Chapter 190: Red Dust Soup

In a side hall of Spirit Kitchen Peak, Wang Ping, Tie Lanshan, and several others were chatting and laughing.

Before them were various delicious dishes that made one's index finger twitch at a whiff.

Wang Ping's nose twitched a few times; that strange fragrance entered his nose, and he couldn't help but gulp a few times, making him unable to resist asking:

"When did Master Liaoru's culinary skills become this good? I merely smelled it a few times and couldn't help but want to feast heartily."

Tie Lanshan and the others exchanged glances, all smiling; finally Tie Lanshan spoke: "It's only been this year; for some reason, Master Liaoru's progress in the culinary arts is as if he had opened an aperture, advancing a thousand miles in a day. Look at this dish,"

Tie Lanshan extended his hand, pointing vaguely, and said: "This dish is called Dragon and Phoenix Play! You surely think it's a meat dish, but it's not; it's a vegetarian dish made entirely of spirit rice."

That vividly lifelike dragon-and-phoenix dish had long caught Wang Ping's eye; he had been guessing what meat it was made of, never expecting it to be a vegetarian dish!

At that moment, Master Liaoru carried the last dish over; when he placed it on the table, Wang Ping couldn't help but sit up straight, his eyes fixed on the bowl of soup!

Calling it soup, yet it's as clear as water! On its surface is reflected the scene of the upper hall!

Calling it water, yet Wang Ping could smell a fragrant aroma; indeed, it was a fragrant aroma.

For the first time in his life, he smelled a fragrant aroma in the soup; gazing at this bowl of water-clear soup, Wang Ping couldn't help but ask:

"Master! What's the name of this final dish, and why is it so extraordinary?"

Liaoru smiled, looking at Tie Lanshan and the others with an eager expression; he lowly intoned a Buddhist chant, then explained: "This final dish is called Red Dust!"

Wang Ping and the others looked at each other; Tie Lanshan couldn't help but say: "Master! The name you gave this dish is quite evocative!"

Liaoru smiled and said: "It's not that I deliberately did this; this final dish is my medium of entering the Dao through art. The essence of Buddhism is the character 'emptiness'; I am dull and unable to fathom its true meaning, so I use this dish to contemplate my emptiness."

Master Liaoru's voice echoed slowly in the hall; Wang Ping and the others gained some insight, and Master Liaoru continued:

"I made this dish using one hundred and eight ingredients of utmost purity and freshness; in the cooking process, it is also my process of enlightenment. Initially, this soup could be called the utmost freshness in the world, its one hundred and eight fresh flavors enough to make one indulge; now, the soup's freshness has lost eight of them."

Wang Ping pondered: "Master, I've heard that the number one hundred and eight in Buddhism refers to the one hundred and eight afflictions. Could it be that you used one hundred and eight fresh ingredients to represent afflictions, and when the Red Dust Soup is as clear as water, that is your moment of enlightenment, also your time of entering the Dao through art? I don't know if I'm right."

Master Liaoru laughed and said: "Daoist friend Wang has a sharper wisdom than I."

Tie Lanshan gazed at Master Liaoru and exclaimed in amazement:

"Master Liaoru is not foolish; I see you as great wisdom appearing foolish!"

Likewise, Liaoru looked at Tie Lanshan and said gently: "Daoist friend Tie, you merge your body with formations, seeking to form an acquired formation body; you also possess great perseverance and wisdom! It seems forming the Dao through formations is not far off for you!"

Tie Lanshan laughed and said: "Master, you overpraise me; I'm merely picking up others' wisdom. Compared to your entering the Dao via Red Dust Soup, Daoist friend Ouyang's enlightened puppet heart, and Daoist friend Zhang Zuo's path of merging elixir with golden core, I amount to nothing!"

Wang Ye watched them mutually boasting, couldn't help but curl his lip; regarding all this Dao talk, he had always been a Dao-rejector; at first he was unwilling, but finally realizing he wasn't cut out for it, he abandoned his impractical fantasies.

Among these people, the most surprised is Wang Ping; his few close friends seem not to be much behind him on the path of Dao comprehension; if it weren't for his many fortuitous encounters, he might not necessarily surpass them.

Just as Wang Ping was pondering, Master Liaoru said: "Everyone, let's begin the feast! First, try my Red Dust Soup and see how it is!"

All readily agreed; they all wanted to see how Master Liaoru's Red Dust Soup truly was.

Each took a bowl and served themselves a small portion; Wang Ping didn't use a small spoon, but directly brought it to his lips and took a light sip; it seemed he felt nothing, aside from a hint of freshness, nothing special!

Just as he wondered, his taste buds suddenly sensed the ultimate freshness! Aroma!

One after another, Wang Ping couldn't help but become intoxicated; in just ten breaths, he sampled all one hundred and eight fresh flavors and aromas.

At the final moment, all the freshness mixed and burst forth; Wang Ping momentarily felt as if he had fallen into the mundane world, daily worrying about livelihood!

Before he could fully savor it, the taste in his mouth changed again; a cool sensation gradually welled up, like the cool, sweet well water he drank during qi refinement; those freshnesses were repeatedly washed away by this cool feeling!

The taste in his mouth gradually faded, leaving only a faint freshness, incomparable to the intense freshness at the start.

After the freshness faded, Wang Ping felt as if he had discerned the mundane world; his heart was calm, as if he had grasped a hint of the mystery of emptiness.

Tie Lanshan and the others closed their eyes for a long while; Wang Ping opened his eyes and let out a long sigh: "Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous!"

Three successive exclamations of 'marvelous' are enough to show Wang Ping's satisfaction with this dish!

At that moment, Tie Lanshan, Zhang Zuo, and others all opened their eyes; everyone's face showed an expression of endless aftertaste!

"Master's culinary arts have already brushed the edge of the Dao; we are utterly inferior!" Zhang Zuo said after opening his eyes, feeling moved.

Even Wang Ping couldn't help but agree; Master Liaoru calmly said: "It seems only a step away, yet it's as vast as a heavenly chasm! Once I completely remove that freshness, that will be when I attain the Dao and achieve enlightenment!"

Wang Ping looked at the master and said: "Then let us wish you success in entering the Dao through art and attaining enlightenment!"

Tie Lanshan and the others also congratulated him, which made Liaoru a bit embarrassed.

Afterward, the six from Yunluo began tasting the delicious dishes; this welcome feast prepared for Wang Ping lasted a full three hours before everyone dispersed, still wanting more.

For Wang Ping, although he has now comprehended five kinds of Dao intentions, Master Liaoru and company's alternative path of entering the Dao through art, this method of Dao comprehension, still gave him a completely new experience; one could say the gains were abundant.

Meanwhile, Tie Lanshan and company's gains were even greater; Wang Ping comprehended over two hundred eighty spirit-root runes, his understanding getting straight to the root; many things that Tie Lanshan and company felt were hazy and misty, after Wang Ping's explanation, they suddenly became clear!

Returning to Changsheng Peak, Wang Ping came to a hall he had never visited before; in the hall, Fang Zhongren stood respectfully below, while his former companion You Junzhu had perished during foundation establishment!

Behind Fang Zhongren, Su Ning also stood silently; the two who had gone out with him initially had already perished!

Wang Ping sat quietly on the high seat of the hall, gazing at the two foundation-establishment cultivators of his peak, and said: "For the next month, I will seclude myself in closed-door cultivation; everything in the peak shall remain as usual for now!"

Fang Zhongren and the other respectfully agreed; their hearts held immense admiration for their peak master at this moment, and they believed the master was closing up for the upcoming great battle.

Wang Ping nodded, letting them leave; he had not taken the great battle a month later to heart at all, saying he would seclude for a month merely for tranquility.

Just like that, in the blink of an eye a month is about to pass, yet the Yunluo Mountain Range is already crowded with people, and even among those silhouettes one can see the figures of Golden Core cultivators.