World-saving Plan: The Only Savior
Chapter 154 - 52: Searching for Him Through a Thousand and Hundred Times

Chapter 154: Chapter 52: Searching for Him Through a Thousand and Hundred Times

Ye Cang extended his hand and gently wiped the purple incense burner, breaking the silence, "The five flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty are not the common five condiments, but symbolize the meaning of five items."

It seemed that he had anticipated Zhang Xiaoman’s confusion and proactively offered an explanation, "Take ’salty,’ the leader of the five flavors, as an example. It doesn’t represent ordinary salt but Iron Powder."

"Oh? Iron Powder?"

"Correct. ’Salty’ consists of the character ’xu’ with an additional mouth component, originally signifying a crowd’s unified shout to boost morale. Some also believe that the mouth symbolizes the human head, so in ancient times, it was actually associated with leading military campaigns."

It was the first time Zhang Xiaoman had heard such an explanation, and his interest was immediately piqued.

Ye Cang continued, "The way of warfare is best represented by iron weapons and arms. Thus, the ’salty’ flavor I mentioned earlier refers to Iron Powder."

"I see," Zhang Xiaoman nodded in understanding. It seemed that these flavors were indeed different from what he had initially thought.

"Then what do the remaining four flavors each represent?"

Gently caressing the purple incense burner, Ye Cang explained, "The remaining four flavors, ’sour, sweet, bitter, spicy,’ correspond to ’King’s acid,’ ’ginseng,’ ’tears,’ and ’flame,’ respectively."

Zhang Xiaoman was quite surprised by this explanation—although he was unfamiliar with the reasons behind the latter items, at least he recognized them. However, the first one, "King’s acid," perplexed him.

"Actually, it’s not that complex. The so-called ’King’s acid’ is simply sulfuric acid," Ye Cang offered a prompt clarification. "However, in ancient times, people often confused sulfuric acid with King Water, treating ’bad water’ and King Water as the same substance, so the ’bad water’ here should actually refer to King Water."

"In ancient times, ’sour’ was commonly associated with ’rot’ and ’decay,’ so the sour among the five flavors referred to that ’bad water,’ which is King Water... But later research revealed that using certain super acids in place of King Water achieved the same effect."

"Moving on to ’sweet,’ it refers to ginseng, and the plant must be at least thirty years old. Though ginseng tastes bitter, it was certainly enjoyed by the wealthy in ancient times; hence, to ordinary people, it symbolized a rich and opulent life—which, naturally, would be considered ’sweet.’"

"As for ’bitter,’ symbolized by tears, that should be quite self-explanatory, and I presume you do not need any further explanation. However, I later discovered that blood could also substitute for it."

"Lastly, ’spicy’ corresponds to fire, or high temperatures. It represents unbearable pain and is also a symbol of intensity. After immersing the Dragon Sleep Stone in the aforementioned four materials for a period of seven cycles of seven days, and then igniting it with fierce flames, it could successfully volatilize, creating an illusion indistinguishable from reality."

"However, the specific reasons behind this remain unfathomable. Take the required thirty-year-old ginseng, for example; if it lacks the necessary age, the volatilization will fail, and the reasons for this are still unclear."

Ye Cang relayed all that he knew in one breath, and Zhang Xiaoman finally grasped the intricacies. He was astonished that the brief phrase ’Encounter the five flavors of the Mortal World and descend into the common’ concealed so many secrets.

Ye Cang put down the purple incense burner and continued, looking at the mysterious person before him, "Sir, the promise from last time has been fulfilled. It seems you are quite interested in this Dragon Sleep Stone; would you care to engage in another exchange with Ye?"

"Oh? What kind of exchange?"

Ye Cang reached into his bosom and slowly extracted a fist-sized package, delicately placing it on the table.

"I know that you are a true recluse, and I dare not ask you to teach me the Daoist ways of cultivation. I merely hope you can tell me what the Cultivation World is really like so that the yearning I’ve harbored all my life can be somewhat satisfied..."

As he spoke, a look of anticipation appeared on his face, mixed with an endless thirst for knowledge, like that of a drowning man grasping at the last straw to save his life.

"This here is a Dragon Sleep Stone. If you agree to tell me, I will give it to you in exchange..."

Zhang Xiaoman looked at the object in his hand and couldn’t help but be a little excited. After all, he had nothing to lose; just by opening his mouth, he could have it.

"But it seems I don’t have much to say, do I? Where in this world is there a Cultivation World? Should I tell him about the Star Alliance?"

Zhang Xiaoman watched the other’s expression and felt torn inside. Of course, lying would be very easy, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to deceive such an old man who had sought the Way all his life and placed all his hope in him.

While Zhang Xiaoman was still pondering, Mr. Ye had already pushed the stone to the center of the table. Seeing that the former had not yet responded, he grew anxious and slowly unwrapped the cloth covering the Dragon Sleep Stone, revealing its true face.

Zhang Xiaoman was initially hesitant to agree to the trade, but when he caught sight of the stone, his eyes widened, and he leaned forward eagerly.

"Olharast Rock!?"

He was utterly shocked, the name almost slipping from his lips.

Although Ye Cang couldn’t see Zhang Xiaoman’s expression, he could tell from his body language and reaction that he recognized the stone. He too showed a look of surprise—could it be that the stone was something the other party had seen elsewhere?

It must be said, he wasn’t wrong; the stone was precisely what Zhang Xiaoman had been longing for all this time—Olharast Rock.

"No, it can’t be..."

Zhang Xiaoman felt the surprise had come too abruptly, still somewhat in disbelief. He hurriedly opened his System panel, clicked on the Gang option, entered the Gang Store page, and brought up the stone priced at 20 Star Dust.

"The color, the patterns, the shape... they’re almost identical! How is this possible..."

Zhang Xiaoman kept comparing the two, and the stone before him was all too similar to the Olharast Rock he had been eagerly awaiting.

The only thing preventing Zhang Xiaoman from being certain was that, even as his gaze stayed fixed on the stone for an extended period, the familiar attribute panel did not appear. According to past experiences, if it was an Extraordinary Item, it should come with an attribute panel.

"No, that’s not right! I seem to have fallen into a misconception! It’s not that Extraordinary Items will have an attribute panel..." His gaze fell on the stone before him, but his mind flashed back to the slip of paper with the Spirit Detection Technique he had once obtained from a draw.

"It’s not the Extraordinary Items that I can see attributes for, but only items received through the System that will have a panel!"