Chapter 51: The Fruit of the Human Face
Chapter 51 – The Human-Faced Smiling Fruit
“The number of Taian Fruits required to be turned in each year is stipulated to be thirty, and the extra ones can be kept for yourself, as a benefit for the position of town guard.”
“On average, you can save two Taian Fruits each year. In the Tianxuan Mirror, the price of Tai’an Fruit is usually around 90 to 100 contribution points.”
“So when you add it all up, little friend’s compensation for being this acting town guard isn’t really low.” He Zhenghao smilingly introduced Li Fan.
Li Fan nodded, although this He Zheng Hao had used some small tricks, this was true.
In the Ten Thousand Immortal Islands, those who could have 1000 contribution points coming in every year at the Qi Refining Stage were definitely a rare breed.
In this matter, He Zhenghao ate meat, and incidentally, Li Fan drank some soup.
“I also have to thank senior.” Li Fan arched his hand and said.
“Good to say, good to say. You came from my township island, it is only right that I carry you along. As long as your cultivation improves in the future, it won’t be in vain for me …… “He Zhenghao was speaking when he suddenly paused.
He lightly eeped and surveyed Li Fan in a slightly surprised tone, “You broke through to the middle stage of Qi Refining?”
Li Fan was shocked in his heart, he didn’t expect that he could still be seen by the other party even though he had used the Qi Concealment Talisman.
At that moment, he nodded and graciously admitted, “Not bad. I have a very shallow relationship with Xiao Heng, and before he went out, he had left a water attribute gong method for me. This technique is quite compatible with me, and I have made rapid progress in practicing it. I just made a breakthrough a few days ago.”
“Hehe, little friend is acting quite cautiously. If it wasn’t for my special gong method, I almost didn’t see it. Did you use the Hidden Qi Talisman?”
Li Fan nodded.
“It’s understandable, after all, there’s nothing wrong with being careful. In this Immortal Cultivation World, there are really not a few people with malicious intentions ……” He Zhenghao was saying, suddenly found that Li Fan was looking at his eyes a bit strange, and hastily snorted and digressed, “I didn’t think that you and that Xiao Heng had such a good relationship, and that he had even specifically given you left behind a technique.”
“Xiao Heng, this person is really a genius, cultivating for a few years, he is about to build the foundation. The future is unlimited!” Obviously He Zhenghao had also been paying attention to Xiao Heng, and was speaking with great emotion and envy at this time.
“Achieving Jindan in the future, or even Yuanying is not impossible. Little friend, you have a close relationship with him, and it’s really a deep blessing.”
He Zhenghao said, his tone getting more and more enthusiastic.
“It’s also a blessing to meet senior.” Li Fan casually boasted.
He Zhenghao smiled and laughed heartily.
Just then, his footsteps lurched and he turned his head to look at a certain direction in the city, “As it happens, there is a Tai’an Fruit ripening right now. I’ll demonstrate for little friend how to pick this Tai’an Fruit.”
Li Fan nodded and followed He Zheng Hao to a mansion.
Before he even entered the courtyard, he heard bursts of wailing.
After walking in, Li Fan realized that there were a dozen human-faced fruit kneeling in the mansion, wearing mourning and white clothes.
In a coffin in the center lay a human-faced fruit that seemed to be sleeping.
The fruit had its eyes closed and its mouth slanted crookedly, showing a weird smile, while its body was motionless.
The group of human-faced fruits in the mansion all did not notice the arrival of Li Fan and his duo, and were only mourning the loss of their loved ones.
This picture in the scene looked somewhat comical and terrifying.
Only after walking closer did Li Fan smell a strange fragrance wafting out from the coffin.
He Zhenghao came to the coffin and recited under his breath, pointing towards the brow of the smiling fruit within it.
A soft light enveloped it, and the Smiling Fruit slowly floated up from the coffin and floated in mid-air.
It then slowly shrunk and transformed into a tiny bright red fruit.
And as the Taian Fruit took shape, all of those human-faced fruits wearing mourning clothes all steeply quieted down.
The white mourning clothes on their bodies slowly disappeared, and the expressions on their faces gradually changed from grief to confusion. After looking around blankly for a moment, these fruits eventually dispersed in silence.
“How is it?” He Zhenghao handed the Taian Fruit to Li Fan.
“It’s very strange.” This scene of picking the Tai’an Fruit looked a little hairy in Li Fan’s heart for some reason, and he just reluctantly replied.
Li Fan took this Tai An Fruit in his hands and carefully observed it.
The fruit was similar to the apple that grew in his memory, only that the color was even red and somewhat blinding.
And a stream of aroma drifted out from the Tai’an Fruit in a steady stream.
This aroma seemed to be able to penetrate into the depths of one’s soul, and Li Fan couldn’t help but swallow his saliva when he smelled it.
“Little friend hasn’t eaten this Tai An Fruit yet, right, why don’t you try it first.” He Zhenghao suggested.
“Things that increase longevity have a natural attraction to cultivators of my generation. The longer it lasts, the greater the temptation.” He Zhenghao looked at Li Fan’s somewhat hesitant appearance and added with a smile.
Sure enough, the effects of the aroma seemed to accumulate, and as Li Fan hesitated, its scent grew stronger and stronger.
A wave of hunger surged out from deep within under the aroma’s invocation.
Thus, a moment later, Li Fan no longer hesitated and swallowed this Taian Fruit whole.
The feeling of hunger disappeared immediately, although it was only a small one, Li Fan still burped after eating it, as if he had eaten a big meal.
Li Fan checked his [Return to Truth] panel, and sure enough, the upper limit of his physiological age had increased by 5 years.
Smacking his lips, Li Fan reminisced about the flavor of the Tai’an Fruit, “This is the first time I’ve encountered a strange thing that can increase my longevity, it’s really extraordinary. It’s just that the mold is a bit strange, it looks creepy when it grows like a human.”
He Zheng Hao smiled and responded, “This Tai An Fruit is changed from a human, of course it looks like it.”
Li Fan’s expression froze.
Suppressing the fluttering in his belly, Li Fan asked with some horror, “All the Tai An Guo in this city are real people?”
He Zhenghao was a bit unimpressed by Li Fan’s reaction.
But after all, Li Fan had just entered the Immortal Cultivation World not long ago, so he could understand, so he continued to explain, “Strictly speaking, Taian Fruits are fruits that belong to fruits, not humans.”
Li Fan was slightly relieved when he heard this, but still had his heart in the right place, “Then what exactly does it mean to be changed by a human being?”
“This goes back to the origin of this Tai An Fruit.” He Zheng Hao said as he led Li Fan, while returning to fly above the city.
“Five hundred years ago, this Tai’an Island was just a very ordinary island. There were no valuable specialties in the waters surrounding the island, and there were only a few thousand mortals living on the island for generations.”
“I don’t know how many of these small island clumps there are in the Sea of Clouds.”
“But starting one day, everything suddenly became different.”
“First, the mortals of the surrounding islands realized that they hadn’t seen the residents of Tai’an Island for a long time. Before, there would occasionally be merchants from the island coming and going with each other, but they hadn’t been seen for over a year.”
“Driven by curiosity, some people sailed their boats to Tai’an Island, wanting to find out.”
“Who knows that several waves of people who went there in a row never returned.”
“Realizing that the situation was not right, the people hurriedly reported the matter to the island’s town guard at the time.”
“At that time, that town guard was already a Jindan stage cultivator. Even so, after seeing what had happened on Tai’an Island, he was plunged into deep fear.”
(End of chapter)