Chapter 244

"What?"

Sun Wukong looked utterly bewildered, having forgotten everything.

He spent his days cooking and didn't think much about anything else.

"It's what I told you last time—go be the head chef for our Buddhist Dharma Feast."

Oh, so that's it!

Sun Wukong suddenly understood: "Did the Jade Emperor agree?"

In his position, he must fulfill his duties, and since it's a profession he loves, he must give it his all.

"Of course."

Maitreya let out a long belch, patting his belly.

"Our Buddhist Sect has already greeted the Jade Emperor."

He turned, took a sip of water, and moistened his throat.

"How about it? Wukong, want to lend a hand? Let them see your cooking skills?"

Sun Wukong said nothing, instead thinking seriously. The first part meant little, but what Maitreya said next struck exactly what Sun Wukong wanted.

What he most desired now was recognition for his dishes.

"Good!

I'll go."

Sun Wukong ultimately agreed.

Excellent!

Seeing Sun Wukong agree, Maitreya nearly jumped for joy.

"Then when the time comes, be sure to bring more meat dishes!"

"Maitreya smacked his lips, savoring the meaty flavor, his face full of anticipation—he just loves this."

"Isn't your Buddhist Sect supposed to eat only vegetarian? And you—are you really a monk?"

Sun Wukong questioned him slowly.

I don't know how this Maitreya is so odd; I heard the Kitchen God say Buddhist Sect members eat only vegetarian, no meat.

Maitreya glared, filled with righteous indignation.

"The monk here isn't eating meat—he's performing supernatural liberation for the meat's owner, which brings merit to heaven and earth. I know the hardship involved."

Sun Wukong: "..."

Still hardship.

Sun Wukong was utterly speechless; if not for knowing the taste of his own dishes, he might have believed it.

If eating meat counts as hardship, then let him handle it.

"Just make more meat dishes—it's settled."

Maitreya hastily hammered the point home, fearing Sun Wukong might change his mind.

He didn't mention it again, glanced at the Kitchen God, then nodded and smiled: "The monk and Chef Sun Wukong have important matters to discuss; please withdraw temporarily."

"Yes!

Yes"

The Kitchen God nodded repeatedly.

He waved his hand, also ordering the immortal attendants in the Imperial Kitchen to retreat with him.

Maitreya paused, lowered his voice, and asked excitedly: "Wukong, how did you make me awaken my divine abilities with that hot pot at the banquet?"

"Did you awaken a divine encounter?"

Sun Wukong's eyes showed slight surprise.

"Didn't the master say hot pot is the hardest to awaken divine abilities? Even eating ten servings in a row doesn't guarantee awakening—did Maitreya awaken? Though I don't know how many he ate, even though hot pot rarely awakens divine abilities, Maitreya once ate ten servings, plus good luck, so he has more than enough."

Maitreya chuckled, slapped his belly, and boasted: "Of course not?"

His belly can now be considered a treasure—powerful beyond compare.

"What great luck," Sun Wukong shrugged, saying: "The final dish—wasn't that made by me?"

"Who was it?"

Maitreya looked somewhat surprised.

"Wasn't it agreed that Sun Wukong would be the head chef of the Peach Banquet? Sun Wukong's eyes showed respect and admiration: 'The hot pot was given to me by my master, to awaken the divine path—it's also my master's exclusive ability.'

""

"Sun Wukong's master? Maitreya's expression froze—this is exactly what his Buddhist Sect wants to know. Taking Sun Wukong away for ten years directly threw his sect into chaos."

"Wukong!

Who exactly is your master?"

Maitreya couldn't help but speak, his heart filled with disbelief.

"Could it really awaken divine abilities? Is he not dreaming? 'My master is Chen, the shopkeeper at Lingtai Fangcun Mountain's Chaos Residence.'"

Sun Wukong replied.

"Lingtai Fangcun Mountain—Maitreya's heart jolted. Isn't this the place where the Holy Corpse Bodhi Old Ancestor laid out his plans? There's no Chaos Residence there—I visited; there's only the Oblique Moon Three Stars Cave. And now the Bodhi Old Ancestor has moved; the whole Lingtai Fangcun Mountain should be deserted."

"When did this place appear? 'Chaos Residence? But I've never heard of it—there's only the Oblique Moon Three Stars Cave there.'"

Maitreya asked skeptically.

Sun Wukong had nothing to hide about Chaos Residence.

"The Oblique Moon Three Stars Cave does exist—I, Old Grandson, once planned to become its disciple, but they wouldn't open the door for me.

I intended to wait a bit longer, then I smelled the aroma of rice."

I was so hungry I could barely stand it, so I followed the aroma and found my master's Chaos Residence right there in the mountains.

As he spoke, Sun Wukong's eyes held a sense of gratitude; if my master hadn't made that bowl of golden fried rice back then, perhaps I would never have had the chance to become a disciple of Chaos Residence, let alone achieve what I have today.

Maitreya twitched the corner of his mouth slightly; the monkey had no reason to join the Oblique Moon Three Stars Cave, yet it happened so casually.

Just because he was hungry, he went to eat a meal, and then got led away? If the Tathagata and the others found out, losing the chance to take in the monkey because the door was opened late—who knows if they wouldn't regret it so much their intestines would turn green.

But now, long ago the matter has settled; discussing this again holds no meaning whatsoever.

Maitreya is certainly not a shallow person; what he naturally wants to understand are topics of greater depth.

He leaned slightly to the side, drawing a bit closer to the monkey, and Maitreya chuckled happily.

With a face full of curiosity, he said: "Wukong, how is the food in your master's Chaos Residence?"

Sun Wukong gave a knowing smile: "That flavor, it's divine."

"How divine?"

"Let me put it this way for you!"

If the dishes I make are ordinary, then my master's dishes are nothing less than the lofty celestial canopy, boundless and endless."

Sun Wukong said this while gesturing with his hands.

Although Sun Wukong was being modest, Chen Nuo's cooking truly deserves to be called the pinnacle of culinary art—the celestial canopy—so much so that even if Sun Wukong trained diligently for ten years, he would still need to look up to it.

"Damn!"

"Is it really that exaggerated?"

Maitreya couldn't help but blurt out a vulgar oath.

The decorum of the Buddhist Sect had long since been lost to who knows where.

"Old Grandson, what are you deceiving me for?"

Sun Wukong rolled his eyes dramatically.

Upon hearing this, Maitreya couldn't help but catch his breath.

In his view, Sun Wukong's cooking had already reached the peak of the world—no one could surpass it.

Yet he never expected that there are always people beyond people.

If even Sun Wukong's cooking could only be considered ordinary, then what must his master's dishes taste like? Just imagining it made Maitreya's heart flutter, and he wished he could fly right now to the Chaos Residence Sun Wukong described and feast to his heart's content.

"Is that awakening of divine abilities also real?"

Maitreya asked urgently.

"Of course it's real."

Sun Wukong nodded.

He knows how shocking this is to worldly conventions; when he first awakened, it was the same.

Maitreya drew in a sharp breath of cold air—just from the food, one could awaken divine abilities; who exactly is this Chen the shopkeeper that Sun Wukong speaks of? Even his master doesn't have such ability? As a disciple of a Holy Person, he has never experienced anything like this; just this tip of the iceberg makes him feel that this so-called Chen the shopkeeper is certainly not inferior to his own master—truly, it is heaven-defying!

Only by personally experiencing it can one feel that divine strangeness; no wonder, even though we are both on Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, they never noticed him—this is true strength!

His Buddhist Sect's scheming has suffered a loss that is not unjust.