Endless green plains stretched out in a continuous expanse. A newborn little fox frolicked among fluttering butterflies.
In the Fox Immortal's Blessed Land, foxes were the apex predators, so they lived without worry.
Though the losses during the sixth Earth Calamity had been devastating, they had ultimately preserved their seed. Across the vast grasslands, fox packs slowly but steadily continued to thrive.
Suddenly, the space rippled, and two figures materialized, startling the little fox into fleeing.
One was a man in black robes — tall and handsome, with flowing black eyes deep as ink. The other was an adorable, fair-skinned girl in colorful garments, her eyes bright as stars, a fluffy snow-white fox tail swaying behind her, the fine hairs at its tip trembling in the breeze.
No strangers — it was Fang Yuan and the Earth Spirit, the Little Fox Spirit.
"The location is good. Right here will do." Fang Yuan glanced around and took out the Earth Crack Gu from his Empty Orifice.
The Gu resembled a walnut in shape, with a wooden exterior, hard and bumpy, roughly the size of a watermelon.
The Earth Crack Gu was as high as the Fifth Transformation, requiring at least a Gu Master at the peak of the Fifth Transformation to fully activate it.
Fang Yuan naturally couldn't do it, so he handed the Gu to the Earth Spirit.
Once the Little Fox Spirit activated it, the Earth Crack Gu immediately erupted with intense crimson light and plunged straight into the grassland.
In an instant, red light shot skyward, and the earth within a hundred li trembled.
In the blink of an eye, the red light vanished, and a fissure split the ground — twenty-seven zhang long.
The soil on both sides of the fissure rose up, and from high above it would have looked like a pair of human lips.
Then, the crack slowly widened, revealing two rows of tightly packed square stone blocks, like a person's teeth.
After the "tooth gate" also opened, a dark cavern was exposed within.
"Master, I'm hungry…" The earth's lips parted and closed, actually producing a tremendous roar that made the surrounding ground tremble slightly.
Fang Yuan chuckled and took out the Yuan Elder Gu.
True Essence flowed, and the joyful expression on the kind-faced Cloud Elder's face gradually faded as large quantities of Yuan Stones were extracted and fed into the earth's gaping maw.
A full two hundred thousand Yuan Stones were fed in before Fang Yuan finally stopped. He placed the Yuan Elder Gu back into his Empty Orifice.
The earth's mouth slowly closed, its two rows of stone teeth grinding and crushing together, breaking the Yuan Stones into powder.
Then came a tremendous gulp — the sound of someone swallowing food in great mouthfuls. The ground itself shuddered from the force.
After swallowing all the Yuan Stones, the earth's mouth settled down, no longer making a sound.
With that, the Earth Crack Gu was considered complete.
Once it was set here, it could no longer be moved. Once the subsidiary Gu on He Fengyang's side was also successfully activated, the two locations would be able to communicate with each other.
Feeding an Earth Burrowing Gu was enormously costly. Within a single year, it required two hundred thousand Yuan Stones to feed it.
And each time it was used, it consumed a massive quantity of Yuan Stones as well.
What mortal Gu Master could afford to sustain one on their own? Aside from large sects and clans, only Gu Immortals—with their vast resources and deep foundations—could independently maintain and activate these Earth Burrowing Gu.
"Earth Spirit, this place must be heavily defended from now on. You are to enslave some fox packs and have them live in this area." Fang Yuan looked at the gaping maw of the earth crack before him and issued his orders.
"Yes, Master."
……
"In order to protect our homeland, we must fight!"
"That damned Immortal is going to make his comeback. We must face him head-on. For the sake of a brighter future—clansmen, raise your fists!"
"Although we have some grudges with the other two clans, these are merely minor internal disputes among us Stone People. This time, each of our three tribes will deploy twenty thousand warriors to form a united army, march westward, and strike straight at the Immortal's lair."
"This is a great war. Everything is for the benefit of our people."
"Our fathers and ancestors shed their blood and scattered their souls to defeat the Immortal, granting us the peaceful lives we enjoy today. We must follow in their footsteps, pressing forward without retreat, fighting bravely!"
The Earth Spirit mobilized the fox packs, which gradually appeared around the Stone People tribes. The Stone People leadership seized the momentum to rally their ranks, and before long a united army was assembled.
The united army marched in grand formation to the western reaches of the Blessed Land.
Along the way, five or six small-scale skirmishes took place, and in every case the Stone People army prevailed while the fox packs were forced into continuous retreat.
"Look over there! That is the devil's lair!" Yan Yong stepped forward and approached the Earth Burrowing Gu.
"Great Earth, you are our mother, the one who nurtures our Stone People. Why would you shield that despicable Immortal?" Yan Yong cried out in anguish.
At that moment, the great maw of the earth crack opened, and the little fox Immortal used a Gu Insect to alter her voice.
The Stone People army then heard a gentle woman's voice: "Stone People, my children. It is not that I wish to shield that Immortal—it is that the Immortal has crawled into my belly and taken root in my heart, threatening me into protecting him. I am opening my mouth now so that you may destroy him. I shall bestow my blessing upon you!"
The Stone People were stunned, and then erupted into enthusiastic cheers.
"Mother Earth has spoken!"
"We are warriors blessed by Mother Earth!"