BXBX NOVEL Chapter 51 - 51: 51: The Smiling Human Face Fruit
Chapter 51 - 51: 51: The Smiling Human Face Fruit
“On average, two Taian Fruits can be saved each year. Inside the TianXuan Mirror, the price of Taian Fruits usually ranges from 90 to 100 contribution points. ”
“So adding it all up, young friend, the remuneration for this proxy Island Guard position is quite decent.” He Zhenghao explained cheerfully to Li Fan.
Li Fan nodded, He Zhenghao might have used a few tricks, but his words were indeed true.
In Ten Thousand Immortals Island, it is extremely rare for the cultivators at the Energy Refining Stage to have an annual income of 1000 contribution points.
In this deal, He Zhenghao was having the meat while Li Fan was having the soup.
“I am in great gratitude for your kindness, senior.” Li Fan bowed.
“No problem, no problem. You came from one of my own islands, it is only fitting that I extend a hand to you. As long as you make progress in your cultivation in the future, it will not be in vain that I…” He Zhenghao was speaking when he suddenly halted.
After uttering a sound of surprise, he looked at Li Fan with a slightly excited gaze: “You’ve broken through to the mid-stage of Energy Refining?”
Li Fan was slightly taken aback, he didn’t expect his Concealing Talisman to be seen through.
He nodded, admitting openly: “Indeed. I am quite close to Xiao Heng and, before he left, he gave me a water attribute technique. This technique suits me quite well and I have made rapid progress in my cultivation. I finally had a breakthrough a few days ago.”
“Ha-ha, you are quite cautious, friend. If it wasn’t for my unique cultivation techniques, I nearly missed it. So you used the Concealing Talisman?
Li Fan nodded.
“I can understand, after all, it’s better to be safe than sorry. In this world of immortal cultivation, there’s no shortage of people with bad intentions…” While He Zhenghao was speaking, he suddenly found Li Fan looking at him with a strange look, so he quickly laughed and changed the topic: “I didn’t know you and Xiao Heng were so close, he even left you a technique.”
“This Xiao Heng is truly a gifted person. With just a few years into cultivating, he is about to reach the foundation establishment stage. His future is unfathomable!” Evidently, He Zhenghao has been paying attention to Xiao Heng, expressing admiration and envy.
“In the future, establishing the Gold Core and even the Nascent Soul stage won’t be impossible. You have a deep friendship with him, your blessings are indeed profound.”
As He Zhenghao spoke, he became more enthusiastic.
“Meeting senior is also a fortunate event,” Li Fan responded casually.
Upon hearing this, He Zhenghao laughed heartily, clearly overjoyed.
Just then, he stopped in his tracks and looked at a certain direction in the city, “Coincidentally, a Taian Fruit has ripened now. For you, I’ll demonstrate how to harvest the Taian Fruit.”
Li Fan nodded and followed He Zhenghao to the front of a house.
Before they entered the yard, they heard the sound of crying.
In the middle of the room, in a pair of coffins, lay a human-faced fruit seemingly in a deep sleep.
The fruit had its eyes closed, its mouth slightly askew, revealing a strange smile, motionless.
The human-faced fruits in the room hadn’t detected the arrival of Li Fan and He Zhenghao, they were just mourning the departure of their kin.
The scene in the room seemed both ludicrous and scary.
As they drew closer, Li Fan smelt a peculiar fragrance wafting from the coffin.
He Zhenghao walked over to the coffin, began chanting softly and pointed at the smiling fruit’s forehead.
A soft light enveloped the smiling fruit, it levitated slowly from the coffin, hovering mid -air.
It then started to shrivel, transforming into a small, ripe, crimson fruit.
With the formation of the Taian Fruit, the human-faced fruits dressed in mourning suddenly became quiet.
Their mourning attire gradually disappeared, and the expressions on their faces changed from grief to confusion.
After looking around in bewilderment for a moment, these fruits eventually scattered silently.
“How about it?” He Zhenghao handed the Taian Fruit to Li Fan.
“Very unusual.” The sight of harvesting the Taian Fruit made Li Fan feel a bit creeped out, but he forced himself to reply.
Li Fan held the Taian Fruit in his hand and carefully inspected it.
The fruit looked similar to an apple in his memory, but its color was alarmingly red.
Moreover, a steady stream of fragrance was wafting out from the Taian Fruit.
This fragrance seemed to permeate deep into one’s soul. After inhaling it, Li Fan couldn’t help but swallow.
“Young friend, you have never tasted the Taian Fruit, why don’t you try one.” He Zhenghao suggested.
“Items that extend one’s lifespan naturally attract cultivators like us. The longer it lasts, the more tempting it gets.” Seeing Li Fan’s hesitant expression, He Zhenghao added with a beaming smile.
As he expected, the effect of the fragrance seemed to accumulate. Li Fan’s hesitation was making the scent even richer.
Under the influence of the aroma, a hunger sprung from the depths of his heart.
So, after a moment, Li Fan stopped hesitating and swallowed the Taian Fruit whole.
The feeling of hunger immediately disappeared. Despite being quite small, Li Fan felt full after eating it, as if he’d eaten a large meal.
Checking his [Real] status panel, Li Fan found that the limit of his physiological age indeed increased by five years.
Mulling over the taste of the Taian Fruit, Li Fan commented: “This is the first time I’ve come across such an extraordinary object that can increase lifespan. But its appearance is a bit strange, it looks just like a person. It’s disconcerting.”
He Zhenghao laughed and replied: “Taian Fruits are human transformed, it’s natural they look alike.”
Li Fan’s expression froze instantly.
Suppressing the upheaval in his stomach, Li Fan asked in disbelief: “Are the Taian Fruits in this city real people?”
He Zhenghao was rather dismissive of Li Fan’s reaction.
But since Li Fan had only recently entered the world of immortal cultivation, he could understand his surprise. So, he continued to explain, “Strictly speaking, taian fruits belong to the fruit category, not human.”
Upon hearing this, Li Fan finally exhaled. Yet, he still had some reservations:
“What do you mean by ‘human transformed!?”
“That leads us to the origin of the Taian Fruits.” As He Zhenghao led Li Fan back to the city, he began to explain.
“Five hundred years ago, Taian Island was an ordinary island. There were no valuable specialties in the surrounding sea, and only several thousand mortals had been living here for generations.” “There are countless such small islands in the Misthaven Ocean.”
“But one day, everything started to change.”
“First, mortal inhabitants of the neighbouring islands noticed that they haven’t seen the residents of Taian Island for a long time. There used to be occasional exchanges with the merchants on the island, but they hadn’t seen them for over a year.”
“Driven by curiosity, some people sailed to Taian Island to find out what was happening.”
“To their surprise, several groups of people went there and never returned.”
“Realising something was wrong, they quickly reported the matter to the then Island Guard.’
“The Island Guard back then was a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage. Yet, even he was deeply shocked when he saw what had happened on Taian Island..”