"The required quota to turn in each year is thirty Tai'an fruits. Any extras you can keep for yourself as a perk of the guardian post."
"On average, you can save up two Tai'an fruits every year. In the Heavenly Profound Mirror, the price of a Tai'an fruit is generally around ninety to a hundred contribution points."
"So all in all, little friend, the compensation for serving as this acting guardian really isn't meager at all," He Zhenghao explained to Li Fan with a jovial chuckle.
Li Fan nodded. Although He Zhenghao had played a few petty tricks, what he said was indeed true.
On Wanxian Island, someone in the Qi Condensation stage who could bring in a thousand contribution points a year was exceedingly rare.
In this arrangement, He Zhenghao got the lion's share, and Li Fan took a modest cut of the broth alongside him.
"I must still thank Senior," Li Fan said, cupping his hands in salute.
"Think nothing of it, think nothing of it! You hail from the island I guard, so it is only natural for me to give you a hand. As long as your cultivation progresses in the days to come, my efforts won't have been in vain..." As He Zhenghao spoke, he suddenly trailed off.
He let out a soft exclamation of surprise and sized up Li Fan with a look of delighted wonder. "You broke through to the middle Qi Condensation stage?"
Li Fan was startled inwardly. He had not expected the other man to see through his Qi-Concealing Talisman.
He promptly nodded and openly admitted it. "Indeed. Xiao Heng and I have quite a close relationship; before he set out, he left me a water-attribute cultivation technique. The method suited my aptitudes well, and my cultivation progressed at extraordinary speed. I only broke through a few days ago."
"Haha, you are quite cautious, little friend! If my own cultivation technique weren't somewhat unique, I almost wouldn't have noticed. Were you using a Qi-Concealing Talisman?"
Li Fan nodded.
"Quite understandable. After all, one can never be too careful. There are far too many people with ulterior motives in this cultivation world..." As He Zhenghao said this, he suddenly realized Li Fan's gaze had turned slightly odd. He quickly let out a laugh and changed the subject. "I had no idea you were on such good terms with Xiao Heng, to the point that he specially left a cultivation technique for you."
"That Xiao Heng is truly a heaven-sent genius! How many years has he even been cultivating? Yet he's already on the verge of Foundation Establishment! His future is boundless!" Clearly, He Zhenghao had been paying close attention to Xiao Heng, his tone filled with wistful admiration and envy.
"Achieving a Golden Core—or even a Nascent Soul—is not out of the question in his future. For you to share such a close bond with him, little friend, you truly possess immense fortune."
As He Zhenghao spoke, his demeanor grew increasingly warm and enthusiastic.
"Meeting Senior has been my good fortune as well," Li Fan flattered casually.
Upon hearing this, He Zhenghao burst into hearty laughter, thoroughly delighted.
Right then, his footsteps halted. He turned toward a certain direction in the city. "What a coincidence—a Tai'an fruit has just ripened. Allow me to demonstrate for you how these Tai'an fruits are harvested."
Li Fan nodded and followed He Zhenghao to the entrance of a residence.
Even before stepping into the courtyard, wails of mourning reached their ears.
Walking inside, Li Fan discovered over a dozen human-faced fruits kneeling in the courtyard, clad in coarse hemp mourning garments and white mourning robes.
In a coffin at the center lay a human-faced fruit that seemed to be fast asleep.
The fruit's eyes were closed, its mouth tilted askew in a bizarre smile, its body completely motionless.
Not one of the human-faced fruits in the compound noticed Li Fan and He Zhenghao's arrival, entirely absorbed in grieving the departure of their kin.
The scene before them appeared both comical and grotesque.
Stepping closer, Li Fan caught a peculiar fragrance wafting from the coffin.
He Zhenghao walked up beside the coffin, muttered a brief incantation, and tapped his finger between the smiling fruit's brows.
Enveloped in a gentle glow, the smiling fruit slowly rose from the coffin and hovered in midair.
Then it gradually shrank, condensing into a small, bright red fruit.
As the Tai'an fruit took its final form, the mourning-robed human-faced fruits fell abruptly silent.
The white mourning garments on them slowly vanished, and the expressions on their faces shifted gradually from sorrow to bewilderment.
After gazing blankly in all directions for a moment, the fruits eventually dispersed in silence.
"Well? What do you think?" He Zhenghao handed the Tai'an fruit to Li Fan.
"Most bizarre." Li Fan could not help feeling a chill run down his spine at the sight of the harvest, and he answered somewhat stiffly.
Li Fan held the Tai'an fruit in his hand, examining it closely.
The fruit resembled the apples of his past life's memory, though its red was strikingly, almost glaringly vivid.
Moreover, waves of rich fragrance steadily drifted from the Tai'an fruit.
The scent seemed to penetrate to the depths of one's soul; smelling it, Li Fan involuntarily swallowed his saliva.
"You haven't eaten a Tai'an fruit yet, have you, little friend? Why not have a taste first?" He Zhenghao suggested.
"Items that increase lifespan hold a natural allure for us cultivators. The longer it lingers, the greater the temptation becomes," He Zhenghao added with a genial smile, noticing Li Fan's hesitation.
Sure enough, the fragrance seemed to have a cumulative effect; the longer Li Fan hesitated, the richer and more overpowering the scent grew.
Triggered by the aroma, wave after wave of intense hunger surged from deep within him.
Moments later, Li Fan hesitated no longer and swallowed the Tai'an fruit whole.
The hunger vanished instantly. Though it was only a small fruit, Li Fan let out a full burp after eating it, as if he had just devoured a lavish feast.
Li Fan checked his True Reversion panel, and indeed, his upper physiological age limit had increased by five years.
Smacking his lips, Li Fan savored the aftertaste. "This is the first time I've ever encountered a wonder that can extend one's lifespan—truly extraordinary. It's just that its appearance was rather strange, looking so much like a human that it was quite unsettling."
He Zhenghao chuckled in reply. "These Tai'an fruits were transformed from humans to begin with, so of course they look like humans."
Li Fan's expression instantly froze.
Suppressing the violent churning in his stomach, Li Fan asked in horror, "The Tai'an fruits in this city are all real people?"
He Zhenghao seemed rather unperturbed by Li Fan's reaction.
Still, understanding that Li Fan had only entered the cultivation world not long ago, he continued to explain, "Strictly speaking, Tai'an fruits belong to the category of fruits; they are not human beings."
Li Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this, though a knot of unease remained in his heart. "Then what do you mean by 'transformed from humans'?"
"That brings us to the origin of the Tai'an fruit," He Zhenghao said as he led Li Fan back into the air above the city.
"Five hundred years ago, Tai'an Island was merely an ordinary island. The waters surrounding it yielded no valuable specialties, and only several thousand mortals had lived here for generations."
"There are countless small islands like that across the Congyun Sea."
"Yet one day, everything abruptly changed."
"First, the mortals on neighboring islands noticed they hadn't seen the inhabitants of Tai'an Island for a very long time. Merchants from the island had occasionally traded back and forth in the past, but over an entire year had passed without a single glimpse of them."
"Driven by curiosity, several people sailed to Tai'an Island to find out what had happened."
"Yet several groups went out one after another, and not a single soul ever returned."
"Realizing something was terribly amiss, the people quickly reported the matter to the island guardian of that time."
"Back then, that guardian was already a cultivator in the Golden Core stage. Even so, upon witnessing what had taken place on Tai'an Island, he too fell into profound horror."
Chapter 51