The vessel entered the Dark Cosmos. Under the influence of the Heart of the Star Spirit, its destination shifted, and it began to travel toward the ancestral land of the Star Spirit Race.
[BEEP BEEP~]
[Information has been generated.]
[Ancestral land of the Star Spirit Race.]
[Banded Dream Realm / (Formerly: Radiant Dream Realm)]
[The Star Spirit Race journeyed through various Star Sea Civilizations, leaving behind legends epic enough to be recorded in the annals of history. When a Star Spirit died, these legends, carrying the remnant soul of the Star Spirit, would trace their way back to their ancestral land, the Radiant Dream Realm, and form a bubble projection. The Radiant Dream Realm is known by different names in different civilizations, such as the Illusory World, Wandering Heaven, Lagres Ang, and Infinite Bubble Illusions...]
[And in the civilization you are most familiar with, it also left its mark, where it is known as "The One Thousand and One Nights."]
’One Thousand and One Nights?’
’Isn’t that a collection of fairy tales?’
Shi Ming stroked his chin in thought. ’The Lamp of Wishes contains a Star Spirit of the Star Spirit Race. It’s entirely possible that those legends were reflected from dreams into reality, then re-adapted by humans into fairy tales full of wonder.’
’Stories themselves originate from reality after all.’
Around the vessel, countless dazzling bubbles emerged one after another. The surface of each bubble reflected a unique scene, as if this were a projection room for all the heavens, with each bubble acting as an individual screen playing a different story...
The words before Shi Ming’s eyes continued to flash.
The vessel had arrived at its destination.
[After the annihilation of the Star Spirit Race, the Radiant Dream Realm was left unmanaged and gradually became corrupted.]
[It is now known as the "Banded Dream Realm."]
[Within each bubble lies a trace amount of contamination, greed, obsession, and decay... The corruption from the two billion bubbles is enough to cause a Pillar Stone to fall and the ancestral land to collapse. And the rare treasure coveted by all is hidden among the layers upon layers of bubbles, constantly shifting its position in the light and shadows. Even the Eye of Destiny cannot always track it.]
[...]
’Constantly shifting its position?’
’Does that mean finding it will come down to luck?’
The characters faded away.
The information from the Eye of Destiny ended there, and the world before Shi Ming’s eyes grew much clearer.
This was a unique space, devoid of any celestial bodies and filled with a vast number of bubbles, as fantastical as a child’s ideal fairy-tale world. The colorful bubbles were spaced just right—not too crowded, yet not too sparse. However, the space itself was boundless, with no end in sight, and the bubbles within it numbered two billion. Finding a specific one would be extremely difficult, to say nothing of the fact that it was also constantly changing its position.
Shi Ming could easily use an AoE attack to instantly pop countless bubbles.
But doing so would cause the massive amount of contamination and corrupting power to erupt, destroying this ancestral land.
From the Lamp of Wishes, the Star Spirit emerged. The sole survivor of her race had returned to her ancestral land.
Shi Ming reached out and touched the nearest bubble.
WHOOSH~
...
A scene, like an immersive movie, flowed into his mind—
...
The romantic seafloor was unlike that of Earth, but it possessed its own unique charm.
A beautiful member of the Merfolk Race and a young man forged from starlight snuggled together, the distance between them shrinking from zero meters to negative 0.1 meters.
"Lyon, my love."
The merfolk’s eyes sparkled, and her tone was gentle.
"I wove this crown myself from the most beautiful coral on the seabed. Please, accept my love."
The Star Spirit forged from starlight happily accepted the crown and placed it on his head.
"Alice, thank you. Your gift is more precious than the most brilliant star in the universe. In return, I will do everything in my power to grant you three wishes as proof of our pure love."
The merfolk thought for a moment.
"Well, Lyon, I do need your help.
"I want to become the queen of the sea!"
"I want a million warriors of the Sea Race to offer me their most fervent loyalty!"
Alice’s gaze was fervent as she looked at the Star Spirit forged from starlight.
The Star Spirit forged from starlight felt a little disappointed.
He had thought her wishes would be about the two of them. For instance, having the most romantic wedding? Or leaving the ocean to travel the stars with him? Or, as the legends of the Star Spirit Race told, the Prince and princess living happily ever after, finally returning to their ancestral land with happy and beautiful memories?
But what reason did he have to deny his beloved’s wishes?
He could grant three wishes, and these were only the first two.
’Perhaps,’ he thought, ’once Alice’s wishes are fulfilled, the third wish... will be for the both of them?’
"Lyon, the power of the Star Spirit Race is so magical it astounds me! I now possess the power to unite this world and have brave, loyal warriors. But I’m still afraid in my dreams. I’m afraid all of this will vanish like sea foam. My third wish is for you to become the guardian deity of our royal family. Use your magical power to protect my descendants for all generations and grant the wishes of every one of my heirs who ascends the throne..."
"Are you willing?"
...
POP!
The bubble illusion shattered.
Contamination seeped out and entered Shi Ming’s body, only to be assimilated by the Abyss Lord’s "Extremely Evil Sanctuary." The contamination from this single bubble was negligible.
But Shi Ming found it a bit incredible.
’Seriously?’
’This story is just too absurd, isn’t it? Other stories are all "Revive, my love!" but yours turned into "Become a slave, my hindrance!"?’
’Even an indenture contract isn’t that much of a scam, is it?’
’And the key is, that foolish Star Spirit actually agreed in the end? He watched his beloved mermaid become an empress and have children with other males, and then he earnestly fulfilled that absurd wish, becoming the guardian deity of that planet, protecting her descendants for generations until the end of his life...’