A crowd always drew more people, and Bai Shuchuan's group was no exception. They headed over to see what everyone was watching.
Life Continent's foremost sect still carried considerable weight, and its reputation proved useful for clearing a path through a crowd. Shi Chun and the others benefited as well, squeezing into the center to see what was going on.
Several people were crouched in a circle, pointing at a small hole in the ground.
The hole was only the size of an egg, with a ring of little dirt heaps pushed out from within, as though some small creature had dug it. It was shallow enough to see the bottom at a glance, and the soil inside was loose.
The distributed illustrated guide had described this very scene: the marks left on the surface after an insect core crystal burrowed underground.
Shi Chun was naturally surprised. Had those flashes of light he had just seen been insect core crystals? Could his right eye's special ability see them?
"From what I can detect with a spell, there seems to be a stone about a foot down. I don't know if that's it."
"It probably is."
"Look, the guide says that if the dirt heaps around the opening are evenly distributed, the insect core crystal is still inside. If the heaps show signs of disturbance, it's already left."
"The dirt here is evenly distributed, so it's still inside."
"Whether it is or not, let's dig and see. It doesn't hide very deep anyway..."
The group around the hole reached a decision. Someone drew a sword and waved for everyone to stand back, then plunged it into the soil and dug a few times.
The soil here was not hard, and he soon pried a brilliant blue object out of the ground.