Seven-Color Dip

So many wonderful treasures—and Lingxian Sect had actually handed them out to its disciples in generous batches! Not to mention all the various award categories, many of which sounded as though they had been thought up on the spot simply to provide an excuse to give away more rewards.

The people from the various sects and royal houses who had come to attend the annual gathering were utterly stunned.

Some of the accompanying disciples even found a wildly rebellious thought creeping into their minds, one they could barely suppress. If they had not been sitting beside their own elders and even their sect masters, some of them might already have gone to inquire about joining Lingxian Sect.

Fortunately, Lingxian Sect had no intention of deliberately showing off. The awards ceremony had not been arranged to last very long.

Once all the awards had been presented, the Lingxian Sect disciples came down from the stage and returned to their seats. The sect had prepared a dedicated seating area for its own disciples, positioned opposite the guests’ seats. The guests sat on the left, while the sect’s disciples sat on the right.

Half an hour later, Liu Yunan took the stage once more and announced that the awards ceremony had come to an end.

“Next up is the main event of our Lingxian Sect annual gathering—the Year-End Feast!”

The Year-End Feast had already been extensively advertised in Lingxian Sect’s recent monthly bulletin. The people from the Spirit Food Hall had described it as something the likes of which had never been seen before, building up the anticipation to the fullest. Thus, the sect’s disciples erupted into cheers the moment they heard the announcement.

The guests from outside, however, had no idea what was going on. Seeing the Lingxian Sect disciples cheer and look so full of anticipation, they could not help but grow curious as well.

The disciples had been delighted when they received so many wonderful rewards earlier, but their reaction had not been nearly this enthusiastic.

This Year-End Feast sounded like nothing more than a banquet. Why were they so excited about it?

Clearly, quite a few people present had made at least some effort to learn about Lingxian Sect. They immediately thought of the Lingxian Food Pavilion beneath the mountain, a place where ordinary mortals would pay a fortune for a meal.

It was said that the food there was not only delicious, but could also cure all illnesses and prolong one’s life.

Yet whether it was the desire for good food or the limited lifespan and illnesses that troubled mortals, none of these things meant much to cultivators.

They still could not understand what had the Lingxian Sect disciples so excited.

Could this Year-End Feast have some other hidden significance?

As everyone pondered, they picked up the spirit tea placed beside them and took a sip.

Lingxian Sect had certainly spared no expense for this annual gathering. It had even brought out such rare spirit tea to serve its guests.

No one knew how much of its wealth the sect would have to spend to host this gathering…

Many of the sect elders and sect masters secretly shook their heads.

Looking at Sect Master Lin Xiao, who had the appearance of a young man, they had initially assumed that he simply liked maintaining such a youthful appearance. They had not expected his temperament to be just as innocent and childish. To manage a sect with such extravagance and wastefulness—this would surely cause trouble in the future…

But before they could lament any further about how poorly Lingxian Sect’s sect master managed his household, they were interrupted.

“Look! What’s that?”

A young disciple accompanying one of the groups could not hold back and pointed at the sky in astonishment.

Everyone followed his finger and saw clusters of seven-colored lotuses slowly drifting around Qingyun Peak toward them.

Each seven-colored lotus carried a small bowl.

Before long, the lotuses floated over the plaza, one drifting before every person at every table.

Liu Yunan then welcomed Ma Changlong onto the stage and introduced him as a disciple of the Spirit Food Hall. Ma Changlong proceeded to explain to everyone how the Seven-Colored Dip should be enjoyed.

“This is the first dish prepared by our Lingxian Sect Spirit Food Hall for today’s Year-End Feast. It is called Seven-Colored Dip!”

Although Ma Changlong had not joined the sect long ago, he had spent many years researching cuisine. After following Jiang Youfu and immersing himself every day in the field he loved, his cultivation had advanced at a truly impressive pace. He had now reached the seventh level of Qi Refining.

However, before the many sect masters and elders below, such cultivation was far from sufficient.

Originally, this part had been meant for Jiang Youfu, the Spirit-Food Elder. But Jiang Youfu felt that he neither liked nor excelled at this sort of occasion, so his disciple, Ma Changlong, volunteered to take on the task and ease his master’s burden.

After all, he had spent many years as “Boss Ma” in the mortal world and was completely unruffled by such situations. He explained everything to the audience with ease.

“Each petal of this seven-colored lotus has a different flavor. You may pluck off the petals and dip them into the specially prepared sauce in the bowl at the center. In this way, you will be able to savor a variety of fresh and delicious flavors.”

With that, Ma Changlong raised both hands, gesturing for everyone to begin tasting the dish.

Following his instructions, everyone plucked a petal from the seven-colored lotus floating before them. The sound of the petals being removed was soft yet crisp. Each petal was no larger than half a palm, and the translucent break at its base oozed a little juice.

A faint, delicate fragrance immediately drifted into everyone’s nose, whetting their appetites. They eagerly dipped the petals in the amber-colored sauce in the small bowls at the centers of the flowers, then brought them to their mouths and bit down.

Crunch!

Soft, crisp sounds rang out as everyone chewed. An indescribably fragrant flavor exploded across their lips and teeth. The sweet juice and tender flesh of the petals, combined with the specially prepared sauce, created a delicious taste none of them had ever experienced before!

The petals did not melt the instant they entered the mouth. Instead, they gradually vanished after being chewed two or three times.

The juice slid down the roots of their tongues into their throats and stomachs, leaving everyone with a refreshing sensation throughout their chests.

That was merely the basic experience of taste and texture.

If that had been all, the many Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators present might have praised the dish for its ingenuity, but that would have been the extent of it.

Yet after eating a single petal, they were completely astonished.

There was only one reason: this was actually a top-grade spirit food!

They knew about spirit food, and they had eaten it before. Most of what they had encountered, however, had been about the same level as the food served at the Lingxian Food Pavilion.

Since its effects were practically useless to cultivators, spirit cuisine was of little interest to them, and none of them considered it worth wasting time on.

Moreover, preparing spirit food required all kinds of ingredients rich in spiritual energy—something in extremely short supply in the mortal world.

Even many of the great sects merely cultivated some spirit rice, using it as a substitute for pills to assist with cultivation.

But the Seven-Colored Dip before them was entirely different!

After eating just one bite, they could feel the spiritual energy contained within it—so rich, pure, and mellow!

Quite a few of the lower-cultivation disciples accompanying their elders had already begun sitting down and circulating their cultivation techniques on the spot after eating a single petal.

The Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators were better off. This amount of spiritual energy was not yet enough to require them to sit down and absorb it deliberately. Besides, once the spiritual energy entered their bodies, it flowed incredibly smoothly and was dozens of times easier to absorb than the spiritual energy they took in through ordinary cultivation.

They did not sit down to meditate. Instead, they ate petal after petal, devouring the seven-colored lotuses floating before them until only the flower cores remained.

Some of the older cultivators even turned their eyes toward the seven-colored lotuses before their own disciples, who were still meditating after eating only one or two petals…