At Fox Immortal Blessed Land, a thousand-strong fox army had assembled, tightly surrounding Soul-Diverging Mountain.
Fang Yuan stood at the summit with his hands behind his back, staring up at the sky with a grave expression.
Time slipped away silently. Today was the day the sixth Earth Calamity would descend!
Even though Fang Yuan had been a Gu Immortal in his past life of five hundred years, facing an Earth Calamity still made him quite uneasy.
Each Earth Calamity grew stronger and stronger, a severe test of life and death for both the blessed land and the Gu Immortal. When Fang Yuan took control of the blessed land, he only had a year and three months left.
It was far too short a time. He could only prepare as much as possible. Cutting a canal to harmonize water and fire was the first task. Raising a large fox army and encouraging their reproduction was the second. Keeping the Fixed Immortal Travel Gu ready for retreat at any time was the third.
As for the rolling sea of clouds in the sky and the mysterious azure mirage in the west, he truly had neither the energy nor the means to deal with them.
The breeze gradually died down. In the distant sky, the sea of clouds roiled, a ball of light brewing within.
"Here it comes," Fang Yuan murmured softly, his pupils constricting.
Within the sea of clouds, the ball of light suddenly exploded, forming a magnificent white round portal directly facing the vast blessed land.
The portal shone with a blinding light. An enormous beast, entirely yellowish-brown like a giant rock, descended slowly from it.
"Judging by the looks of it, a Desolate Beast Calamity?!" Fang Yuan squinted, staring unblinkingly.
The giant rock descended silently.
Fang Yuan couldn't help but lick his dry lips, his heart sinking.
Earth Calamities had countless varieties, one of which was the Desolate Beast Calamity.
In the blessed land, one or more Desolate Beasts would appear and charge at the blessed land's core, stirring up chaos and wreaking havoc.
If they weren't wiped out in time, no matter how vast the blessed land was, it would be destroyed by them.
"Damn it. A Desolate Beast! I just hope it doesn't have an Immortal Gu parasitizing it!" Fang Yuan cursed inwardly.
If a Desolate Beast carried an Immortal Gu, its combat power could surpass that of an ordinary Gu Immortal!
This mysterious Desolate Beast landed on the ground with a lightness that completely belied its enormous size.
From a distance, it looked like a slightly flat giant rock.
But when Fang Yuan zoomed in on the image, he saw that the giant rock was actually a yellowish-brown carapace with a metallic sheen. The carapace was covered in thick, putrid mud.
Just as Fang Yuan was guessing what on earth it could be, a pair of massive chelipeds, like steel tongs, stretched out from under the block-like carapace.
Then, eighteen slender legs emerged from both sides, touched the ground, and effortlessly lifted its heavy body high above the ground.
"A Swamp Crab!" Seeing this, Fang Yuan blurted out, recognizing the true face of this Desolate Beast.
This was a giant crab, with a body as majestic as a mountain. When it propped itself up, its height reached a quarter of Soul-Diverging Mountain's.
Its first pair of chelipeds were more terrifying than steel tongs. With a gentle snap, they could break a mountain and sever a flood dragon!
Its remaining eighteen legs, although slenderer and longer than the first pair, were actually thicker than centuries-old trees.
Its body was parasitized by a large number of Gu worms, mostly Water and Earth path Gu worms. Sometimes, it could even be an entire Gu group.
"Fortunately, the Fox Immortal Blessed Land is abundant in immortal essence!" Fang Yuan gritted his teeth, feeling silently grateful.
As soon as the Swamp Crab had appeared, the Earth Spirit had acted, applying the power of heaven and earth to bind all the Gu worms on its body.
No matter if they were Rank One or Rank Five Gu worms, none could display their power.
The key question was whether this Desolate Beast had an Immortal Gu. If this Swamp Crab possessed an Immortal Gu, the next question was what kind of Immortal Gu it was.
Immortal Gu were unique, extraordinary, and the blessed land's laws couldn't bind them.
Immortal Gu were the key factor affecting the entire situation!
After fully extending its limbs, the Swamp Crab began to slowly move its body, heading straight for Soul-Diverging Mountain.
Fang Yuan's mind moved with lightning speed. Large swaths of the fox army surged across the mountains and plains like a tidal wave towards the Desolate Beast.
Soon, they surrounded the Swamp Crab.
Fangs and claws bit at the Swamp Crab's chelipeds and legs, while the sturdy golden foxes charged straight at it.
But the Swamp Crab was incomparably huge, a true behemoth. It advanced unceasingly, and the ordinary fox army couldn't stop it, instead being trampled into meat paste.
Fang Yuan's expression was cold and hard as he continued to command the foxes to march to their deaths.
He had bred so many precisely for sacrifice. Harm accumulated from small amounts. Even delaying the beast's advance for a moment was good.
But the Swamp Crab rolled over everything in its path with overwhelming force, standing firm and unmoving. It was like a walking mountain, completely ignoring the foxes at its feet.
A colorful wave of attacks struck the Swamp Crab, exploding like countless brilliant fireworks.
This was the power of the Hundred-Beast Kings, Thousand-Beast Kings, and Ten-Thousand-Beast Kings among the foxes. Their bodies were parasitized by many Gu worms.
Under the collective power of these Gu groups, the thick mud on the Swamp Crab's body was completely knocked off.
This massive Swamp Crab finally paused for the first time.
It suddenly opened its mouthparts and spewed out a torrent of mud and swamp. At the same time, its abdomen opened like countless small sluice gates, and yellow mud poured down like a yellow mud waterfall.
The mud fell onto the grassland, instantly forming a vast swamp.
Within the yellow mud, various uniquely shaped crabs stood up. Some were huge, as fierce as tigers. Some had chelipeds as sharp as steel needles. Others had limbs like octopus tentacles and moved incredibly fast.