Chapter 177: Upgrade
When the red teleportation light dissipated, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen fell to the ground.
They hastily stood up and only relaxed when they saw they were no longer in their box at the auction house.
"This place is beautiful." Jiang Yue said in wonder.
They had teleported to a grassland.
Although there was only green grass as far as the eye could see, the place had a sense of beauty absent in all other places they had visited.
Most importantly, the heaven and earth qi was several times stronger than the thousand herbs garden, which was refreshing.
"Did senior Niu tell you what this place is?" Jiang Yue asked.
"He didn’t say."
Yu Nianzhen was also impressed by the place where the bullock sent them.
However, this was not the time to relax.
What they needed to do was make sure that the place was safe and then find a place to live.
"Let’s look around first." He said.
"Good."
After that, the two walked around the grassland but found no humans or demonic beasts. Even senior Niu was not there, which made them a little suspicious.
However, they could detect no danger or malicious intent, so they decided to set up their palace on the grassland.
"Shall we check the white iron?" Jiang Yue asked and removed the ore they purchased.
"Let’s feed the jade box first."
"Alright."
Jiang Yue removed a pile of spirit stones and placed them in front of Yu Nianzhen.
"Let’s try one hundred million first." He said.
When he heard that, Yu Nianzhen did not hesitate.
He collected the one hundred million spirit stones and dumped them in the jade box.
"How is it?" Jiang Yue asked anxiously.
This was the first time they put so many spirit stones in the jade box, and he was curious to see what would happen.
"See for yourself."
Yu Nianzhen held his husband’s hand, and their consciousness entered the jade box.
"What happened?" Jiang Yue asked in confusion.
The aura in the jade box was extremely rich, but the box was covered in fog.
Even with their powerful consciousness, the two couldn’t see anything, including the herbs planted on the ground and the river surrounding the land.
"I am not quite sure." Yu Nianzhen said and frowned.
He had a vague feeling at the back of his mind, but he couldn’t quite grasp it. The only thing he knew for sure was that he needed to add more spirit stones.
"Let’s add another one hundred million." He said.
When Jiang Yue heard that, he shuddered in fright.
They only had five hundred million spirit stones, and one hundred million had already been eaten. If they added another one hundred, only three hundred would remain, which made him a little unwilling.
’It’s a bottomless pit.’ He complained but still added the spirit stones.
Unfortunately, the fog did not clear. Instead, it grew denser, and they could barely see each other.
"How about..." Yu Nianzhen started, but before he could finish, another one hundred million spirit stones flew into the jade box.
"What a damned box." Jiang Yue grumbled.
His heart was in pain, and he recalled all the cultivation novels he had read in his previous life.
He recalled his annoyance whenever the main characters complained that their treasures were bottomless pits.
However, he now understood that he had wronged those characters. No matter how rich they were, it was too painful to use so many spirit stones at once.
"It looks like the box upgraded." Jiang Yue said in a low voice.
Although the upgrade was a good thing, neither was happy.
In the end, they used more than four hundred million spirit stones and now had less than one hundred million.
Originally, they thought five hundred million was enough to last the next ten years, but they had seriously underestimated the jade box.
"Look..." Jiang Yue pointed at the tree of life.
After so many spirit stones, the tree of life had grown and was now ten metres tall.
It had many branches, and the leaves were a darker green, which showed they were older than the previous ones.
"This is good." Jiang Yue said and sighed in relief.
Although their spirit stones were lost, it was not in vain.
With these leaves, Yu Nianzhen would suffer less during the tribulation.
In the end, it was more important to protect his husband’s life, than to preserve the spirit stones. Everything else could be figured out later.
"The other herbs have also aged." Yu Nianzhen said.
All the herbs were now more than a thousand years old, and their medicinal effect was several times more potent.
"The seed we found in the trade valley has also germinated." The two looked at the place where the seed was planted and saw a small seedling.
The seedling was less than a foot tall and exuded a profound mystery that was a little similar to the tree of life.
"I wonder what it is." Jiang Yue said and looked at the tree curiously.
"I can’t tell." Yu Nianzhen said.
All he knew was that the tree would not be inferior to the tree of life. This meant that it was also a primordial tree.
"We can only wait." Jiang Yue sighed.
After that, the two removed their consciousness from the jade box.
"Should we break this white iron ore?" Jiang Yue asked and looked ready to act.
When he heard that, Yu Nianzhen frowned.
He didn’t know why the compass reacted to the white iron, and he worried they would accidentally damage the treasure.
However, there was no other way.
"I will do it." He said and wielded his sword.
He carefully chopped the white iron, but they didn’t see anything until three-quarters of the ore was chopped off.
"Is this the essence of iron?" Jiang Yue asked excitedly.
In a hollow part of the ore, the two discovered a fist-sized lump of metal.
The metal exuded a golden light and contained a pure iron essence that excited the origin sword in Yu Nianzhen’s dantian.
"It should be." Yu Nianzhen agreed, and a silver light flashed in his eyes.
For a long time, Yu Nianzhen had wanted to refine his natal origin sword. However, he didn’t want to refine it with ordinary materials because it would hinder its power and potential.
Among the materials he desired, star sand and the essence of metal were two.
Unfortunately, he missed out on star sand at the thousand herbs garden but had unexpectedly come across the essence of iron.
"I want to refine my natal sword." He suddenly said.
When he heard that, Jiang Yue frowned.
Refining a natal weapon was not a simple matter since a cultivator could only refine one natal weapon in their life.
If one made a mistake, they could only live with it or hope to find a legendary treasure to help them re-refine the weapon.
"Are you too hasty?" He asked.
"It’s not hasty. I can refine a good sword using the primordial metal box we previously found and this essence of iron."
Although the essence of iron was only of the lowest quality, Yu Nianzhen was not worried. He could continue refining it in the future and add more essence if he came across some.
"Is it okay to only use two materials?" Jiang Yue frowned.
He didn’t know much about refining natal weapons, but he knew that it required many materials.
"It’s enough." Yu Nianzhen assured.
What he wanted to pursue was pure swordsmanship. As such, his sword did not need complex embellishments. All he needed was a weapon with a good foundation.
"I will support you if you are sure about this." Jiang Yue said and sighed.
Without saying anything, Yu Nianzhen pulled him into his arms and held him tightly.
Jiang Yue also hugged him back, and the two did not let go for a long time.
"I will retreat to collect a few drops of lifeblood. After that, I will borrow your flame to refine."
"Is it okay to use my flame?" Jiang Yue asked.
His primordial yin-yang flame had his breath. If Yu Nianzhen used it to refine his natal weapon, he could encounter problems using the sword.
"We are contract partners." Yu Nianzhen stated and Jiang Yue understood.
Their soul contract was approved by the tao. In the eyes of the heavens, they were one soul in two bodies.
If Yu Nianzhen used his flame to refine the natal sword, the flame would be recognised as his own, and there would be no problems with the sword.
In the future, Jiang Yue could also use the sword without any problems.
"Being Taoist companions has brought a lot of conveniences." Jiang Yue said, and Yu Nianzhen smiled.
"You are right about that." He said, and a silver light flashed in his eyes.
Before Jiang Yue could react, his body was lifted and carried into the bedroom on the topmost floor.
"Didn’t you want to retreat?" He asked.
"It won’t be too late to retreat after a few days." Yu Nianzhen said, and both fell on the bed.
