Chapter 638: Chapter 114: Return of Immortal Gate, Extreme Realm Takes Disciples (Combined)
The taste of the Fruit of Enlightenment had a peculiar, fragrant quality that seemed to invigorate and clarify one’s mind as if all conscious thoughts had become active.
After consuming it, Li Hao’s breathing became smoother, his perception clearer, and he faintly sensed a Daoist gate standing in his consciousness, ready to be crossed with just a slight focus of his thoughts.
He immediately immersed himself in the thoughts of the Cooking Dao. As his thoughts continuously condensed, he seemed to cross through the gate and, in an instant, arrived in a vast and chaotic realm.
His thoughts seemed strengthened. His mind reached deeper, bursting forth with countless ideas.
At the same time, a figure seemed to vaguely take shape amid the chaos before Li Hao’s eyes.
With a raise of the hand, that figure turned heaven and earth into a furnace, all beings into a campfire, cooking the energy within the void…
Seeing this scene, Li Hao was somewhat stunned, feeling as though he was enlightened.
Such grandeur, such power, and all just from cooking!
Soon, under that person’s control, the energy in the void boiled like water, transforming from concealed and imperceptible majesty to gradually condensing into a discernible airstream, and finally solidifying into a dazzling pearl.
No ingredients were needed, just energy itself could be the ingredient.
“Eating” was not just about consuming something, but everything!
Li Hao suddenly realized and immersed deeper in those cooking techniques, deepening his understanding of cooking.
Ordinary cooking meant perfecting dishes such as steamed, braised, or raw sashimi found in mortal realm restaurants.
Heart-Entering Level cooking could bring a dish to an extremely meticulous and high-quality level, satisfying the taste buds to the utmost.
Spirit-Entering Level cooking involved infusing each dish with spirit, giving each its unique flavor and allowing diners to experience a harmonious blend of body and mind while enjoying the dish.
These three levels transformed from filling one’s belly, to enjoying the taste, to pleasure of both body and mind, and spiritual relaxation.
Now, as that figure cooked the energy of heaven and earth, Li Hao realized that the essence of cooking wasn’t just making dishes or tasting them, but refining!
It was about removing the unnecessary impurities from the dish and refining the core elements of the ingredients into the dish.
Like fish needing to be descaled and eviscerated.
Making braised pork required removing the ribs, although they were edible, they were considered “impurities” for the dish of braised pork.
The essence of true cuisine was not enjoyment, but feeding the belly.
The essence of eating was extracting energy from the food.
Therefore, the greatest form of cooking allowed the substance within the ingredients to be completely absorbed by those who eat it.
And not about over-ornate presentation or rich sauces that are superficial to the taste or stimulating to the senses, but superficial to the body.
From complex to simple, the Grand Dao reaches Ultimate Perfection.
Entering Dao… is about returning to the essentials.
Li Hao gradually understood and suddenly felt a deeper realization of the saying “Food is paramount to the people.”
At that moment, the figure demonstrating the Grand Dao gradually faded away, and Li Hao’s thoughts contracted from all directions, retreating back into his mind like a spider web.
Then, he felt a pulling force, bringing him back to his body.
Li Hao saw the notification leaping on the panel.
Cooking Dao, Ninth Stage…
[You have entered the Cooking Dao]
Li Hao glanced at the experience bar behind him, his lips twitching slightly.
Previously, advancing from Stage Eight to Ninth Stage needed one million experience points, but now to max out Ninth Stage, it required five million!
In the past half year, he had cleared out the Demon Kings outside the boundaries, going to the Great Wilderness Heaven daily to “restock,” making the demons within tremble in fear.
Where it was once a forbidden area for Dayu, it was now like a forbidden zone for the demons because of Dayu.
The demonic aura lurking within had thinned significantly, especially in the Great Wilderness area near the outskirts of Liangzhou Tianmenguan, where many Demon Kings had quietly moved their cave mansions.
Jokingly, a monstrous young man came here daily to hunt them as ingredients, turning it into a complete nightmare!
“Looking at this situation, if I continue hunting Demon Kings, it’ll take another two and a half years to max out…”
Li Hao’s lips twitched slightly, but if he could hunt demons from the Tao Comprehension Realm, he might save a lot of time. However, Tao Comprehension Realm demons were hard to find and couldn’t be hunted daily.
He looked at the panel below, at the State of Mind section.
State of Mind: Heart of Dao Entrance (one)
“Indeed,” Li Hao thought, then his gaze fell on the panel, and without hesitation, he integrated this State of Mind into the Physical Body Dao.
Soon, with the consumption of the State of Mind, Li Hao chose to add points to the Physical Body Dao.
Adding points was successful!
Stage Eight jumped directly to Ninth Stage.
At the same time, a wave of vast and profound realizations flooded into Li Hao’s thoughts.
The feeling was like swallowing another Fruit of Enlightenment, making him somewhat dazed as countless concepts about the Physical Body Dao were analyzed and manifested in his thoughts…
At the same time, his panel’s thousands of Body Refinement Techniques rapidly advanced in deduction, and the complex thoughts gradually flowed into his consciousness. If not for Li Hao’s strong enough consciousness at this moment, refining a Primordial Spirit, just the sheer overload of information and insights could have driven him mad.
It was like practicing cultivation and straying into devilry.
After a long while, Li Hao gradually calmed down.
His realm had also stepped from the Grand Tao of Peace Realm into the Tao Comprehension Realm at this moment.
Although he had not yet fully cultivated the Four Stands Realm to its limit, Li Hao felt it didn’t matter, similar to cultivating the Primordial Spirit and Returning Ruins; with more Cultivation Techniques, he could continue to cultivate.
Now, as he sensed the Physical Body Dao, Li Hao instantly felt the Qi Force absorbed into his body silently transforming into Dao Power.