Yang Kai had already noticed something off about Zhao and Sun's behavior.
After all, the Iron Arm Sacred Ni's cave was not only dark and damp but reeked terribly. Yet after obtaining the Gold Crystal Grass, these two had chosen to stay behind and sit cross-legged to recover. That clearly said something.
If there wasn't something else of value inside, why would they choose to linger in that kind of environment?
So Yang Kai had pretended to leave, but in reality had concealed himself nearby, secretly probing.
Now, the moment he sensed the traces of them channeling their power, he immediately confirmed his suspicions.
That said, in a situation like this, Yang Kai was in no position to strike and seize their spoils. After all, while Zhao and Sun had withheld information from him, they hadn't actually done anything to harm him. He could only blame his own ignorance.
It seemed… it was time to brush up on his knowledge of the various materials found throughout the Star Boundary. Otherwise, he'd keep getting shortchanged like this.
Yang Kai didn't know what exactly lay underground that was worth Zhao and Sun going to such great lengths to excavate, but since it was inconvenient for him to reveal himself, he could only continue hiding.
The commotion from the other side persisted, and before long, a large pit had been dug into the cave floor. Zhao and Sun jumped in one after another, continuing their excavation.
A full half-day later, the two shot out from the cave mouth one after another. Yet rather than looking pleased, both wore deep frowns, appearing to have found nothing.
"Damn it, what a waste—half a day gone for nothing," the Zhao-surnamed man cursed.
"Right? Who could've expected it would turn out like this. If I'd known, we might as well have just left. Sigh." The Sun-surnamed man sighed as well.
"Forget it. It's fate—can't force it. Let's hurry and find the entrance to the second level. Who knows when this Five Colored Pagoda will close? We need to grab what we can while we still can. Especially that Dao Source Fruit—it would be enormously useful to both of us!"
In just a few exchanges, the two had already lost all desire to remain. They summoned their flying Artifacts and shot into the sky.
Moments later, Yang Kai's figure materialized from the void, his gaze fixed in the direction the two had vanished, a contemplative expression on his face.
From their conversation, it seemed they hadn't actually obtained any benefit from underground. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so frustrated. Yet by the sound of their words, it wasn't as if there was nothing of value down there either.
This left Yang Kai thoroughly puzzled.
He flickered and returned to the cave. Upon reaching the deepest point and looking ahead, he saw a large pit before him.
Yang Kai leapt in.
Before long, his feet touched the ground. Releasing his Divine Sense, the situation underground became immediately clear.
Zhao and Sun's efficiency was indeed impressive—they were Void King Third Stage martial artists, after all. In just half a day, they had excavated the underground into a cavern spanning roughly a hundred zhang in diameter.
And there was not the slightest sign of collapse.
Yang Kai marveled at this, genuinely impressed by their skill.
But within this cavern spanning a hundred zhang, there was only a single thing—a massive, intact ore!
He couldn't tell what mineral it was. The entire surface had a faint blue-green hue, as if covered in moss. But upon closer inspection, it wasn't moss at all—it was simply the natural color of the ore itself.
The edges of the ore had been fully excavated, so Yang Kai could see clearly that it was irregular in shape, yet it was as large as ten rooms put together.
And not far from where Yang Kai stood, there were still marks of attack left on the surface of the ore.
Quite a few marks. Some were several inches deep, while others were mere scratches.
These marks had clearly been left by Zhao and Sun.
Yang Kai suddenly understood why the two had worn such frustrated expressions when they walked out of the cave.
It wasn't that there was nothing of value underground—it was that this particular prize was something the two of them simply couldn't take with them. They could only stare at it helplessly!
Such a massive ore—no one's Space Ring could hold it. Zhao and Sun had obviously known this, which was why they had tried to chip pieces off to carry away. Those residual marks were the best proof.
Unfortunately, the ore seemed to be incredibly hard. Even with Zhao and Sun's strength, they hadn't been able to break it, so in the end they had no choice but to walk away rather than waste more time.
Yang Kai, however, stared at it with gleaming eyes, chuckling to himself.
His Space Ring was no different from anyone else's, so it naturally couldn't accommodate such a massive ore. But apart from the Space Ring, he had the Myriad Domain Bead!
Back then, the Dharma Avatar—with its enormous body—had been stuffed straight into the the Myriad Domain Bead by Yang Kai. A mere ore like this was nothing in comparison.
Compared to the Dharma Avatar from back then, this ore was far more petite and delicate.
This ore existed on the first level of the Five Colored Pagoda, so it absolutely couldn't be an Emperor-grade mineral. Yang Kai estimated it was at most a Dao Source-grade mineral, or perhaps Void King-grade.
Even so, something this massive was worth a considerable fortune.
The Dharma Avatar had been cultivating the Devouring Heaven Art and was in need of vast quantities of material to devour and refine. This ore would serve perfectly as a resource to make the Dharma Avatar stronger.
With that thought, Yang Kai wasted no more time. He sat down cross-legged on the spot, then released his Divine Sense in a torrent, using his own spiritual perception to completely envelop the massive ore.
Then, with a low grunt, Yang Kai poured every ounce of his Divine Sense forth.