Chapter 51 – The Human-Faced Smiling Fruit

“The required annual quota of Tai’an Fruits to submit is thirty. Any surplus you can keep for yourself—consider it a perk of the garrison post.”

“On average, you can save about two Tai’an Fruits per year. In the Celestial Mystery Mirror, Tai’an Fruits are generally priced around 90 to 100 contribution points each.”

“So all things considered, the compensation for serving as acting garrison chief is really quite generous.” He Zhenghao introduced it all to Li Fan with a broad smile.

Li Fan nodded. Although He Zhenghao had employed some petty tricks, what he said was true enough.

On Ten Thousand Immortals Island, someone at the Qi Refining stage earning 1,000 contribution points annually was an exceedingly rare thing.

In this arrangement, He Zhenghao was feasting on meat while Li Fan got to sip the broth.

“I must thank you, senior,” Li Fan said with a cupped-fist salute.

“Don’t mention it, don’t mention it. You came from my garrisoned island—it’s only right that I give you a hand up. As long as your cultivation advances in the future, it won’t be in vain that I—” He Zhenghao was mid-sentence when he suddenly stopped.

He let out a soft sound of surprise and studied Li Fan with a slightly astonished expression. “You’ve broken through to the mid Qi Refining stage?”

Li Fan’s heart jolted. He hadn’t expected the other party to see through him even with the qi-concealing talisman in use.

He nodded readily and admitted openly, “That’s right. Xiao Heng and I are quite close. Before he left, he gave me a water-attribute cultivation method. It suits my constitution very well, and my progress has been remarkably fast. I broke through just a few days ago.”

“Heh heh, you’re quite the cautious one, young friend. If not for my particular technique, I nearly would have missed it. You used a qi-concealing talisman?”

Li Fan nodded.

“Understandable, really. One can never be too careful. In the cultivation world, there’s no shortage of people with ulterior motives…” He Zhenghao was saying this when he suddenly noticed Li Fan giving him a rather peculiar look. He hastily laughed it off and changed the subject. “I didn’t realize you and that Xiao Heng were so close—he even left you a cultivation method.”

“Xiao Heng is truly a heaven-sent genius. It’s only been a few years since he started cultivating, and he’s already on the verge of Foundation Establishment. His future is boundless!” It was clear that He Zhenghao had been keeping tabs on Xiao Heng as well, and he spoke now with deep admiration and envy.

“Achieving Golden Core in the future, or even Nascent Soul, is not out of the question. Young friend, being on such good terms with him—you really are blessed with great fortune.”

As He Zhenghao spoke, his tone grew increasingly enthusiastic.

“Meeting you, senior, is also a stroke of good luck,” Li Fan replied with casual flattery.

He Zhenghao burst into hearty laughter at this, clearly delighted.

Just then, his steps came to a halt. He turned to look toward a certain direction within the city. “How convenient—a Tai’an Fruit has just ripened. Let me demonstrate for you how to harvest one.”

Li Fan nodded and followed He Zhenghao to the front of a residence.

Before they even entered the courtyard, he could hear wailing cries.

Stepping inside, Li Fan discovered over a dozen human-faced fruits kneeling in the house, dressed in mourning whites with hemp sashes.

In a coffin at the center lay a human-faced fruit that appeared to be sleeping.

The fruit’s eyes were closed, its mouth crooked to one side in an eerie smile, its body completely still.

None of the human-faced fruits in the house had noticed the arrival of Li Fan and his companion. They were consumed entirely by grief over the passing of their kin.

The scene was equal parts absurd and unsettling.

Drawing closer, Li Fan caught a strange and exotic fragrance wafting from the coffin.

He Zhenghao approached the coffin, murmuring an incantation under his breath, and pressed a finger to the point between the smiling fruit’s brows.

A gentle glow enveloped it, and the smiling fruit slowly rose from the coffin, floating in midair.

Then it gradually shrank, transforming into a small, vivid red fruit.

As the Tai’an Fruit took shape, all the mourning-clad human-faced fruits fell suddenly silent.

The white mourning garments on their bodies slowly vanished, and the expressions on their faces shifted gradually from grief to bewilderment.

They gazed around blankly for a moment before finally dispersing in silence.

“What do you think?” He Zhenghao handed the Tai’an Fruit to Li Fan.

“Most peculiar.” The harvesting scene had left Li Fan feeling inexplicably uneasy, and he managed only a strained reply.

Li Fan held the Tai’an Fruit in his hand and examined it closely.

It resembled an apple from his memories, except that its color was an almost blindingly vivid red.

And waves of fragrance emanated ceaselessly from the fruit.

The aroma seemed to penetrate into the very depths of one’s soul. Li Fan caught a whiff and couldn’t help but swallow involuntarily.

“You haven’t tried a Tai’an Fruit yet, have you, young friend? Why not have a taste?” He Zhenghao suggested.

“Anything that extends one’s lifespan holds a natural allure for us cultivators. The longer you hold it, the stronger the temptation becomes.” He Zhenghao added with a knowing smile, seeing Li Fan’s hesitation.

Sure enough, the fragrance’s effect seemed to accumulate. As Li Fan wavered, its scent grew ever richer and more intense.

Drawn by the aroma, waves of hunger surged up from deep within him.

And so, after a brief moment, Li Fan hesitated no longer and swallowed the Tai’an Fruit whole.

The hunger vanished instantly. Though it was only a small fruit, after eating it Li Fan let out a satisfied belch, as if he had just finished a grand feast.

Li Fan checked his 【Return to Truth】 panel and confirmed that his maximum physiological age had indeed increased by five years.

Smacking his lips, Li Fan savored the lingering taste of the Tai’an Fruit. “This is the first time I’ve encountered something that can extend one’s lifespan. Truly extraordinary. It’s just the appearance that’s a bit strange—looking so human-like. Rather creepy, honestly.”

He Zhenghao replied with a smile, “Tai’an Fruits are formed from the transformation of humans, so of course they look the part.”

Li Fan’s expression froze.

Suppressing the churning in his stomach, Li Fan asked with some alarm, “The Tai’an Fruits in this city are all real people?”

He Zhenghao seemed somewhat dismissive of Li Fan’s reaction.

However, considering that Li Fan had only recently entered the cultivation world, he could understand, and so he continued to explain. “Strictly speaking, Tai’an Fruits are fruits—not humans.”

Li Fan relaxed slightly at this, though the unease lingered. “Then what exactly do you mean by ‘formed from the transformation of humans’?”

“That brings us to the origin of the Tai’an Fruit.” He Zhenghao took Li Fan along as they flew back up above the city, speaking as they went.

“Five hundred years ago, Tai’an Island was just an utterly ordinary island. The surrounding waters had no valuable resources, and only a few thousand mortals had lived here for generations.”

“There are countless such small islands throughout the Layered Cloud Sea.”

“But one day, everything suddenly changed.”

“First, mortals on the neighboring islands noticed that they hadn’t seen anyone from Tai’an Island in quite some time. Previously, merchants from the island would occasionally come and go, but over a year had passed without a single sighting.”

“Driven by curiosity, some people sailed to Tai’an Island to find out what had happened.”

“But several groups went, one after another, and none of them ever returned.”

“Realizing something was wrong, the people reported the situation to the island’s garrison at the time.”

“That garrison chief was already a Core Formation stage cultivator. Even so, when he saw what had happened on Tai’an Island, he was plunged into deep horror.”