Chapter 434: Lightning Valley
One month later, the two arrived at the Lightning Valley.
From a distance, the Lightning Valley was a little like the Thunder Forest in the Nine Treasures secret realm.
However, it exuded a more dangerous feel which made their hair stand on end.
"I suddenly remember the feeling of being hacked by lightning in the Thunder Forest." Jiang Yue said and sighed.
Hearing this, Yu Nianzhen held Jiang Yue’s hand and smiled.
"It’s necessary." He said.
"I know but I don’t have to like it." Jiang Yue stuck out his tongue and Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but rub his hair.
"Let’s go on in." He said.
After that, the two walked into the lightning valley.
Unlike the thunder forest, there were no trees in the Lightning Valley.
Instead, the land was barren and the sky was covered by a thick black cloud.
"It’s impossible for cultivators below the nascent soul realm to survive in this place." Jiang Yue said.
His and Yu Nianzhen’s body cultivation was at the peak of the fifth level.
Because of this, they weren’t harmed by the lightning at the periphery of the Lightning Valley.
However, they could feel its level.
If their body cultivation was at the early stage of the fifth level, they would have to stay there to cultivate for a while before they ventured into the depths.
"Do you want to stay here to get used to it before going inside?" Yu Nianzhen questioned.
"There is no need." Jiang Yue answered with a solemn look on his face.
Since they only had a little more than one hundred and forty years, Jiang Yue didn’t want to waste time.
If he could, he wanted to spend one hundred years in the Lightning Valley and then return to the Myriad Forms Mountain.
"Okay, let’s go inside." Yu Nianzhen agreed.
With that, the two walked for half a day before stopping at an empty place.
"How do you feel about this place?" Yu Nianzhen asked.
"About right." Jiang Yue nodded and then frowned.
"What’s wrong?"
"We didn’t see anyone on our way here." Jiang Yue said.
Although he knew the training grounds were vast, he was still a little disappointed that they didn’t see anyone.
"Everyone has their own fate, don’t worry too much."
Hearing this, Jiang Yue sighed.
"If we have a chance, let’s try to find a lightning beast."
"Good." Yu Nianzhen agreed.
After that, the two sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
To achieve the best results, they wore ordinary clothes instead of their protective robes.
Because of this, their clothes were soon torn to pieces and bloody welts appeared on their skin.
’As expected.’ Jiang Yue thought, feeling a little resentful.
Every time he crossed the thunder tribulation, his body would turn to roasted meat and his hair would be burned in different places.
This time, he expected an even worse outcome.
Sixty years later, Jiang Yue opened his eyes.
"XiaoYue." Yu Nianzhen called.
"Azhen." Jiang Yue also called and instinctively threw himself into his husband’s arms.
A moment later, he retreated from the arms and carefully looked at Yu Nianzhen.
"You have advanced to the peak stage of the nascent soul realm." He said.
"Mmmmh." Yu Nianzhen nodded before explaining.
"I haven’t been refining my body for the last five years." He said.
Hearing that, Jiang Yue frowned.
"Azhen, my body cultivation can’t seem to break through to the sixth level." He complained.
"I am the same." Yu Nianzhen said and also frowned.
The reason he stopped refining his body was because he wasn’t making any progress.
Initially, he thought it was because there was not enough chance.
Thinking this way, he moved to an area with more powerful lightning but the result was the same.
After that, he guessed that body refining, like qi refining, was restricted.
"It’s a pity." Jiang Yue said with a regretful look on his face.
"Even though we can’t break through to the sixth level, coming here was not a waste of time." Yu Nianzhen said and Jiang Yue nodded.
Although they didn’t advance, their body cultivation benefited a lot.
If either were to encounter the tribulation they crossed when breaking through to the nascent soul realm, they would survive without a scratch on their body.
"I used most of our low-grade spirit stones." Yu Nianzhen confessed.
While waiting for Jiang Yue, he cultivated his realm from the late stage to the peak stage of the nascent soul realm.
However, the Lightning Valley was only suitable for body cultivation and not qi cultivation.
Because of this, he had to rely on spirit stones to advance.
"Why didn’t you use mid-grade spirit stones?" Jiang Yue frowned.
Now that they were in the nascent soul realm, low-grade spirit stones were almost ineffective.
Using them to cultivate was a waste of time and Jiang Yue couldn’t help but feel sorry for his husband.
"Don’t worry, I am fine." Yu Nianzhen said with a smile on his lips.
Although cultivating with low-grade spirit stones was a waste of time, Yu Nianzhen was not in a hurry.
As long as he advanced, he didn’t care too much about the process.
"We should dump the rest of the low-grade spirit stones into the jade box." Jiang Yue suggested.
"Good." Yu Nianzhen didn’t argue.
Since their cultivation was at the peak of the nascent soul realm, they no longer needed low-grade spirit stones.
In that case, it was best to use them to urge the growth of the herbs in the jade box.
"We have invested so much but the Tree of Life has yet to bear fruit." Jiang Yue couldn’t help but complain.
"The Tree of Life is not an ordinary herb. Its effect is heaven-defying and its growth cannot be easy."
"I know." Jiang Yue said but still felt a little depressed.
He, Yu Nianzhen, and Yang Xu heavily relied on the Tree of Life.
If the growth of the Tree of Life didn’t keep up with their cultivation, they would all suffer.
"For now, the leaves are powerful enough." Yu Nianzhen comforted.
With the tree’s current level, Yu Nianzhen wasn’t worried they would die when they broke through to the reincarnation realm.
At the moment, his only worry was his master.
Although Yang Xu had already refined some leaves and his origin had recovered enough to allow him to advance to the reincarnation realm, Yu Nianzhen was worried about the future.
When they were in the Crystal Worms Desert, Yang Xu secretly gave him most of the mid-grade spirit stones he found in the sealed battlefield.
However, these spirit stones were not enough to urge a substantial growth of the Tree of Life.
If they didn’t find more mid-grade or higher spirit stones, Yu Nianzhen was worried the tree’s growth would stagnate or even regress.
"Okay, let’s not depress ourselves. Shall we try to find a lightning beast?" Jiang Yue said with a brilliant smile on his lips.
"Good." Yu Nianzhen immediately agreed.
"We both have map fragments of the Lightning Valley. Let’s see if we can find a location."
After that, the two spent a lot of time studying the map fragments and eventually chose a few possible locations.
"I hope we can find a lightning beast." Jiang Yue said as they spoke.
"Mmmm." Yu Nianzhen nodded.
From the beginning, his and Jiang Yue’s tribulations were more powerful than those of other cultivators.
Although they had the Tree of Life, Yu Nianzhen was not reassured.
Since there was a chance to get a helper, he naturally wanted to give it a try.
Unfortunately, luck was not on their side.
Even after searching for twenty years, the two didn’t find a lightning beast and they couldn’t help but be discouraged.
"Maybe we don’t have this fate." Jiang Yue said and sighed.
"The only places we haven’t searched are the depths." Yu Nianzhen said.
"The depths of the Lightning Valley are like the Crystal Worms Desert. We will surely die if we dare to go inside."
"At least we found three lightning crystals. Our twenty years were not a loss." Jiang Yue consoled themselves.
"When the time comes, we can use the lightning crystals to advance our body cultivation to the sixth level."
"Azhen, let’s go back to the Myriad Forms Mountain."
Hearing that, Yu Nianzhen immediately agreed.
They stayed in the Lightning Valley for eighty years and there were still sixty years before the close of the secret realm.
’I don’t know what I will encounter on the two hundredth and seventeenth floor of the sword tower.’ Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but be excited when he thought about it.
On the two hundredth and sixteenth floor, he had to comprehend the sword intent of the Infinite Blizzard sword art.
Considering his previous experience, Yu Nianzhen guessed he would encounter another sword intent on the two hundredth and seventeenth floor.
"You seem excited." Jiang Yue commented.
"Aren’t you also?" Yu Nianzhen asked and they both laughed.
When they arrived at the Myriad Forms Mountain, they said their goodbyes and then entered the mountain.
A little more than sixty years later, the Myriad Forms Mountain and the other training grounds began to shake.
