Fairy, Please Forgive Me, I Never Meant to Impersonate Your Husband
Chapter 9 - The Black Pearl Mystery of Glowdream Cave, Blood on the Flaming Mountain's Foothills

Chapter 9: The Black Pearl Mystery of Glowdream Cave, Blood on the Flaming Mountain’s Foothills

Setting aside the work of the other four teams, let’s focus on Wu Yuan’s own expedition.

The cave behind the relay station had an entrance two to three hundred meters wide and over ten zhang tall, now half-blocked by the newly built station. Wu Yuan led his team out through the station’s back gate, and within a hundred steps, they entered the cavern. The light dimmed almost instantly.

The deeper they ventured, the farther sunlight receded. Yet an eerie, phosphorescent glow began to illuminate the cave, emanating from strange luminous moss clinging to the walls.

Wu Yuan observed with keen interest, memories of another timeline resurfacing.

In the past, this place had become a tourist attraction. No one could withstand the pressure to establish a territory here, so it was left open for all to explore.

By then, the cave’s two most precious resources had long been stripped away, leaving only the dreamlike glow of the moss, earning it the name Glowdream Cave, a scenic wonder.

“Black pearls hide in Glowdream’s embrace,

While blood stains Flaming Mountain’s base.”

The verse slipped out unbidden, another relic of his memories. But this time, it carried a strange irony. History was written by the victors.

The two future bloodbaths over resources would be fratricidal conflicts among Dragon Summer’s own people. Later generations believed they occurred separately at Glowdream Cave and Flaming Mountain. Few knew the truth: not only did the legendary Black Pearl Rice originate here, but even the ancestral roots of Flaming Mountain’s mutated Blazing Grass had been taken from this very cave two centuries prior.

Now, those wars remained unborn. Dragon Summer’s people hadn’t yet flooded into the Tianyuan World. The handful who had entered struggled to survive in border towns. Their reach wouldn’t extend here for at least three Blue Star years—thirty Tianyuan years.

What level will I have reached by then?

Wu Yuan glanced back at the station’s silhouette at the cave mouth and smiled. By then, the relay station would have expanded enough to completely conceal this cave’s secrets. Those two blood-soaked battles would remain buried in his dreams.

The Treasure Trove of Glowdream Cave

The cavern stretched deep, forming a twisted rectangle. By Wu Yuan’s estimate, it spanned over a thousand mu, roughly seventy hectares.

While he mentally mapped the terrain, the twenty guards behind him gasped in awe.

He had handpicked them; farmers with planting experience, foraging apprentices, and two mining trainees. The cave’s abundant resources and absence of immediate dangers had them buzzing with excitement.

With Wu Yuan’s permission, they fanned out to scout. By midday, they’d cataloged all visible resources and elected spokesmen to report.

The Black Pearl Rice

The farmers’ leader, a man nicknamed Blackhead (despite the comical name, he was dead serious), stepped forward:

*”Boss, we’ve found three large groves of black rice trees—over three thousand in total. The grains are pearl-sized, unlike any variety we’ve seen. We sampled raw grains—their spiritual energy surpasses even Tier-1 spirit rice. If not Tier-2, they’re at least top-grade Tier-1.”*

Wu Yuan nodded. He knew Black Pearl Rice’s yield wasn’t just “a thousand jin per tree”—that was a gross underestimate. The real output was several times higher, and though it took a year to mature, the quality would make him wealthy beyond measure.

Blackhead added with a fawning grin:

“And we’ve made a shocking discovery! At the center of the largest grove stands a spirit rice tree—taller than the rest, glowing faintly. Its leaves trembled when we approached! A sentient plant like this is worth a fortune!”

“Is that so?”

Wu Yuan feigned mild surprise, his calm demeanor unshaken by the windfall. Blackhead’s awe deepened. He’d planned to suggest how to handle the spirit tree, but seeing his employer’s indifference, he realized:

This man already knows. More than I do.

Any greedy thoughts fled his mind.

The Golden Blaze Grass

Next came the foragers’ representative—a young woman named Caiyu, the most striking among the eight female guards. Previously disheveled, she’d clearly found water in the cave, washing up and even styling her hair with a stone pin. Now, her beauty shone through.

“Boss, this cave is a treasure vault,” she declared. *”Deep inside, an entire wall is covered in Blazing Grass—over ten thousand plants, all mutated to Tier-2 with gold veins in their leaves. I’ve never seen anything like it. Their value? Measured in gold coins.”*

Wu Yuan nodded again. *”I’ve seen them. We’ll call this variant Golden Blaze Grass. Original Blazing Grass is key for refining Body Tempering pills, especially Blaze Pills for Bone-Forging cultivators. But ours is Tier-2, meaning higher-grade pills.”*

Caiyu’s eyes sparkled with admiration. This boss sees everything.

3. The Mining Report

Last came the two mining apprentices, one a chubby youth (how he’d stayed plump in a refugee camp was a mystery).

“No major discoveries yet,” the boy admitted. “But the cave floor is rich in Tier-1 Black Jade Soil. If we utilize it, Farmer Blackhead could double his rice cultivation.”

“Excellent.” Wu Yuan smiled, though his eyes darkened briefly.

Glowdream Cave did hold mineral deposits, the Black Jade Soil itself was byproduct dust from a precious ore accumulated over millennia. But these apprentices lacked the skill to identify it.

Good.

As Caiyu said, this was a treasure vault, but its true worth was ten thousand times greater. The undiscovered ore veins were just one facet.

Yet revealing too much now would attract packs of starving wolves. The station couldn’t withstand that.

For now, Black Pearl Rice and Golden Blaze Grass were enough to fill his coffers. The rest could wait until he grew stronger.

Orders and Discoveries

Wu Yuan put Blackhead and Caiyu in charge of the cave:

Designate areas for soil excavation (to be shipped back to the station).

Harvest 10,000 jin of mature Black Pearl Rice (limited by storage space).

Forbid unauthorized Golden Blaze Grass harvesting (lacking proper tools and storage).

Seal the cave, no entry except for these twenty guards.

Returning to the station, he checked on the two patrol squads. They’d already slain over a hundred vicious bugs and ten human demons.

One squad was finishing off a spined, green-skinned demon, its strength and speed neutered by the station’s Stone Tiger’s Aura, turning it into a sluggish target. Five archers riddled it with arrows until one pierced its eye and brain.

As the demon fell, hundreds of blood essence strands flowed into the archers’ identity plaques.

Under their leader’s direction, spearmen moved in with cleavers, harvesting:

Spines (from its back).

Fangs (from its mouth).

Hide (from its belly).

Total value: 10 silver coins.

They even reclaimed arrows for reuse.

Wu Yuan noted the patrol leader—a wiry, agile youth named Huang You showed promise.

Meanwhile, the other squad, led by a brawny young man named Huang Tie, rushed over excitedly, holding up a cherry-sized, gelatinous crimson orb.

“Boss! The old folks in the camp called this ‘Blood Essence Crystal’!”

Wu Yuan smiled. *”Correct. When powerful monsters die with concentrated blood essence, these form in their chests. One crystal equals 1,000 blood essence strands. Refined into Blood Essence Pills, a single dose can boost a Tendon-Tempering cultivator by one stage.”*

Huang Tie pressed it into Wu Yuan’s hand, bowed, and sprinted back to his squad.

“An honest man.” Wu Yuan pocketed the crystal.

With both squads operating smoothly, he headed to inspect the logging team next.

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