The pink radiance emitted by Dreams of Love and Happiness Gu faded, and Fang Yuan found that his wounds no longer hurt him.
Once the word faded to black, Fang Yuan found himself not back in the Misty Marionette, but instead swimming in the Eastern Sea, carrying a mermaid who looked exhausted. She looked at Fang Yuan with adoration, despite the veil of death closing in on her face.
Xie Han Mo!
This was really her, not some sort of imposter. Fang Yuan found that he was no longer in control of himself in the dream realm, so he could only wait and watch how things went. A quick glance at his aperture, however, revealed that he had the same gu worms he had earlier.
"You should just go ahead and abandon me. They'll definitely catch us if we move at this kind of slow rate," Xie Han Mo said to him. "There's no point in both of us dying. If you let go of me, there's a chance you might be able to save yourself. The Frost Tide tribe leader, he wants me, not you. He wants to get rid of anything that might cause an issue with him appointing a new Saintess. You'll have a chance to escape if you leave me Please, I don't want to see anyone else hurt for my sake."
Fang Yuan could now sense their pursuers behind him. There were at least five of them, though he could not get any better details using his investigative-type gu. If even one of them was Rank three, there was no way he would be able to deal with them while also defending Xie Han Mo.
"Fang Yuan, it's not too late. You can still save yourself," Xie Han Mo repeated weakly. The light was almost beginning to leave her eyes. There was a bluish tinge to her lips and skin - she had been poisoned. However, despite the pale of death hanging upon her - there was not a trace of regret in her voice. She truly meant what she was saying: she would have preferred that Fang Yuan abandon her and save himself.
Fang Yuan, however, chuckled. "Mo'er, tell me, do you love me with all your heart? Did you mean what you sent me in the Flying Fish Messenger Gu?"
"Yes..."
"What kind of man, then, would abandon his beloved in order to save himself?"
"Fang Yuan, this is not one of those chivalric stories of heroic epics. If you fight them, you will definitely lose. Don't be a hero. I know that you're a good person, but please, for once in your life, be selfish and abandon me."
Fang Yuan had to admit that she did have a point. He could sense the pursuers gaining ground on them, and they would soon be on top of him. He no longer had the Black Oil in his aperture, so he couldn't even use his earlier trick. It looked like this really was the end of the line for the two of them.
A minute passed, he could now hear his pursuers without even the use of a gu worm. He felt a strike nearly miss him.
His primeval essence had reached rock bottom, meaning none of his gu worms were going to be of help.
"Fang Yuan, it's not too late, please! I'll try and distract them with the last of my primeval essence. I'm not long for this world as it is," Xie Han Mo said. "I still have... one blow in me..."
She clearly meant it. In the time of death, people could awaken a strange kind of strength before they passed away much like a candle flame might flare up before fading out. She intended to use this burst of strength to buy Fang Yuan some time to escape.
The Fang Yuan in this dream realm from 300 years in the future was not the same as Fang Yuan right now. The Fang Yuan in the dream realm ran mostly on autopilot, and even when Fang Yuan had some control over this dream realm's body, any thought of actually abandoning Xie Han Mo struck his heart with so much regret that he knew it was the wrong decision to make. Without a doubt, letting her die would mean that he would fail this dream realm and his soul would be shattered. He would be dead without any hope for resurrection at that point.
He could only grit his teeth and keep swimming.
With that said, he had no solution to this current problem.
However, right as it seemed that they were going to be overrun by the enemy mermen and all was lost for Fang Yuan and Xie Han Mo, something burst forth in front of them.
It looked like space itself had distorted, as there was a window opening out in the middle of the ocean to another world filled with grasslands and greenery. A normal mortal might not have recognized what this was, but Fang Yuan, of course, did: The opening to a Blessed Land or a Grotto-Heaven!
With nothing else in sight capable of helping them, Fang Yuan swam right through it and into this other world, landing on the soft grass.
This sudden development had given their pursuers pause. Most mortals did not know about Grotto-Heavens or Blessed Lands, and if they did they would have reason to be wary. Mortal gu worms would not work within them.
Fang Yuan knew he had no other choice so he had not hesitated. Their pursuers though seemed to be undecided on whether to chase the two of them into the Blessed Land itself. Fang Yuan did not hear them come closer as he began trudging forward with Xie Han Mo.
Fang Yuan felt the gu worms in his aperture quiet down as they could not be used in the Blessed Land's suppression.
While they were distracted, Fang Yuan tried to put as much distance between them and himself as possible. Fang Yuan was now thinking of how to survive in this Blessed Land. They could still end up running into a foe that he couldn't defeat, particularly as he no longer had his gu worms to use.
"Fang Yuan, false Saintess, don't think that you can escape from us!" his pursuers suddenly yelled out as they seemed to have found their courage to advance. A minute later, they walked into the Blessed Land. They had no weapons, and though they could not use their gu worms, their sheer physical force would be more than enough to beat Fang Yuan and Xie Han Mo to a pulp given their numbers. Especially as Fang Yuan's body ached all over. He was in no fighting condition.
It was then that another miracle happened: a moth appeared out of the sky. It was massive, with scales that were rainbow colored and dyed the air in its aura with each wingbeat. Fang Yuan was instantly on guard, assuming that this was an enemy, until it spoke directly into his mind.
"Greetings! I am this Blessed Land's Land Spirit, Seven Rainbows Moth King. Human, you have met the criteria for becoming my master. You may accept my servitude and ownership over this Blessed Land."
Fang Yuan was perplexed. However, he did not waste any time in saying, "Please close the barrier to this Blessed Land and take care of these fools for me."
The hole to the outside world gradually shrunk as the five mermen who had tailed him were slaughtered in an instant by the Seven Rainbows Moth King. They did not even have a chance to try and activate their gu worms in a futile attempt or even scream out - that was how swift and sudden their execution was!
"So, this is a Blessed Land?" Fang Yuan asked.
The dream realm was quite peculiar, and while he could use a few actions, about eighty percent of his words and movement were scripted.
"Indeed, it is, human," the Seven Rainbows Moth King said. "The owner of this Blessed Land called himself the Immortal Apothecary and was proficient in the Pill Path. Before he died, he predicted that a successor - a human who had lived for over three hundred years - would come into this Blessed Land along with a mermaid to inherit it, and you have met this requirement."
"Is that so?" Fang Yuan said. "But wait, please save Xie Han Mo, she's been poisoned."
"That's all right, human. My master was very skilled when it came to the Pill Path," the Seven Rainbows Moth King answered. "There is a solution to what ails her somewhere within this Blessed Land."
Not all Land Spirits could teleport, but this one could.
The Seven Rainbows Moth King teleported the two of them to a wooden building which was built in the style of the Imperial Palace back on Earth, which Fang Yuan was told was the Immortal Apothecary's former laboratory.
Within there, he found countless mortal gu worms. The majority of them belonged to the Pill Path, and so Fang Yuan did not know much about them.