Chapter 1942: Old Acquaintance

During this time, he had accumulated a total of 257,200 rage points. One Marrow Cleansing Pill cost him 100,000, making it impossible for him to afford a second one.

Emotionally, he had intended to give this Marrow Cleansing Pill to Xiao Zhao, as her aptitude was the lowest, and she had been his initial source of warmth when he first arrived in this world.

However, rationally, he knew that if Xiao Zhao took this Marrow Cleansing Pill, it would only transform her exceptionally poor aptitude into that of an ordinary person, and she would still be indistinguishable from the masses.

Conversely, if given to someone who already possessed good aptitude, it could elevate their abilities to an even higher realm, yielding a much better effect.

While deep in thought and frustration, a sudden idea struck him. He remembered the Gourmet System unlocked by the *Baopu True Scripture* during the last secret realm expedition. This system allowed him to reproduce a food's original recipe and recreate it, provided he knew the recipe or had tasted the dish before.

He wondered, however, if this Marrow Cleansing Pill would be considered food...

Zu'an hesitated, knowing that consuming it himself would have no effect, and if the Gourmet System failed, it would be a complete waste of a Marrow Cleansing Pill.

Yet, he considered his many confidantes, each of whom needed a Marrow Cleansing Pill, and a single one would certainly not be enough to go around.

With resolve, he used his fingernail to scrape off a small amount and put it into his mouth.

Suddenly, a peculiar sensation blossomed on his tongue. Immediately after, a stream of green data, reminiscent of the black screen from *The Matrix*, flowed through his mind. Then, the Gourmet System prompted:

"Insufficient sample. Unable to perform further analysis. Please add more."

Zu'an's eyes lit up; there was hope!

So, he simply placed the rest of the Marrow Cleansing Pill directly into his mouth. He didn't even dare to swallow, instead slowly letting it dissolve and fully savoring its taste, allowing the Gourmet System to analyze its components as thoroughly as possible.

A moment later, a line of text appeared in the air before him:

"Marrow Cleansing Pill: A rare elixir in the cultivation world that enhances aptitude. Its ingredients are Azure Flame Brain, Empty Cicada Leaf, Demonic Light Sand, and it also requires an item from a beast of wisdom as the main ingredient, such as the horn of a Bai Ze, or the inner core of a Sphinx..."

Zu'an was overjoyed. Not only had the Gourmet System analyzed its composition, but it had also meticulously reproduced the crafting method. This meant that as long as he had enough materials, he could now refine as many Marrow Cleansing Pills as he wished, without being limited by rage points.

When he had first learned that the new system he had finally unlocked was gourmet-related, he had been quite displeased, believing it would be useless since he didn't cook. Now, he realized he was wrong; the system was truly divine.

At the same time, he also felt a sense of perplexity about the true nature of the system he had acquired.

When he was weaker, acquiring this system had brought him nothing but endless joy. After all, having a system as a protagonist was a common trope in the many novels he had read in his previous life, so he hadn't bothered to give it much thought.

However, as he grew increasingly powerful, nearing the pinnacle of strength in this world, he began to re-examine the system.

He possessed the combined experiences of two lifetimes and had visited countless mysterious secret realms in this world, encountering many powerful beings beyond comprehension. He was quite knowledgeable, yet he still found himself completely unable to understand this system.

He had no idea what its principles were, whether it existed in a physical form, or how it managed to perform so many miraculous functions.

What kind of entity could have possibly created this "Keyboard System"?

It must be incredibly cool...

He pondered for a long time, but unfortunately, he found no clues. He could only temporarily suppress these doubts.

Instead, he shifted his focus to the ingredients for the Marrow Cleansing Pill: Azure Flame Brain, Empty Cicada Leaf, and Demonic Light Sand. It seemed he was hearing about these for the first time. Moreover, obtaining the item from a beast of wisdom, required as the main ingredient, would likely be quite challenging.

He had indeed heard of the Bai Ze. In the myths of his previous life, it could understand all beings in the world, recognize all creatures, and know the names and subjugation methods of all spirits and monsters. Furthermore, its entire body was a treasure, possessing the miraculous ability to bring people back from the dead.

Thus, it had been a symbol of auspiciousness since ancient times.

Legend had it that its head and four paws resembled those of a lion, with a single horn on its forehead and a mane of white fur around its neck. Its tail was like that of a fox, bushy and very fluffy. Most of the Bai Ze's body was white, with its back, limbs, and tail tip being dark gray...

Zu'an felt a headache coming on. Where could he possibly find such mythical creatures?

As for the Sphinx, it was an old acquaintance, a creature from ancient Egyptian mythology. The world-renowned Great Sphinx of Giza was modeled after it.

He recalled Zhao Hao and others mentioning during the last secret realm visit that what they encountered was likely a Sphinx, specifically a projection existing beyond countless spatial dimensions.

"Wait a minute," he thought. "Why do the Chinese Bai Ze and the Egyptian Sphinx feel somewhat similar in appearance? Both resemble lions. Could they be the same creature, just with different names in different regions?"

Regardless of whether they were the same creature or not, they were both extremely rare, and he had no idea where to find either of them.

"Sigh," he mused, "I was hoping to refine more Marrow Cleansing Pills, but now it seems I don't know which is harder: refining them or buying them with rage points."

Feeling overwhelmed, he left his house immediately and headed towards Grand Tutor Shen Xuzi's cave dwelling on the mountainside. After all, when it came to alchemy-related knowledge in the entire capital, probably no one understood more than Shen Xuzi, who might also know about many of the required materials.

When he arrived, Shen Xuzi was vividly teaching Sang Qian some advanced concepts of mechanical puppet arts.

Sang Qian's eyes lit up upon seeing him. Although her teacher's lessons were interesting, she always felt a little uneasy when separated from Brother Zu.

"Lord Libationer, you've rushed here. Is there something important?" Shen Xuzi keenly perceived the purpose of his visit.

Zu'an subtly sent a qi message to reassure Sang Qian, then said, "It's like this, there are a few medicinal ingredients I'm wondering if you might know about..."

After listening to his explanation, Shen Xuzi said, "Demonic Light Sand is an essential ingredient for refining many top-grade elixirs. It's exceptionally rare in this world. Countless alchemists have searched for it their entire lives without finding a trace."

Zu'an frowned. "Then it's hopeless, isn't it?"

If even one ingredient was this hard to come by, and there were still so many others.

At this moment, a hint of smugness appeared on Shen Xuzi's face. "Lord Libationer, you needn't worry. I happen to have some here."

As he spoke, without him even signaling, a mechanical puppet creaked its way over, holding a jar.

Shen Xuzi extended his hand and carefully poured a wisp of sand from the jar into his palm, his cautious demeanor as if he were pouring out his very lifeblood.

Zu'an noticed that the sand was unlike ordinary sand; it emanated a faint purplish glow and, rather than feeling like sand, it felt more like a handful of water.

"Is Lord Libationer planning to refine elixirs?" Shen Xuzi asked with a smile. "Since you've just taken office, consider this bit of Demonic Light Sand my congratulatory gift."

Zu'an's eyes sparkled. "How can I accept this?"

While saying this, his hand wasted no time, directly taking the jar from Shen Xuzi's grasp.

He needed to refine Marrow Cleansing Pills, and the demand was quite significant.

Shen Xuzi: "???"

"I only meant the bit in my palm," Shen Xuzi thought. "Why did you take the whole jar?"

He said faintly, "This stuff is very expensive. I can't just give you this much for free, unless you add more money!"

"Of course," Zu'an chuckled. "I genuinely need this desperately, otherwise I wouldn't ask for so much."

He knew Shen Xuzi was famously poor; after all, both alchemy and mechanical puppet arts were extremely costly pursuits.

So, he directly retrieved approximately one cubic meter of Heaven-grade origin stones from his Glazed Treasure Bead. "Are these enough?"

These origin stones were gifts from Yu Yanluo when he was in Yunzhong Commandery; being taken care of by a wealthy woman truly felt good.

"More than enough, more than enough!" Shen Xuzi's eyes gleamed. He had certainly seen so many origin stones before, but never all of them being Heaven-grade. "By the way, Lord Libationer, when can you let me study your storage bag? I'd like to see how it manages to hold so much."

After all, storage bags in this world had extremely limited space, only capable of holding essential items, unlike Zu'an, who could casually pull out a cubic meter of origin stones at any moment.

"It's not a storage bag, but a treasure I obtained years ago," Zu'an replied.

"I see." Shen Xuzi was somewhat disappointed. If it was a treasure, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to ask to examine it, and since it wasn't a storage bag, he couldn't replicate it either.

"By the way, do you know about the other ingredients?" Zu'an quickly asked.

Shen Xuzi then replied, "The Azure Flame Brain, though named 'brain,' is actually a flower. When it blooms, it resembles a burning flame, and also a human brain, which is how it got its name. This item is also very rare and precious. I don't have any here, and it's unlikely the Imperial Hospital does either. Lord Libationer could inquire at places like the Leisure Pavilion. I once saw it listed in their trade records."

"Leisure Pavilion?" Zu'an frowned. According to previous intelligence, the Leisure Pavilion seemed to have intricate ties with the Meng Dynasty's royal family. Given his identity as a royal grandson, he really didn't want to get involved with them.

The old libationer's relationship with the Leisure Pavilion seemed quite close, and his disciples...

"Yes, I often go there. The Leisure Pavilion provides a platform for cultivators across the world to trade, as many valuable items can only be exchanged through barter," Shen Xuzi replied.

Seeing that Shen Xuzi didn't seem to have that specific connection to the Leisure Pavilion, Zu'an breathed a sigh of relief.

Unwilling to get too deeply involved with the Leisure Pavilion, he decided to ask the Embroidered House to help with the investigation. With his current status as Grand Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Academy Libationer, and Regent King of both the human and demon races, investigating the Azure Flame Brain should be easier than searching for it alone.

He couldn't help but marvel at how different things were with status and position. Everything was much simpler than for ordinary people, no wonder everyone, in both his past life and this one, strove to climb the social ladder.

"As for the Empty Cicada Leaf, I've never heard of it," Shen Xuzi said with a touch of pride in his voice. "It's unlikely the Leisure Pavilion would find it either." He implied that if he didn't know something, the Leisure Pavilion certainly wouldn't.

Zu'an's heart sank, wondering if such a thing simply didn't exist in this world.

At that moment, Sang Qian, who was standing nearby, suddenly spoke up, "To my knowledge, the Second Master in the academy's back mountain is a physician who is well-versed in all herbs of the world. Is it possible he might know about the Empty Cicada Leaf?"

Shen Xuzi's eyes lit up. "You're right, I almost forgot! My Second Senior Brother might indeed know about this item."

Zu'an couldn't help but ask, "Who exactly is your Second Senior Brother?"

Shen Xuzi chuckled, "Speaking of which, Lord Libationer was also in Brightmoon City back then. Perhaps you know my Second Senior Brother? His name is Ji Dengtu. Given his medical skills, even if he's become reclusive, he shouldn't be completely unknown. Has Lord Libationer heard of him?"