’The weather has changed?’
’Yes! It has!’
The Colorful Insect witnessed a horrifying scene. Colossal waves surged across the sea, and the once-clear sky was instantly blanketed by dark clouds. This Sea of Spirit was like a savage beast baring its fangs, a terrifying power pressing down from high above!
It made its colorful contamination difficult to spread any further.
’What’s going on?’
’Is this that human’s trump card?’
Then, a ninety-nine-story tower materialized in the distance of the Sea of Spirit. It looked remote and insurmountable, standing guard like a sentinel, appearing to be the very pillar that held this world together!
’Hmph!’
’Just a bluff!’
Villains in stories always love to bluff. It was nothing more than a Mirage! The Colorful Insect gathered all its strength and charged the towering structure!
’Once I contaminate that tower, this place will be my territory!’
’Once I seize control of this body, I can finally leave the Star Spirit Race’s ancestral land, where I’ve been trapped for a thousand years, and see the vast, vibrant world outside! I’ll make every living being in the world witness my Wish Power!’
’Charge!’
’Charge!’
...
Shi Ming felt the Colorful Insect that had burrowed into his Sea of Spirit ignoring the pressure and charging toward the towering Hundred-Floor Celestial Tower.
’How ambitious!’
’How brave!’
’Come on! Keep going!’
...
The Colorful Insect flashed forward, focusing all its power on the 99-story Heaven-Reaching Tower. It took three seconds to close the distance. Just as it was about to unleash a thousand years of accumulated contamination to engulf the tower and claim it as its own, a strange and unfathomable eye materialized high above the ninety-ninth floor, casting down a gaze as if from a god.
The eye was cold and detached.
It seemed to possess no consciousness, like an inanimate object.
Yet it was a ninety percent match for Shi Ming’s own eyes.
BOOM...
The moment it saw that eye, the Colorful Insect’s body went limp, as if it had encountered some nameless, Eldritch horror. The restless contamination it had accumulated for a thousand years began to tremble violently within it, not daring to spread in the slightest!
All its presumptuous thoughts seemed to freeze in place!
This didn’t feel like meeting a natural predator; it felt like being utterly crushed by a being from a higher dimension!
’This is...’
’What is this?’
The Colorful Insect had traversed the infinite dreams of the Star Spirit Race, yet it had never witnessed anything like this!
The spectral Eye of the Divine displayed no tangible Attack Power, but it was enough to make the Colorful Insect freeze for several moments. Seizing the opportunity, dozens of chains forged from Shi Ming’s consciousness shot out from the 99-story Heaven-Reaching Tower. They bound the mass of colorful contamination tightly, dragging it into the tower’s colossal body, seemingly intent on imprisoning it there forever.
No! Don’t!
The Colorful Insect struggled desperately, trying to escape the shackles of his Spiritual Power, but under the suppression, it had less than thirty percent of its strength left. It couldn’t unleash its contamination or its ability, Bicolored Celestial Calamity, at all.
It lost its former composure and playful air.
It let out a blood-curdling shriek.
But smiles don’t disappear, they just change faces.
And at that moment, Shi Ming was smiling like a true villain.
"Heh heh, go on and scream."
"Scream your lungs out. No one is coming to save you!"
’The plan was a success.’
’I’ve captured the Colorful Insect alive. Its contamination is completely suppressed by the Eye of the Divine and the Heaven-Reaching Tower. Now, I can use it as an undying battery and exploit it for all it’s worth.’
’But first, I need to beat it into submission.’
Shi Ming tossed in a few parasitic worms.
’Just a little appetizer to start.’
"A wise person knows when to yield."
"If you cooperate, you can avoid the pain of being gnawed on. But if you don’t know what’s good for you... when it comes to dealing with creatures like you, I have all the experience and patience in the world."
Seals can be imposed using artifacts, ultimate treasures, existential rank, or even one’s own body.
Shi Ming used his body as the seal.
The Eye of the Divine and the Heaven-Reaching Tower provided a double layer of confinement.
On top of that, his own unfathomably high Spiritual Power was constantly monitoring the area. The moment this Celestial Calamity-class Colorful Insect fell for the bait and entered the cage Shi Ming had prepared, its fate was sealed. It was now a true prisoner, utterly powerless to cause any more trouble!
The mission from the Star Spirit Race could be considered a complete success!
There might be a few minor spots of contamination left to handle, but they were no longer a threat. With the main source sealed away by Shi Ming himself, the remaining pockets of corruption had lost their power source. The natural passage of time within the Radiant Dream Realm alone would be enough to wash them away.
Of course, that was on the condition that no new sources of contamination appeared.
"Thank you, big guy."
Xiaobai’s eyes sparkled brightly.
While calculating how best to exploit his new prisoner, Shi Ming replied to the beautiful Star Spirit:
"You don’t have to thank me."
"We have a long-standing partnership, after all. The five wishes you granted me before were a great help. Besides, the reward for this job was quite generous. No one with the ability to do it would have refused."
Xiaobai smiled.
She watched as the colorful bubbles around them slowly turned radiant, one by one. The twisted stories and violent emotions held within the memories began to fade, dissipating into an eventual calm. Her own heart grew peaceful as well.
She would remain here for the foreseeable future.
This place needed a guardian.
As a survivor of the Star Spirit Race, this was both an undeniable duty for Xiaobai and a sacrifice she was willing to make.
She waved goodbye, the bell on her wrist chiming sweetly.