158: Chapter 157 The Improvement and Auction of [Spirit-Replenishing Pill]

Chapter 157: Improvement of the [spirit replenishing pill] and the Auction

As a transmigrator, there was no doubt that transmigration itself was Sun Po's greatest secret.

Sun Po had never mentioned his identity as a transmigrator to anyone. Since transmigrating, he had tried his best to match his original body's speech and mannerisms, paying careful attention to his everyday language.

Sun Po believed he hadn't revealed any flaws. Perhaps the only difference between him and ordinary commoners was his greater knowledge of history and mythology, but that shouldn't be enough to suspect him of being a transmigrator.

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If it were because of the [mod loading system], that was even more impossible. The unique talents of this world were bizarre and varied; no one would suspect him of being a transmigrator just because his unique talent was strong. Besides, were the unique talents of [Mandate Dragon and Snake], [Heavenly Khagan], or [Zhuang Zhou] in front of him any weaker? Could he be a transmigrator too?

Besides, this was also the first time Sun Po had heard the term "transmigrator" from a native's mouth—without any localized adaptations, identical to the term used on Earth.

Sun Po was shocked in his heart. Although he tried his best to compose himself, he could not avoid the sudden jolt of shock.

And what [Zhuang Zhou] said next shattered the last bit of luck in Sun Po's mind.

[Zhuang Zhou] continued, "Sun Po, from Earth, 21st century. Am I correct?"

By now, Sun Po had essentially confirmed that even if this old man wasn't reading minds, he could probably easily learn his secrets.

Memory reading? Soul searching? But such a major action couldn't have gone completely unnoticed by him. Furthermore, this was his own dream.

He had previously heard [Zhong Kui] talk about matters concerning the Dream Realm.

In this world, besides the real world and [Secret Realms], there were various forms of spaces. They usually existed in dimensions close to reality, slightly higher or slightly lower.

These worlds had various forms and strange rules, truly bizarre and whimsical, with some even able to affect reality to a certain extent.

These worlds were collectively known as [Secondary Worlds].

For instance, the Corpse Realm connected to the coffin on Liu Shengsheng's back and the Dream Realm where [Zhong Kui/Huang Chao] could travel both belonged to [Secondary Worlds].

Besides these, the Water Element Realm that [Wuzhiqi] communicated with back when he was studying the [Water Element Summoning Technique] during his [Changyou] period was also a kind of [Secondary World].

[Secondary Worlds] were far larger in scale and had more complete rules than Secret Realms, essentially approaching a complete world.

Among them, the Dream Realm was an ancient and massive [Secondary World]; one could say that ever since humanity appeared, the Dream Realm had already existed.

The Dream Realm was the sum of all living beings' dreams in the world, a projection of dreams. Its rules remained an unsolved mystery to this day. Aside from a few cards and exceptionally talented individuals, most people would not even know of its existence in their whole lives.

Yet based on those few cards and gifted Card Makers, people still uncovered some rules of the Dream Realm, one of which was: in one's own dream, one is the master and can change everything within it.

However, Sun Po had tried earlier and it had no effect at all. His thoughts sank like a stone in the ocean. Although this was his own dream, he was still completely passive. Yet if someone could read his memory or search his soul in his own dream without him noticing at all, that would be far too ridiculous.

Therefore, Sun Po was now more inclined to believe that [Zhuang Zhou] himself likely already knew this secret.

And [Zhuang Zhou]'s next words proved this to be true: "No need to guess wildly, kid. Why do you think I said only I could be your teacher? For the prophecy of that old charlatan, [Qingdi]?

Heh, that would be underestimating this old man too much. To tell you the truth, when I saw that your fate trajectory was completely blank, I already had my doubts. Later, after meeting the one behind you, I became even more certain. Furthermore, as for Earth—I have been there."

This last sentence sounded like a clap of thunder by Sun Po's ears.

Three years. When he first arrived, he had also thought about how he could go back.

However, in this unfamiliar card world, the anxiety caused by monsters and prestigious families quickly shifted his focus to card making.

He understood that those things were too early for him; his primary objective was to survive in this dangerous world.

Now he had been in this world for three years, but how many times during these three years had he dreamed of returning to Earth and hearing his parents' laughter at home?

How many times had he dreamed of returning to his motherland, where there was no threat from monsters and the lives and safety of the people were secured?

How many times had he dreamed of returning to that peaceful and prosperous era under the red flag in the spring breeze?

Now someone told him that he had been there—this was truly an irresistible temptation.

Sun Po's voice trembled slightly: "Is it 21st-century Earth? The place I came from?"

What [Zhuang Zhou] said was beyond Sun Po's expectations: "It wasn't 21st-century Earth; it should be a very long time after that. When I went, Earth was a dead, silent planet covered in ruins. I saw traces of your battles on it.

I learned a few things and thus knew your origin. Of course, that dream was also guided by the one behind you."

What explosive information! Earth had turned into a desolate, silent place? And he had even left traces of fighting there?

Who was the one who guided [Zhuang Zhou] to that dream? Was his transmigration also orchestrated by the so-called "one behind him"?

Sun Po suddenly remembered when he was creating the [Five Elements Bloodline] MOD and came into contact with the [fragment of brahmas navel stone]—that giant five-colored hand and that gentle female voice sounding like a mother.

"Could it be her? Who on earth is she? And what relation does my [mod loading system] have with her?"

Sun Po couldn't help asking, "Can you tell me who the one behind me is?"

[Zhuang Zhou] was silent for a moment before saying, "Her status far surpasses mine. Since I address her as 'that one', I naturally cannot speak her name."

Sun Po wanted to ask further, but suddenly heard a whinnying sound resembling both a dragon and a horse coming from far across the starry sky.

He suddenly felt the entire starry sky shaking and distorting violently, while Huo Wuji's voice came faint from afar:

"Teacher, you have crossed the line."

At the same time, Ranger Xuanyuan's voice sounded, "Old man, coming to travel inside the domain every day like this really makes things difficult for your students."

[Zhuang Zhou]'s figure gradually faded, and the tactile sensation of the [Kun] beneath Sun Po's feet became increasingly ethereal.

Sun Po suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness, as if stepping onto empty cotton, suddenly falling through.

Then the world spun. He vaguely heard [Zhuang Zhou]'s loud laughter:

"Disciple, see you outside the domain!!"

"Wait!!"

Sun Po sat up abruptly, only to see bright moonlight casting long shadows on the floor through the ornate window grids.

Where was any starry sky, [Zhuang Zhou], or Huo Wuji before his eyes? At this moment, he was clearly still lying on the carved wooden bed in a guest room of Prince Qin's Mansion.

The servants outside hurriedly came in carrying lanterns, but Sun Po dismissed them.

After this commotion, Sun Po completely lost all sleepiness. The thrilling shock this dream brought him was no less than that of the Secret Realm exploration, and the shock in his heart was even greater. He was still rattled that his identity as a "transmigrator" had been exposed.

Sun Po pondered in his heart: "Who exactly is behind me? Someone with a status even higher than an old monster like [Zhuang Zhou], a patriarch of Taoism. If it really was that female voice, there don't seem to be many females with such a high status. But even [Guanyin Bodhisattva], whom I plan to create next, has both male and female manifestations. Gender no longer seems sufficient as a basis for judging such an existence's identity, and might even be a smokescreen.

"However, judging by current circumstances, my transmigration doesn't seem that simple either. Did I even return to Earth in the future?"

Sun Po felt an increasing headache. Time, fate, and space in this world seemed to exert far greater influence on reality than on Earth, and the power system of this world had long been able to discover and even utilize these forces. From this perspective, the level of advancement in this world far surpassed Earth.

Yet all of this was because the various worlds suffered the onslaught of monsters and Secret Realms. It was precisely the presence of these two that forced this world to develop its unique card system.

"But according to [Zhuang Zhou], Earth became a ruin? And I left traces of fighting on Earth?"

"Could the calamity of monsters and Secret Realms spread to Earth too? Or did something else happen?"

When he thought of his parents still on Earth and remembered those somewhat distant memories, his heart couldn't help but feel as if it were being squeezed.

However, once he calmed down completely, he thought of another possibility:

"Perhaps there were falsehoods in [Zhuang Zhou]'s words as well? After all, the hardest lies to discern are those mixed with truth. He suddenly blurted out my biggest secret to fluster me, making me naturally believe much of what he said afterward. That's not impossible either.

"But what could the goal of an old monster like him be? If I don't know his purpose, I'll always remain at a huge disadvantage."

Sun Po thought back and forth, feeling it was truly a brain-drain, so he simply stopped thinking about it.

He was still too weak. As a novice Card Maker, no matter how exceptionally gifted he was, in front of top-tier Titled Card Makers, he was still no different from a young child.

To control his own destiny, dispel the mist, and see more of the truth, he had to become stronger as quickly as possible. Only by reaching a higher realm would he have the opportunity to see more scenery.

Sun Po suddenly remembered a phrase [Zhuang Zhou] seemed to have said: "Titled is only the beginning."

Recalling the methods of [Zhuang Zhou], [Champion Marquis], [Coachman], and [Taoman] that Sun Po could barely comprehend, his heart grew increasingly eager to become stronger.

And another thing Sun Po noticed was that these Titled Card Makers seemed to have never summoned cards right in front of him.

Whether it was Coachman's [south-pointing chariot], [Zhuang Zhou]'s [Kun], or the big mouth on [Taoman]'s stomach, Sun Po didn't even know if they were cards or not.

As Sun Po pondered without reaching a conclusion, he calmed his mind and went to the secretariat of [Tianhe Budu]. Picking up a water-attribute book material, he began reading. [Five Elements Bloodline] had greatly enhanced his comprehension of skills related to the Five Elements. If he practiced diligently, the potential of [Five Elements Bloodline] and [Black Rhino Armor] was far more than just a MOD for self-preservation.

Yet he had been wasting this comprehension all along, merely relying on his powerful base stats to crush his peers.

There was still a lot of undeveloped potential in Sun Po. The next day, the sun was high in the sky.

Li Tiance knocked on Sun Po's door:

"Brother Sun, I heard you didn't sleep well yesterday?"

Sun Po opened the door and indicated it was fine.

He had woken up early, or rather, he hadn't slept at all since waking up.

For the entire night and morning, Sun Po was inside [Tianhe Budu] reading water-attribute book materials. Later, [Wuzhiqi] also came, and with [Wuzhiqi]'s explanations, Sun Po felt he benefited greatly.

When tired, he ate a [spirit replenishing pill] and continued reading.

This also made Sun Po realize that the [spirit replenishing pill] had undergone significant changes, to the extent that it didn't even feel like the same thing as before when eaten.

When Sun Po observed inside [Tianhe Budu] last night, he saw [Wuzhiqi] eating a dish similar to "braised pork meatballs".

Sun Po had thought at the time that [Paoding] had created a new dish, but he didn't expect that [Paoding] had actually improved the [spirit replenishing pill].

This improvement slightly reduced the [spirit replenishing pill]'s ability to restore spirit energy, but it gained a certain effect of recovering mental energy, and its color, aroma, and taste were more than a notch above the original [spirit replenishing pill].

The [spirit replenishing pill] originally came from the material [Army Cauldron], which was inherently a concept of military rations.

Given the characteristics of [Tianhe Budu], it was essentially condensed using disaster qi, looking like a hard, dark bluish-black pill.

As military rations, it maintained features such as being easy to carry, dry, and easy to preserve, with practical functions, but its taste could definitely not be called delicious.

In the beginning, Sun Po even viewed it as an elixir tablet. It was only after converting it into the golden [tianhe exclusive spirit-replenishing pill] that its taste improved slightly.

However, the [tianhe exclusive spirit-replenishing pill] consumed a massive amount of disaster qi and also required many ordinary [spirit replenishing pill]s, so it was not a [spirit meal] that could be mass-produced.

Therefore, to sell on a larger scale, improving the flavor of the ordinary [spirit replenishing pill] was imperative.

[Paoding] was very skilled at preparing meat dishes, and in the [Jinshan Temple] Secret Realm, [Paoding] had also harvested some monster flesh, cooking this meat together with [spirit replenishing pill]s using a method similar to braised pork meatballs.

This was a very successful attempt. The [spirit replenishing pill], originally dark bluish-black, cold, hard, and dry, turned into piping hot, fragrant, juicy meatballs brimming with meat aroma.

Only now could the [spirit replenishing pill] truly be called a dish rather than mere rations.

Li Tiance didn't beat around the bush and said, "Brother Sun, do you still remember the auction plan for [shadow beef slices]?"

Sun Po replied, "Of course I remember. Wasn't this matter handed over to [Manager Duan] to organize?"

Li Tiance said, "Indeed. Today is the day of the auction for those few portions of [shadow beef slices] that can replenish divine power. I thought Brother Sun wouldn't make it in time, but as it turns out, the timing is perfect. I wonder if Brother Sun is interested in joining me at [Wangfeng Tower] so we can watch the grand occasion of the [shadow beef slices] auction together?"

Just as Sun Po was about to decline, Li Tiance added, "The top gourmand of [Yanhuang Ancient Country] will also be at this auction."

Hearing this, Sun Po felt a spark of interest: "The top gourmand? Who might that be?"

Li Tiance laughed heartily: "You just met him yesterday—it's my second uncle-in-law, Director Man, one of the Five Great Titled, [Taoman]."

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