The eighth year of the Dawn Era was destined to be difficult. Astonishing news kept appearing one after another. However, the most popular news right before the demon wave arrived was rather surprising.
"The wood spirits have begun selling new products, 'Dusk Fruits' and 'Dawn Fruits.' Each fruit costs 500 Justice Points, and each fruit is worth five years of life. Each person can only exchange for five fruits at most."
From a certain standpoint, it was no wonder that this advertisement stole the headlines. When time became a commodity, it would truly be a priceless treasure.
There had always been legends about treasures of time like the Spring of Youth, Elven Tears, and so on. I had even seen the real thing before. However, mass-producing treasures of time was something that was rather incomprehensible.
The advertisement also explained the restrictions. The Dusk Fruits could be eaten as many times as one wanted, and it would be fine even if one ate them until the end of one's lifespan. However, the Dawn Fruits could only be eaten at most five times. Otherwise, one's physical body would collapse, and it was highly likely that one would suddenly die.
Still, this was more than enough to make all the rulers go crazy …
Five Fruits of Life that were worth five years each meant that one's lifespan would be extended by twenty-five years. This was at least one-third of an ordinary person's lifespan. For a ruler, this was an extension of the peak of their lifespan. It would also be an opportunity for them to receive supreme glory and be evaluated in history — the right to lead a country during the Holy War!
With the current exchange rate, 500 Justice Points was roughly equivalent to the price of killing five Legend-ranked demons. An adventuring team with an average Gold rank would be able to obtain 500 Justice Points after working hard on several major battlefields for a year. Compared to the "lifespan" that could be obtained, it actually wasn't that expensive. In fact, it was ridiculously cheap.
For a time, the exchange rate between Justice Points and ordinary gold coins reached an all-time high. 500 Justice Points would be enough to exchange for a noble title in a small or medium-sized kingdom. Even so, Justice Points were still priceless.
I had just arrived at the meeting place, but when I saw this piece of news, I actually laughed out loud.
"You've finally succeeded? What a timely rain. "
As previously mentioned, the wood spirits' Forest of Dreams was a land of dreams that granted them the authority to create. However, the wood spirits' creations were limited to fruits and plants, and they could only provide buffs or debuffs to the creatures that consumed them. Previously, the wood spirits' most popular and expensive product was their fruits that permanently increased basic stats.
Due to certain reasons, I had long since asked Amelia to research fruits that could change a species' age. Amelia also provided me with the theory of cell division, "the relationship between lifespan, hormones, and the pituitary gland," and many other unproven theories. Anyways, in her Forest of Dreams, thoughts could change reality. As long as these unproven theories were self-justifying, it was possible that they could become research theories … Although it sounded ridiculous, this was indeed the research method of many idealistic mages. They were quite skilled at creating something out of nothing.
However, the end product of this fruit definitely wouldn't be the same as the advertisement. I had seen far too many treasures that could forcefully extend one's lifespan, and none of them would cause one's physical body to collapse. However, it was true that no ordinary person with a short lifespan had ever obtained immortality.
That was because the aging of one's spirit was far more hopeless than the aging of one's physical body. If one's spirit became too old, their soul and physical body would begin rejecting each other. In the end, their physical body and soul would become separated, and they would either become immobile zombies or living ghosts that could leave their bodies at any moment. In fairy tales, even those emperors that went through so much trouble to find the elixir of immortality had never had good endings.
That was why the advertisement of only being able to extend one's lifespan by 25 years wasn't a complete lie. 20 years was a generation. For the first 20 years of one's lifespan, one's values and basic knowledge would be set. Their soul would also be in a stable state. If one continued to progress further, it was likely that all sorts of problems would occur.
Actually, forcefully extending one's lifespan by 20 years was something that even great Druil, great alchemists, and great priests could do. Quite a few people had done so, but those who went too far suffered retribution.
Of course, even the most troublesome problem of extending one's physical body's lifespan could be solved as long as one didn't care about the price. The simplest solution would be to have the kings cultivate martial arts and magic to a certain level, so that their soul and physical body would have a high and stable connection. That would naturally solve the problem.
However, when considering that making everyone undying would mean breaking the Cycle of Reincarnation, even if there wouldn't be any additional problems, it would mean that the balance of resources in the world of Aichy would be broken. Not a single wise person would do such a thing.
"A Dusk Fruit that can increase one's age? Your illness can be cured? "
Harloys' smile was filled with evil intent. She even glanced down at my lower body as she spoke … Damn, what was the meaning of this!?
"Damn, this wasn't developed for me, so I don't care at all! It's true! Hey, hey, why are all of you looking at me like that? I really didn't develop this for myself! "
Everyone's sympathetic gazes made me furious. This time, I had truly been wrongly accused!
"Alright, alright, everyone knows that you only developed this for the sake of growing taller …"
I could only helplessly ask the heavens. I hadn't developed this for the sake of growing taller. The Time Bracelet was far more useful than any kind of shoes … Ptui, ptui, ptui, I wasn't wearing any shoes to increase my height. I didn't need them at all.
"… Forget it, I'll just tell you directly. This is for the Dawn Children. Perhaps it's a bit like pulling up a seedling to help it grow, but it's far more useful than letting the seedling rot in the bone. "
Many of the Valkyrie reincarnations who were born with knowledge had already displayed their talents and obtained the glorious title of Dawn Children. However, a child who was no more than seven years old would always have a natural shortcoming … Even if the child's knowledge could keep up, the child's courage wouldn't be able to keep up. Even if the child's personality could keep up, the child's appearance wouldn't be able to convince everyone.
The Dawn Fruit and Dusk Fruit that I had developed this time were all prepared for the Dawn Children. In my opinion, rather than having the Dawn Children powerlessly spend their childhood … Considering the current situation in the mortal plane, it was likely that their childhood would be filled with bloodshed. It would be better to have the Dawn Children be able to control their own fates.
The Dawn Fruit was nothing more than an extra to attract attention. Although items that could extend one's lifespan were precious, they could still be found on the market every few years. However, there had never been any items that could increase one's age … Nobody would want to die early.
However, the Dawn Fruit was a necessity in my original plan. The human Dawn Children would be able to use the Dawn Fruit after a few years of hard work. Elves, dwarves, Dragons … Would you expect a young elf child to use a Sword Dance? Would you expect a young dragon that was no larger than a puppy to cast a forbidden spell?
I had previously considered undead magic's Curse of Aging, but I later discovered that Curse of Aging used negative energy to forcefully age the physical body. This would permanently damage both the physical body and the soul. Logically speaking, all undead magic would be out of the question. In the future, I would still need to look for the Nature Faction. I didn't really have many choices in the Nature Faction, so I finally left this matter to Amelia's "Seven Virtues".
The last time I met her, I even asked her about it, but she didn't have any information. It seemed that she had just recently made a breakthrough in this technology (Roland only found out much later that Amelia had only thought of this because of his reminder, and then successfully developed the Dawn Fruit).
"Right, lend me some of your Justice Points. I'm going to get some fruits."
Little Red wasn't the one who spoke to me. She had a delighted expression as if she couldn't wait any longer.
I suddenly felt like the heavens were rather unfair. Why was it that every time I plotted something, Little Red would always be the one to benefit?
But then, she had a bitter expression. Although Justice Points couldn't be used to exchange, she could exchange them for items that others could use. Unfortunately, she had just learned that we didn't have any Justice Points left at all.
"You've all exchanged books …"
This was Marguerite. The Gods' library had attracted countless mages. That was a true bottomless pit. The ancient secrets of magic had drained even the scholars' wallets dry.
"I've eaten, drunk, and played. I still have seven Justice Points here. Which one of you wants …"
We ignored Adam's words. Not a single one of us had any hopes for him. This wasn't only because of his personality of casually spending money. The more direct reason was that Marguerite would probably clean out his wallet the moment it was full.
"…"
Little Red herself didn't know what to say either. She didn't even go out to kill monsters to save up Justice Points. How could a proud dragon go out to work?
Finally, Little Red's gaze landed on me. Considering how often I met enemies and how much I had accumulated in the past, it was highly likely that I still had Justice Points on me.
I proudly raised my head and smiled.
"I do indeed have more than two thousand Justice Points, but … I'm going to buy some 'height shoes.' I don't even have enough for myself."
I then laughed out loud in delight. Who asked you to laugh at me? Little Red, did you really think that I'd forgotten how you laughed at me back in the day? I hadn't laughed enough yet, so don't even think about returning to normal!
The evil dragon bared her teeth and spat out flames from her throat. She seemed to be threatening me, as if she was considering robbing me. However, I fearlessly used my trump card.
"Besides, one fruit takes five years to mature. Dragons take much longer to mature than two-hundred-year-old elves. The stronger a dragon is, the slower they mature. If I did some quick calculations, you probably wouldn't be able to afford it even if I sold you. You'd be better off eating more Justice Points and growing faster."
Alright then, a System Notification appeared. Little Red was currently taking a deep breath. Hurry and hide, hurry and hide … Was she going to be spat at for telling the truth in this day and age?
"Wait a moment, I have an idea! We can rob … That's right, you can definitely rob other dragons. "
Considering how powerful Dragons were, it would definitely be quite easy to earn Justice Points. However, based on my understanding of red dragons …
"But, as far as I know, those guys haven't gone out to earn Justice Points. Even if they need Justice Points, they'll just wait to rob us …"
"Are you an idiot? You're the Dragon Queen! You're ordering them to earn Justice Points so that you can rob them! "
Just as we were planning our grand plan to earn Justice Points, an unexpected voice spoke up behind us.
"Actually, I still have some Justice Points that my demon agent earned in the mortal plane."
The person who spoke up was actually Didina! The Demon Lord Didina actually had Justice Points from the mortal plane?
"Even demons are starting to help people level up and buy Justice Points?"
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