the monster's overlapping voices continuously echoed.

Ever since he returned that day, whenever Bai Mo talked to himself or was alone, that voice would utter nonsensical words.

"It can't pry into my thoughts, so it's not a grave concern. Still, having a time bomb like this by my side is always a nuisance. Yet, even though I'm stuck with this persistent nuisance, genuinely grasping the direction forward was still worth it."

After running a few small tests, he confirmed that this thing, akin to a soul aggregate, clinging to him couldn't see his memories or mobilize any part of his body.

"We will eventually be one..." The incomplete aggregate resumed its daily delirious murmurings.

"After these entities attached themselves, the rate of Spirit energy consumption within my body increased by about fifteen percent. This indicates that their activity also requires substantial energy support. If I can cut off their energy source, I should be able to force them into dormancy or even death."

Countless colors of varying shades, representing various degrees of emotion, mottled his entire body. Because he had never dealt with such a complex situation, his emotional vision froze for a moment, and he could only watch the continuously shifting colors on his body.

"The seven emotions and six desires are simultaneously appearing on my body, shifting in an instant like a neon light," Bai Mo muttered, resignedly admiring the colorful display on his body.

"I wonder if it's because it lacks the protection of its original energy body, but this aggregate seems to experience a minute, seemingly irreversible, consumption of its essence every single second, as long as it's thinking or transmitting information. In other words, its current goal is to drive me insane before it completely dissipates, making me one of 'them,' and thereby seizing my body."

Although the Spirit scan didn't find its exact location, it allowed Bai Mo to keenly discover the crucial point, clarifying the opponent's fundamental purpose.

These "ghosts" weren't something he needed to fear, but the constant buzzing in his ears was truly annoying.

Bai Mo also tried splitting off another avatar, hoping this method could carry away this swarm of flies. However, after the avatar separated from his body, the soul aggregate naturally split into two parts; only a few small flies followed the avatar, while the main nest remained on his original body.

As he wasn't sure if this aggregate could perceive his surroundings, Bai Mo worried there was no way to kill it. So, for the sake of secrecy, he didn't choose to return to the laboratory where many secrets were hidden. Instead, he went back to his new home, which he hadn't visited for quite some time.

Stepping through the front door, he found not a trace of cobwebs or dust that would suggest neglect. Everything was in perfect order, spotless and neat, appearing clean and fresh.

"It seems someone regularly cleans this place. My assistant is quite competent."

After a slight nod of approval, he took out his computer and downloaded a whole bunch of tracks from the internet, such as the Great Compassion Mantra and the Rebirth Mantra. Then he chanted along, hoping to try a mystical method to "purify and send off" these persistent lingering entities.

Unfortunately, the result still disappointed him. These tracks were not to the collective spirits' liking; they even seemed to be joking, chanting along with Bai Mo... completely lacking any self-awareness of being "purified and sent off."

Left with no other option, he temporarily set these ghosts aside, took out a few books from the bookshelf, produced a stack of manuscript paper, and quietly began reading and calculating.

"Rustle, rustle..." With the sound of pages turning one by one, time flew by. In the blink of an eye, the sun was already preparing to set. Bai Mo only realized after coming back to his senses that the host of clamorous spirits had all fallen silent while he was reading. His learning state today also seemed exceptionally good; he could basically understand the content of each page thoroughly as soon as he finished reading it.

"We will eventually be one..."

"Come... join us..."

Just as Bai Mo put down the book, the soul aggregate, tirelessly working to drive him mad, once again began to assert its presence. Without any way to borrow a shred of physical substance from the host's body, it could only influence him through an information bombardment.

Perhaps an ordinary person, under such an almost ceaseless barrage of exhaustion, would soon begin to suffer from nervous exhaustion, then slowly begin to have hallucinations, and would then rapidly descend into madness.

But Bai Mo, who had undergone the spiritualization of his brain, possessed an information processing ability many times stronger than an ordinary person. Moreover, with his long-term experience using his Spirit, he was even more adept at processing large amounts of information. This kind of information flow couldn't even compare to the data his Spirit fed him every moment.

"Could it be that reading these academic materials can also make them quiet down?" Such a strange thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Casually, he pulled out a few thought crystals from his pocket. He began his small experiment.

Bai Mo held one of the thought crystals that explained biochemical knowledge, letting the information within flow into his mind. Immediately, the lingering voices in his mind once again fell silent.

"Are they thinking for me?" He soon discovered that he understood the knowledge stored within this thought crystal almost effortlessly and thoroughly. Combining this with his excellent learning state just now, Bai Mo drew such a conclusion.

To further verify his hypothesis, this time he switched to a pure mathematics thought crystal, one that was far more intellectually demanding.

"It seems to be true!" After testing two or three more thought crystals in succession, Bai Mo had the same revelation. "Thinking, indeed, is the primary instinct for an existence with self-awareness!"

Then Bai Mo casually opened a movie. After watching for a few minutes, all sorts of voices appeared once again.

"Everything is illusory. Only with us can you find reality..."

"Throw yourself into our embrace, and you can enter a wonderful world, just like in a movie..."

"In an environment lacking external information input, where one cannot shut down through sleep, something with self-awareness will ponder any incoming information to prove that it still indeed exists," he scribbled down in hasty handwriting in his notebook.

"Intense thinking will accelerate the consumption of its essence." Bai Mo closed his computer and began to walk towards the main thought crystal storage and experimental ground. "Because it is a thought aggregate, ordinary levels of knowledge, like a movie, don't require any thought from its perspective. Only some extremely hard-to-digest intellectual challenges can make it intensely burn itself."