Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 424: Holy Dragon

Lin Baizhan trembled uncontrollably, overwhelmed by indescribable excitement and joy. "Good! Good! Good! This is truly wonderful!"

Over sixty years! They had been trapped here for more than sixty years! They could finally leave!

The other Astral Cultivators shared his elation, their faces radiant with joy. Some immediately ran off to deliver the news to the survivors in Peach Blossom Village.

Once the group calmed down, Li Pin pointed to the mountain behind them. "What's going on? Why is the dark magic growing so dense?"

Hearing the question, Lin Baizhan's joy subsided slightly. He seemed to think of something, his expression turning complicated. "We... might have made a mistake. Lin Xuanyao, even after being corrupted into a Blood Demon by dark magic, stayed at the mountain's core.

"His purpose was to use the Heavenly Demon Divine Armor to purify the dark magic. Whatever couldn't be purified, he contained within himself to prevent it from spreading."

Li Pin quickly connected the dots. "You're saying that his presence over the past years had kept the Peach Blossom Secret Domain from being overrun by dark magic? And now that he and the Heavenly Demon Divine Armor are gone, the dark magic is flooding out?"

Lin Baizhan nodded, his expression heavy.

Li Pin recalled his battle with the creature. When he had taken the Heavenly Demon Divine Armor, it had immediately stopped pursuing Lin Baizhan and the others, turning its full attention to him.

Over the years, it had never left the mountain to destroy the secret realm or harm its inhabitants.

With its strength, a mere mountain couldn't have restrained it. If it had wanted to, eliminating the strongest members of the Lin clan—who barely reached the level of Master Astral Cultivators—would have been effortless. Yet it did none of that. Instead, it resolutely remained at the mountain's core, holding back the spread of dark magic.

Li Pin thought to himself, Even after being corrupted by dark magic, it still clung to the convictions it held while it was still alive.

Lin Baizhan spoke again, his tone speculative. "From our research over the years, we suspect this dark magic is transforming this alternate dimension into a kind of unique transit hub. It seems to facilitate communication between beings that otherwise couldn't connect directly."

"A transit hub?" Li Pin looked at the others, their guarded expressions clear. "You're acting like something else has appeared. Another creature?"

"Yes." Lin Baizhan nodded. "Three months ago, a humanoid being arrived. It seemed only lord-level in strength but was extraordinarily powerful."

Li Pin lifted his head. "A humanoid?"

Lin Baizhan explained while guiding Li Pin toward the mountain, "Though different from us, it retained a human-like form and could communicate. The first one only survived a few minutes before dying. Two months later, another arrived and lasted half an hour. Three days ago, a third descended and survived for... an entire day."

A day? Li Pin thought.

The survival time climbed from minutes, to half an hour, and now a full day. The progression was staggering. If this trend continued, in months or years, these beings might fully adapt to this dimension and thrive here.

Li Pin's expression grew more serious as he followed Lin Baizhan deeper into the cave. The further they went, the thicker the dark magic became. By the time they were near the exit, the dark magic had intensified to the point where it started to erode their bodies, causing microscopic changes to their genetic makeup.

"The body is here," Lin Baizhan said, leading him into a cave. "We discovered that astral energy has a strong purifying effect on these corpses. If placed outside, the energy would quickly reduce them to ashes, but here in the dark magic, the purification process is significantly slowed."

Li Pin studied the corpse.

Having descended only three days ago and been preserved in the area of concentrated dark magic, the body remained relatively intact. It was humanoid, approximately 2.6 meters tall, its exaggerated musculature distinct and imposing.

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Calling it humanoid was generous. Humans weren't typically this massive, and this humanoid's appearance was the furthest from a typical human. It was terrifying, with green skin, sharp fangs, and a feral visage.

They resembled an incompletely transformed Evil Dragon. Their attire, mostly made of beast fang, and armor crafted from primitive leather and fur, exuded a savage, ancient aura. Even their weapons follow the same crude, primitive style.

Li Pin remarked, "The civilization behind this dark magic doesn't seem friendly."

"Well..." Lin Baizhan hesitated. "Although they look savage and barbaric, none of the three beings that have appeared so far have attacked us."

"What did you say to them?" Li Pin asked.

Lin Baizhan explained. "They claim to be a lost civilization, calling themselves the Holy Dragon Clan. They once lived freely and happily in an ancient, untamed forest, surviving through hunting.

"But later, a powerful and terrifying nation invaded their homeland, burning their homes to the ground. To survive, they turned to the dark magic for power to resist the invaders.

"But even at the cost of becoming something neither human nor ghost, they still failed to stop the invaders. Their homeland was scorched, and they were forced to wander, searching for a new home."

"Do you believe that?" Li Pin scoffed. "Holy Dragon Clan? Sounds more like the Demon Dragon Clan to me."

Lin Baizhan gave an awkward smile and shook his head.

As the saying goes, "Those who aren't of our kind cannot be trusted."

Lin Baizhan understood this well. No matter what their role was within Gaia, once they left this celestial body, they would only have one identity—Gaians.

"In an attempt to gain our trust, they even offered to share their cultivation methods and teach us how to harness dark magic," Lin Baizhan said, pulling out a booklet. "I've compiled the method from their description."

Li Pin took the booklet and flipped through it. "Dark magic? Genetic power?"

"According to them, their world categorizes cultivators into three stages: Human Realm, Earthly Realm, and Heavenly Realm. They simplify it by calling them Fighter realm, General realm, and Chieftain realm—or even just First, Second, and Third realm."

Li Pin lifted his head. "Fighter, General, Chieftain?"

The classification reminded him of the Ox Demon and Degenerate Temple. In the Ox Demon Temple, there were Fighters and Generals, but they were weak. Those likely correspond to what they referred to as Fighter, Human, or First realm. Higher up, there were Warlords and Priests, which would match the General realm.

As for the Chieftain tier... that referred to the legendary demonic creatures that called themselves Bishops.

Since there were no actual bishops, these legendary creatures must have taken the title for themselves.

Flipping through the techniques in the booklet, Li Pin remarked, "If this information is true, then the so-called Holy Dragon Clan definitely has individuals beyond the Legendary level."

After a brief look, his expression turned solemn.

He realized that his initial understanding might have been wrong. The method described could allow someone to cultivate to the Chieftain realm, which was equivalent to the legendary level. Whether it's possible to reach such a level aside, the power techniques and secret arts recorded in these pages were truly eye-opening.

If the records were accurate... the strength of the Holy Dragon Tribe would far exceed his imagination.

Even a Ghoul with qi and blood equivalent to a lord-level demonic creature, using these power techniques and secret arts, could likely become strong enough to battle legendary creatures.

It was similar to how he had been able to use the Heavenly Demon Divine Armor when he was a Top-Tier Martial God to fight Lin Xuanyao's mutated Blood Demon form.

"The lord-level creatures of Gaia, compared to the Holy Dragon Clan's Generals, are like two adults. One is just an ordinary office worker, while the other is a seasoned martial arts master, experienced in countless battles. Even if their physiques are similar, in a life-or-death fight..."

Li Pin imagined himself when his qi and blood was only 15 facing an ordinary person with the same level. He could snap the neck of the ordinary person in an instant!

"Moreover, this booklet might not represent the Holy Dragon Clan's most advanced legacy. If there are even more sophisticated records, lord-level members of their clan wouldn't just fight legendary creatures—they could defeat or even kill Gaia's legendary creatures."

Gaia's development had been too brief. The Astral God had only arrived a century ago. Before that, Gaia had been a purely planetary civilization, struggling to leave its own star system.

However, judging by these records, the Holy Dragon Clan... possessed a refined and deeply rooted inheritance system, built over countless years.

Though their methods differed from Gaia's Astral Cultivators, focusing more on genetic power and physical enhancement, the civilization's underlying technology was far more advanced than Gaia's.

Following the trail of dark magic to the location where Lin Xuanyao had once transformed into the Blood Demon, Li Pin firmly said, "Gaia isn't yet ready to engage with extraterrestrial civilizations."

He took off the Heavenly Demon Divine Armor and placed it at the site.

Seeing this, Lin Baizhan let out a bitter sigh. "Simply returning the armor won't solve the problem.... The armor alone can't purify all the dark magic here."

Li Pin examined the armor, now infused with dark magic, and quickly understood.

Lin Baizhan continued, "Unless someone—a Master Astral Cultivator at the very least—is willing to use their body to contain the remaining dark magic... But doing so would lead to inevitable corruption, transforming them into another Blood Demon.

"Compared to the dark magic that once seeped in like a gentle stream, it has now turned into a raging torrent. Even with the Heavenly Demon Divine Armor and a Master willing to sacrifice themselves, it would take less than a year for them to mutate into a legendary creature."