Chapter 49 – A Rare Commodity Worth Hoarding

He Zhenghao was bewildered, unable to fathom why Li Fan had reacted so strongly.

Fortunately, he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he looked at Li Fan with a warm smile and said, “No need to be nervous. I just wanted to ask—would you, by any chance, be interested in serving as an island guardian?”

“Of course, not for Glazed Glass Island, but for Tai’an Island to the west.”

“The guardian of Tai’an Island is a good friend of mine. He’s currently hit a bottleneck in his cultivation and wants to venture out in search of opportunities.”

“Unfortunately, duty binds him to his post, and he can’t simply leave on his own. So he asked me if I had anyone suitable to recommend.”

“And as luck would have it, I ran into you.”

He Zhenghao explained.

“Guarding an island would require at least Foundation Establishment cultivation, wouldn’t it? I’ve only just entered the early Qi Refining stage—could I really serve as a guardian?” Li Fan asked, somewhat surprised.

Among the islands of the Layered Cloud Sea, any island with valuable local specialties would have a cultivator stationed as its guardian.

A guardian’s tenure lasted anywhere from ten years at the shortest to a hundred years at the longest.

Since the position required staying on the island at all times with little freedom to leave, the restrictions were considerable—and so the compensation was equally generous.

Depending on the island’s size and scale, a guardian could earn anywhere from several hundred to over a thousand contribution points per year.

As such, island guardian postings were highly coveted positions that were impossible to obtain without the right connections.

This was even more true for prosperous islands, where the guardian position was typically reserved long before the current holder’s term ended.

“It wouldn’t be an official guardian appointment, of course. My friend would simply issue a targeted commission to you, and you’d serve as his temporary replacement. Besides, Tai’an Island isn’t a large island. With the island protection formation in place, a Qi Refining cultivator is more than capable of looking after things for a while. No need to worry.”

“And as the one making the referral, I’ll naturally receive a share of the compensation as well.” He Zhenghao enthusiastically explained to Li Fan.

“During the interim guardianship, what’s the maximum amount of time I could be away?” Li Fan asked.

“The island protection formation cycles once every five days. If you need to leave for any reason, it’s best to return within five days. And you shouldn’t leave more than three times in a single year.”

Assuming Li Fan was worried about it interfering with his cultivation, He Zhenghao added, “After collecting your annual contribution points, you can exchange them at the Celestial Mystery Mirror for five days of assisted cultivation time. Those five days are often equivalent to half a year of ordinary hard training.”

Li Fan recognized it as a good opportunity and agreed on the spot.

“However, I’ll need to return to Ten Thousand Immortals Island and complete my task first.”

“Naturally. You go ahead, and once things are ready on Tai’an Island in a few days, I’ll come find you there.”

Li Fan then bid farewell to He Zhenghao and returned to Ten Thousand Immortals Island.

There was no need to visit the Medicine Hall in person—he could submit the glazed pearls directly through the Celestial Mystery Mirror.

After a brief moment, the Medicine Hall confirmed receipt of twenty-three glazed pearls.

Since the quality of this batch varied, Li Fan ultimately received a reward of 21 contribution points.

Current total contribution points: 26.

“Far too few—only enough for two days of cultivation.” Li Fan shook his head.

He retrieved the gold and silver along with the Halt Stele Fragment from his storage ring and requested an exchange for contribution points.

Moments later, the Celestial Mystery Mirror returned the results.

“Assorted gold and silver: convertible to 235 contribution points.”

“Heavenly-Earthly Wonder: Halt Stele Fragment. Quality: Flawed. Convertible to 1,968 contribution points.”

Li Fan opened the Celestial Mystery Mirror’s exchange menu and searched for Heavenly-Earthly Wonders.

He discovered that an intact Heavenly-Earthly Wonder cost a minimum of 4,000 points. The Celestial Mystery Mirror’s buyback price was essentially half off.

Highway robbery!

Flawed though it may be, surely that didn’t warrant halving the price outright.

Li Fan’s face twitched, but after a moment’s thought, he chose to go through with the exchange.

The Celestial Mystery Mirror didn’t offer anonymous trading. To trade with other cultivators, one had to reveal their true identity.

But as a cultivator who had only just entered the Qi Refining stage, rashly producing a Foundation Establishment wonder would certainly attract unwanted attention.

It would very likely bring unnecessary trouble.

Trading directly with the Celestial Mystery Mirror, on the other hand, was far less worrisome.

The Myriad Immortals Alliance was vast, and cultivators who had encountered fortuitous opportunities were countless.

While a Qi Refining cultivator possessing a Foundation Establishment wonder might be exceedingly rare here in the Layered Cloud Sea, viewed across the entire cultivation world, it was hardly anything remarkable.

“Confirm exchange.”

The gold and silver and the Halt Stele Fragment slowly vanished, and Li Fan’s contribution points rose to 2,229.

Having come into sudden wealth, Li Fan didn’t rush to spend lavishly. Instead, he first posed a concern to the Celestial Mystery Mirror.

“Are there any disasters expected to befall the Layered Cloud Sea region in the near future?”

Li Fan recounted to the Celestial Mystery Mirror all the various anomalies that Zhang Haobo had once described to him.

The Celestial Mystery Mirror fell into a prolonged silence.

After a long while, it finally responded.

“The cultivator need not worry. These are all normal fluctuations of heaven and earth. Based on calculations, no major disasters will occur within the next ten years.”

Since the Celestial Mystery Mirror said so, Li Fan set his mind at ease.

Afterward, he thought for a moment, then searched for information about glazed pills.

Glazed pills were supplementary elixirs, usable from the Qi Refining stage through the Foundation Establishment stage.

After consumption, one’s mind would become clear as glass—lucid and transparent.

The effect was similar to “Spirit Awakening,” enhancing both the comprehension and cultivation speed of techniques.

Furthermore, the effect could stack with the Celestial Mystery Mirror’s assisted cultivation.

Since the vast majority of cultivators in the Myriad Immortals Alliance spent their years constantly on missions, accumulating contribution points, their cultivation time was precious.

This made glazed pills, which could improve cultivation efficiency, all the more valuable.

Glazed pills were in high demand among Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, with the price for a single pill fluctuating between five and six contribution points.

Li Fan checked—the current price was 6 points per pill.

“The glazed fish have all but vanished for unknown reasons. The price of glazed pills is certain to rise with the tide.” Li Fan mused, then spent 2,100 contribution points to purchase 350 glazed pills from the Celestial Mystery Mirror in one go.

Only then did he report to the Celestial Mystery Mirror that the glazed fish population around Glazed Glass Island had nearly disappeared.

The Celestial Mystery Mirror fell silent for a time, emitting only faint ripples of energy.

After a while, Li Fan received a reward of 1 contribution point.

This meant the Celestial Mystery Mirror had verified the information’s authenticity.

Indeed, providing intelligence to the Celestial Mystery Mirror was another way to earn contribution points.

The more valuable the information, the greater the reward.

By all reason, the intelligence Li Fan had provided should have been worth far more than a single contribution point.

Perhaps the Celestial Mystery Mirror found Li Fan’s market manipulation rather distasteful, and so only awarded him 1 point as a form of petty retribution.

Li Fan didn’t mind in the least.

With this series of moves, he had already achieved his objectives.

First, it proved that the Celestial Mystery Mirror had no knowledge of what happened after he left Ten Thousand Immortals Island. In other words, once beyond the island’s boundaries, there was no need to worry about the Mirror’s surveillance.

Second, it confirmed that the Celestial Mystery Mirror did indeed possess a will of its own. This was evident from the fact that it had awarded only 1 contribution point—a deliberate move to express its displeasure with Li Fan.

Third, naturally, was to seize this golden opportunity and turn a handsome profit.

The market’s response was remarkably swift.

The price of glazed pills surged in a short span, skyrocketing from 6 points per pill to 9 points per pill.