Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 415: Assert Dominance

Facing Wu De's rebuttal, Yuan Zhenchuan's voice faltered. "You..."

His original plan was to assign Wu De to confront the Blood Demon Bishop, who was also skilled in close combat. However, Li Pin had taken on that opponent instead. As a result, he had assigned Wu De to face the legendary demonic creature.

Now, Wu De had let the Evil Dragon escape and he was pinning the blame on him?

Yuan Zhenchuan was about to respond, but Li Pin beat him to it. "Yuan Zhenchuan assigned us to deal with the Blood Demon Bishop while you went after the Evil Dragon. From what you're saying... I assume you're implying you would have dealt with the Blood Demon Bishop better than I did?"

Wu De glanced at Li Pin.

It was undeniable that Li Pin had certain natural advantages as the pioneer of the Martial God path. However, when it came to close combat, Wu De was confident his Frost Ring completely countered Li Pin's martial techniques. Therefore, while others might show respect to Li Pin or outright fear him, Wu De felt no such obligation.

He let out a cold chuckle. "Everyone has their own strengths. That's why there are distinctions between the Supreme Experts and the Legends. If you had assigned me to face the Blood Demon Bishop, I won't claim I'd be perfect, but outperforming you? That's easy." "

"And if you fail?" Li Pin asked nonchalantly.

Bai Ying was surprised when he heard Li Pin say this. He was about to speak up, but Li Pin silenced him with a sharp look.

Bai Ying recalled Li Pin's strength and potential to surpass the Legendary realm and ultimately swallowed his words.

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He understood that Li Pin wanted to teach Wu De a lesson.

In fact, it wasn't just Li Pin. Many in the alliance were dissatisfied with the Star Alliance because of the Tenfold Heavenly Domains incident. Yet, in order to maintain unity in the face of a common enemy, no one had spoken out. As a result, frustration had been building up.

For most, it was tolerable. Li Pin, however, would most likely surpass the Legendary realm. Once he did, the Star Alliance Legends would inevitably suffer if he had brewing frustration.

Better to let him vent now. Better him than me, Bai Ying thought.

"If I fail?" Wu De met Li Pin's gaze. "Then I'll accept the punishment."

Li Pin replied calmly. "You said it yourself. I faced and slew the Blood Demon Bishop in a head-on battle. Conveniently, there are dozens of legendary and likely more than one supreme demonic creature in the Tenfold Heavenly Domains. I'll leave the next supreme one to you. If you can single-handedly kill one, we'll let this matter rest. But if you cannot—"

"Impossible!" Wu De's face darkened as he interrupted. "You killed the Blood Demon Bishop head-on? That's impossible! How could you have such power?"

Fan Xiu stepped forward and said in a grave voice, "I witnessed Martial God Li defeating the Blood Demon Bishop with my own eyes. It cannot be false."

Qiao Baishi nodded. "I can also attest to it."

Wu De's gaze shifted between the three, filled with disbelief. "You...."

After a moment, he sneered. "It seems you've all conspired to use this as an excuse to suppress me. If you're dissatisfied with me, just say so. Why go through all these games?"

Li Pin looked at him. "You don't believe it?"

Wu De retorted with a cold laugh. "Of course not. If you could truly slay a supreme demonic creature head-on—and I mean in direct combat, not ambushing it after other Supreme Experts have weakened it—then fine.

"If you can do that, I'll accept any punishment you deem fit for my actions during the Tenfold Heavenly Domains incident."

"As you wish," Li Pin replied evenly. "Let's continue. When we encounter the next supreme demonic creature, you'll see for yourself."

Yuan Zhenchuan glanced at Wu De but said nothing. Since Li Pin had taken charge, he left it to him to handle.

Using his feat of defeating a supreme demonic creature to establish authority.... This would likely prove instrumental in smoothly reforming the Human Alliance.

Once the Legends regrouped, they resumed their advance into the Fifth Heaven Domain.

During this time, Bai Ying discreetly advised Wu De several times to moderate his stance and improve his relationship with Li Pin, but Wu De ignored every warning. After several failed attempts, Bai Ying gave up.

***

With Li Pin's involvement, the team's strategy underwent significant changes.

The Tenfold Heavenly Domains, once teeming with demonic creatures, saw their numbers drastically reduced as many escaped to the surface. This shift greatly improved the efficiency of the Special United Squad's advance.

As for the surface demonic creatures, though they caused widespread destruction south of the Star Alliance, their scattering and exposure to human factions made them much easier to eradicate. In some ways, the surface remained humanity's domain.

With the density of demonic creatures decreased, Li Pin and Tu Tan took the lead in deep reconnaissance. When they detected lord-level creatures, they struck, swiftly eliminating them. Without their leaders, the remaining demonic creatures quickly fell into disarray and were eradicated.

Within days, the Special United Squad, consisting of hundreds of members and over a thousand elite Star Alliance forces, had reached the ninth layer of the Tenfold Heavenly Domains.

However, the latest reconnaissance results caused the once unstoppable team to pause. Their expressions turned grim.

***

Yuan Zhenchuan's heart skipped a beat. "The demonic creatures from the Blood Moon Gorge!?"

"Exactly. This region contains many creatures that originally belonged to the Blood Moon Gorge. Among them, I've detected two supreme demonic creatures. One is a Titan-type Ferocious Beast with two heads—a demonic beast, perhaps. The other is similar, but entirely blood-red in color."

He paused. "These two supreme creatures are strikingly similar to the Blood Titan and the Black Titan, subordinates of the Blood Moon Demon King."

Bai Ying took over, his tone heavy. "That's not surprising. Before the Blood Moon Gorge was sealed by the Solar Radiance Sovereign, it had ambitions of conquering the world, dispatching several teams to infiltrate various regions. While most of those teams have been eradicated over the years, one has survived in the Tenfold Heavenly Domains."

His expression grew even more serious. "I didn't expect supreme demonic creatures like the Black and Blood Titans to still exist."

"I've detected traces of an Evil Dragon, along with three legendary creatures," Tu Tan added.

The two had split up to maximize their reconnaissance efforts.

Yuan Zhenchuan and Fan Xiu's faces darkened. "Four legendary demonic creatures!?"

Two supreme, four legendary creatures. With a lineup like this up ahead, their advance would need to be delayed, and requesting reinforcements from other Allied Nations was now essential.

In order to avoid mutual destruction, humanity would theoretically need to deploy six Supreme Experts and twelve Legends to handle the two supreme demonic creatures and four legendary ones.

"I'll remind you, this is only the Ninth Heaven Domain," Wu De interrupted with a cold snort. "In the Tenth Heaven Domain, the first to occupy this region was a Dark Evil Dragon, a more powerful variant among Evil Dragons. Its strength is undoubtedly supreme! In fact, I believe its combat power could rival that of the Blood Moon Demon King."

Yuan Zhenchuan shot Wu De a glance. The power of the Dark Evil Dragon was something they had all mentally prepared for.

If the Blood Demon Bishop, the Blood and Black Titans were comparable to Wu De, Fan Xiu, and Tu Tan, then the Dark Demon Dragon and the Blood Moon Demon King stood shoulder to shoulder with the Solar Radiance Sovereign.

Wu De continued, "If the Ninth Heaven Domain already holds three supreme and four legendary demonic creatures, what might the Tenth Heaven Domain have? Can anyone guarantee that the Dark Evil Dragon won't lead its elite forces to ambush us while we battle the other creatures? What if it strikes at a critical moment and takes us all down in one swoop?"

Yuan Zhenchuan frowned. "What exactly are you implying?"

"What am I implying?" Wu De retorted sarcastically. "Isn't it obvious? Your repeated disregard for our requests to clear the Tenfold Heavenly Domains has allowed its powerful creatures to multiply. Such negligence is utterly foolish!"

"We've long agreed to let the creatures of the Tenfold Heavenly Domains fight amongst themselves while we reap the benefits," Yuan Zhenchuan responded. "This strategy was established over a decade ago."

Wu De sneered. "And what have we gained from it? Do you really think they're just mindlessly killing each other? Their real goal is to nurture powerful legendary demonic creatures through intense slaughter!

"Haven't you noticed how the Tenfold Heavenly Domains has far more legendary creatures than other regions? Anyone who thinks these high-tier creatures are simply driven by instinct, without intelligence, is deluded."

"Enough!" Yuan Zhenchuan interjected firmly. "There are priorities. I don't think the Alliance's original decision was wrong."

At this moment, Li Pin spoke up, his voice steady. "Two supreme demonic creatures. Leave one to me."

Yuan Zhenchuan, Tu Tan, and the other Legends who hadn't seen Li Pin battle supreme demonic creatures before all turned their gaze toward him.

"Li Pin... are you sure?" Yuan Zhenchuan asked cautiously.

"I am."

Li Pin's confident tone left no room for doubt. Yuan Zhenchuan, recalling his earlier victory over the Blood Demon Bishop, nodded decisively. "Very well."

He turned to Qiao Baishi. "Go with Hall Master Li. Use the Star Shadow Stone to record the battle."

He arranged for Qiao Baishi to follow Li Pin, not just to record the battle but to back him up if need be.

Qiao Baishi nodded. "Understood."

At this moment, Wu De spoke. "Wait. I'm coming too."

"What's your intention?" Yuan Zhenchuan asked coldly.

"Shouldn't you already know what my intention is?" Wu De retorted defiantly.

"The Blood and Black Titans are in the same area. Let's tackle them together," Li Pin interjected calmly. "I'll take Black. You handle Blood."

Tu Tan added, "The legendary creatures are close to each other. They've learned from past mistakes and are prepared.

"They won't allow us to pick them off one by one. If not for the lack of trust between species, they'd likely already be grouping together to counter our operations."

Hearing this, Yuan Zhenchuan nodded and began assigning personnel, pairing Fan Xiu, Tutan, and the others with a Legend each to take on the legendary creatures one by one.

The goal was clear: kill them if possible. If not, at least ensure they couldn't escape.

But the crux of the battle rested on Li Pin.

As the saying goes, "To bear the crown, one must endure its weight."[1]

The question now was whether Li Pin could demonstrate the strength to earn everyone's trust and cement himself as their beacon of hope.

1. emphasizes that someone who aspires to a leadership role must be prepared to shoulder the burdens that come with such roles. ☜