<div>


    "What is this?"


    Oliver discovered a glowing orb the size of a human head in front of him, emitting a faint light and pulsing at a strange frequency, looking very unusual.


    Oliver wiped away the dust-like coating surrounding its exterior.


    His strength was now immense, and a careless move could easily destroy this small object, but he controlled it well.


    The glowing little thing didn’t break; after the outer dust scattered, it revealed a crystal-like sheen, dazzlingly bright in the pitch-black chaos!


    Using his soul power, Oliver brought the tiny bottle up to his eyes, examining it closely.


    "This seems like a treasure born in the chaos?"


    Oliver mused thoughtfully.


    In the chaos, many wondrous things could emerge, like those deities with their bizarre and varied forms.


    Of course, aside from living beings, the chaos also produced many lifeless entities.


    Like this bottle in front of him.


    Oliver guessed it was likely some special object formed by the gathering of a certain rule’s power.


    A magical item like this, if placed before the wizards in the novels he’d read in his past life, would absolutely spark a terrifying scramble—something akin to the One Ring from The Lord of the Rings.


    "Found something good!"


    Oliver’s heart raced with excitement. The creator god Aether also possessed a chaos treasure called the Rule Furnace.


    Now he had a chaos treasure too.


    He just didn’t know how it stacked up against the Rule Furnace—which was stronger?


    And how should he control and use this chaos treasure?


    As if sensing his question, the Book of the Chaos Era chimed with a mechanical prompt.


    [Please use your soul power to bond with it, letting it take on your unique aura.]


    Bond with it using soul power?


    Oliver had a sudden realization—like how a kitten rubs against someone to mark them with its scent to claim ownership, right?


    Of course, bonding with soul power was obviously far more complex.


    Oliver immediately tried, letting his soul power seep into the crystal bottle.


    His soul power was truly vast, and invading this tiny crystal bottle required delicate precision, making Oliver extremely cautious.


    He was terrified of accidentally damaging or shattering this beautiful bottle.


    Fortunately, his soul power wasn’t just immense in scale—it also excelled in fine control.


    So, after who-knows-how-many years of effort,


    Oliver finally felt the little bottle tremble slightly.


    His soul power had finally synchronized with it completely, achieving a perfectly harmonious resonance!


    Now this item belonged to him!


    [Congratulations, you have obtained the item: Wishing Vase]


    The mechanical prompt sounded again.


    Wishing Vase?


    That sounded like a pretty ordinary name.


    Oliver muttered to himself, quickly checking for more detailed information.


    <hr>


    [Name: Wishing Vase]


    Item Rating: SS


    Effect: A bottle that can guide you toward fulfilling a wish. Make a wish to it, and it will show you the correct path to realize that wish.


    [Special Note: The greater the difficulty of the wish, the greater the cost to you.]


    Holy crap, this effect seems insanely powerful!


    Oliver was floored. Worthy of a treasure born in chaos—it was almost like the comics he’d read in his past life, where collecting all seven Dragon Balls let you wish to Shenron.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Of course, this Wishing Vase didn’t directly grant wishes but instead guided you to the right path to achieve them, making it a bit less impressive than Shenron.


    But this item was exclusively his—no need to gather seven Dragon Balls to make a wish—which made it way better than the comic’s dragon in that regard.


    Of course, comics were fictional, while the Wishing Vase he now held was real, so there was no comparison.


    And even a powerful treasure like the Wishing Bottle is only SS-tier. It seems that the value of Oliver’s SSS-tier item, the Book of the Chaos Era, is still on the rise!


    At this moment, Oliver was so excited he wanted to dance.


    By now, he was certain.


    But, was his very first chaos treasure really this strong?


    It seemed a bit too coincidental.


    But upon reflection, Oliver realized it wasn’t that strange.


    In the Chaos World, there were countless super treasures unimaginable in ordinary magical worlds or even the age of myths.


    This was, after all, an era before the gods were even born.


    Every ordinary being in the chaos was an incredibly ancient and powerful deity.


    It was like the dinosaur era—any random dinosaur was countless times larger than a human. Chaos treasures were the same; items that would be ultra-rare and top-tier in a normal magical world might not be that uncommon here.


    With that thought, Oliver’s excitement cooled a bit.


    "There must be even more treasures in the chaos waiting for me to find! Right—I can wish to it to help me find more super treasures!"


    <hr>


    "What should my first wish be?"


    Oliver fell into deep thought.


    This Wishing Vase only promised to guide him toward fulfilling a wish. If his wish was outrageous, the path would surely be long and wildly convoluted.


    And the panel made it clear: the harder the wish, the greater the cost to him.


    So, choosing the right wish was crucial.


    He pondered for a long time before stating his wish.


    "I want to replace Aether and become the creator god!"


    This wish seemed utterly absurd, but through the Book of the Chaos Era, Oliver knew the deities in the Chaos World hadn’t been around for long.


    Maybe Aether was still weak—what if he really could replace it?


    And even if this wish is tough to pull off, Oliver wants to know just how tough it is—what kind of feedback will the Wishing Vase give him?


    Using his soul power, Oliver sent this wish into the crystal bottle. The next second, a strange ripple of rule-based sound emanated from it.


    It wasn’t a voice speaking—more like the chanting of some kind of rune.


    Miraculously, Oliver instantly understood the sound made by this rule.


    It was… rejecting him?


    It seemed to say that Oliver couldn’t pay the price required to fulfill this wish.


    It exceeded the Wishing Vase’s capabilities!


    "It didn’t work? Is the Wishing Vase too weak, or is becoming the creator god too hard? Or maybe Aether’s already so strong that a weakling like me can’t replace it?"


    Oliver mulled it over endlessly. Was Aether already that powerful now?


    What was its deity rating at this point?


    30, 40, or even 90?


    According to the info from the Book of the Chaos Era, when Aether reached level 99, it would begin creating the world, forging the so-called universe.


    When that happened, the deities in the chaos would face a massive catastrophe—like the extinction of the dinosaurs!


    "Looks like I’m still too weak. If I could get stronger, maybe I could afford the cost of a wish to find Aether."


    Oliver sighed inwardly.


    It seemed this Wishing Vase wasn’t as powerful as he’d thought.


    He’d have to start with smaller wishes.


    "Wishing Vase, guide me to find a chaos treasure!"


    This time, Oliver picked a simpler, far more achievable wish.


    Boom!


    A powerful suction erupted from the Wishing Vase, starting to drain the chaotic energy from Oliver’s body!


    Clearly, the cost of this wish was something Oliver could bear.


    In just a few breaths, Oliver’s size shrank by nearly a thousand kilometers. His massive body was almost entirely made of chaotic energy, and the loss of it caused his size to plummet rapidly!


    Buzz buzz!


    The Wishing Vase trembled violently, and a faint light appeared, stretching into the distance like a guide for Oliver!


    Of course, Oliver could sense that this light from the Wishing Vase was visible only to him, its owner.


    "Let’s go see what other treasure I can find!"


    Oliver thought excitedly, his giant serpent body slithering through the chaos, fast as lightning!


    <hr>


    In the blink of an eye, seven days passed as Oliver traveled through the chaos.


    Along the way, he kept devouring the surrounding chaotic energy. His size gradually increased, reaching nearly 1,500 kilometers in length—a significant step toward his former glory!


    That’s right—the chaotic energy he’d lost could be replenished quickly! Raising his size limit took a lot of time, but recovering lost mass was relatively simple.


    After another seven days of travel, Oliver fully restored his original size, far surpassing the 1,500-kilometer mark. In gaming terms, his health bar was full again!