I built a safe house in the eerie night.

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's instructions, the men did not hesitate. They quickly grabbed the machetes and hoes at hand and began to dig vigorously at the cave wall that Jiang Ning had pointed to.

The soil inside the cave is damp and soft due to the long-term growth of the black sea cucumber, making it relatively easy to dig.

The soil was repeatedly dug up and thrown behind them by the group, and the hole was dug deeper and deeper.

Erhu also joined in. He was strong and each shovel stroke could lift up a large amount of soil, making him quite efficient.

Jiang Ning held the fluorite in his hand and squinted as he observed from the side.

He would occasionally pick up the "pulse-finding compass" to examine it. The illusory pointer on the compass remained steadily pointing, showing no signs of shifting or disappearing.

They had already dug two or three feet deep, and were about to dig out a small depression, but inside there was still only damp and loose soil.

Not only did they not see even half a piece of black Tai Sui, let alone anything else special.

"Is the location wrong, or should it be buried deeper?"

Jiang Ning frowned slightly, a suspicion arising in his heart.

He tried to back up a few steps towards the opening, and even moved laterally, to observe the changes in the pointer.

But no matter how he moves it, the pointer will adjust and eventually point to the hole wall he is digging.

"If we're heading in the right direction, let's keep digging, dig deeper, dig even further!"

Jiang Ning shouted to everyone inside the cave.

"Everyone, come over here and let's dig together."

Hearing his call, the men who were harvesting black jujubes put down their work, picked up their tools, and gathered around.

Jiang Ning even used the remaining materials in the cave to forge several more handy and durable digging hoes on the spot and distributed them.

With more people and more power, coupled with upgraded tools, the excavation speed increased dramatically.

Amidst the flying dust, a narrow passage, just wide enough for one person to bend over and pass through, gradually extends deeper into the mountainside.

Everyone took turns working, sweating profusely.

The passage is getting deeper and deeper, already several meters into the mountainside, and its width is also expanding as the excavation progresses, now wide enough for two or three people to work side by side.

Just when everyone felt it wasn't deep enough,

"Hey--"

A man swung his hoe with all his might, intending to dig out a clod of earth using the same force and angle as before.

To everyone's surprise, when the shovel struck, instead of feeling any obstruction, it felt as if the ground had been hollowed out.

He couldn't stop in time, and with a cry of surprise, he fell forward violently due to inertia.

"Splash—"

At the same time, the earthen wall in front of him could not hold on and collapsed with a roar as the loose soil collapsed!

"Be careful!"

Seeing this, Jiang Ning stepped forward.

Everyone stopped what they were doing in surprise, looked up and looked inside, and quickly made way for Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning went to the end of the passage first, reached out and helped the man who had fallen to his feet, asking, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No, it's nothing, young master, I was just startled." The man, still shaken, patted the dirt off his body.

Jiang Ning then raised his head, looked past the gap in the collapsed earthen wall, and gazed at the passage ahead.

At the end of this newly excavated passage, there was another naturally formed narrow cave space.

What made Jiang Ning's pupils shrink was that there was light coming from this small hole.

It wasn't the sunlight coming in from outside, but rather the few oddly shaped stones that shimmered with a faint red light scattered on the cave walls and the ground.

It is these stones that provide a hazy, bright light to this enclosed little space.

The red light was not bright, even somewhat dim, but it was enough to make out the outline of the cave.

Jiang Ning squinted and carefully examined the stones in the dim red light.

They look about the size of walnuts, and their shapes are quite strange.

It is not an ordinary angular mineral, but more like a biological eye, even with a bizarre shape featuring vertical pupils.

Embedded in the rock walls and the ground, they look like tiny eyes growing out of the stone.

A rough count revealed approximately five or six.

Jiang Ning didn't rashly step into the strange and eerie little cave, but instead waved his hand behind him:

"Uncle Meng, come and take a look."

Upon hearing the sound, Xiong Meng put down his tools, moved closer to Jiang Ning, and peered into the small hole.

He squinted, examined it carefully for a moment, and nodded:

"Young master, I think I've seen this before in the mountains, but not often. We had something similar in the Tai Sui Cave we mined last time, but not this much, and not this... bright."

"We all thought it was something like fluorescent stone, just a bit oddly shaped. What's wrong, young master? Does this thing... have some other use?"

Hearing that Xiong Meng had confirmed seeing him, Jiang Ning felt relieved, followed by a surge of immense joy.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement.

It's more than just useful! It's incredibly useful!

Seeing the excitement in Jiang Ning's eyes, Xiong Meng understood the value of this item.

He straightened his back and volunteered, "Young Master, would you like me to go and pick them?"

Jiang Ning first scanned the narrow cave, confirming that he detected no signs of life or any hidden dangers, before giving his instructions:

"Be careful, there shouldn't be any danger, but still be cautious."

"Okay!"

Xiong Meng drew his machete from his waist and ducked into the narrow opening.

When he reached the nearest crystal, he first tried to pry it open with the tip of his knife.

The stone was embedded in a crevice, exceptionally firm, and the tip of a knife could only pry open a tiny gap.

He tried, and found it difficult to remove it completely with just one hand.

Xiong Meng turned around and said, "Young Master, this thing is quite sturdy and not easy to handle."

"Young Master, I'll go help too," Erhu volunteered upon seeing this.

With his build, he's definitely strong enough.

Xiong Meng and Er Hu worked together, one using the tip of a knife to pry open the crack along the base of the stone, while the other used his fingers to find a point of leverage, slowly shaking and pulling.

At this moment, Wang Fu also came over, stood next to Jiang Ning, and looked at the scene in the cave, seemingly lost in thought.

"Young master, I've occasionally seen people selling this kind of stone at stalls in the city before."

"The price is generally not high, about the same as common materials found in the mountains. Not many people specifically collect them. Young master, could this thing perhaps have other uses?"

Jiang Ning stared intently at the stone being retrieved from the cave, nodded solemnly, and whispered, "It'll be very useful..."

The village currently has limited defensive capabilities and lacks more powerful offensive buildings, so the most direct way to strengthen it is to upgrade the existing buildings.

Among the materials needed to upgrade the arrow tower is one called "Strange Eye Crystal".

If these stones are indeed the materials needed to upgrade the building, that would be absolutely wonderful.

"Heaven is on my side!" Jiang Ning thought to himself with secret joy.

Luckily, I didn't throw it away here; this dilapidated compass is coming in handy now.

Just then, Xiong Meng successfully removed the two crystals, turned around, crawled out of the small hole, and handed them to Jiang Ning.

"Young master, here you go."

Jiang Ning took the two stones, still covered in mud and emitting a dim red light, and immediately focused his mind, opening the [Heavenly Craftsman] interface to investigate them.

[Low-grade material: Evil Eye Crystal (Impure)]

[Description: Possibly formed from the black Tai Sui and eerie corpses buried deep underground, condensed over a long period of time. It contains fragments of special energy and can be used as one of the materials for upgrading and constructing some buildings.]

[Note: Internal impurities can be removed through specific methods, such as high-quality energy flushing or special array purification, with a chance of transforming into a higher-grade material called "Mysterious Eye Crystal".]

"As expected, it was!"

Jiang Ning was so overjoyed that he almost burst out laughing.

This was indeed the "mysterious eye crystal" that was urgently needed.

Although it shows a "dirty" state and is of low quality, it should be sufficient as an upgrade material.

With this crucial material, the Bone Arrow Tower can be upgraded, enhancing the village's defenses.

He suppressed his excitement, holding the crystal in one hand and picking up the "Pulse-Seeking Compass" again with the other.

Information about the compass reappeared before my eyes.

【Pulse-Tracing Compass (Tier 1 Treasure)】

[Status: Not Activated]

[One "Mysterious Eye Crystal" can be consumed to awaken the spirit of a treasure.]

[After activation, the compass can guide the earth's veins and explore specific hidden resources. Currently available resources include: Ghost Eye Crystal, Ghost Hand Withered Vine, Ghost Foot Rotten Wood, etc.]

[Note: The materials used for the initial spirit awakening will determine the compass's search target. To search for other materials, a new treasure of the same type must be crafted, or an existing treasure must be cleansed and awakened.]

Having read the description, Jiang Ning understood.

This compass artifact is like a detector; it can only lock onto one type of resource at a time for exploration.

However, right now we need "mysterious eye crystals," so using this material to awaken the spirit is the perfect solution.

Jiang Ning immediately used the Mysterious Eye Crystal in his hand to activate the compass.

With a thought, the crystal trembled slightly, transforming into wisps of dark red energy that swirled and entered the ancient compass.

"Buzz..."

A slight humming sound emanated from the compass surface.

The previously blurry markings and text have become clear.

The pointer, which was previously just an illusion, has now solidified into a metallic texture, shimmering faintly in the dim light.

Jiang Ning observed carefully.

In addition to the pointer, the compass surface also features concentric circle markings and a ring of ancient runes around the edge.

He tried walking around a small area inside the cave with the compass, and the needle always pointed steadily in one direction.

"This thing can not only indicate direction, but also show the approximate distance?"

Jiang Ning speculated in his mind.

Looking at it this way, this treasure's function is quite practical; in the future, we won't have to blindly stumble around when searching for materials.

Of course, the only resource that the compass is currently locked for is the "mysterious eye crystal".

The materials mentioned later, such as "Strange Hand withered vine" and "Strange Foot rotten wood," have not yet appeared, and their specific uses are unknown.

But since the Mysterious Eye Crystal is key to upgrading buildings, other materials must also be of significant value.