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

Koprulu Sector, Urna, inside the Xel'Naga Temple.

The Deep Blue Ark passed through the swirling energy vortex.

The scene before me was suddenly open and clear, yet it also gave me a sense of dread from the depths of my soul.

There are no stars here, no gravity.

Only an endless geometric space, radiating a soft golden light.

Enormous black obelisks, made of an unknown material, floated in the air, slowly rotating according to some mathematical laws that transcended three-dimensional understanding. Each obelisk was covered with flowing runes, as if whispering the secrets of the universe's birth.

It's extremely quiet here.

It was so quiet that even the roar of the spaceship's engines seemed like a desecration of this sacred place.

"This is... Urna."

Mohanda stood at the very front of the deck, and even as a Dark Hall warrior, he couldn't help but kneel down.

"The cradle of Xel'Naga...the origin of all things."

Even the usually arrogant Taldarim stopped complaining (mainly because they had run out of psionic energy) and looked around in awe.

"I sensed... extremely pure psionic energy."

"Purer than the Kara deepest part of El."

"There is no distinction between light and shadow here, no opposition between orthodoxy and heresy."

……

"It is indeed a good place."

Jiang Li's voice broke the solemnity.

He was directing Swann's SCV engineering team to push the giant, ten-meter-diameter double-compartment pot, which had just been welded onto the deck, to the center of the spacecraft.

"The environment is bright and airy, with excellent natural light (it's all bathed in holy light), and there's no dust."

"Most importantly..."

Jiang Li pointed to the dense, almost tangible energy field inside the temple.

"The environmental energy here..."

"It can lock the boiling point of water... at the perfect 100 degrees."

"No need to worry about the pressure affecting the cooking of the meat."

……

Food preparation: Deconstructing God and Insect.

"Bring the 'meatballs' up!"

Jiang Li gave the order.

Sun Wukong picked up the half-dead hybrid, the Destroyer, and threw it next to the pot.

This hybrid was no longer as arrogant as before.

Its bones were shattered by Jiang Li's "meat-loosening method," and it lay limply on the ground, like a pool of red and black mud.

Only those blood-red eyes still held a lingering resentment towards their fate.

Don't look at me like that.

Jiang Li crouched down, holding Occam's razor.

"To be the first main dish in this pot."

You should feel honored.

"After all, your achievements in biology (the fusion of divine insects)..."

"It's all for this moment... the fusion of flavors."

……

[Knife Skill: Butcher Ding's Skill in Carving an Ox - Yin and Yang Separated.]

The knife in Jiang Li's hand suddenly changed.

It's no longer just a simple cut.

Rather, it is a kind of... stripping away.

"rise!"

The tip of the knife pierced the center of the hybrid's brow.

Follow the central line that connects the Protoss nerve bundles to the Zerg spinal cord, and trace it downwards.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

A miraculous scene unfolded.

As the blade sliced ​​through.

The hybrid's body was separated like a zipper.

On the left is the red, wild, and savage muscle of the Zerg (representing pure essence).

On the right is a blue-white crystalline skeleton and neural network that emits psionic energy fluctuations (representing the pure form).

"Watch closely."

Jiang Li spoke to Tadarin and Mohanda, who were watching.

"The so-called hybrid."

"It's not a perfect fusion."

"It's the product of Emon forcibly mixing oil and water together."

"Although they appear to be mixed together, they are essentially in conflict."

"That's why it's so ugly, and that's why its personality is so twisted."

……

Jiang Li cut the red worm meat that had been peeled off into palm-sized thin slices.

"This part has firm meat, a strong fishy smell, and is very 'heaty' (in traditional Chinese medicine terms)."

"It belongs to the yang within yin (physical strength)."

"It absolutely has to be cooked in a spicy red oil broth!"

"Splash!"

Tons of red worm meat slices were poured into the red soup that was bubbling with hellishly spicy butter (flea oil).

moment.

A powerful, spicy, and savory aroma rises to the sky.

……

then.

Jiang Li then picked up the detached, crystal-clear blue-white skeleton and nerve bundle.

"This part is pure energy, with a crisp texture and a slightly sweet taste."

"It belongs to the Yin within Yang (spiritual energy is contained)."

"If you put it in a spicy broth, you'll ruin its freshness."

"It must be cooked in a clear broth gas pot!"

"Gulp!"

The skeleton and nerve bundles were thrown into the other half of the clear white soup, which contained only scallion segments (fungi), ginger slices (ore), and high-energy gas liquid.

The white soup boiled instantly, and a layer of blue halo appeared.

……

The rotation of Tai Chi.

"Fire!"

The Firebat Chef Team is in place.

The red-hot wok on the left is being stir-fried over high heat (plasma red flame).

Simmer the white pot on the right over a low heat (low-temperature blue flame).

One red and one white.

One fire, one ice.

Inside this Xel'Naga temple, on the deck of this spaceship.

This formed a huge, rotating... Tai Chi diagram.

And that originally twisted and ugly hybrid.

At this moment.

Surprisingly, they achieved perfect harmony in the pot...

The red slices of meat tumbled in the chili oil, absorbing the broth and becoming glistening and bright red.

The blue skeleton floats and sinks in the white broth, releasing pure energy and making the soup base as rich and creamy as milk.

……

"this……"

Tadarin looked at the pot.

His worldview (theological views) was once again challenged.

"This is... the cycle of Xel'Naga?"

"Pure flesh (insect) and pure energy (god)..."

"So, it's combined like this (hot pot)...?"

"That's right."

Jiang Li was holding a pair of giant chopsticks (transformed from the Golden Cudgel, lent to him by Wukong).

I cooked a piece of meat in the hot pot.

"Amon wants to create gods, but he doesn't know how to season them."

"He only knows how to force it on you."

"But we chefs know..."

"To blend two completely different ingredients."

"What is needed is not brute force."

"But rather... the medium (the soup base)."

……

First bite: Mixed meat slices.

"Come on, give it a try."

Jiang Li placed a large piece of meat mixed with red oil on Tadalin's plate.

By this time, Tadarin had become a fully-fledged foodie (having been "trained" by red oil tofu).

He did not hesitate.

Envelop the meat slices directly in psionic energy and send them into your body for absorption.

"boom!!!"

The meat slices enter the mouth.

The first thing to burst forth is the numbing spiciness of the chili oil.

That thrill instantly awakened all his senses.

Followed by.

It's the amazing elasticity and chewiness of the mixed meat.

That was the pleasure of the Xenomorph's muscle fibers, forged through countless trials, breaking between teeth (psychic energy field).

The most amazing thing is...

There wasn't a trace of the fishy, ​​foul smell of the alien insects in this meat.

Because that fishy smell has been completely suppressed by the chili oil and transformed into a rich meaty aroma.

"Well……"

Tadarin's entire body glowed with a red light (from the spiciness).

He felt a surge of heat flowing into his body (although the bodies of gods are weak, they still exist).

His skin became tougher, and his muscles (if any) were filled with power.

"Is this... physical enhancement?"

Tadarin was shocked.

As a high-ranking Templar, he had always focused solely on psychic powers, neglecting his physical body.

But at the moment.

He felt he could kill a thunder beast with a single punch.

……

The second bite: God's marrow.

"Try this one."

Jiang Li then scooped out a translucent, soft, and chewy hybrid nerve bundle (like a vermicelli) from the white soup.

Hand it to Mohanda.

Mohanda accepted it respectfully.

Inhalation.

"call----"

A cool, pure energy, with a faint milky scent, instantly cleansed his soul.

This is not ordinary psionic energy.

This is pure void essence, simmered in a gas broth and stripped of Amon's dark will...

"My void link..."

Mohanda looked at his hands.

That green curved blade had now turned into... a deep black.

That is not darkness.

That is the ultimate emptiness.

"I saw it..."

Mohanda muttered to himself.

"I saw... the future that my mentor Zeratul once saw."

……

Yin and Yang complement each other: mixed doubles.

"How does it feel?"

Jiang Li looked at the two gods, one red and one green (now turned black).

"I think it can be elevated to a higher level."

Jiang Li pointed to the pot.

"Try... mixing them together."

"A bite of spicy pork in a hot pot, a bite of white pork broth."

Everyone did as instructed.

When those spicy slices of meat meet the sweet and savory broth.

A miracle happened.

The body's internal heat (yang) and internal coolness (yin).

They met in the stomach.

boom!

It was like two stars colliding.

It generated a completely new kind of energy.

[System notification: Consume Sarnath simulated food (Yin-Yang balance version).]

[Gained Buff: Pseudo-Ascension.]

[Effect: All attributes increased by 200%, psionic energy and physical body perfectly integrated, immune to void corruption.]

……

"strength……"

Tex clenched his fist.

He felt that his current strength was so great that he could burst the power armor.

"I feel like I could tear a hybrid apart with my bare hands!"

"Woof!"

Er Gou's example is even more outrageous.

It ate mostly meat and bones.

at this time.

Its size did not increase.

But its fur... turned half gold and half black.

Its eyes were ablaze with flames in the left eye and flowed with starlight in the right.

[Evolution: Yin-Yang Devouring Hound (Juvenile Form)]

……

The temple's response.

Just as everyone was enjoying this "evolutionary feast".

The Temple of Urna, which has been silent for a long time.

It seemed that they were also awakened by the rich "yin and yang energy" (the smell of hot pot).

"Buzz——————"

The surrounding suspended black obelisks suddenly began to spin faster.

Golden beams of light converged deep within the temple.

There.

A huge, ancient platform slowly rose up.

on the platform.

There was no Xel'Naga corpse.

There is also no incarnation of Amon.

There are only... three enormous thrones.

The throne was empty.

There was only one voice, ancient and weathered, as if it had traveled through billions of years, resounding in everyone's minds.

……

"who……"

"Has it awakened... reincarnation?"

"This smell..."

The voice paused for a moment.

With a touch of confusion and a touch of nostalgia.

"Why does it resemble so much... the [essence] of yesteryear?"

……

Jiang Li's intuition.

Jiang Li put down her chopsticks.

He wiped his mouth.

Looking at those three empty thrones.

"The essence?"

Jiang Li smiled.

He shouted into the void:

"senior."

That's not the essence.

"In my hometown."

"That's called... hot pot base."

……

The manifestation of the shadow of God.

As Jiang Li finished speaking.

Above the middle one of the three thrones.

The light gathered.

It gradually formed a blurry, enormous luminous body.

It looks like a giant squid made of starlight (Xel'Naga's original form).

[Orus.]

【The Last Xel'Naga.】

The guardian of reincarnation.

……

The phantom of Orus looked down at the hot pot with two broths.

Then I looked at the mixed creature in the pot, which had been eaten down to its skeleton.

There was a long silence.

"you……"

"He ate...Amon's fake?"

"and……"

"In this way (hot pot)... has the unity of form and essence been achieved?"

……

"yes."

Jiang Li was not intimidated at all.

He even raised his glass (containing vodka) and toasted Orus.

"The things Amon made, though they're a bit ugly."

"But as long as it's cooked properly."

"It's quite nourishing."

"Senior, would you like to... come down and have a couple of bites?"

"There are a few strands of mixed tendons in this white soup, which are quite chewy."

……

God's silence and gifts.

Orus fell silent again.

As the omniscient and omnipotent Xel'Naga, he deduced countless possibilities for defeating Amon.

But he had never considered this possibility...

The possibility that Emon's army will be wiped out.

"Interesting... mortals."

There was even a hint of amusement in Orus's voice.

"I cannot eat."

"But I can... add some seasoning to this pot."

"Since you have chosen this path of ascension through 'gluttony'."

"Then let me see..."

"Could you... stew Amon too?"

……

[Divine Gift: The Blessing of Xel'Naga (Seasoned Version)]

Orus gently touched one of his whiskers.

A golden glint of light descended from the sky.

It spilled into the bubbling hot pot.

"boom!"

The broth in the pot changed color instantly.

The red soup turned into dark golden lava.

The white soup turned into a milky white galaxy.

An aroma beyond human comprehension instantly filled the entire Urna.

[Ding! Obtained a divine-grade soup base: Xel'Naga's Soup of Reincarnation.]

[Effect: Even a slipper thrown in will become a divine ingredient after cooking.]

……

A new task.

"Go."

Orus's figure began to disappear.

"Amon's true form...is deep within the void."

"He is waking up."

"Take this pot with you."

"To end...this endless cycle of reincarnation."

"in addition……"

The sound grew fainter and fainter.

"If there's a chance in the future..."

"Make me a serving of... that so-called 'red oil tofu'..."

"I want to smell it..."

……

Everyone gets upgraded.

With the disappearance of Orus.

Everyone looked at the "Golden Broth Hot Pot" that had been blessed by divine power.

Even their eyes have changed.

This isn't food.

This is... a miracle drug.

"Brothers!"

Jiang Li waved his hand.

"Don't just stand there!"

"Even the gods have added dishes!"

"The remaining Thunder Beast meat, Leviathan meat, scorpion meat..."

"Pour it all in!"

"tonight……"

"We need to take this ship..."

"Eat until you're a... Star Destroyer!"