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

The Library of All Things, the Upper Realm, the Marketplace of the Omniscient.

After passing through the ink-stained sea that smelled of pickled fish, the Tree Spirit (World Tree Ark) slowly docked beside a huge floating island.

The island's foundation is a giant, open encyclopedia, its pages carved from some kind of white jade, densely covered with ever-changing text. And atop those pages, a bizarre and fantastical city rises from the ground.

The architectural styles here are extremely chaotic.

On the left is a mechanical tower made of bronze gears and steam pipes, inhabited by mechanical scholars from the Clockwork Universe; on the right is a biological nest made of giant fungi and spores, inhabited by Mi-Go from the Fungal Planet.

The streets are bustling with people... if you don't count "people".

There is the great race of Is with cone-shaped bodies and large claws; there are ancient beings who look like starfish and whose heads are all eyes; and there are high monks of the cold plains who wear black robes and have only a mouth on their faces.

They move about, trade, and argue here.

The air was filled with the cacophony of countless languages, and the mixed smells of ink, parchment, machine oil, and some unknown spice.

"This is... the Omniscient Market?"

Er Gou (in husky form) jumped off the boat, his eyes wide open behind his sunglasses.

"Boss, this place is even more chaotic than Kowloon Walled City!"

"and……"

Er Gou sniffed.

"The guys here all seem to be quite wealthy."

"That's natural."

Jiang Li straightened his chef's uniform and held the 5000 knowledge points he had just earned (now a crystal card that was flashing blue light).

"Those who can get to the upper levels of the library are all top students, wise men, or... cunning old foxes from various universes."

"The knowledge and skills in their minds are far more valuable than gold."

"Let's go for a walk."

"Let's see if we can find any treasures."

……

First stop: Taipei Economic and Cultural District.

Tang Sanzang (the cyber monk) was most interested in this place. He went straight to a stall made up of huge prayer wheels.

The stall owner was a Naga dragon with three heads.

"Amitabha."

Tang Sanzang clasped his hands together, his gaze fixed on a scroll of scriptures radiating golden light in the very center of the stall.

"Benefactor, is this scroll the legendary original manuscript of the Great Sun Tathagata Sutra?"

"Good taste."

The head in the middle of the Naga dragon clan spoke, its voice hoarse.

"This is the original version that has been out of print since the last era, without any plugins or GG."

Price: One million knowledge points.

"How many?!"

Tang Sanzang almost lost his grip on the staff.

"One million? Why don't you just rob someone?"

"We risked our lives to catch a Dogma Shark, and only earned 5000 points!"

"Too expensive?"

The head on the left gave a cold laugh.

"Poor people shouldn't come to the scripture section."

"There are discounted secondhand scriptures over there, they're pirated, only 50 points, go buy that."

Tang Sanzang was so angry that he trembled all over, and his Buddhist heart almost collapsed.

"This humble monk...this humble monk will not buy it!"

He turned and left, muttering, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, even being too expensive is emptiness..."

……

Second stop: Weapons area.

Sun Wukong and Nezha, this violent duo, are currently drooling in front of a stall full of weapons.

The stall owner was a muscular cyclops, forging iron.

"Great Sage! Look at that!"

Nezha pointed to a long spear burning with purple flames.

"That's... the Neutron Star Lance! It's said to weigh a hundred million tons and can pierce a black hole with a single thrust!"

"My darling!"

Wukong also took a fancy to a pair of [Quantum Entanglement Armguards].

"This thing allows my clones to maintain their full strength! A perfect match!"

"Boss! How much are these two?"

Wukong asked with great bravado.

The Cyclops looked up and scanned the two of them with his enormous single eye.

"Long spear, 500,000 points."

"Arm guards, 800,000 points."

"If you take it all with you, I'll round it down to 1.3 million."

"..."

Wukong and Nezha exchanged a glance.

Then he silently touched the pitiful 5000 points in his pocket (still in Jiang Li's hands).

"Cough cough."

Wukong scratched his head.

"That... big guy."

"Can I, Old Sun, use... force to pay?"

"For example... I could help you fight?"

The Cyclops raised the hammer in his hand, which was even bigger than Wukong's.

"Private fights are prohibited here."

"No money? Get lost."

"Okay."

The two slunk away.

……

Third stop: Intelligence zone.

Jiang Li looked at the dejected crowd and shook his head helplessly.

"I can tell."

"Here, although we have escaped poverty, we have only gone from beggars to... low-income households."

"Inflation is too severe."

Jiang Li led the group to a corner of the market.

There were no fancy stalls here, only some small tents covered with black cloth.

This is a gathering place for intelligence brokers.

Jiang Li walked into a tent with a sign that read "Time and Memory".

Inside the tent sat a strange creature.

Its body is a huge cone with four tentacles extending from the top. Two of them have pincers at the end, one has a trumpet (sound organ) at the end, and the other has a spherical eye at the end.

[NPC: The Great Race of Yith - Time Scholar]

[Identity: The biggest information broker/time traveler in the Omniscient Market.]

[Status: Extremely bored/Listless.]

……

What do you want to buy?

The Issian emitted a dull electronic sound through a loudspeaker.

"Past? Present? Or future?"

I want them all.

Jiang Li slammed the 5000-point crystal card onto the table.

"I want to know... how to get to the [Forbidden Books Section]."

"And... the whereabouts of the [Omniscient Fish]."

The Issian's large eyes rolled.

I saw that card with 5000 points.

A hint of...contempt flashed in its eyes.

"5000 o'clock?"

"young people."

"This amount of money isn't even enough for my ticket to the Jurassic Park."

"Information about the Omniscient Fish, starting bid... five million."

"Please leave."

The Iss man waved his pincers, a gesture to dismiss the guest.

……

"Five million?"

Jiang Li frowned slightly.

This is an astronomical price.

But he didn't leave.

He looked at the listless Isman.

"I really don't have any money."

"but……"

Jiang Li twitched his nose.

He smelled a... peculiar odor in the corner of the tent.

There was a pile of strange fruits there.

It was covered in sharp thorns, had a hard shell, and emitted a... suffocating stench.

"This is……"

Jiang Li's eyes lit up.

[Identification Technique] Activated.

[Ingredient: Chaos Durian]

[Origin: The back of the Mad Mountains.]

[Description: A fruit that grows in a world of chaotic rules. Its shell is harder than a diamond, and its flesh emits a smell of "rotten truth."]

[Note: This substance is classified as a "biological weapon" in libraries and is prohibited from being consumed in public. However, it is said that its taste can stimulate the brain and generate inspiration.]

……

"Your Mightiness."

Jiang Li pointed to the pile of chaotic durians.

"You look...troubled?"

The Issian sighed (if it had lungs).

"That's right."

"We, the people of Is, possess a spiritual power that transcends time. We have witnessed too much history and too many truths."

"Living too long and knowing too much is also a kind of torture."

"My brain... is numb."

"I want to find some excitement."

The Issian pointed to the pile of durians.

"I found this in the Crazy Mountains."

"It's said to have a strong, pungent flavor that can wake you up."

"But... this shell is too hard, I can't even cut it with a laser."

"And...it really does smell like poop."

"I haven't dared to take a bite yet."

……

"I see."

Jiang Li smiled.

He smiled confidently.

"If you want excitement."

"I want that...thrilling feeling of my cerebral cortex exploding."

"Then you've come to the right person."

Jiang Li rolled up his sleeves.

"I'm a cook."

"And he's a chef who's... good at handling 'controversial ingredients'."

"As long as you give me these durians."

"I promise……"

"It lets you experience...the feeling of your soul leaving your body."

"When the time comes, could the intelligence fee... be waived?"

The Issian looked at Jiang Li suspiciously.

"If you could make my numb brain feel that long-lost excitement..."

"Don't reveal any intelligence."

"I'll give you all the savings I collected from the last era."

……

Cooking begins.

Location: At the entrance of the Is's tent (to allow the smell to dissipate).

Ingredients: Durian wontons, leftover fish oil from the Dogmatic Shark, and flour from the waste paper area.

Step 1: Open the shell.

"Great Sage! Can I borrow your staff?"

Jiang Li shouted.

"Alright! I'm an expert at cracking walnuts!"

Wukong raised his golden cudgel and struck the incredibly hard Chaos Durian.

"Bang!"

A loud bang.

Even a laser couldn't cut through the fruit shell, but the Chaos Treasure, the Golden Cudgel, cracked open.

A... earth-shattering, awe-inspiring aroma instantly surged out.

"vomit--"

Er Gou rolled his eyes.

"Boss! Did you cook shit?"

"This smell...it's worse than my socks!"

Even the Is man shrank back.

"This...this is really edible?"

Jiang Li remained expressionless (he had already blocked his sense of smell).

He peeled open the shell and took out the inside... golden, soft, creamy flesh.

"This is the essence."

"The stench is just a symptom."

"What's hidden inside... is incense."

Step 2: Make the puff pastry.

Jiang Li used shark oil to make dough, creating layers of flaky pastry as thin as cicada wings.

This kind of puff pastry, once baked, melts in your mouth and is so flaky it crumbles.

Step 3: Filling the dumplings.

Crush the durian pulp and add a little honey (which Tang Sanzang brought from Flower Fruit Mountain).

Wrap it in puff pastry.

Fold.

Fold it again.

A full thousand floors.

Step 4: Baking.

"Nezha! Keep the fire low!"

"Slow-roast it!"

"Let the stench dissipate, and let the fragrance linger!"

Nezha pinched his nose and breathed fire.

"Hurry up! I'm going to faint from the smell!"

As the temperature rises.

That originally nauseating stench miraculously... changed.

It turned into a... rich milky aroma.

A rich flavor that blends fruity, milky, and some mysterious principle.

……

[Dish Name: Omniscient Bursting Durian Truth Pastry]

[Level: Mental Pollution (Delicious)]

[Description: The "rotten smell of truth" is wrapped beneath layers of puff pastry. Crispy on the outside, wild on the inside.]

[Taste: One bite and the piping hot durian filling explodes in your mouth. That intense, viscous flavor that hits you right in the head instantly activates every brain cell.]

[Effect: Relieves mental numbness, grants the "Burst of Inspiration" buff, increases IQ by 100, but will cause bad breath (lasts 3 days).]

……

"Out of the oven!"

Jiang Li was carrying a plate of golden, round durian pastries.

I went inside the tent.

"Your Mightiness."

Please enjoy.

The Issian looked at the plate of pastries.

Its big eyes blinked.

That aroma... actually penetrated its biofield and directly aroused its appetite.

It extended one of its pincers and picked up a piece.

Put it in your mouth (the feeding opening below the flared mouth).

"Click."

The pastry crumbled.

Followed by.

"puff--"

The piping hot durian filling burst in its mouth.

……

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

The Issian froze.

one second.

two seconds.

Sudden.

Its originally dull gray eyes suddenly lit up with a dazzling red light.

Its four tentacles on its head began to tremble and dance wildly.

"Buzz!!!!!!!!!"

A high-pitched, cheerful electronic sound emanated from its speaker.

"What...what is this feeling?!"

"My brain...my spiritual core..."

"It's blown up!"

"I witnessed... the birth of the universe!"

"I saw... the end of time!"

"This taste...it's so intense! So overpowering! So unreasonable!"

"More fascinating than all the history I've ever read!"

"Is this... the taste of truth?!"

……

The Issians went mad.

It ate all the durian pastries on the plate in one go.

They even licked the crumbs off the plate.

After eating.

It slumped in the chair, its tentacles still twitching slightly, as if its soul had ascended to a higher realm.

"call……"

It breathed a sigh of relief.

The way he looked at Jiang Li was full of admiration.

"chef."

"You... cured my boredom."

"This dish is priceless."

The Yis man pulled out a black parchment map from the bookshelf behind him (which was actually a four-dimensional space bag).

"This is what you wanted."

"A map leading to the Abyss of Ignorance."

"besides……"

It then pulled out a gold VIP card.

"These are my personal collection cards."

"Take this, and you can get a 90% discount at the market."

"and……"

The Issian lowered his voice.

"This map marks the last sighting location of the all-knowing fish."

"It's not in the water."

"It is in... [the deepest part of the Ink Sea]."

"That's... Yog Sothos's bathtub."

……

"tub?"

Jiang Li accepted the map and the gold card.

His lips twitched slightly.

This Yog Sothos... he really knows how to enjoy himself.

Thank you.

Jiang Li packed his things away.

"Then we... won't disturb your reminiscing."

Jiang Li led the group and quickly left the tent that smelled of durian.

……

Step out of the tent.

Wukong and Nezha stared wide-eyed at the gold card in Jiang Li's hand.

A 90% off card?!

"Wouldn't that mean...?"

"That neutron star spear... only 50,000 points?"

"Buy! We absolutely have to buy it!"

Jiang Li waved his hand.

"Since we have money (saving money is making money)."

"Then let's go...shopping spree!"

"Upgrade our equipment...to the fullest extent!"

"Then……"

Jiang Li looked towards the deeper, darker sea in the distance.

That is the end of the Corridor of Truth.

It is also the entrance to the restricted book area.

"Go to Yog Sothos's bathtub..."

"Give that fish..."

"It's stewed."