The Ingredient Zone is for Making Wishes

Chapter 16: The Ingredient Section is for Making Wishes

The Burrowing Devil Worm is a xenobiological species originating from the Muddy Realm. It belongs to the lineage of the Great Old One mythos, a kin of the Great Old Ones that dwells within the Earth's crust, capable of roaming freely deep beneath the surface.

They vary in size, with the largest Burrowing Devil Worms reaching lengths of over a kilometer. However, excluding those super-giant individuals—some of which are even classified as Great Old Ones themselves—the vast majority of Burrowing Devil Worms measure between ten and several dozen meters.

In appearance, they resemble squids rolling through mud: slender, flexible, with a cluster of tentacles at the front acting as a mouthpart. Under normal circumstances, they secrete a potent acidic fluid to dissolve rock, allowing their massive bodies to "swim" rapidly through the earth and stone. Beyond this, they possess other capabilities.

They possess powerful telepathic abilities, allowing them to perceive the outside world and communicate with their kin across vast distances. They can also project this immense mental power outward to manipulate and bewitch humans with weak minds. Their hides are sturdy, capable of withstanding temperatures of four thousand degrees Celsius, allowing them to swim freely through magma. They can even store this heat and, when appropriate, release it toward their opponents in the form of high-intensity thermal rays.

They are powerful and ancient. Multiple Burrowing Devil Worms acting in concert can even generate large-scale earthquakes.

They can almost serve the role of a mentalist in a weak team. The only weakness of this creature is that it quickly loses vitality and dies upon contact with water. However, this flaw does not apply to their corpses.

Things that are dead can, of course, die again.

Poison that could kill a living person is unlikely to remain effective on a corpse. Even if this flaw were insurmountable, one could simply cover them in a shroud of Battle Qi to allow them to traverse the permafrost beneath the Antarctic without having to take a long detour.

Purchasing a fifteen-meter-long Burrowing Devil Worm corpse costs 1,500 reward points. When this dry, gargantuan object appeared on the Main God plaza, Si Ming, who had already undergone a full-body restoration, felt a slight wave of dizziness upon witnessing its alien form for the first time, as if a series of whispers were echoing in his ears.

Mental pollution, loss of sanity. The standard passive effect of Cthulhu-mythos creatures. However, the descending beam of restoration from the Main God retracted at a mere touch.

"...Not that difficult, either."

In the Infinite world view, Cthulhu-style pollution is a tangible reality. But for now, this level of pollution wasn't even enough to make Si Ming spend a single reward point on medical treatment.

He was a pragmatic man and did not doubt that his constitution was special due to his status as an outsider from the multiverse, or perhaps even a higher dimension. He summoned the massive Necrotic Aura in its entirety and injected it fully into the giant worm corpse before him.

"Raise Dead."

The corpse began to squirm. Consuming all of his Necrotic Aura was just enough to complete the resurrection of this giant alien carcass. Even without utilizing Night Battle Qi, this giant worm possessed strength and physique comparable to a tunnel-boring machine. If he wanted to activate it further, he would need to increase his total Battle Qi.

But for this stage, it was enough.

The medicinal pill had not yet been consumed.

Si Ming waved his hand.

The Burrowing Devil Worm, now transformed into an undead, was silently swallowed by his summoning space. The Necrotic Aura used to raise the remains dissipated and flowed back toward Si Ming as the creature was stored.

Time to take the medicine.

And there were other things to prepare.

He had one D-rank side quest remaining, and it was perfect; he needed a systematic knowledge framework to refine the Battle Qi techniques he had mastered.

He quickly found a suitable book.

--[Origin of Battle Qi--Originating from 'Pan-Xianxia', this is a secret manual recording various general-purpose Battle Qi usage techniques. Because it does not involve high-level arts, only very faint traces of Battle Qi remain on the pages. Users can learn basic Battle Qi combat skills by reading the pages or sensing the imprints. It is a technique manual suitable for beginners or low-to-mid-tier warriors to lay a solid foundation.]

--[To purchase this item, you must pay 1 D-rank side quest and 800 reward points. Note: Those who do not possess Battle Qi or a similar energy circulation system will find it difficult to perceive the Battle Qi imprints on the pages.]

Si Ming returned to his personal space—he had expanded a spacious training ground outside his single-room apartment. He set aside the Nanosuit and Profaned Greatsword he had successfully purchased. Holding the Essence of Battle Qi, he began a rapid and focused study.

Reading before taking medicine was indeed the right decision. This book contained no philosophical or ideological content. It was purely about the techniques of mobilizing and applying Battle Qi. There were many things Si Ming had already figured out by feel, but other parts made him wear an expression of sudden enlightenment.

So, the mobilization of Battle Qi requires deliberately passing through different organs; this allows the corresponding organs to receive proper tempering and strengthening, and by using the right breathing rhythm, one can imbue Battle Qi with different attributes. So, the vortex of Battle Qi does not need to be forced with brute strength, but rather by pulling on the body's major tendons, bones, and blood, allowing one's own flesh to participate in the mobilization of Battle Qi, thereby stabilizing the vortex.

There were many knowledge points, but they basically taught Battle Qi users how to mobilize as many resources as possible when acting—cultivating Battle Qi cannot rely on Battle Qi alone; one must coordinate skin, flesh, blood, bones, tendons, and organs together. Combined with the correct techniques for exerting force, one could maximize the combat power of a Battle Qi user without harming oneself.

"Knowledge is indeed important." Si Ming closed the book and exhaled softly. "As expected, even after entering the reincarnation world, one must still study and train diligently. Relying purely on feeling really doesn't cut it."

The book was thick, and learning it all would take a lot of time. But...

Gene Lock, open.

His eyes suddenly became vacant, and the knowledge points he had just memorized appeared in his mind without a single omission. It was a simple Battle Qi force-exertion technique: using the proper method to focus and overlap Battle Qi—this was the 'Battle Qi Air-Piercing Strike'!

'Boom!'

The target, half a person's height and thirty meters away, exploded violently. The consumption was the same as when he had unleashed the 'Hundred-Step Divine Fist', but the distance and destructive power had both increased by more than half. It had upgraded from a large-caliber firearm directly to a grenade launcher, and the efficiency of his Qi recovery afterward was also slightly faster than before.

Well done.

With a casual gesture, an invisible thread of Qi, detached yet still connected, pulled the Profaned Greatsword resting nearby to his side. Strictly speaking, this was an ultra-greatsword with a net weight of over forty kilograms, completely unsuitable for an ordinary person to wield in combat. But for a reincarnator with ample muscle strength, this minor issue could be solved with brute force!

'Poof—' The flames of profanity roared to life. Perhaps because of the infusion of Night Battle Qi, these already gloomy flames carried a trace of deep, black fire. He lunged forward and swept the blade. A diagonal slash of dark flame broke through the air and traveled over ten meters before coming to a stop.

"Good, very good." He praised, both himself and the sword in his hand. Though heavy, its center of gravity and structure were excellent. As long as he wore the Nanosuit or used Battle Qi to augment his frame, wielding it would be as effortless as swinging a toothpick.

Now then...

Si Ming pondered for a moment.

His dimensional ring was already stuffed with a large amount of ammunition, explosives, food, and supplies. To be safe, he had even spent 1,000 reward points to buy a Fusion Gun capable of firing small thermal energy spheres, as well as a Shoulder-Mounted Railgun of the same price, which was significantly effective against long-range targets. Added to a few magic scrolls for emergencies, he really didn't feel there was anything he hadn't prepared for.

Perhaps there was.

But that would likely only be found when he ran into a problem. After all, two heads are better than one. Single-threaded thinking always has blind spots.

"I still need to find a way to cultivate some companions, even if they're just subordinates to handle chores. I have no desire to be a lone wolf who has no allies to help when things go sideways."

He recalled the newcomers and veterans of the East Sea Team he had met in the previous round and couldn't help but sigh. Shaking his head, he temporarily cast those unpleasant people out of his mind, then reached out and swallowed the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill he had exchanged for.

He sat cross-legged and began to meditate. His aura flowed incessantly within his frame.

At first, there was no movement, but soon, the medicinal power was rapidly digested along with the peristalsis of his stomach and intestines. An invisible wind rose around Si Ming, and this surging wind quickly expanded into a massive storm!

Inhale, exhale.

With the Gene Lock activated, Si Ming did not experience the slightest distraction or waver.

The method of circulating his energy flickered before his eyes, and the technique for condensing the vortex of Qi flowed through his thoughts. The increasingly swelling medicinal potency was now fully laid bare within his perception.

He already knew the destination, and he was currently arriving on the path. A sudden, itching numbness struck the area between his brows, and the next moment, the Battle Qi constrained by his stomach, organs, flesh, and fascia yielded to the mental guidance emanating from his Ancestral Aperture!

Boom— It was as if something had exploded.

Whirl— It was as if something had expanded.

The gale swirling around the exterior of Si Ming suddenly subsided. The storm of external manifestations triggered by the medicinal power had been entirely drawn inward to the center of his physical shell.

The vortex of Battle Qi was complete.

Stable and solid. Even if left unattended, it would operate and strengthen itself autonomously. At the very core of the vortex, the highly concentrated Night Battle Qi had even begun to show clear signs of liquefaction. Faintly, it was on the verge of transforming into a crystalline state.

If this were the world of Battle Through the Heavens, he would no longer be far from the realm of a Great Battle Master. Even within the Infinite system, this power was sufficient to be rated as a B-rank evaluation.

Time flowed by as he adapted to the power.

A brilliant light erupted from Si Ming's eyes.

All preparations and plans had been fully laid out.

Then, the only thing left to do was—

"Main God, exchange for a return to the Alien vs. Predator world. A total of one hundred days, execute immediately."

—[Request accepted.]

The pillar of teleportation light descended.