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

Chapter 8: Red Leaf Cliff – The Relay Station Rises

The remaining distance was sixty li.

By Wu Yuan’s estimate, the group had traveled for at least another full day by Blue Star’s timekeeping standards, yet the sky still showed no sign of darkening. Such was the strangeness of the Tianyuan World.

They had already finished five hundred portions of dry rations, and their one hundred fifty gourds of clean water were nearly depleted when they finally caught sight of a vivid crimson silhouette in the distance.

Red Leaf Cliff.

Sheer cliffs rose on either side, draped in blood-red vines, with a thousand-pace-wide, ten-li-long passage cutting through the middle. It was more of a gorge than a cliff, but the first mercenaries to discover it had named it Red Leaf Cliff, and the name had stuck.

“Ten li of Red Leaf Cliff, where even blood seems pure,

With blades in hand, we march ahead,

Only to return when wounds endure.”

Wu Yuan couldn’t help but recite the crude poem etched in his dream memories.

In both of his past lives, this place had been steeped in blood and nostalgia. He had tried to make it his home, but all it had ever given him was more bloodshed.

In his first life, he had painstakingly established a small territory nearby, only for it to be destroyed before it could even reach village rank, costing him most of his assets.

In his second life, he had managed to build a village early and rapidly advanced it to high-tier status, nearly reaching town rank. But misplaced trust in so-called brothers led to its loss, and even real-world pursuit, forcing him into hiding and wasting precious time. His early advantages faded, turning him from a pioneer into a straggler, eventually lost among the masses.

As for where to place the Spirit-Source Relay Station at Red Leaf Cliff, Wu Yuan had long since decided. The spot was all too familiar. It had once been the stronghold of a powerful territory in his dream memories, situated just beyond the cliff’s rear entrance.

Sadly, that territory’s lord had also met a tragic end after his real-world identity was exposed, leaving his domain in ruins.

Wu Yuan led the way without hesitation.

Chen Yong followed closely, puzzled. He had assumed the station would be built at the cliff’s front entrance, facing the official road. Instead, Wu Yuan led them straight through the gorge to the far side, a far more dangerous location.

“Boss, is this really the right place?” Chen Yong couldn’t help but whisper as Wu Yuan finalized the site.

Wu Yuan gestured toward a recessed area about a li deep, backed by a large cave, as if outlining a grand vision:

“What’s wrong with it? Your concerns aren’t mine. Now, everyone—stand back.”

With that, he retrieved the Spirit-Source Relay Station from his pack, carefully placed it at the center of the chosen site, then pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto it, silently activating it.

A sudden gale erupted as countless milky-white motes of energy representing *yuanli, converged from all directions. The energy swiftly formed a massive vortex hundreds of meters wide, swirling around the expanding station at its core.

[*a type of mystical or elemental energy often found in fantasy or xianxia (Chinese cultivation) genres.].

Chen Yong and the newly recruited guards gaped in shock before erupting into unrestrained joy.

This spectacle meant the structure was no ordinary building, not a makeshift shelter, nor even a Star-Source construct, but something far more formidable.

Fed by the torrent of yuanli, the station expanded until it covered over ten thousand square meters. Yet the vortex didn’t dissipate—instead, it grew larger and faster, drawing in even more distant energy.

The yuanli condensed into countless runes of varying sizes, embedding themselves into the station’s walls, buildings, and facilities. After what felt like an eternity, the remaining runes formed an enormous, net-like formation above the station before crashing down in a radiant explosion.

Brilliant light flashed across the structure like a sky full of stars, stunningly beautiful.

The relay station was complete.

Wu Yuan strode inside, his clone in tow.

The others remained frozen for a long moment before snapping out of their daze. Excited, they hurried after him. Some driving carts, others carrying supplies into the newly built station.

The station’s control core lay within an octagonal tower at the center of the courtyard. Above its entrance, the words “Guardian Spirit Tower” were carved.

Currently, the tower had only one floor. Inside, Wu Yuan found a ten-meter-long black pool—the Upgrade Pool at the center of the hall. At its heart crouched a three-meter-long stone tiger, its jade-like body glowing faintly. A sphere of spiritual light hovered above its head: the station’s control core, the Guardian Spirit Tiger.

Though Wu Yuan had never personally operated a Spirit-Source Relay Station, he had witnessed similar scenes multiple times in his dream memories. Without hesitation, he commanded:

“Guardian Spirit Tiger, display the station’s full details.”

Light surged from the stone tiger’s head, projecting a long white screen filled with crisp black text:

Name: Pending

Level: 1

Owner: Li Xinyuan (Wu Yuan’s pseudonym)

Core Components:

Guardian Stone Tiger [Rare Artifact].

Upgrade Pool [Rare Artifact].

Spatial Spirit Tree [Missing].

Core Formation Diagram [Missing].

Facilities:

Tier 1 Guardian Spirit Tower

Tier 1 Inn

Tier 1 Courtyard

20 Storage Rooms

Defensive Formations:

Tier 1 Fortified Walls

Tier 1 Protective Barrier

Offensive Formations:

Tier 1 Earthen Prison

Tier 1 Ground Net

Divine Abilities:

Lv.1 [Stone Tiger’s Aura]:

Range: 300 meters.

Effect: Unregistered individuals have their levels suppressed by 10 and movement reduced by 30%. Permanent.

Lv.1 [Tiger Spirit’s Execution]:

Range: 1,000 meters.

Effect: Instantly kills targets below Level 20. Higher-level targets suffer severe injuries.

Cooldown: 3 months per use (max 3 stored charges).

Resource Reserves: None

Spiritual Energy Reserves: 200

(Due to missing Spatial Spirit Tree and Core Formation Diagram, energy conversion efficiency reduced by 90%. Current daily gain: 5 points.)

Constructible Buildings:

Tier 1 Spirit-Source Pool

Tier 1 Spirit Field

Tier 1 Spirit Well

Upgrade Requirements:

1,000 Spiritual Energy

10 jin of Formation Ink

100 cubic meters of Hardgold Wood

100 cubic meters of Blue-Steel Stone

200 cubic meters of Tier 1 Spirit Soil

Wu Yuan immediately named the station Red Leaf Cliff Relay Station.

The moment he willed it, the main gate’s plaque shimmered, revealing five bold characters.

He then scrutinized the station’s key abilities.

To his surprise, the core already contained two complete Rare Artifacts, and a fully intact Spirit-Source Relay Station would have four.

Rare Artifacts were incredibly scarce. Even after centuries in his dream memories, he had only encountered a handful.

In the Tianyuan World, equipment was categorized into:

Lower Three Tiers: Yuan Artifacts, Spirit Artifacts, Dharma Artifacts

Middle Three Tiers: Rare Artifacts, Treasure Artifacts, Celestial Wonders

…and beyond.

Rare Artifacts belonged to the Middle Three Tiers, utterly unattainable through normal means.

This explained why even a Level 1 station possessed two divine abilities. Tiger Spirit’s Execution, in particular, was a one-hit kill technique capable of slaying even fifth-realm Organ Refinement experts. It instantly elevated Wu Yuan’s standing.

After analyzing the screen three times, Wu Yuan concluded:

Resource accumulation was the top priority.

Wood, stone, and spirit soil needed to be gathered urgently—not just for upgrades, but also for constructing the Spirit-Source Pool, Spirit Field, and Spirit Well.

As for Formation Ink, a specialized array-drawing fluid sold in Qingqiao Town’s shops—while expensive, it was obtainable.

The real headache was completing the station’s missing core components.

The Spatial Spirit Tree wasn’t unheard of in his memories; with enough strength, it could be acquired. But right now, strength was precisely what he lacked.

The Core Formation Diagram required connections with special merchant guilds—a lead he had, provided he could muster enough funds.

Rubbing his temples, Wu Yuan pushed the thoughts aside. Overthinking wouldn’t help. For now, he needed to organize the guards. The core could wait.

He sent his clone out to collect the guards’ identity plaques, imprinting them with the Guardian Spirit Tiger’s runes. This registered them as station personnel, exempting them from the Stone Tiger’s Aura suppression.

Next, he had the clone practice the Reclining Buddha Stance inside the tower. Once the habit formed, he felt secure enough to leave, setting restrictions to bar anyone except himself and his clone from entering.

Personally distributing the plaques, he familiarized himself with each guard’s skills and assigned them rooms in the inn.

Before rest, however, the two yellow rhino carts had to be unloaded, their contents sorted and stored. The spoils from hunting bugs along the way were placed in a repurposed storage room.

After half a day’s respite, the group reassembled.

Wu Yuan divided the hundred guards into five teams:

Chen Yong led twenty armed guards to scout five li toward the Demon Bug Hills, mapping monster and resource distribution. If outnumbered, they were to retreat immediately.

Ma Jin, a guard skilled in calculations, took twenty men (including himself) to a nearby grove to fell Hardgold Wood—a Tier 1 spirit wood needed for upgrades. They took one rhino cart.

Shi Zhan, one of the three promoted commoners, led another twenty to a rocky slope to quarry Blue-Steel Stone, taking the second cart.

Wu Yuan himself commanded twenty men to explore the cave behind the cliff—a place he knew held secrets, the very reason this location had been coveted in his past lives.

The remaining twenty armed guards split into two groups of ten, patrolling within 300 meters of the station, including the logging site.

Newly built stations emitted energy fluctuations that attracted low-level human demons and vicious bugs (collectively called monsters). These creatures would trickle in over the next month.

During the break, Wu Yuan had already activated Stone Tiger’s Aura. Any monster entering the 300-meter range would be severely weakened, easy prey for the guards to harvest blood essence.

The stage was set. Red Leaf Cliff Relay Station had risen. Now, it was time to thrive.