Heavy Soil and Weak Water were treasures of the same tier — both impossibly dense, each possessing unique properties. Ordinary martial artists would rarely encounter either, and even those of profound cultivation would find it extremely difficult to come across such treasures.
Mo Xiaoqi happened to possess a Weak Water Bead, seemingly forged from Weak Water itself. Back in Yuqing Mountain, she had activated its power to imprison that young Luanfeng. The Luanfeng was an ancient divine beast — even a young one was not to be trifled with. The fact that so many people had died in Yuqing Mountain was proof enough of that. Yet once trapped within the Weak Water Bead, the creature had been powerless to break free. That spoke volumes about the Bead's might.
Mo Xiaoqi came from an impressive background, so possessing a treasure like the Weak Water Bead was hardly surprising.
Heavy Soil existed on equal footing with Weak Water.
In some respects, it was even rarer and more precious.
Not only was Heavy Soil extraordinarily heavy, but wherever it was found, it generated a natural gravity field. This made it invaluable for martial artists to cultivate within, and it could also be refined into all manner of treasures. No matter what Artifact one was crafting, adding even a small amount of Heavy Soil would dramatically increase its weight and grant it exceptional durability, making it nearly impossible to destroy.
Moreover, Heavy Soil possessed certain remarkable properties. If one used it to forge an alchemy furnace or an artifact-refining furnace, those furnaces would actually improve the success rate during the refinement process.
Alchemy masters and artifact refiners would go mad for Heavy Soil.
And that was not all. Thanks to its rich spiritual energy and dense earth-attribute aura, planting spiritual items in Heavy Soil could dramatically shorten their growth cycles.
In other words, if a spirit herb required a hundred years to mature, planting it in Heavy Soil might reduce that to ten years, five years, or even less!
Such a supreme treasure drove countless martial artists to covet it — and drove the great Sects to drool with jealousy alike.
Which major Sect did not maintain its own medicinal garden? Every Sect's garden cultivated large quantities of rare spirit herbs, but the more precious the herb, the more terrifying its growth cycle. Decades or a century was considered short. Several centuries or a millennium was perfectly normal, and some required thousands of years before they reached maturity.
Such long-cycle spirit herbs were generally beyond the ability of individual martial artists to cultivate — they simply lacked the energy and time. Only a Sect possessed that kind of power, and even then it required enormous investment.
But once Heavy Soil entered the equation, everything changed.
A sufficient quantity of Heavy Soil could transform an entire acre of medicinal garden into a perpetual source of spirit herbs. Managed well, it could elevate an entire power to a whole new level.
Unfortunately, Heavy Soil's rarity was nothing short of despair-inducing.
The occasional deposits that appeared in the world were always refined into Artifacts — nowhere near enough for use in medicinal gardens.
Yang Kai knew about Heavy Soil because he had been cultivating the Undying Five Elements Sword. That technique required supreme treasures of the five elements, so he paid close attention to treasures of those attributes. Heavy Soil was unquestionably the supreme treasure of the earth element. In a sense, it was even more precious than True Solar Essence — comparable to the Warm Spirit Lotus.
A piece of Heavy Soil this size, no bigger than a pigeon's egg, could be used to forge several Artifacts, but Yang Kai was naturally not satisfied with that.
He believed that deeper beneath the canyon floor, there was far more Heavy Soil. Otherwise, how could the gravity field here be so terrifying?
After a moment's thought, he set the Heavy Soil aside. Then he retrieved a handful of restorative spirit pills from his spatial ring, placed them in his palm, and held them out to the little beast.
The little beast had been utterly exhausted, lacking even the strength to move. But the moment it laid eyes on those spirit pills, its eyes lit up. It opened its tiny mouth and swallowed them all in one go.
Crunch, crunch…
The pills crunched between its jaws like candy beans.
"Want more spirit pills? I've got plenty," Yang Kai said with a faint smile. With a wave of his hand, he produced over a dozen jade vials.
The little beast's eyes blazed even brighter.
"Good. Help me retrieve this thing from underground, and you can have as many spirit pills as you want!" Yang Kai chuckled, pointing at the Heavy Soil and tempting it with incentive.
The little beast's eyes began to spin, clearly weighing the offer with great interest. After a moment, it squeaked twice, signaling its agreement.
Inside the Mysterious World Bead, the gravity field had no effect, so Yang Kai and the little beast were able to rest and recover at tremendous speed. Coupled with those spirit pills, it took only two hours before the little beast was brimming with vitality once more.
Yang Kai then brought it back out into the canyon.
Another hour later, the little beast emerged from underground, and Yang Kai — quick-eyed and swift-handed — immediately brought it back into the Mysterious World Bead to rest and recuperate.
Moments later, Yang Kai obtained yet another pigeon-egg-sized piece of Heavy Soil, his face flushed with satisfaction.
The cycle repeated.
Five days later, the pile of Heavy Soil before Yang Kai had grown to the size of a tabletop and was three fingers thick.
Such a quantity was nothing short of staggering. A piece no larger than a fingernail was enough to elevate an Artifact by an entire grade — and it was a treasure with no market price. A tabletop-sized slab three fingers thick? Even the Ten Great Emperors would watch with red eyes and fight over it, regardless of their dignity.
Yang Kai was finally convinced — inside this Five-Colored Pagoda, he had truly found a primordial land.