"Of course, don't worry Mo'er, we'll get through this," Fang Yuan said.
He was about 40% sure that he could deal with the upcoming Earthly Tribulation. The reason being that he had chosen to refine multiple Blood Path Gu worms in order to deal with it, rather than going with the Land Spirit's suggestion of selling some parts of the Crimson Peacock on Yellow Treasure Heaven to obtain other resources like mushroommen to further cultivate the Blessed Land.
Whether this had been the right decision, he didn't know.
The reason why he was only 40% confident was that Fang Yuan himself was still only a mortal and did not have many ways of countering some calamities.
With that said, it wasn't as if death was certain even if he was wrong. In case this 40% chance failed, there was still a chance that the tribulation in question might be something like the pile of ice, which had damaged the Blessed Land but had not threatened the Immortal Apothecary's life.
In other words, there was a chance that it would not be fatal but would at least give Fang Yuan some breathing room of ten years to prepare for the next one. The amount of time he had been given up until now was insufficient to plan for anything, but that couldn't be helped.
"It's happening, Master," the Seven Rainbows Moth King said. A small opening appeared in the land, and Heaven's Will began to be sucked in, forming an Earthly Tribulation in the northeast of where they were standing.
The Immortal Apothecary's laboratory was not located right in the center of the Blessed Land, but rather, slightly to what the Land Spirit called 'south.'
A whale emerged out of the sky. It moved through the clouds as easily as it would through water. It was the Earthly Calamity - Cloud Whale Attack!
It was Desolate Beast, much like the Crimson Peacock. The main thing that would determine whether Fang Yuan would succeed or not was whether it had an Immortal Gu on.
"Quickly! Use the Heavenly Blood Guillotine!" Fang Yuan said to the Seven Rainbows Moth King.
Several Blood Path Gu worms flew into the sky, activating and forming the killer move. Above the whale, a massive guillotine made entirely of blood appeared before descending upon it.
It cried out as the blade sunk into its skin and blood gushed out, raining down upon the forest below. The wound was deep, but it had not managed to penetrate any of its vital organs. That was within Fang Yuan's expectations, however. This Blessed Land not only suppressed Blood Path attacks because of its dao marks, but it also did not boost their power like his own Blood Path aperture would have.
"Rank 5 Killer Move - Blood Viper Exsanguination!"
Several other Blood Path Gu worms rearranged themselves into another killer move, and the wound on the back of the sky whale suddenly began weeping profusely. It tried to activate the healing-type gu worms it had, however, they did not seem to be able to do much against this Rank 5 killer move, which caused any of the opponent's wounds to bleed profusely and also interfere with their healing. It was extraordinarily difficult to counter with mortal healing gu.
The main difference between a desolate beast and an Immortal was the ability to use killer moves and the ability to use their gu worms properly. The Land Spirit could fight like a Rank 6 Immortal, but the Pill Path had very few offensive killer moves that were useful. But this gap could be closed if it had an Immortal Gu atop it...
Despite this injury, the sky whale continued to move forward, its eyes glaring with hatred toward the laboratory. "It's coming here, Master!" the Seven Rainbows Moth King said.
"All right then, teleport us away," Fang Yuan said, making the choice to abandon the Apothecary Immortal's laboratory. It was a valuable location, but not worth clinging onto at the cost of their lives.
The Land Spirit complied, teleporting them toward the southernmost edge of the Blessed Land. The whale continued to pursue them. However, Fang Yuan continued to assault it with his Blood Path killer moves. Eventually, although the whale was able to completely destroy the Apothecary Immortal's laboratory, it ended up bleeding out and landing in the area of the Blessed Land covered in snow and ice, unmoving now.
"So, it didn't have an Immortal Gu," Fang Yuan thought to himself.
If he had been in his own Blood Path aperture, his attacks would've been more than sufficient to deal with it before it had destroyed their laboratory.
And with that, the Earthly Calamity was over.
"See? What did I tell you, Mo Er?" Fang Yuan said to Xie Han Mo. "I told you we would be able to deal with it."
"Yes, but the lab - our home - it's been destroyed," she said, a sad expression upon her face. Although they had only lived there for a little over a year, they had thought of it as their home. It had been where the two of them had been married. Not to mention, it was the only building of note in the entire Blessed Land after the mushroommen had been wiped out.
"Yes Master, we lost the laboratory," the Seven Rainbows Moth King said. It had managed to save many of the gu worms, but things like the furnaces and other specialized equipment were likely lost.
"The important thing, Mo'er," Fang Yuan said, "is that we are still alive. So long as we are still alive, we can always rebuild."
The corpse of the Sky Whale could be harvested for profit and sold on Yellow Treasure Heaven. The gu worms in question that existed on it were mostly Water Path Gu worms, which Fang Yuan did not have much use for and could also be sold in bulk.
The resources obtained could buy several necessary improvements to the Blessed Land.
Additionally, the Earthly Tribulation had added dao marks to the Blessed Land. In the northwest section of the Blessed Land, a wind picked up, and a village of mushroom men emerged, partially replenishing those which had been lost due to the Crimson Peacock.
"Look at that, Master! We now have mushroommen with us," the Seven Rainbows Moth King said delightfully. "We can now have them raise a lot of the plants that you need."
Variant humans could also be sold on Yellow Treasure Heaven as slaves for profit. However, these mushroommen were only about Rank 1 or Rank 2 in terms of skill and would not fetch a high price. It was more beneficial for the Blessed Land to keep them working there.
The mushroommen villages were small, but they were located near fertile land. The mushroommen had already began tending various crops for their own medicinal needs.
Fang Yuan simply needed to pop by along with the Seven Rainbows Moth King.
"Look, it's the Immortal!"
"The Immortal? Immortals are real?"
"Where are your chiefs?" Fang Yuan asked.
The village chiefs walked out to greet Fang Yuan, whereupon he made his demands for tribute from them.
"So long as these are satisfied, you all can continue living peacefully in this Blessed Land."
"So much? Does the Immortal think that things like Dragon Ginseng grow on trees?"
"What about the Tiger Turnips? We've already spent a lot of time making sure that the soil is just ripe for them..."
"Quit talking, he might here you. Don't you know the power of an Immortal? We'll be crushed if we don't obey!"