Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 470: Gang-up

At the Gaia Alliance Headquarters, the Heavenly Realm cultivators watched as the surveillance feeds on the massive screen grew increasingly distorted. The room had fallen deathly silent, the atmosphere stifling.

Fan Xiu muttered the names of the figures that had flashed briefly across the screens. "Yan Zun, Yu Shengjin, Xue Feng, Qi Yan, Yan Huang, Mo Chuan...."

The Gaia civilization's understanding of the Dragon Swamp Nebula had deepened. They knew full well the weight behind these names.

All of them were Legends.

Forget the Heavenly Realm reinforcements on their way. Just these thirteen Legends that the Divine Dragon Empire and its allies had brought were enough to sweep through any star region in the Dragon Swamp Nebula. Yan Zun himself didn't even need to make a move.

This was the power that made the Divine Dragon Empire the true overlord of the Dragon Swamp Nebula. It left every other civilization with no choice but to submit.

"Thirteen. Thirteen Legends! The Divine Dragon Empire actually sent all thirteen!"

"What are they trying to do? Besiege Hall Master Li with thirteen Legends!?"

"We agreed to a fair duel in a year! It's barely been a month, and they've already shown up on Gaia! Thirteen Legends ganging up on him... This... this is completely dishonorable!" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

The Gaia Heavenly Realm cultivators were shocked and furious, yet they knew they couldn't do anything about it. If they had been Invincible Heavenly Realm experts, they could've at least charged forward and helped ease the pressure off of Li Pin. However, they were only ordinary Heavenly Realm cultivators. They stood no chance against thirteen Legends.

Even if the enemies had been thirteen Invincible Heavenly Realm experts and not Legends, rushing in would've been a death sentence all the same.

The Solar Radiance Sovereign said, "This is the worst-case scenario we anticipated. Our contingency plan accounted for this possibility.... We can only proceed accordingly.

"We will cooperate with Hall Master Li to divide and distract these Legends. Even if it costs us our lives, we must buy him the chance to face them one-on-one."

Yuan Zhenchuan, Fan Xiu, Xiao Donghai, and the others remained silent.

At this point, it was do or die. In a war between civilizations, one side would be completely subjugated.

No matter what they might have hoped for before, their only choice now was to fight to the death. They had to give everything to secure space for their strongest trump card to succeed.

Yuan Zhenchuan spoke. "Thirteen Legends... Let's assign targets. Hall Master Li should begin by eliminating the weakest one first. Our priority is to hold off the strongest four—Yan Zun, Yu Shengjin, Xue Feng, and Qi Yan."

"I'll take Yan Zun," the Solar Radiance Sovereign volunteered. "With the Rebirth Ring, I can at least survive a few rounds with him."

"I'll handle Xue Feng," Tu Tan said. "Xue Feng and Qi Yan come from outside the Divine Dragon Empire. Even if they attack Gaia, they'll be cautious until victory is certain. With the Oblivion Ring, I can put on a show and keep them busy."

"I'll go after Yu Shengjin, the Tier One Legend, who might be inclined to go all out," Yuan Zhenchuan chimed in. "The Void Ring ensures my survival as long as I don't get killed instantly."

He continued, "Although Yu Shengjin has become a Tier One Legend, Yan Zun has been assessing him for years and doesn't fully trust him. If we use psychological tactics, we might make him hold back, effectively neutralizing a Legend."

The others nodded in agreement. The Divine Dragon Empire wasn't entirely united either.

"Hall Master Li is still the key to this battle."

Fan Xiu turned to Xing Ying. "Where is Hall Master Li? We need to discuss with him where to choose the battlefield. A battle between Legends can unleash shockwaves that will devastate hundreds, even thousands, of miles."

"I'll check," Xing Ying said, contacting Li Pin.

Moments later, a series of static and deafening explosions came through the communication line.

Fortunately, the special force field around the communication bracelet allowed them to hear Li Pin's voice clearly.

—What's going on?

"Hall Master, the Legends of the Divine Dragon Empire will reach the exit of Death Valley in three minutes. We're waiting for your orders on the battle assignments. How soon will you arrive?"

—Four.

Xing Ying froze. "What?"

—Three.

At that moment, Chong Guang rushed in and gave a report, a note of urgency in his voice. "We've detected an overwhelming force tearing through the atmosphere!"

—Two.

Yuan Zhenchuan, hearing the countdown, quickly realized something. He pressed several buttons, and the screen switched from monitoring the ground of Death Valley to the sky above.

—One.

At that moment, a meteor-like figure appeared at the horizon. In the blink of an eye, it exploded with an unprecedented brilliance.

The blinding light flooded the screen.

At the same time, alarms blared from another monitor. Energy sensors projected a hologram of Gaia, pinpointing Death Valley's location.

The display clearly showed that the energy released was equivalent to the detonation of hundreds of millions of tons of hydrogen bombs suspended in mid-air.

Another satellite captured a clear image of a blazing fireball on Gaia's surface. The immense force pushed the planet's atmosphere outward in visible ripples, expanding across thousands of kilometers.

Just then, Li Pin's voice came through Xing Ying's communicator.

—I've arrived.

***

The sky centered around Li Pin was clearer than ever before. As time passed, the azure blue gradually faded, and the vast galaxy became visible to the naked eye even in broad daylight.

Bathed in brilliance, Li Pin appeared high above Death Valley, his figure framed by starlight and moonlight, overlooking the thirteen Legends below. He hovered with an air of absolute command.

For hundreds of miles around him, raging flames mixed with violent hurricanes spread outward, unleashing a catastrophe unlike anything seen before. The devastation threatened to level everything.

Thankfully, this was Death Valley—desolate for thousands of miles.

Otherwise, the energy released as Li Pin descended from orbit—moving at thousands of kilometers per second as he plunged through the atmosphere—would have annihilated every living thing within this range.

Even so, the overwhelming force and sheer oppression of this power froze everyone in place. Several allied Early-Stage Legends couldn't hide their fear. Even Qi Yan and Xue Feng, both Early-Stage Legends, revealed flickers of uncertainty in their gazes.

"The greater the energy release, the harder it is to control with precision," Li Pin said calmly.

He still had a long way to go on the path toward absolute control.

At that moment, Xing Ying's voice rang out from Li Pin's communicator. "Hall Master, how should we allocate our forces for this battle?"

"Do as you please," Li Pin replied before cutting off the communication.

His gaze, illuminated by starlight, then fell upon the thirteen Legends below.

Yan Zun's expression grew extraordinarily grave as he stared at the figure in the sky. "Li Pin!"

From the moment Li Pin entered the atmosphere, Yan Zun had sensed his arrival and immediately prepared a formation with the other twelve. However, the overwhelming power Li Pin carried as he shattered through the atmosphere... was alarming, to say the least.

Yan Zun couldn't help but question his earlier judgment. Has Li Pin truly not broken through to Tier Three Legend?

Or did he anticipate the countermeasures in Miracle Star's capital, which were designed to counter the power at the Tier Three level? So he intentionally claimed to be at the peak of the second tier to lure us out and annihilate us all?"

At this point, dwelling on anything else would serve no purpose and would only weaken his focus and resolve. There was only one thing left for him to do—discard distractions and unleash his full strength to face Li Pin, the rising Legendary Celestial Martial Artist from Gaia, in a battle.

If they won, the Divine Dragon Empire would remain the dominant force in the Dragon Swamp Nebula, enjoying the resources within thousands of light-years.

If they lost, as Li Pin had said, the empire would cease to exist, replaced by Gaia's new Divine Dragon Province.

Yan Zun roared, "Proceed as planned! Attack!"

In an instant, Yan Zun soared into the air. The massive, 1.8-meter-long sword in his hands surged with a brilliant sword aura, stretching thousands of meters into the sky. It formed a world-shattering divine blade, capable of crushing realms and worlds. Amid the searing white shockwaves, he slashed down with immense force.

"Heaven-Rending Strike!"

Yan Zun, the stabilizing pillar of the Divine Dragon Empire, unleashed his strongest attack. Alongside him, Yan Huang, Mo Chuan, and two other Early-Stage Legends, loyal to the empire, followed the plan and instantly made their move, charging forward.

But Yu Shengjin, Xue Feng, and Qi Yan, the other three Early-Stage Legends, had assumed there would be some verbal exchange before the battle. They hesitated for a fraction of a second, missing the chance to experience the unforgettable spectacle that followed.

In the sky above, Li Pin suddenly shone with unprecedented brilliance. Like divine lightning capable of destroying worlds, dozens of sword beams rained down in a storm of destructive force.

Though the beams lacked precision, their power was unimaginable.

Four of them collided directly with Yan Zun's massive sword aura, shattering his Heaven-Rending Strike, which was powerful enough to kill any Tier Two Legend, and scattering it into a violent storm.

The remaining beams mostly missed their targets, but due to their sheer number and wide range, they still enveloped the five Legends who had charged forward.

Even with their domains activated instantly, they disintegrated in the blink of an eye, crumbling into dust like dead wood struck by a thunderstorm.

In a single wave of attacks, Yan Zun's Heaven-Rending Strike was shattered, and five Legends were obliterated into starlight.

This shocking scene instantly stunned the remaining seven Legends, whose hesitation had already cost them dearly.