I was just fishing, how did I become a Great Old One?

"First round of matches concluded!"

"The winner is Jiang Li!"

As the host's impassioned voice faded, the atmosphere in the arena did not cool down; instead, it became even more intense due to the upcoming second round.

A restless atmosphere permeated the air.

If the first round was about "form," it was about the ultimate skill in knife work.

So this second round is about "color," about visual impact.

"Please give me a question!"

On the judging panel, the flamboyant "Palette Lady," whose entire body seemed to have been spilled with dye, stood up.

She waved the feather fan (drawn) in her hand, her eyes filled with fervor.

"In this world made of lines, color is the soul!"

"Without color, the world is a lifeless black and white."

"Therefore, the theme for the second round is—【The Ultimate in Color】!"

"I want to see... food that can set my retinas ablaze, make my soul tremble, food a thousand times more dazzling than a rainbow!"

……

"The ultimate color?"

Jiang Li touched his chin.

This question sounds simple, but it actually hides a deadly trap.

As the saying goes, it has a perfect combination of color, aroma, and taste.

However, in the realm of comics, "color" often signifies the expressiveness of the image.

"Let's see who our opponent is."

Jiang Li turned his head and looked at the stove that belonged to the "Grand Feast".

There stood a... madman.

This is a character with an extremely sloppy drawing style, distorted lines, and an appearance that seems on the verge of collapse.

It wore a tattered straw hat and was covered in a dazzling array of paints.

A frenzied vortex spun in its eyes.

【Rainbow Painter Van Gogo】

He is a top chef hired by a wealthy family for a grand banquet, and also the most famous "Impressionist" painter in the comic book world.

It is said that it never uses recipes to cook, only inspiration.

It's not making food, it's making paintings.

"Hehehe... colors... so many colors..."

Van Gogh smiled nervously.

It didn't take a kitchen knife or a spatula.

It was holding a huge oil paintbrush.

On its stove, hundreds of barrels of highly saturated pigment sauces of various colors were laid out.

"start!"

With a command given.

Van Gogh was moved.

It was like splashing ink on a canvas, frantically pouring paint and sauce into a huge pot.

Blue! Yellow! Purple!

Large swaths of color collided and spun in the pot.

Instead of stirring, it frantically churned the surface of the soup with a paintbrush, creating twisted concentric circles.

"That is..."

Odin's eyes widened (although it was drawn).

"That soup... why does it look like it's spinning?"

"No, that's... the starry sky?"

With Van Gogh's movements.

The originally murky soup now appeared to have a dizzying sense of fluidity.

The deep blue broth resembles the night sky.

The bright yellow oil droplets resembled rotating stars.

There were also side dishes shaped like burning cypress trees.

This is a pot of... [Starry Night]!

It's not just similar, it's practically a boiled version of that world-famous painting!

A powerful spiritual impact erupted from that pot of soup.

That was the frenzy and passion unique to Impressionism.

"ah!!!"

From the judges' panel, Mrs. Palette let out a scream.

She clutched her chest, her face flushed with a sickly redness.

"So beautiful!"

"I saw... the universe rotating!"

"I saw... a mad soul burning!"

"This is more than just soup! It's flowing art!"

Van Gogh brought the soup up.

It is called "Impressionist Starry Sky Soup".

Lady Palette took a sip with trembling hands.

Instantly, countless colorful bubbles appeared on the surface of her body.

"Perfect score! It has to be perfect!"

"The color saturation and contrast are simply impeccable!"

"I can't see any other colors anymore; all I see is this starry sky!"

The scoreboard lights up.

【100 points】!

The entire venue erupted in cheers.

"That's incredible!"

"Is this the power of Impressionism?"

"Although Jiang Li's knife skills are superb, how could he possibly compare to a professional painter in terms of color?"

"It's a sure loss. How could a protagonist in a black-and-white comic possibly compete with an oil painting?"

……

Jiang Li's side.

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

"Boss, what do we do?"

Er Gou looked at the pot of dazzling starry sky soup and felt a little worried.

"All we have is ink and a few kinds of pigment mushrooms."

"If it's a contest of who's darker-skinned, we'll definitely win."

"But when it comes to comparing who has more colors or whose colors are brighter... our hardware isn't up to par."

indeed.

The Genesis Fountain Pen in Jiang Li's hand is essentially based on lines and black and white.

Although it can produce color, the richness and depth of color are not as impressive as the effect of someone splashing paint from a bucket.

"The five colors blind the eye."

Jiang Li looked at the pot of soup and suddenly shook his head.

"A lot of colors doesn't necessarily mean beauty."

"That kind of strong visual impact is amazing at first glance, but if you look at it for too long... it will blind you."

"Moreover, it's an illusion created by piling up paint."

Jiang Li raised his head and looked at the pale sky above him (paper background).

"In this world, the amount of pigment is limited."

"but……"

"There is something that appears to have no color."

"Yet it contains all colors."

Odin paused for a moment, then asked, "Boss, are you speaking in riddles?"

Jiang Li smiled slightly.

"Physics, do you even understand it?"

"White light is the collection of all colors of light."

"Since we can't win by comparing paint..."

"Then I won't use paint."

"I want to use... [light]."

……

Jiang Li moved.

He didn't take the colorful mushrooms.

Instead, he took out a piece...

Completely transparent and free of any impurities, this is a high-purity gel.

This is the purified product of the slime gel he collected in the Forest Labyrinth.

Transparent and pure, like a piece of crystal.

"Ergou, start a fire."

"Odin, melt this gel for me."

"Abel, go and turn off all the lights around here!"

"Turn off the lights?" Abel asked, puzzled, but did as he was told.

He moved with lightning speed, swiftly cutting off the lighting lines (drawn wires) around the arena.

Nourishes—

The entire venue was plunged into darkness in an instant.

"What happened?"

"Is there a power outage?"

"What's that chef up to? Is he trying to escape under the cover of darkness?"

The audience became agitated.

Mrs. Palette, sitting on the judging panel, also frowned in dissatisfaction.

"How can you see colors without light?"

"This is utter nonsense!"

Just then.

In the center of the dark stage.

Jiang Li's voice rang out steadily.

"lady."

Have you ever seen... the aurora borealis?

Before he could finish speaking...

Jiang Li suddenly drew a circle in the air with the pen in his hand.

This is no ordinary circle.

This is a... [light source].

There he drew a bright light source that was only outlined, but whose interior was absolutely pure white.

"Bright!"

Buzz————

A blindingly bright beam of pure white light burst forth from the painted lamp.

The beam of light did not shine directly on the audience.

Instead, the light shone on the tray in Jiang Li's hands.

there.

There was a freshly made, unremarkable-looking dish on the table.

That was a pile of... transparent jelly?

No.

That's not your average jelly.

Jiang Li used his perfect knife skills to cut the transparent gel into countless pieces...

【Three-sided mirror】.

Thousands upon thousands of tiny, precisely angled triangular mirrors are stacked together to form a crystal mountain.

The moment that pure white beam of light pierced into the crystal mountain.

A miracle happened.

……

The law of physics—dispersion.

When white light passes through a prism, it is broken down into seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet because different wavelengths of light have different refractive indices.

And when thousands upon thousands of prisms simultaneously refract and reflect...

boom!!!

The once pitch-black arena was instantly illuminated.

But it wasn't illuminated by white light.

Instead, it was caused by a... [storm of light].

Countless dazzling rainbow beams burst forth from that small crystal mountain, shooting out in all directions.

These light bands are not static.

Because the crystal jelly is elastic, it was trembling slightly.

With each tremor, the angle of light refraction changes slightly.

then.

The rainbow light bands began to move.

Like the aurora borealis, it dances in the sky.

It swirls in the air like a nebula.

The red light leaped like flames.

The blue light surged like the deep sea.

The purple light was as dreamlike and enchanting.

The entire arena instantly transformed into a giant kaleidoscope!

"Oh my god..."

The audience members who were just laughing at Jiang Li were now speechless, their mouths agape.

They reached out, wanting to touch the light.

But light is invisible, yet it is reflected truly on their retinas.

The purity of this color is unmatched by any other pigment.

Because this is a spectral color.

It is the origin of color!

……

On the top of the table.

Mrs. Palette was completely stunned.

The feather fan in her hand fell to the ground.

She gazed at the spectacular display of light and shadow before her, at the aurora blooming from the darkness.

Her tears (colored) welled up.

"This...this is what I've been pursuing my whole life..."

"[Pure Color]!"

In contrast.

The pot of starry night painted by Van Gogh next to him, piled up with paint, appeared so murky, so dim, so... full of artificiality in the face of these pure lights.

It's like comparing a crayon drawing to a real, high-definition holographic projection.

They're not even in the same dimension!

Please enjoy.

Jiang Li stood at the center of the light, like a god who controlled the light.

"This dish is called—【Aurora Prism Crystal Jelly】."

"It has no color itself."

"But it... has all colors."

Lady Palette reached out with trembling hands and scooped up a piece of crystal jelly that was still reflecting light.

Put it in your mouth.

It's cold.

Smooth and silky.

Immediately following was a sweet sensation that penetrated straight to the soul.

Moreover, because it is eaten under light, the visual impact is transformed into a synesthetic experience of taste.

It was as if she had truly eaten a rainbow.

"Ugh!!!!"

Lady Palette let out a blissful groan.

Under the pure light, the messy paint on her body began to fade and peel off.

Finally, she transformed into a clean-cut, beautifully drawn sketch of a woman.

Returning to simplicity.

"Perfect score! It has to be perfect!"

"It surpassed a perfect score!"

"These are the colors of God!"

……

"No!!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream shattered this beautiful moment.

It was Van Gogh.

This Impressionist master watched as his work turned into a dull, gray mess under Jiang Li's brilliance.

His mental defenses collapsed.

"This can't be real!"

"Only paint is eternal!"

"Light is a lie! Light will disappear!"

"My painting...my painting..."

He's crazy.

He raised the paintbrush in his hand and frantically attacked the surrounding air, trying to blacken the light.

But you can't just paint it black.

At last.

In a state of utter despair and madness.

Van Gogh made a surprising move.

He picked up a small knife (a drawing knife) and pointed it at his own ear (the drawn ear)...

"Since I can't hear praise... then I'll just discard these ears!"

stab-

He cut off his own ear (which was then broken into pieces).

Then he collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and completely lost consciousness.

……

The outcome is decided!

The host shouted excitedly.

"Round Two - A Battle of Lust!"

"The winner is Jiang Li!"

"He defeated the master of color with a colorless dish!"

"This is a miracle! This is magic! This is physics!"

The cheers erupted like a tsunami.

Jiang Li put away his pen, and the dazzling aurora disappeared with it.

The arena was restored to its former glory (the lights were turned on).

But in everyone's eyes, the image of that rainbow still seemed to linger.

"call……"

Jiang Li wiped the sweat from his forehead.

This "optical pollution" technique consumes a significant amount of mental energy.

"Boss, you're awesome!"

Er Gou rushed up and grabbed Jiang Li's leg.

"That light was so bright! It almost blinded me!"

"Keep a low profile, keep a low profile."

Jiang Li smiled.

"This is only the second round."

"The real battle is yet to come."

He looked up at the judges' panel.

The most difficult one, the "Eraser Elder," was staring intently at him with a gloomy face.

He was the chief examiner for the final round.

It is also the last trump card in this grand feast.

"Next round..."

Elder Eraser spoke slowly, his voice hoarse and filled with a sense of oppression.

The theme is—[meaning].

"That is... [the story]."

"A good dish must have a story."

"There must be... a storyline that makes people feel like they are there."

"Jiang Li".

"Your drawing skills are excellent, and your ideas are great too."

"but……"

"Can you draw a world on a single dish?"

Elder Eraser held a huge, black eraser in his hand.

That is the [Eraser of Oblivion].

Anything it erases will disappear from everyone's memory.

"If you can't tell a good story..."

"I'll... completely erase you."

……

Jiang Li looked at the black eraser.

His gaze gradually deepened.

"A story?"

"Perfect."

"What I have in abundance is stories."

"Since you want to see..."

"Then I'll make you a dish... [Long Years, Memories Rewind]."

"I hope your eraser..."

"It can erase... the weight of history."