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

Chapter 13: Hollowstone, Post Reinforcement

Seeing the timing was right, Wu Yuan immediately dispersed the archers into their respective teams. He then exchanged a glance with Chen Yong and began provoking the Purple Fiend with arrows while retreating to an open, unoccupied area.

The Purple Fiend shouldn’t have been lured away, but Wu Yuan’s attacks targeted spots that infuriated it the most. Forced to abandon its charge toward the post, it instead pursued Wu Yuan, determined to crush the “flea” in its eyes first.

Chen Yong, the “Sneak Attack Prince,” seized the moment when the fiend focused on Wu Yuan. As it raised its arms to block arrows aimed at its eyes, he dashed beneath it and relentlessly stabbed its feet with his short iron spear. After all, the Purple Fiend was a barefoot giant with no habit of wearing shoes.

Though the strikes in that brief second were tough due to the fiend’s thick hide, they still dealt significant damage to its left foot.

The moment Chen Yong retreated, the fiend staggered, its left foot dripping with purple blood, proving the injuries were real.

Seizing the opportunity, Wu Yuan fired arrows at its legs, further slowing it down under the combined pressure of intimidation and pain.

Chen Yong, ever experienced, feigned another attack on its feet, making the fiend wary and inadvertently lowering its guard over its eyes.

Not one to waste such a rare chance, Wu Yuan instantly fired two arrows, blinding its right eye.

The loss of an eye drove the fiend into a frenzy. In truth, the two iron-tipped arrows didn’t just destroy its vision, they shattered its sanity.

From then on, it mindlessly chased Wu Yuan, its sole thought being to devour the one who had harmed it. This forced Wu Yuan to focus solely on evasion, drastically reducing his rate of fire.

Yet this also gave Chen Yong another opening. The “Sneak Attack Prince” struck again, targeting the same left foot.

With the strength of a high-tier Skinshifter warrior over a thousand pounds of force—the fiend’s left foot, after repeated assaults, finally gave way.

From then on, it could rightfully be called the “One-Legged Purple Fiend.”

Its fate was sealed. Losing a foot destroyed its balance, rendering its attacks useless. Escape was no longer an option.

In the end, Wu Yuan fired an arrow straight through its gaping maw, piercing its brain and ending its life.

The fallen fiend didn’t just yield thousands of Blood Essence—it also dropped two Blood Crystals, each the size of a ping-pong ball and a deep crimson, far superior to those previously handed in by the post soldiers.

Soon after, the other battles around the post concluded. Fortunately, there were no casualties, and everyone was in high spirits.

A few post soldiers tasked with gathering loot rushed over with kitchen knives—not to claim the spoils (which all belonged to the master) but to relish the process.

Especially the two former butchers among them. Dissecting a powerful monster like the Purple Fiend, extracting every useful material, was an unparalleled thrill—like the joy of fishing surpassing even eating the fish.

Wu Yuan watched with interest as they meticulously dismantled the fiend layer by layer: the spikes on its back, the fangs in its mouth, its tough hide, leg tendons, heart—even its purple blood was carefully collected in ceramic vessels.

After days of dissecting humanoid fiends and vicious insects, they had honed their skills. Even the former butcher apprentices now rivaled full-fledged professionals.

“These materials could fetch two gold coins if sold,” Chen Yong whispered to Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan grinned. After a brief pause, he turned to Chen Yong. “Postmaster, your debts are no longer a concern. Shed that burden and serve Hongye Cliff Post with peace of mind.”

Overjoyed, Chen Yong bowed deeply. “Thank you for your generosity, Master. But one gold coin is more than enough.”

Wu Yuan nodded, though inwardly he marveled. A single gold coin would sell for at least a million Longxia Dollars on Blue Star’s trading sites. Never had he imagined casually giving one away.

Even compared to his peak in his second dream-memory, his current standing far surpassed it—proof that prioritizing the development of Lingyuan Post had been the right call.

Just then, one of the butchers used tongs to extract a fist-sized, translucent crystal from the gutted fiend and hurriedly reported:

“Master, we’ve found something unusual.”

Wu Yuan’s eyes widened as he saw the object in the tongs. Uncontrollable elation surged across his face.

This was beyond unexpected! How could his luck be this good, obtaining such a treasure so soon?

He silently applauded his foresight in ordering the dissection teams to scrutinize every strange find. And now, the payoff had arrived—no, a monumental windfall had arrived!

The crystal from the fiend’s belly was Hollowstone, a rare spatial-type spirit material, incredibly precious.

This single fist-sized piece was worth ten thousand times the rest of the fiend’s remains.

It surpassed even a chest of Purple Vein Fish-Scale Gold in value—priceless, comparable to a complete artifact.

A true heaven-sent blessing!

Wu Yuan couldn’t fathom why the fiend had swallowed the Hollowstone. Did it mistake it for candy?

Regardless, it was his now.

After carefully washing it, he tucked it into his robe, treating it like the treasure it was.

To safeguard it, he took advantage of the lull before the next wave of monsters and hurried back to the Spirit-Suppressing Tower to store the Hollowstone there.

No one could enter without his permission, and with his clone guarding it, security was absolute.

Yet the moment he stepped inside, something utterly unforeseen happened.

A screen of light abruptly appeared above the stone tiger’s head, flashing rapidly with text:

Soon, more text followed:

Reinforcement? Optimization? What was going on? He was baffled.

But one thing was clear—the post’s core, unable to tolerate him acquiring a spatial treasure, was scheming to claim it.

Had the core shown any intelligence, he’d have suspected a cunning artifact spirit lurking within.

Still, reluctance aside, the promise of immediate reinforcement was tempting.

With his current lack of security, if this sacrifice bolstered his defenses, the loss would be justified.

Gritting his teeth, he tossed the Hollowstone into the upgrade pool beneath the stone tiger.

The stone sank into the black water without a splash.

Yet the screen above the tiger flickered excitedly, text rapidly updating:

Seeing the words “Spatial Crystal”, Wu Yuan’s heartache intensified a hundredfold.

He’d thought the Hollowstone was a massive windfall—only to realize he’d underestimated it. The true prize lay within.

But it was too late. Expecting the post core to spit it out was as futile as hoping for another treasure-bearing Purple Fiend.

The frantic re-optimization made it clear—this was a one-way trip.

Five minutes later, a sprawling white screen replaced the smaller one:

Spatial Crystal (Post Core): Partially replaces spatial spirit tree functions. Post’s energy conversion efficiency increased. Current daily Spirit Energy output: 27 units.

Tier 1 Spatial Warehouse: Divided into Post Public Storage (9 compartments, 10x10x10 each, totaling 9000 m³, accessible only in Spirit-Suppressing Tower or designated room, requires owner’s authorization) and Owner’s Private Storage (1 compartment, 1000 m³, accessible anywhere within post, clone-shareable).

Tier 1 Spatial Membrane: Post footprint unchanged, internal space doubled (including external spirit fields). Functions as defense barrier (no Spirit Energy cost; excess damage consumes Spatial Energy—current reserve: 5000 units, daily recovery: 1 unit).

Tier 1 Defensive Array: Spatial Maze.

Tier 1 Offensive Array: Spatial Kiss.

Other unlisted adjustments required Wu Yuan to check the post’s updated attributes:

Rank: Lingyuan-tier [Deficient] Lv.1, Spatial Reinforced Lv.1

Owner: Li Xinyuan

Core: Spirit-Suppressing Stone Tiger (Artifact), Upgrade Pool (Artifact), Spatial Crystal (Artifact), Spatial Spirit Tree (Deficient), Core Spirit Array (Deficient)

Facilities:

Tier 1 Spirit-Suppressing Tower (Reinforced)

Tier 1 Inn (Reinforced)

Tier 1 Courtyard (Reinforced)

20 Utility Rooms (Reinforced)

Constructed:

Tier 1 Spirit Pool (Reinforced) – Extra Spirit Energy capacity: 10,000 units. Daily conversion: +2 units.

Tier 1 Spirit Well (Reinforced) – Daily output: 10 jin of Tier 1 Spirit Water.

Tier 1 Spirit Field (Reinforced) – 2 acres. Tier 1 spirit crops mature in 2 months. Acceleratable via Spirit Energy (max +30%).

Tier 1 Spatial Warehouse.

Defensive Arrays: Tier 1 Fortress, Tier 1 Barrier, Tier 1 Spatial Maze.

Offensive Arrays: Tier 1 Earth Prison, Tier 1 Earth Net, Tier 1 Spatial Kiss.

Abilities:

Lv.1 Stone Tiger’s Aura: 300m radius. Unregistered individuals suffer -10 levels and -30% mobility. Permanent effect.

Lv.1 Tiger Spirit Strike: 1000m range. Instantly kills targets below Lv.20; inflicts wounds on higher levels. Cooldown: 3 months (stacks up to 3). Current stacks: 1.

Lv.1 Spatial Membrane: Doubles internal space (including external fields). Defense mode consumes Spatial Energy (5000 reserve, +1/day).

Resource Reserve: None.

Spirit Energy Reserve: 240/12,000 (Daily +27 units).

Upgrade Requirements:

1000 Spirit Energy.

10 jin of Spirit-Ink Liquid.

100 cubic meters of Ironwood.

100 cubic meters of Blue Steel Stone.

200 cubic meters of Tier 1 Spirit Soil.

Seeing the doubled stats, Wu Yuan’s regret eased. The sacrifice of a treasure had been worth it.

The extra acre of spirit fields and 30% growth acceleration were particularly satisfying.

The boosted energy conversion also shortened the post’s upgrade timeline—something to anticipate.

But why did Resource Reserve show “None”?

He distinctly remembered leftover materials after constructing the fields, plus continuous deliveries. How could they all vanish?

He rushed out to investigate.

A soldier from Firefly Dream Cave reported: A large patch of Black Jade Spirit Soil near the post had inexplicably disappeared—over a hundred cubic meters lost.

Next, others reported dozens of thick Ironwood trees vanishing from nearby forests, along with a hundred cubic meters of premium Blue Steel Stone from the cliffs.

Wu Yuan understood. The post had “borrowed” these resources.

Likely due to insufficient reserves during reinforcement, it had drawn from the surroundings—perhaps a side effect of the Spatial Crystal’s integration, granting it teleportation-like abilities.

But this was probably a one-time event, unusable for standard upgrades.

As his subordinates sought answers, Wu Yuan explained the post’s reinforcement and its changes, ensuring the soldiers adapted swiftly.

Later, he inspected the Spatial Membrane’s effects.

A thin, watery film now enveloped the post, distorting light slightly—almost like a mild cloaking effect—while creating a surreal sense of expanded space within.

He’d assumed the membrane covered the post like an inverted bowl, but behind it, he found a smaller “bowl” attached—the expanded external spirit fields.

Next, he visited the makeshift storage room, now linked to the Public Storage.

Inside, materials from fiends and insects were piled haphazardly. Only select items—like the Blood Crystals (20 total: 17 low-tier crimson, 3 mid-tier vermilion)—were neatly boxed.

A shelf held 50-60 oddities from dissections, though none matched the Hollowstone’s value.

Another section stored spirit-grade materials like the Purple Fiend’s remains or Iron Chariot Beetle blades—several sets’ worth.

And ordinary energy-infused materials? Hundreds filled the room.