I built a safe house in the eerie night.

After closing the interface, Jiang Ning sent two more men into the small hole to dig out the remaining four "Strange Eye Crystals".

The rest of the group continued to harvest the Black Tai Sui.

Although no one understood the specific use of the stone, seeing that Jiang Ning valued it so much that he even used that magical compass, they knew it was no ordinary stone.

They were naturally happy as well.

Xiong Meng and Erhu, along with two men, worked swiftly and quickly pried out the remaining four crystals and handed them over to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning took it and examined the pulse-finding compass in his hand.

The pointer had stopped moving. No matter how he turned it, it only trembled slightly and no longer pointed clearly.

It is clear that all the strange eye crystals within the nearby detection range have been collected.

He carefully put away the five crystals and the compass, then called over Xiong Meng, Er Hu, and the two skilled miners.

"You four, take your tools and come with me."

He gave Wang Fu a few more brief instructions, telling him to take charge of the mining and safety in the area, and then led the four of them away from the Tai Sui Cave.

The harvesting inside the cave is proceeding in an orderly manner, while the logging and clearing work in the village is also in full swing.

Everyone is doing their best to secure resources and reinforce the village during this final period.

Emerging from the cave and seeing the light of day again, Jiang Ning asked Xiong Meng:

"Uncle Meng, how far is that old Tai Sui cave that the village has been mining for over two years from here?"

After a moment's thought, Xiong Meng pointed in the direction of the village: "It's not far. It's about two miles from the village, on the mountainside."

"Let's go take a look."

Jiang Ning nodded.

Today we need to collect as many Ghost Eye Crystals as possible to upgrade our arrow towers and prepare for the ghost tide tonight.

The group immediately set off, heading back towards the village along the rugged mountain path.

About half an hour later, they arrived at a bare hillside.

On the mountainside, a dark, gaping hole is clearly visible.

Outside the cave entrance, there are scattered rubble and tool remains left over from mining.

This is the old Tai Sui mine that Baiye Village has been mining for the past two years. Now, the black Tai Sui inside has been completely drained, leaving only a deep and desolate cave.

Xiong Meng was the first to raise the fluorescent stone, its faint light barely illuminating the cave entrance:

"Young master, this is it. It's quite deep inside, but I know the way well. I'll lead the way."

Erhu instinctively covered the rear, while the other two men instinctively flanked Jiang Ning from the left and right, protecting him in the middle.

Each person held a fluorescent stone, forming a small array of light sources, and slowly entered the cave.

The cave was much more spacious than the newly mined caverns, but the air was filled with a stuffy, decaying smell.

Without the special living regulation of the Black Tai Sui, the cave was unusually dry and stuffy, making it difficult to breathe.

As you venture deeper, the daylight gradually fades, leaving only a few will-o'-the-wisps flickering in the darkness, adding to the oppressive atmosphere.

Jiang Ning held the fluorescent stone and used it to illuminate the compass, staring at the pointer and the changes in the runes and numbers on the edge.

Upon entering this abandoned mine, the compass needle began to swing restlessly.

Sometimes it points to the left, sometimes it veers to the right, and finally it points steadily to a certain location deeper in the cave.

Jiang Ning said in a low voice, "Uncle Meng, follow my directions and go inside."

"it is good."

Xiong Meng was familiar with this place. Even in almost complete darkness, he could rely on his memory and the faint glow of the fluorescent stone to lead everyone around the pits and grope their way deeper into the darkness.

"Uncle Meng, do you remember roughly where you saw this rock before in this cave?"

Jiang Ning asked questions as he walked.

Xiong Meng frowned as he recalled, and after a long while, he spoke uncertainly:

"Young Master, this... I really don't remember clearly. It was when the cave was first discovered, and the officials from the city came to survey the mine. I think I caught a glimpse of it once or twice."

"No one paid any attention to these strange stones at the time. Maybe... some adult picked them up later, or they were buried by the collapsed earth and rocks, who knows."

"Hmm." Jiang Ning didn't ask any more questions, but focused more intently on the compass.

After walking a few dozen steps forward, and rounding a collapsed pile of rubble, the compass needle suddenly trembled violently a few times.

He froze, pointing to a seemingly ordinary cave wall to the side.

"Stop!" Jiang Ning immediately raised his hand.

He moved closer to the cave wall, while looking down at the compass.

No matter how much you tweak the position, the pointer remains firmly pointing at the wall.

"Dig here!"

Jiang Ning took a step back and decisively gave the order.

"Okay!"

Without saying a word, Xiong Meng, Er Hu, and two other men picked up their hoes and got to work.

However, the soil in this cave is somewhat different from the relatively damp and soft soil in the previous cave.

After the Tai Sui is completely harvested, it becomes extremely hard and compacted, making it very difficult to dig out.

When you hit it with a hoe, you usually only break up small clods of earth, and the impact makes your arm go numb.

Several people took turns working, sweating profusely.

The dull sound of digging echoed in the gloomy cave.

It took them nearly half an hour to finally dig through the hard earthen wall.

"It's connected!"

As the last piece of hard soil collapsed, a very narrow gap was revealed behind it, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

Deep within the crevice, two faint points of red light peeked out.

Jiang Ning stepped forward, brushed aside the loose soil, and peered inside.

Sure enough, deep within this small crevice were two "mysterious eye crystals" the size of walnuts.

It gleamed with a dark red light, like two indifferent eyes.

"There are only two..."

Jiang Ning was slightly disappointed; this was clearly not the number Xiong Meng had ever seen before.

It's very likely that some were taken away; these two are either missed or newly condensed later.

But even a mosquito's leg is still meat.

"Erhu, try to go in and get it out," Jiang Ning said.

"Leave it to me." Erhu rubbed his hands together, turned sideways, and squeezed into the narrow gap.

The space inside was even more cramped, and he could barely move. He could only use his fingers and a short knife to pry and pick at the crystals embedded in the rock crevices.

This process required more patience and skill than digging; he was exhausted, covered in sweat, and breathing heavily.

"Change him!" Seeing that Erhu was really struggling, Jiang Ning replaced him with another relatively thin man.

After another half hour of struggling, with several people taking turns, they finally managed to remove the two securely held eerie eye crystals intact.

"Phew—this damn place is fucking tough!"

Erhu collapsed on the ground, panting heavily, his face covered in mud and sweat.

Jiang Ning took the two crystals, which still had soil on them, and felt the energy fluctuations within them.

Looking at the compass again, the needle has returned to its steady position and no longer points in any particular direction.

"Okay, go out."

Jiang Ning wiped the sweat from his forehead; the stuffy, oxygen-deprived environment inside the cave made him feel a little dizzy.

The group exited the mine along the same route.

When I stepped out of the cave again, a cool mountain breeze blew in, and I could see the orange-red sun that was already beginning to set in the west.

Jiang Ning took several deep breaths to calm the tightness in his chest, but his vision was still somewhat blurred.

Xiong Meng asked with concern, "Young Master, are you alright?"

"It's nothing, just a little stuffy."

Jiang Ning waved his hand, found a relatively flat rock to sit on, and gestured for everyone to rest for a while.

"Take a breath and drink some water."

The other four were clearly much more adapted than him; although they were also tired, they were in much better condition.

Erhu took the water pouch from his waist, didn't drink from it himself, and handed it to Jiang Ning with both hands.

Jiang Ning took the water and gulped down two large mouthfuls of the cool, slightly earthy mountain spring water, which cleared his muddled mind considerably.

He handed the water bag back to Erhu, who then shared some with the other three.

During the break, Jiang Ning calculated his gains. With the previous five and these two, he now had a total of seven Mysterious Eye Crystals.

"Seven. If we have enough Black Tai Sui and other materials, we can theoretically upgrade seven arrow towers."

In this way, the village's defenses can be greatly improved.

The problem is that other materials are not as plentiful, especially black oyster shell.

However, the Mysterious Eye Crystal is even harder to obtain, so it's always good to have some on hand.

Other materials can be obtained by hunting strange creatures, but these crystals can only be found in the wild.

Looking up at the sky, Jiang Ning saw the setting sun casting an increasingly vibrant red hue.

There are still about two or three hours until it gets dark.

He used the stones to support himself as he stood up. The sudden movement caused his vision to go black again, and his steps became unsteady.

"My body... is too weak."

Jiang Ning couldn't help but complain in his heart.

"It seems I need to find a way to cultivate myself, at least to improve my physical fitness. Being like a porcelain doll won't do."

For now, it's enough to improve his health; Jiang Ning doesn't dare to hope for reaching a higher level of cultivation.

Not only is their own talent extremely poor, but cultivation is also exceptionally difficult for humans in this world.

Limited by the scarcity of spiritual energy in the world and the constraints of the human race itself, individual cultivators are at a significant disadvantage when facing strange beings of the same level.

Even if one breaks through the Qi Refining Realm and reaches the Foundation Establishment Realm, one can only barely contend with a small number of first-order strange beings head-on. If the number increases, the chances of survival are still slim.

Even those at the Foundation Establishment stage, considered top experts in a megacity like Danhua City with a population of millions, still rely on the city's buildings for protection and survival.

The next level, the Core Formation Realm, is extremely rare; even those with exceptional talent may not achieve it even after half a lifetime of cultivation.

Even if they succeed, they'll face even more terrifying high-level anomalies, or even those legendary ghost generals and ghost kings...

Individual strength still seems insignificant and powerless.

Humans are inherently weak, and individual supernatural powers are insufficient to resist the treacherous tides.

Only those who rely on special talents and collective strength can survive in the long run.

Jiang Ning was well aware of this.

"Fortunately, I didn't specialize in personal martial arts, but I'm still more powerful than other celestial craftsmen!"

In short, we have a cheat code... Jiang Ning secretly rejoiced.

"But you can't completely give up cultivation. It can strengthen your body and make you run faster in critical moments. If all else fails, you'll have to get some high-level defensive treasures."

After a short rest, the five set off again, walking slowly along the road back to the village.

Throughout the journey, Jiang Ning held the vein-finding compass, paying close attention to the changes in the pointer, hoping to discover one or two more crystal mining sites.

Unfortunately, this area may have been repeatedly mined and explored, because the compass did not provide any clear guidance until they approached the outskirts of the village.

"It seems that if we want to find more, we'll have to go deeper and more dangerous into the mountains."

Jiang Ning sighed softly, but was not discouraged.

Today's harvest of seven Mysterious Eye Crystals exceeded expectations and is sufficient for emergencies.

When they returned to the village entrance, Jiang Ning saw that the edge of the dead forest outside the village had been cleared out into a fairly large open area.

Many felled trees were neatly stacked to one side, with tree stumps remaining on the ground.

As a result, the view outside the village became much brighter.

"Well done." Jiang Ning nodded in satisfaction.

These young men are very efficient; you can tell at a glance that they aren't slacking off.

He smiled and was about to walk toward the group of people who were busy at the edge of the woods.

At this moment, Yu Niu's dark figure suddenly darted out from behind a group of tree stumps.

At the same time, he was holding something high in his hand, running wildly towards Jiangning while shouting excitedly at an absurdly loud volume.

"Young master, young master! Look! I've found something amazing, a real treasure!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning's eyes lit up.

Another treasure? Where!

He quickened his pace and walked briskly toward the Yu ox.