Chapter 289: Violence
While Yu Nianzhen was resting, Yang Xu and Bing Lan signalled that they wanted to get out of the ancient palace.
After thinking about it, Jiang Yue let them out and the two appeared in front of him.
"Are we in thunder forest?" Yang Xu asked as he looked around.
"We are heading towards the centre." Yang Xu answered.
"Have master and mistress fully recovered?"
"We are fine." Bing Lan answered and sighed.
She was a little uncomfortable that she took a precious healing item from her husband’s disciple.
However, the deed was already done and she couldn’t return the leaf.
In that case, she could only find ways to make up for it in the future.
"What about Nianzhen?" Yang Xu asked when he noticed his disciple’s state.
"Don’t worry. He is only exhausted and will be fine after a few days of rest."
"I will try to adjust my body before Nianzhen wakes up." Bing Lan said and immediately sat cross-legged.
Among the four, she had the weakest body and couldn’t stand the lightning in that area.
If she was asked to continue forward, she would be unable to endure and her body would be burned to ashes.
"The treasure of the thunder forest is a good choice for Xuan Ke." Yang Xu said and sighed.
"It is." Jiang Yue agreed with a nod.
"Have you thought about where to go after leaving the thunder forest?"
"If Xuan Ke gets the treasure he wants, he will enter the ancient palace to cultivate. After that, we will walk towards this valley." Jiang Yue said and pointed at an area on the map.
"This area has many space cracks. I haven’t been there before but I heard there are many space pockets there. If you aren’t careful, you will be swallowed into a space pocket."
"We know that. However, Azhen and I need space-related treasures."
When he heard that, Yang Xu nodded and didn’t say anything more.
Birds died for food, people died for wealth, and cultivators died for treasures.
Since Nianzhen and Jiang Yue had identified the kind of treasures they needed, they could only do their best to get them.
"The space valley is quite a distance away. Are there any treasures you want along the way?"
"If the map is correct, Azhen and I don’t need the treasures along the way. However, we should still investigate carefully to make sure we don’t miss anything."
"You ate right."
After that, Jiang Yue and Yang Xu also sat cross-legged to cultivate.
When Yu Nianzhen woke up, he and Jiang Yue walked ahead while yang Xu was left behind to wait for his wife.
"Still no word from Xuan Ke?"
"No word." Jiang Yue said and frowned.
He had tried to message Xuan Ke but his message hadn’t gone through.
This was because the area of the thunder forest was quite special and it was normal for communication to be interrupted.
However, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen didn’t panic.
Before Xuan Ke went ahead, they made a plan to make sure they could reunite.
"Azhen, shouldn’t you take out your natal sword?" Jiang Yue asked as they walked.
"Not yet. The lightning here is still too weak to have an effect on it."
"Okay, let’s hurry then."
In this way, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen continued moving inwards.
When they couldn’t endure the lightning, they would stop to cultivate their bodies and then continue with their journey.
Unknowingly, two months passed and both reached the peak of the third level of body refining.
With a little opportunity, they would be able to break through to the fourth level of their body refining techniques.
However, such an opportunity was elusive and the two could only be patient.
"We should be able to break through if we enter the thunder pool in the middle of the thunder forest." Jiang Ye said and frowned.
After walking for so long, they had yet to arrive at the centre of the thunder forest.
This was because the lightning had become increasingly powerful and the two could barely make progress.
"I want to get to the centre." Jiang Yue said stubbornly.
"I also want to." Yu Nianzhen agreed.
Initially, neither he nor Jiang Yue was invested in improving their body refining realm at this point.
However, after being in the thunder forest for so long, they became ambitious and wanted t break through to the fourth level of body refining before exiting the forest.
"Do you think brother Xuan has arrived at the centre?" Jiang Yue asked and looked into the distance.
The area above the centre had the darkest thunderclouds and the lightning strikes were more violent than in other areas.
Even from a distance, they could feel the horror of the centre but they still wanted to go.
"If he hasn’t arrived, he should be close." Yu Nianzhen said and frowned.
According to the previous agreement, they would leave the thunder forest after Xuan Ke found the treasure.
However, Yu Nianzhen was a little reluctant.
The more he practised in the thunder forest, the more he comprehended the tao of lightning.
Initially, Yu Nianzhen didn’t plan to refine an origin treasure related to lightning.
However, he now realised that maybe he was remiss.
Although his swordsmanship had nothing to do with lightning, lightning represented the extreme of violence.
Lightning was the most violent element in nature and that characteristic was relevant to his swordsmanship.
If he found a good treasure within the core of the thunder forest, Yu Nianzhen planned to refine it.
"Azhen, I am thinking that I should find a good thunder treasure." Jiang Yue said and Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but chuckle.
In some cases, he and Jiang Yue were always on the same wavelength.
At this time, it seemed they were thinking the same thing and had come to the same conclusion.
"Have you thought about the contrast of violence?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"I have." Jiang Yue said and frowned.
After thinking about it for a long time, he felt the most nonviolent thing was the environment of a mother’s womb.
However, he couldn’t think of any treasure that represented that concept.
"I don’t think we need to worry too much." Yu Nianzhen said.
"What do you mean?"
"The antidotes to most poisonous things are usually found close to the poisons."
"You mean that the most nonviolent thing can probably be found close to the most violent thing?"
"Exactly." Yu Nianzhen said and nodded in approval.
When he heard that, Jiang Yue didn’t say anything and instead sunk into his thoughts.
He thought about poisonous herbs and realised that their nemesis usually grew close to them.
In the same way, it was not rare to find cold-resisting herbs in the coldest areas or heat-resisting herbs in the hottest areas.
As he thought about these things, Jiang Yue entered a strange state.
In a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, he saw everything in the world and also understood their polar extremes.
Unfortunately, this understanding was only superficial and didn’t linger in his mind.
When Jiang Yue woke up from the epiphany, he didn’t remember what he saw but his state of mind experienced a qualitative leap.
His understanding of duality had increased and his dao heart had been polished making it clearer than before.
"Congratulations." Yu Nianzhen said and rubbed Jiang Yue’s hair.
At that, Jiang Yue chuckled happily and gave his husband a brief kiss.
"Thank you." He said and the two couldn’t help kissing again.
"Since we have made a decision, let’s rush to the centre." Yu Nianzhen said after they calmed themselves.
"Mmmm." Jiang Yue agreed.
Initially, they didn’t care about the lightning treasures.
However, now that they did, they felt a little urgent.
This was because many cultivators had already entered the thunder forest.
If the two didn’t rush to the centre, all the thunder treasures would be occupied by others which was something they didn’t want to see.
"From the information we have, each area in the Nine Treasures secret realm has many treasures. However, there are only nine core treasures in each region."
"In this thunder forest, the lightning and purple bamboos are treasures. However, they can’t be compared to the nine core treasures at the centre of the forest."
"One of the treasures is the heavenly purple bamboo that brother Xuan is aiming for. The bamboo can generate lightning and should improve the quality of his origin lightning."
"Other than the heavenly purple bamboo, there is a heavenly thunderstone in the thunder pool. It is said that the stone contains an infinite amount of thunder." Jiang Yue continued and then froze for a moment.
"What’s wrong?"
"What if brother Xuan plans to refine more than one lightning treasure?"
"Although we are brothers, we each have a path to walk. We can’t ask Xuan Ke to sacrifice for us but he also can’t ask us to do so. In that case, what we get depends on our ability." Yu Nianzhen said in a matter-of-fact tone.
