The prices of items sold in the Heavenly Profound Mirror were not set in stone.
They were regulated by the mirror and correlated directly with the number of buyers.
For example, the moment word spread that the supply of liuli pearls had been cut off and no more liuli pills could be refined for the foreseeable future, a buying frenzy immediately broke out.
Some buyers genuinely needed the pills to accelerate their cultivation, but far more were like Li Fan, hoping to hoard them and make a killing.
As a result, the price of a liuli pill surged from six to nine points in a short period.
This sudden price jump also drew the attention of those who were still in the dark. Once they inquired around and learned that liuli pearls were on the verge of vanishing, they scrambled to join the buying rush.
The price of liuli pills climbed once more, briefly hitting an astonishing high of twelve points per pill.
Seeing that the time was right, Li Fan decided to unload all the liuli pills in his hands.
Naturally, he sold them directly to the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Because so many people were buying, the mirror's purchase price did not suffer the nearly fifty-percent slash that the Step-Halting Broken Stele had endured. Instead, it bought them at the "high price" of ten points each.
Li Fan was not greedy. He crisply sold off all 350 liuli pills in his possession.
With 3,500 contribution points flowing in, plus the 129 points he had left from before, Li Fan's total contribution points reached a whopping 3,629!
After Li Fan made his move, the feverish sentiment in the market gradually began to cool.
A price of twelve points per pill clearly exceeded the true worth of a liuli pill.
After all, its effects were by no means irreplaceable; there were quite a few pills that served similar functions. The main reason liuli pills were so popular in the first place was their low cost.
The sudden spike had only happened because people in the market had momentarily lost their heads under the shock of the news.
Once everyone calmed down, the liuli pill returned to a relatively reasonable and stable price: eight contribution points each.
At this point, Li Fan bought back a hundred liuli pills for his own cultivation.
After spending eight hundred points, he was left with 2,829 points.
Through this single maneuver, not only had Li Fan increased his contribution points by six hundred, but he had also gotten a hundred liuli pills for free!
Six hundred contribution points was equivalent to a conscientious, ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator's entire year of savings from diligently completing missions.
Not to mention those hundred liuli pills, which were as good as hard currency.
"Truly, 'arson and murder bring golden belts, while repairing bridges and paving roads leaves no corpse intact'!" Li Fan marveled.
Yet his philosophical musings did nothing to slow his spending as a beneficiary of the system.
Regardless of whether they would be immediately useful, Li Fan went ahead and bought books like *Introduction to Formations*, *Fundamentals of the Dao of Alchemy*, *Basics of Artifact Crafting*, and *Illustrated Compendium of Cultivation World Treasures*.
He also indulged himself by purchasing common supplies for cultivators: protective robes, Qi-Concealing Talismans, an elementary composite formation, and an elementary alchemy kit.
As his storage ring filled up, his contribution points plummeted rapidly, dropping to 346 points.
Li Fan felt no heartache whatsoever. Once he finished his shopping spree, he swallowed a liuli pill, activated the auxiliary cultivation mode, and began cultivating the *Lesser Water Derivation Technique*.
Abundant water-attribute spiritual energy surged forth, and Li Fan once again experienced what it meant to cultivate at a genius's pace.
With the Heavenly Profound Mirror's auxiliary cultivation mode combined with the efficacy of the liuli pills, his cultivation progress advanced by leaps and bounds.
In just two days, Li Fan broke through the early Qi Condensation stage. Over the next three days, he pushed the *Lesser Water Derivation Technique* all the way to the culmination of the middle Qi Condensation stage.
No bottlenecks, perfectly smooth, utterly exhilarating, and leaving him yearning for more!
Li Fan was deeply intoxicated by this method of cultivation. Thus, when his progress came to an automatic halt due to the missing late Qi Condensation portion of the *Lesser Water Derivation Technique*, he felt an overwhelming sense of loss and emptiness.
Fortunately, the six-hundred-point price tag for the late Qi Condensation portion brought him back to his senses.
Just as he was pondering whether to sell some liuli pills to exchange for the rest of the technique, he received a visit request from He Zhenghao.
After a moment's thought, Li Fan took out a newly purchased Qi-Concealing Talisman from his storage ring, wore it on his person, and only then let He Zhenghao in.
The moment He Zhenghao saw Li Fan, he said with some excitement, "I've already settled things with the guardian of Tai'an Island. I'll take you to meet him now, and all you have to do is accept the commission."
He Zhenghao then took out a talisman and handed it to Li Fan. "Wear this as well. Remember, don't say much when we meet him later—just leave everything to me."
Li Fan took the talisman and examined it, his face instantly darkening.
If Li Fan had not just bought an identical one not long ago, he truly would not have recognized what it was.
This talisman was called an "Awe-Proclaiming Talisman," and its effect was the exact opposite of a Qi-Concealing Talisman.
A Qi-Concealing Talisman concealed one's cultivation level, whereas an Awe-Proclaiming Talisman was used to disguise oneself as a cultivator of a specific realm.
By giving him this Awe-Proclaiming Talisman, He Zhenghao wanted Li Fan to disguise himself as a Foundation Establishment cultivator!
Sure enough, all that talk about a Qi Condensation cultivator being sufficient to guard an island had been pure deception.
He Zhenghao had planned all along to have Li Fan disguise himself as a Foundation Establishment cultivator to accept the Tai'an Island guardian's commission, pocketing the difference in price for himself!
The contribution points required to hire a Foundation Establishment cultivator versus a Qi Condensation cultivator were on completely different scales.
Not noticing Li Fan's expression, He Zhenghao beamed as he introduced Tai'an Island's guardian to him: Zhou Qing'ang.
Li Fan could hardly expose He Zhenghao on the spot, so he managed a strained smile and greeted Zhou Qing'ang.
*This man must never be trusted!* Li Fan thought to himself, shooting a sideways glance at the smiling He Zhenghao.
Zhou Qing'ang looked Li Fan over and was quite satisfied.
He immediately issued a targeted commission directly to He Zhenghao.
After accepting the commission, He Zhenghao turned around and issued a commission to Li Fan.
"Guard Tai'an Island on Zhou Qing'ang's behalf while he is away seeking opportunities. Remuneration: 800 contribution points per year."
Fortunately, He Zhenghao's cut was not too outrageous. With things having come to this, Li Fan could only accept the mission.
After Zhou Qing'ang handed a jade token to He Zhenghao, he departed in a hurry, eager to search for his breakthrough opportunity.
Seeing him leave, He Zhenghao breathed a sigh of relief. He passed the token to Li Fan and said quite solemnly, "This is the Guardian Token of Tai'an Island. With this, you can operate the Island-Protecting Grand Formation. Please take good care of it, little friend, and do not lose it."
Li Fan accepted the token, and together they stepped through the teleportation array to arrive at Tai'an Island.
Tai'an Island's grand formation was not as grand as Liuli Island's, which boasted a thousand towering peaks. Instead, it took the form of what seemed to be a bustling city.
What made it truly unusual was that the inhabitants of this city were all fruits bearing eerie human faces.
Just like real people, these fruits worked, lived, took spouses, and bore children inside this city conjured by the formation,
living out their entire lifespans.
"This is Tai'an Island's specialty: Tai'an fruit," He Zhenghao said as he strolled through the city with Li Fan, pointing at the endless "crowds" hurrying to and fro.
"When these fruit-turned-humans die, it means the Tai'an fruits have ripened. Consuming a ripe Tai'an fruit can extend the lifespan of a cultivator at or below the Foundation Establishment stage by five years.
"It only works the first time a person consumes one," He Zhenghao added with a sigh of regret.
Chapter 50