It gave off no glow and no trace of energy. In this National Treasury, where every other corner held a treasure from the Former Dynasty, it looked absurdly out of place, like a clumsy joke.
But to Li Xiang's senses, it was entirely different.
Even in this place where the Qi Observation Art was cut off, the Inner Landscape within him reacted with startling intensity.
It was neither the bone-piercing edge he felt before a divine weapon nor the surging vitality of a Miraculous Elixir. It was something older, a weight from the very beginning.
Li Xiang closed his eyes and let the feeling spread through him. Deep inside the soil, he seemed to sense a breath so faint yet so long it had no end.
There was no wind or thunder in its rhythm. Instead, it held the vastness of something that bore all things and gave birth to mountains and rivers. It was like a miniature world compressed to its limit, so weighty that merely drawing near made his soul feel starved of air.
More importantly, on the Feng Shui Master page of the Book of a Hundred Trades in his mind, his experience points rose faster within three feet of the soil than they ever had before.
"You're the one."
In this unfathomable Age of Chaos, Li Xiang trusted the judgment of the Book of a Hundred Trades and the instinctive stirring deep in his Inner Landscape more than eyes so easily deceived by appearances.
He reached out with his right hand, spread his fingers, and seized the yellow-brown soil.
The instant his fingertips touched it, Li Xiang's pupils contracted.
What he felt clashed sharply with what he saw.
The soil was neither heavy nor dry as he had expected. Though it looked dense, it weighed almost