Volume 1, Chapter 65: The First Ray of Light at the Dawn of Chaos

This... this is true, ultimate appreciation! The Pavilion Master's voice grew filled with excitement. To know the flavor without tasting it, to define its nature without moving its form! He didn't even need to see our tea or smell our fragrance; simply through the act of 'invitation' itself, he has already appraised our 'style' and... given it a 'bad review'!"

Hearing this, all the members in the pavilion felt as though they had been struck by lightning, experiencing a sudden and profound enlightenment.

So that was it!

It wasn't that they had offended that supreme adult, but rather that their "style" was simply not yet worthy of catching that adult's eye!

"Pavilion Master, then... what should we do?" the emissary asked with a trembling voice. "He left an invitation. What... what is his intention?"

"Leaving an invitation shows that he still harbors a shred of 'scrutiny' toward us," the Pavilion Master's voice returned to calm, yet it carried the poised assurance of one who held absolute control over the situation. "He rejected the 'invitation', but kept the 'letter'. This shows that he rejected the 'action', not the 'qualification'. He is telling us that it is fine to want to see him, but not through such a clichéd method as an 'invitation'."

"Then what method should we use?"

The Pavilion Master's phantom slowly "stood up," and a vast yet gentle aura instantly enveloped the entire Sea of Chaos.

"Pass down my decree: the 'Eternal Tea Gathering' shall begin immediately!"

"The location will be set just outside the dimensional singularity where that adult resides!"

"We shall no longer 'invite'. From now on, we merely 'brew tea'!"

"We shall use the 'very first ray of light from the primordial chaos' treasured within our pavilion as water, and the 'top three tender leaves of the Epoch Ancient Tree' as tea. We will not invite him, nor will we disturb him. We firmly believe that true 'delicacies' will naturally attract true 'epicures'."

"This shall be our silent, second 'presentation' to that adult!"

The Pavilion Master's decision filled all the members with excitement.

What an elegant, what a confident open plot!

They believed that once the fragrance of the tea began to drift and the rhymes of the Dao began to flow, that mysterious "Emoji-level master chef" would naturally follow the scent and arrive.

Thus, the most luxurious "tea gathering" in history, designed to attract Gu Changsheng, officially began.

As for the instigator of all this, Gu Changsheng, he was currently lying on a recliner. Because he hadn't been able to drink his iced cola, his mouth felt a bit dry. He smacked his lips twice, rolled over, and went right back to sleep.

The operational efficiency of the All-Realms Delicacy Pavilion could only be described as terrifying.

The moment the Pavilion Master's decree was issued, a pavilion constructed entirely from the Law of "Feasting" silently emerged from the void of the Sea of Chaos, finally anchoring just outside the dimensional singularity where the Gu family's ancestral grounds resided—at a delicate distance where it could be perceived without causing any direct disturbance.

Above the pavilion, an ancient and mysterious ceremony began.

An elderly man with white hair and eyes that seemed to contain countless recipes served as the host of this tea gathering, known to all as the "Flavor Elder." With a solemn expression, he bowed three times toward the void, as if thanking this expanse of chaos for nurturing the supreme treasure about to be cooked.

He reached out his hand and cautiously retrieved an item from a jade box sealed with "Time Amber."

That was a ray of light.

A ray of light whose color defied description, seemingly containing every possible and impossible radiance in the world. The moment it appeared, the surrounding chaos ceased its churning, as if paying the highest respect to the most ancient existence in this universe.

This was the "very first ray of light from the primordial chaos."

It was neither energy nor matter, but the initial manifestation of the very concept of "existence."

Immediately afterward, the Elder of Flavors produced another box crafted from "Spatial Crystal Walls." Inside the box lay three tender leaves, resting quietly.

Among these three tender leaves, one was chaotic in color, seeming to harbor the vitality of a universe; another was void in color, seeming to represent the end of an epoch; and the final leaf continuously shifted between chaos and void, performing the true meaning of "reincarnation."

These were the top three tender leaves of the "Epoch Ancient Tree." This tree sprouted only once every ten thousand epochs, and each time, it produced merely three leaves.

The Flavor Elder took a deep breath and slowly poured that ray of "light" into a teapot formed from the "Great Dao Cauldron." The light entered the pot without making a single sound, yet it caused the entire Sea of Chaos to brightly illuminate for a fraction of a second.

Following that, he dropped the three tender leaves into the pot one by one.

When the first leaf of "Creation" entered the water, an unimaginable breath of life erupted violently. Centered around the tea gathering, within hundreds of millions of light-years, all withered and desolate dead stars instantly regained their vitality, growing verdant vegetation and blossoming with magnificent flowers. At this moment, countless stars seemed to have transformed into potted landscapes within a cosmic garden.

When the second leaf of "Destruction" entered the water, a dao rhyme of annihilation that ended all things rippled outward. Those newly blossomed stellar flowers withered in an instant, transforming back into the purest primal energy that returned to the chaos. Creation and destruction intertwined to form a magnificently grandiose cosmic scroll.

When the final leaf of "Reincarnation" entered the water, the dao rhymes of creation and destruction were perfectly harmonized. The withered energy did not dissipate; instead, it transformed into new seeds, once more gestating upon the desolate stars, awaiting the next blooming.

The tea was done.

An indescribable fragrance began to emanate from the teapot.

Upon first smelling this fragrance, it felt like an infant's first cry, filled with hope and joy. Smelling it again, it felt like a hero's final sigh in his twilight years, filled with vicissitudes and unwillingness. Upon closer appreciation, however, there was no taste left at all, save for an epiphany and peace of mind that whispered, "So that is how it is."

The fragrance drifted, ignoring any barriers of space and laws.

Across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, countless old monsters who had been in closed-door seclusion were jolted awake by this scent. They frantically tried to deduce the heavenly secrets, only to find utter blankness. This fragrance surpassed every category they were capable of understanding.

Throughout the myriad realms, the karmic golden dragons of countless imperial dynasties let out reverent roars toward the direction of the fragrance. Countless divine weapons and sharp blades automatically flew out from their treasuries, submitting to the empty air as if paying homage to the source of all weapons.

Even in the mortal realms, an old peasant tilling his field stopped in his tracks, raised his head to sniff, and muttered in confusion, "Strange, why does the breeze today smell so comforting?"

Such was the grandeur of the "Eternal Tea Gathering."

They believed that with such earth-shattering phenomena and such extraordinary dao rhymes, even if that mysterious "Emoji-level master chef" were both deaf and blind, he ought to have sensed it by now.

...

The Gu Family Courtyard.

Gu Changsheng was sleeping soundly, smacking his lips as if having a pleasant dream.

The fragrance of the tea—potent enough to cause Immortal Emperors to lose their state of mind—drifted to the courtyard gate only to be blocked by an invisible barrier. This was the defense set up by Uncle Fu to prevent any external factors from disturbing the young master's rest.

However, the "Dao" contained within the fragrance was simply too high-level. A tiny trace of it, like a mischievous sprite, managed to pierce through the barrier and drift right beneath Gu Changsheng's nose.

In his sleep, Gu Changsheng's brows twitched slightly.

It seemed he had smelled a familiar scent...

What did it remind him of?

Ah, right. It was just like that cup of wild tea his grandfather used to brew with mountain spring water after a clearing rain in the mountains of his hometown in his past life. The taste was very light, yet refreshing, carrying the fragrance of soil and grass.

"Mm... Grandpa's brewed tea..." he rolled over, muttering incoherently in a dreamlike voice.

And then... nothing more happened.

He fell even more deeply asleep.

Outside the courtyard, Uncle Fu, Ye Qingxian, and Ji Ruxue stood on high alert.

Naturally, they too had perceived that world-shaking "tea gathering."