A World Worth Protecting

He had a feeling that Shan Lingzi must be hiding something and that saying that the bottle only worked half the time was only a lie to hoodwink him. Even though the chances of Shan Lingzi lying were really slim, the fact that the bottle hadn’t worked angered Wang Baole. Fury rose within him, and he turned around and leveled a piercing look at Shan Lingzi. He spoke frostily.

“Shan Lingzi, I should applaud you for your bravery. Who could’ve thought that you had the guts to lie right to my face. I might have to kill you after all!” Wang Baole pretended that he was about to mete out punishment in an attempt to find out if Shan Lingzi had lied to him. But as those threatening words spilled from his lips… a sudden heat erupted from the wishing bottle in his right hand!

Shan Lingzi had been desperate to explain himself. He had barely opened his mouth before his Divine Soul suddenly shuddered and caved in right before Wang Baole’s eyes. He turned to dust, his body and spirit destroyed completely and erased from this world without a trace!

Wang Baole was momentarily stunned by the scene that had just unfolded before him. He was certain that he hadn’t done anything. He looked down abruptly at the wishing bottle in his hand, his eyes widening instantly. Incredulity appeared in his eyes.

“Did I just… somehow make a wish and get it fulfilled?” Wang Baole muttered to himself. He recalled how he had threatened to kill Shan Lingzi earlier, then stared at the spot where Shan Lingzi had turned to dust. He began to sulk. Sure, the wishing bottle seemed to work, but that hadn’t been what he had truly wanted to wish for…

Is there something wrong with this thing? Wang Baole thought sullenly before inspecting his essence body hastily. He looked down and eyed his crotch, then patted his chest. There hadn’t been any non-consensual changes to his sex. That gave him slight comfort.

He couldn’t let it go, though. He held onto the wishing bottle and attempted to make another wish. He didn’t wish for anything grand. Instead, he made a simple one. In fact, he made several at one go. The wishing bottle didn’t erupt into a sudden burst of heat again.

Wang Baole had no choice but to give up out of exasperation.

This is just a useless piece of trash! Wang Baole concluded that the bottle was just a piece of junk. Sullenly, he stared at the piece of paper inside. He could only make out the three words that he had originally been able to read—a rich person. He had no way to open the bottle. In the end, he put the bottle away. Then, he released a long sigh and decided not to dwell on the bottle. Instead, his gaze turned towards the Divine Eye civilization. With a single bound, he sped off and headed for the Divine Eye civilization.

A few moments after he started flying, a bolt of white lightning suddenly appeared in the distant cosmos. Its appearance was abrupt. It was as if it had come out of nowhere. It raced towards Wang Baole at lightning speed, and Wang Baole barely noticed it until it was near him.

A sneak attack? Alarm flashed across Wang Baole’s face as he retreated hastily. His Emperor Armor materialized over his form as he dodged the attack, and he snapped his head in the direction the bolt of lightning had come from. No matter how hard he inspected the area, he couldn’t locate any enemy presence, which confounded him. This was the first time he had been struck by a sudden bolt of lightning that had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of space. He couldn’t help but be reminded of what Shan Lingzi had said about the consequences of using the wishing bottle.

Is this the result of wishing upon the wishing bottle? Wang Baole blinked and wondered if something like this could even be deemed consequential. It seemed too weak to be of any significant consequence. He didn’t pay it too much heed and continued his journey instead. However, he was soon struck by alarm again. His body shuddered, and waves of shock surged through his mind.

He simply couldn’t believe it… Bolts of lightning began to appear time and again. Each lightning bolt wasn’t incredibly powerful on its own, but with each new appearance, the number of lightning bolts that appeared increased, soon reaching a shocking figure…

He was eventually faced with a mass of lightning bolts that clustered together and filled the cosmos like a sea of lightning. It was a sea so vast it could blanket a good half of a civilization. It was impossible to count the number of lightning bolts in that sea. The bolts of lightning charged at him thunderously with the intention to wipe him out of existence.

Wang Baole emitted a shrill scream at the sight of the lightning bolts as he made a desperate escape.

Is there really a need to come to this?

Wang Baole’s scalp was prickling with numbness. He hadn’t thought much about the initial bolt of lightning. Even when the number of lightning bolts had risen to a few hundred bolts, he had remained unfazed. The lightning bolts were only at the Soul Conduit realm, after all. He could evade them easily. Even if he didn’t manage to dodge them in time, it wouldn’t be a big deal. It would be akin to scratching an itch he had.

But… the situation had evolved rapidly thereafter. The lightning bolts that had appeared in the cosmos around him had grown to an alarming number before he could set aside his initial unfazed attitude.

There were simply too many of them… billions and trillions of them. The numbers were beyond what a human mind could fathom. The countless lightning bolts gathered together and formed a sea of lightning so vast that it could drown half a civilization. The power that the sea possessed was akin to the joint attack of the same number of Soul Conduit realm cultivators… The attack could probably blow up the Divine Eye civilization and cause the civilization severe, irreparable damage. Compared to the Divine Eye civilization, Wang Baole was but a mere human.

Wang Baole… was on the verge of a mental breakdown. His eyes were red, and he was being overwhelmed by sheer terror. He knew that there was no chance he would survive if a blast from the sea of lightning were to land on him.

I’ve outlived the Heavenly Spirit Sect’s right-hand elder, survived a trip to the Earth Spirit civilization, and killed a Planet realm cultivator. I’ve endured and survived numerous hardships and challenges. I’m just a few steps away from the Divine Eye civilization. Please don’t let me die from some stupid consequences of wishing upon a bottle! Wang Baole was filled with immense regret. He knew that he shouldn’t have made a wish on that bottle.

He shouldn’t have underestimated the consequences of wishing upon the bottle.

I’ll admit it. I was wrong… Wang Baole was on the verge of tears. He was giving all that he had as he ran desperately towards the Divine Eye civilization. He looked to be in a sorry state, but he couldn’t be bothered about his appearances right now. He wished badly that he could appear at his destination with a snap of his fingers and put more distance between himself and the lightning bolts.

Of course… if the lightning bolts were to continue their pursuit all the way to the Divine Eye civilization and land a powerful blast on the civilization, he might be fine with that too… The price that he would have to bear for that to happen was too great, though, and Wang Baole couldn’t help but feel torn.

There was no point in being distracted by such thoughts now. The most important thing now was to stay alive. But no matter how fast he ran, the lightning bolts that came after him remained in relentless pursuit. In fact, they seemed slightly more powerful than they had been a moment ago. Wang Baole shuddered fearfully at that realization. This reminded him of his childhood days of being chased down by feral dogs.

Fortunately, he was extraordinarily quick on his feet. There was also a possibility that there was a presence hidden within the sea of lightning and that it had no genuine intention of killing Wang Baole. If that weren’t the case, the sea of lightning could have easily caught up with Wang Baole or surrounded him. The incredible power that it exhibited was proof of what it was truly capable of.

Wang Baole had realized that, but he dared not risk his life on that possibility. He could only continue to flee sullenly. He continued to run, and the massive sea of lightning, which was the size of half a civilization, continued to pursue him. It was inevitable that minor civilizations in the area would notice them.

These small civilizations were relatively primitive civilizations of low intelligence. They were still in the primitive stages of tribal worship. Their people trembled fearfully when they looked up into the skies and saw vast regions of the heavens lit up in sudden blinding light. Everyone fell to their knees and began to kowtow. Some other civilizations had acquired the ability to observe the cosmos around them. Through various equipment and means, they caught sight of the awe-inspiring, massive sea of lightning in space and were seized by shock and awe.

What had shocked them the most was… their discovery of an extraterrestrial life form traveling in front of the sea of lightning that was moving at high speed. Intense shock coursed through their minds.

Numerous legends came to their minds instinctively. They realized that there was a great chance that the extraterrestrial life form was a cultivator that legends spoke of. They fell to their knees instantly and kowtowed.

Wang Baole didn’t notice them at all. He was going out of his mind. He realized that the lightning bolts pursuing him would pick up speed the moment he let his guard down and slowed down slightly. When he picked up speed instead, they would slow down slightly in turn. As a result, a steady distance remained between Wang Baole and the sea of lightning.

Someone was clearly out to torment Wang Baole by using such tactics. Fury filled Wang Baole. What a horrible thing the wishing bottle was. The fact that Wang Baole had made a wish that hadn’t been of any use to him at all made things worse.

I would’ve accepted the consequences readily if I’d wished for a breakthrough to the Planet realm and gotten it. But I didn’t make a wish at all. I merely said something casually. Is that wishing bottle stupid? Wang Baole thought furiously. But there was nothing he could do about that besides clenching his jaw and continuing to flee. A few ships and a couple of cultivators who were capable of space travel across short distances came across the sight of Wang Baole’s mad escape. Gasps of shock were a constant companion as Wang Baole raced madly into the distant cosmos.