Li Yuan projected his consciousness body with perfect detail.
The same handsome face from 180 years ago, with sharp yet soft features. Gray eyes that held an abyss-like depth—eyes that had seen birth and death, war and peace, chaos and harmony. Long, flowing black hair, moving as if in an invisible breeze.
Just as I used to be, Li Yuan mused, observing his reflection on the surface of a puddle of rainwater between the tree roots. As if 180 years as a pure soul left no trace on this face.
But he realized that this consciousness body projection was still fragile, still had the potential to dissolve if his concentration faltered.
I need to stabilize it.
Li Yuan channeled his Understanding of Wrapping to protect his consciousness body. Like an invisible blanket wrapping his body projection, the Wrapping ensured that the body wouldn't fall apart or lose consistency.
Now I can truly interact with the physical world, he realized with quiet satisfaction.
The First Experiment: Eating
Li Yuan's characteristic curiosity returned after being suppressed for 180 years.
Can this consciousness body... eat?
Li Yuan saw the wild grass growing around the large tree roots. Simple grass, which he probably would never have noticed when he still had a physical body.
He knelt and plucked a few blades of grass, then—with a familiar but strange feeling motion after so long—put them in his mouth and chewed.
I can feel it, Li Yuan was surprised. The texture, the taste... even the sensation of chewing.
But as he swallowed, something extraordinary happened.
It wasn't physical nutrients that his consciousness body absorbed—but something far more fundamental.
Meaning.
Eating as the Absorption of Meaning
In the Daojing, Li Yuan realized with a profound enlightenment, eating is the process of absorbing meaning or energy to maintain the existence of understandings and the soul.
The wild grass he chewed was not just a plant. It was a manifestation of simple life, growing without ambition, existing because that was its nature. And when Li Yuan "ate" it, he absorbed the meaning of that simplicity.
Food is not meat, vegetables, or rice, he understood. Rather, it is experience, consciousness, and the resonance of meaning.
Each understanding has its own "food source" according to its nature.
Li Yuan felt how his 13 understandings reacted to the meaning absorbed from the wild grass:
The Understanding of Water received nourishment from the simplicity of flow—how the grass grew following the flow of groundwater without resistance.
The Understanding of Silence received nourishment from the tranquility of the grass—how it grew without sound, without drama.
The Understanding of Existence received nourishment from the existence of the grass that required no justification—it exists because it exists.
All the understandings got something from this simple "food."
No Physical Hunger, Only a Void of Meaning
Li Yuan realized that as a soul with a consciousness body, he did not experience hunger in the biological sense.
But if I go too long without receiving resonance or the reinforcement of meaning, the understandings could become "faded" or weakened.
He remembered his long periods of meditation. Sometimes, a certain understanding would not feel as clear as usual—not because it was lost, but because it lacked "food" in the form of situations that resonated with its nature.
The Understanding of Doubt needs situations that provoke questions. Without it, it is like it falls asleep.
The Understanding of Fear needs moments that test courage. Without it, it becomes a theory without substance.
The Understanding of Loss needs experiences of letting go. Without it, it loses its depth.
Eating in the Daojing is a way to maintain the vitality of each understanding.
Eating Together: Collective Resonance
As Li Yuan sat among the tree roots, eating wild grass and absorbing its meaning, he felt something like a "feast."
Eating together in the Daojing, he realized, happens when many understandings interact and strengthen each other.
Water and Breath complemented each other—the simplicity of the grass taught them about natural flow and unforced breath.
Loss and Wrapping gave each other meaning—the grass that would wither taught about gentle release, while the roots that protected taught about the wrapping that gives life.
Soul and Existence resonated—the uniqueness of each blade of grass, even though they looked the same, taught about individuality in togetherness.
This is "eating together" in the Daojing, Li Yuan understood with quiet joy. It's not sitting at a dinner table, but giving and receiving resonance from each other.
All the understandings are "eating" from the same meaning, but each is absorbing according to their nature.
A Familiar yet Different Sensation
Li Yuan continued "eating" the wild grass, but now with full awareness of what was actually happening.
The sensation of chewing felt familiar—the jaw muscles moving, the changing texture in his mouth, the process of swallowing. But all of it was a projection of the Understanding of Body, not a biological process.
The true value is not from the physical food, but from the meaning I absorb during that "eating."
And surprisingly, this process of eating also became a moment to unite his understandings.
For 180 years, the 13 understandings lived in harmony in his Ganjing Realm, but sometimes they operated independently. Now, as they all "ate" from the same source of meaning, Li Yuan felt a deeper synchronization.
Like an orchestra that not only plays in harmony but truly becomes a single, complex instrument.
Types of Food for Types of Understanding
After finishing with the wild grass, Li Yuan experimented with other "foods" to understand how each understanding could be nourished.
He touched the bark of an old tree—and felt his Understanding of Time (which had not yet entered the Ganjing but still existed as knowledge) receive nourishment from the layers of growth that told of decades of life.
He listened to the birdsong—and felt the Understanding of Silence receive the necessary contrast, while the Understanding of Soul was nourished by the uniqueness of each note.
He felt the wind blowing—and the Understanding of Breath was revitalized, while the Understanding of Sky felt limitless freedom.
Every experience is a potential food, Li Yuan realized. But the right kind of "food" for each understanding is different.
And most importantly—this eating process is not just for maintenance, but also for growth.
Implications for the Journey
With this new understanding of "eating" in the context of the Daojing, Li Yuan realized that his journey toward the Eldest Breath would provide incredibly rich "food" for all his understandings.
Every step on this journey will provide experiences and meanings that have never existed before.
My understandings will not just survive—they will grow, develop, and evolve in ways I cannot yet imagine.
And perhaps, when he finally reaches the Eldest Breath, his understandings will have become something completely different from what they started as.
Perhaps that's the point of this journey, Li Yuan reflected, standing up and preparing to continue. Not just to reach a destination, but to become a different person when I reach it.
Someone whose understandings have "eaten" from meanings that don't exist in the ordinary world.
Someone who has experienced a kind of "spiritual nutrition" that is only available on the journey toward the source of all sources.
Li Yuan released his consciousness body projection for a while—the next part of the journey might be easier as a pure soul.
But now he knew that whenever he needed a body to interact with the world or to "eat" from a physical experience, he could project it.
And every time he ate, all his understandings would be nourished and strengthened.
Like a large family eating together at the same table, sharing the same food, but each getting the specific nutrition they need.
13 understandings that are becoming more united, stronger, and more ready to face whatever awaits at the Eldest Breath.
The journey continues.
With well-nourished understandings.
With a consciousness body that can be projected at any time.
And with the conviction that every step provides "food" that will prepare him for the ultimate transformation that lies ahead.