Fairy, Please Forgive Me, I Never Meant to Impersonate Your Husband

Chapter 30: Spirit Beads

“The exposed part of the primal stone deposit is inside the cave with the blue-flowered vines in the middle of the grotto.”

Luo Xiangluo searched for a while before finding a certain marker. After confirming the exact location, she pointed it out to Wu Yuan.

“Did that spy accidentally discover the primal stone deposit while trying to escape danger?” Wu Yuan asked curiously.

“Just as you guessed, he was fleeing from a pursuing demon and risked climbing into the cave, where he made this discovery,” Luo Xiangluo replied.

“Lucky fellow,” Wu Yuan chuckled, shaking his head.

He turned and ordered ten couriers to climb up the vines into the cave first.

The cave was over twenty zhang (approx. 70 meters) above the ground, but for couriers with at least high-stage Tendon-Tempering cultivation, it only took a dozen leaps while holding the vines. In just a few minutes, they reached the cave entrance.

Once they signaled that it was safe, Wu Yuan arranged for the rest of the group to climb up one after another.

Notably, Madam Fang scaled the vines with a serpentine grace, her body supple and boneless, while Luo Xiangluo ascended lightly, her movements elegant and effortless.

As for the four non-cultivator spies, Wu Yuan had them stay below with the ten couriers, hiding and keeping watch.

The cave was not deep, extending only two to three hundred meters inward. Though winding, the interior was spacious enough to move without obstruction, and they soon reached the deepest part.

Here, the ground had grown brittle and thin, riddled with cracks.

Scattered around the cracks were dozens of fragmented jade-like pieces, similar to the broken primal stones Wu Yuan had seen before, though varying in size and thickness.

Wu Yuan casually picked one up and examined it closely, confirming it was a low-grade primal stone. He then ordered the couriers to gather all the scattered fragments.

Meanwhile, he walked along the cracks, searching for any stray spirit beads and determining the best spot to mine the deposit.

On the other side, Luo Xiangluo and Madam Fang stood together, staring blankly at Wu Yuan’s actions, finding him increasingly enigmatic.

He seemed to hail from a rural backwater, yet he appeared knowledgeable about everything—even something as rare and valuable as a primal stone deposit, typically controlled by major factions, was no mystery to him.

What kind of background could have produced such a person? Luo Xiangluo and Madam Fang couldn’t help but speculate wildly.

Wu Yuan found no spirit beads along the cracks, so he began mining, hoping for a discovery.

The couriers had brought mining tools—specially forged by a blacksmith for this trip, using sharp materials from fierce insect-like creatures. Though not quite at the level of primal artifacts, they were sufficient for extracting low-grade primal stones.

Wu Yuan chose the most densely cracked area, reasoning that a large cavity must lie beneath. The couriers could dig downward, creating more space.

At his command, the couriers immediately set to work.

Twenty men relentlessly chiseled at the cracks in the stone, soon widening them into a cavern over ten meters in diameter.

Beneath lay a natural, gently sloping passage with pockmarked walls, extending far beyond sight. Within the visible range, the descent was over ten zhang (approx. 35 meters), an unusual sight.

The couriers lit specially prepared torches and oil lamps, moving step by step downward. They placed lights every few hundred meters until reaching a collapsed blockage.

Wu Yuan didn’t order the blockage cleared, because within the already explored area, the walls glittered under the light—all low-grade primal stones.

“So many!” Madam Fang, who had followed them down, couldn’t help exclaiming in her soft, melodious voice, which contrasted sharply with her appearance.

Wu Yuan glanced at her. This woman was indeed strange, but as long as she didn’t act suspiciously, he saw no need to engage.

Right now, his eyes were fixed on the primal stones scattered like stars—and among them, occasional bursts of colored light: the glow of spirit beads.

Eager, Wu Yuan hurried to the nearest cluster of colored light and found small, marble-sized jade beads embedded in the wall.

This spot held over a dozen, fitting the pattern of spirit beads always appearing in clusters.

He carefully pried them loose with his pickaxe.

As the colored beads dropped into his palm, his excitement grew.

Finally, unable to contain himself, he raised the spirit beads and announced to the couriers:

“First, extract all the colored beads embedded in the walls and bring them to me immediately. Then, mine the primal stones. Every courier who participates will be rewarded—one Blood Essence Pill each upon our return!”

“Yes, Boss!”

The couriers responded in unison, their morale soaring.

They knew a single Blood Essence Pill could elevate their cultivation by a stage—more reliably than using blood essence, and without the risk of demonic energy contamination.

Since spirit beads always clustered together, the couriers quickly cleared out those within easy reach, guided by the colored light.

For higher spots, they improvised: leaping up where the walls were uneven, forming human ladders where smooth, and piling stones as footholds for the tallest sections.

In the end, Wu Yuan had a small, glittering pile of spirit beads—nearly a thousand by rough estimate.

However, based on his experience, these were low-grade spirit beads, inferior even to low-tier ones, each containing less than a hundred units of spiritual energy (one unit being a single wisp).

Still, a thousand low-grade spirit beads amounted to tens of thousands of units—a massive quantity, enough to upgrade the relay station twice over.

His heart swelled with joy.

Luo Xiangluo and Madam Fang, who hadn’t participated in the mining, approached.

Luo Xiangluo couldn’t hide her envy:

“A single low-grade spirit bead sells for at least fifty silver coins. In less than an hour, you’ve gained over five hundred gold coins. A primal stone deposit truly is a mountain of gold and a sea of silver!”

Wu Yuan smiled and countered, “Spirit beads can be priced in gold, but who would willingly exchange them for coins?”

“Across the Thousand Cities and Thirty-Six Prefectures of the Borderlands, how many places dare accept gold in trade for spirit beads? They’re as rare as phoenix feathers! Even if they exist, they belong only to super-companies with tens of thousands of years of heritage.”

“In Qingqiao Town, there isn’t even a single branch of such a company.”

“I understand,” Luo Xiangluo said. “Even beyond the Borderlands, spirit beads never lose value. They shouldn’t be traded for gold.”

“But the bulk of a low-grade primal stone deposit is still primal stones. Each piece is worth about ten silver coins and can be freely exchanged at most border-town banks.”

“Judging by the scale, this deposit is no small one. The yield could reach tens of millions of low-grade primal stones. Whether you hide or sell them, it’s best to decide early.”

Wu Yuan nodded. Luo Xiangluo made a fair point.

Storing primal stones wasn’t easy. Prolonged exposure to air would cause energy dissipation and might attract unforeseen disasters.

But her concerns didn’t trouble him—he had his spatial storage, which solved all such problems.

For now, he was eager to return to the relay station and pour the spirit beads into the upgrade pool to advance its rank as soon as possible.