# Chapter 2121: Six Laughs Scorns the World
Gray, blue, green, and red—four colors slowly drifted and entwined within the faint white mist condensing on the ice bowl, truly resembling naturally drifting colorful clouds, ethereal yet carrying a hint of charm and illusion.
Six Laughs Divine Official's old eyes were already wide open, clearly displaying a stunned expression that should never appear on a lofty Divine Official.
Color, aroma, and taste all present—that was the complete form presented by the culinary way, with color being foremost. Yet Six Laughs Divine Official, with a lifetime of culinary knowledge, could not imagine that mere four bitter leaves—the most common and ordinary thing in the Abyss—could display such color under a person's fingers.
"Uh..." Yun Che looked puzzled at Six Laughs Divine Official's current expression, then repeated again: "This Four-Colored Cloud Soup, please taste it, Senior Six Laughs."
Six Laughs Divine Official's eyeballs finally twitched. He reached out with a *swoosh*, snatching the ice bowl from Yun Che's hand.
As the ice bowl entered his hand, his movements and breath became noticeably gentler. He stared deeply at the clouds in the bowl once more before raising his hand and taking a very slow sip.
In an instant, bitterness and cold exploded on his tongue, then dispersed into countless streams of bitter cold, flooding his taste buds. Subsequently, it radiated into his sea of consciousness, making his spirit and even his five senses seem to become clearer by several degrees.
Yet each of these bitter cold streams seemed different from the others—sometimes surging, sometimes weak, sometimes sparse, sometimes intense, sometimes appearing, sometimes vanishing. Like endless, differently shaped ethereal clouds, they caused his soul to throb continuously, completely beyond his control, actively chasing every difference and change.
Until these soul-awakening bitterness transformed into a faint, clear sweetness amidst the intangible and traceless, like a clear sky emerging after clouds scatter, making his soul sea melt with intoxication.
Six Laughs Divine Official didn't even know when he had closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he was staring straight at Yun Che... clearly a person with two hands, two feet, one mouth, and one nose, yet in his eyes, he seemed like an unnatural freak that shouldn't exist in this world.
He had never known that bitterness could be so delicious... delicious enough to intoxicate the soul.
Hua Caili's eyes shimmered like sunset clouds. She deeply understood Six Laughs Divine Official's obsession with the culinary way, but his current reaction still far exceeded her expectations. She leaned her head forward and said with a smile: "Uncle Six Laughs, your expression is so strange. Could it be that Brother Yun's Four-Colored Cloud Soup tastes too strange?"
As if he hadn't heard Hua Caili's voice, Six Laughs Divine Official still stared straight at Yun Che, his voice even somewhat distorted: "This soup... is it really just made from four bitter leaves?"
He was no more than two steps away from Yun Che, having watched the entire process as he condensed the soup from four bitter leaves. In all the world, who could deceive under the watchful eyes of Six Laughs Divine Official, let alone a mere Divine Lord Realm youngster?
Yet he blurted out this question nonetheless, because his culinary knowledge was completely filled with the word "unbelievable."
Yun Che replied with a serious expression: "Apart from the bitter leaves, the perfectly balanced coldness is also very important. The ice bowl is not merely a vessel; it is the core supplementary ingredient of the Four-Colored Cloud Soup. Cold bitterness awakens the soul. But if the cold aura dissipates and the cold bitterness turns to warm bitterness, it would actually cause great discomfort."
After speaking, Yun Che seemed to suddenly realize something and quickly said humbly: "Senior Six Laughs has devoted himself to the culinary way for a million years. The realm you have reached must be beyond what this junior can touch. This soup and these words are all showing off before an expert. If I am fortunate, I ask Senior Six Laughs to kindly offer corrections and guidance."
If these words had come from someone else, Six Laughs Divine Official would have just snorted.
But now, facing Yun Che's eyes full of "sincerity," his old face felt somewhat hot.
"Who taught you this Four-Colored Cloud Soup?"
Yun Che still had a flawless expression of sincerity and openness: "To answer Senior, the foundation of this junior's culinary way was laid by my master. Half of my culinary attainment was taught by my master, the other half formed through later experience. As for this Four-Colored Cloud Soup, it was created by this junior himself."
As if not noticing the change in Six Laughs Divine Official's expression, he continued: "Before returning to the Weaving Dream Divine Kingdom, this junior wandered alone in this turbid world for many years. The hardship and bitterness were beyond words.
But one should also seek joy amidst bitterness. The world has a thousand kinds of sorrow, suffering, and pain, ten thousand kinds of helplessness and falsehood, but fine food never betrays."
As Yun Che expected, at these words, Six Laughs Divine Official's pupils suddenly widened by several points, then an uncontrollable heat surged within them.
It was the wild palpitation of one who had been lonely for a full million years and finally found a kindred spirit.
"So in my years of wandering, this junior has also been devoted to the culinary way, pleasing my own heart amidst pain, and occasionally comforting others."
The hidden light in Six Laughs Divine Official's old eyes had subtly changed. He took another sip of the Four-Colored Cloud Soup and said slowly: "Bitter leaves are found everywhere in the dust of the Abyss, the easiest thing in the world to obtain. Their bitterness seeps into the marrow. But as they say, after bitterness comes sweetness. A trace of slight sweetness after ten thousand strands of bitterness can be so deeply engraved in the heart and soul, just like passing through endless vicissitudes and finally attaining the desired fruit. All the past bitterness can be dismissed with a faint smile."
"Wow!" Hua Caili let out a slightly exaggerated exclamation: "That speech is almost exactly the same as when Brother Yun described the origin of the Four-Colored Cloud Soup. Truly worthy of Uncle Six Laughs."
Six Laughs Divine Official shot her a sidelong glance: "You girl, this isn't praising me at all. You're clearly using me as a stepping stone to praise your precious Brother Yun!"
Hua Caili's beautiful eyes were full of innocence: "How could that be? Brother Yun has made me fifty-six kinds of soups and stews. Among them, the Four-Colored Cloud Soup is the simplest and relatively most ordinary. If I really wanted to praise him, I would definitely choose 'Cloud-Infused Plum Fragrance Soup,' 'Starlight Cascade Dew,' 'Heart-Dream Cloud Cup,' 'Canghai Pearl Tears'... and the one Brother Yun made specially for me, the most delicious, most beautiful, and best-sounding 'Cloud Joy Glazed Harmony Heart Porridge.'"
The calm and sober state Six Laughs Divine Official had just regained was shattered into pieces by Hua Caili's words. He widened his eyes again, his speech becoming stammering: "Fif... fif... fifty-six kinds? All... all surpassing this Four-Colored Cloud Soup?"
He didn't even care how inappropriate the name "Cloud Joy Glazed Harmony Heart Porridge" was.
"Of course!" Hua Caili answered before Yun Che could: "The Four-Colored Cloud Soup is ultimately made from just four bitter leaves. No matter what, among all the soups and stews Brother Yun has made, it can only rank at the very bottom."
Every word she spoke carried flawlessness, even mixed with naive matter-of-factness. As her colorful, glazed beautiful eyes blinked, it seemed as if she was wondering why Six Laughs Divine Official had such a strange question.
Six Laughs Divine Official opened his mouth, and a faint sound of throat rolling could be heard between his teeth. He stared at Yun Che, only speaking after a full ten breaths: "Boy, I'll say it again: I don't have much else here, but all kinds of ingredients from the world... whether you've seen them or not, I have them all! I allow you to use any ingredient here to make a dish that you are most proud of, one that best displays your culinary attainment!"
"If you can convince me, not only will I admit defeat to girl Caili, I... I..."
His words carried an excitement and eagerness that Hua Caili had never seen before. And beneath this eagerness to witness Yun Che's culinary skill, he hadn't even thought about what reward to offer, stammering there.
Yun Che quickly interjected: "Senior Six Laughs, you are too kind! How would this junior dare to claim 'convince' before Senior?"
He looked around and said sincerely: "Senior Six Laughs's divine dwelling here may seem rough, but the precious ingredients stored here—even the combined stores of the Six Divine Kingdoms would be hard to match. Senior allowing this junior to use them freely is already a great favor. I will do my utmost and dare not disappoint Senior."
After speaking a heap of respectful words, Yun Che shifted his gaze, and in an instant, his pupils became clear and dust-free.
The words about to leave Six Laughs Divine Official's mouth stopped in his throat. His old eyes took another look at Yun Che.
A mere two jiazi of age, only at the Divine Lord Realm, yet he could instantly concentrate his mind and spirit beside a Divine Official, and in a place where a Divine Official resided, brushing away all distractions.
He had seen countless generations of Divine Sons and Divine Maidens in his lifetime, each one standing at the pinnacle of their generation in the world, yet never had he seen anyone able to do this.
This boy...
After a moment of silence, Yun Che suddenly fixed his gaze. His hand grabbed out, and dozens of wind whirls swept out from his fingertips simultaneously. As they turned back, they brought sixty-six kinds of various ingredients before Yun Che.
Hua Caili felt her eyes dazzled; over eighty percent of them, she didn't even recognize.
Flames ignited, directly engulfing all the ingredients. Then Yun Che's hands danced, and wherever his fingers pointed, blades of wind swept. Yet these dozens of wind blades each seemed different—some gentle, some light, some vigorous, some fierce—simultaneously breaking, cutting, purifying, and fusing different ingredients in different ways...
But even more miraculous than this was the flame.
It was clearly a single flame, yet it seemed to contain dozens of different fires. Though the flames were connected, their warmth and intensity were completely distinct, as if there were dozens of imperceptible and uncrossable invisible barriers isolating them into dozens of independent fire domains.
This kind of flame phenomenon, Six Laughs Divine Official had already noticed when Yun Che made the "Moon Reflection Cloud Crisp." Now, it was presented several times more clearly to his five senses.
Wind and fire merged—fire whipped up the wind, wind rolled the flames. The sixty-six ingredients were completely submerged within, with even their auras barely able to escape. Only the overlapping sounds of wind blades and fire burning could be heard.
Hua Caili's eyes were like brilliant stars. The flames reflected her attachment, worship, and expectation that filled her eyes.
At this moment, if anyone with even a bit of experience were nearby, they could see from her eyes her too-abnormal feelings for Yun Che. But Six Laughs Divine Official was completely unaware, staring straight at Yun Che, his breath entirely restrained throughout—not only not daring to breathe heavily, but even his eyeballs hadn't moved half a point.
However, even as a Divine Official, he could not detect the supreme purifying power hidden within the flames and wind blades, coming from the Heavenly Poison Pearl.
*Bang!*
With a soft sound, the fire died and the wind scattered, leaving only faint white mist.
The white mist slowly settled, revealing an ice bowl that had formed at some unknown time.
As Six Laughs Divine Official's gaze fell upon it, the bowl seemed to hold a poetic dawn scene, reflecting a light yet exceptionally bright crimson.
He stepped forward. With a slight shift of his line of sight, the dawn instantly turned into flowing gold covering the sky, as if narrating the last brilliance before twilight approached dusk.
Six Laughs Divine Official was stunned. When his gaze shifted again, the flowing gold had vanished. The scene in the bowl turned into early spring ice silk, crystal clear yet seemingly carrying a faint spring chill. With another turn of vision, the ice silk had melted. Green filled the eyes—a purity and vitality that could only be coveted in the Eternal Pure Land.
"Beautiful, so beautiful!" Hua Caili let out an uncontrollable soft exclamation: "From different angles, you can see completely different colors."
Yun Che held the ice bowl and said with a smile: "My master said that although taste is the most important in food, color should also captivate people first. So this time I've shown off a little, using the original colors of different ingredients as the base, supplemented by ice mist, to lay out six layers of color in this soup. From far to near, you can see six kinds of scenery layer by layer: dawn, approaching dusk, early spring, late summer, deep night, and thin clouds."
Hua Caili pursed her lips, not hiding her pride and worship: "In this world, only Brother Yun can make food look so beautiful."
Yun Che smiled back. Before he could speak, the bowl was snatched from his hand and landed in Six Laughs Divine Official's grip.
"What is the name of this soup?" he asked directly, his gaze firmly locked onto the ice bowl. In just a few words, his nose twitched five or six times.
Yun Che replied gently: "This soup is called... 'Six Laughs Scorns the World.'"
Six Laughs Divine Official raised his eyes, his gaze stained by millions of years of worldly dust meeting this junior who was only "two jiazi" old: "Sixty-six kinds of ingredients, six layers of color, six kinds of worldly dust... meaning this soup is not your proudest creation, but an impromptu one made right here and now?"
"Yes." Yun Che nodded frankly: "I heard from Caili long ago that Senior Six Laughs often chants, 'Laugh at others, laugh at myself, laugh at past and present; laugh at heaven, laugh at earth, laugh at the pagoda.' Although my experience is shallow, I can still feel from these brief fourteen words a loftiness and detachment beyond the mundane world. I also sense what the world looks up to, yet all are looked down upon by Senior."
"Today, I am finally fortunate to meet Senior Six Laughs. Senior, as a lofty Divine Official, has no intimidating aura or arrogant demeanor. If placed in the mortal world, I fear no one would recognize your Divine Official bearing. All beings of the world, all ranks and rites—in Senior's eyes, they all seem like plays of worldly dust. This realm of heart and soul is beyond what this junior can look up to. My admiration is even greater than my previous longing."
"This 'Six Laughs Scorns the World' is made according to my feelings, to express my respect for Senior Six Laughs. Please, Senior, taste it."
At these words, even though Hua Caili was well aware of Yun Che's "silver tongue," she couldn't help but raise her brows slightly.
Six Laughs Divine Official's dirty gray beard twitched, and he sighed in admiration: "Good boy, good a 'Six Laughs Scorns the World,' good a exquisitely clever flattery."
With that, he raised his hand and tilted his head. Though his movement was large, he only took a small sip of "Six Laughs Scorns the World," not spilling a single drop of the bowl's contents.
Then, his whole person froze there.