Planet Pulverizer: A Mortal's Ascent-Chapter 296: Getting Accustomed

Li Pin had already changed into a fresh set of clothes in one of the guest rooms.

"Great Moon..." he mumbled.

He looked through the few books that had been delivered to his desk, written in Tianyuan language, and quickly found one titled Molong Chronicles and started flipping through it.

"The land of ten-thousand saints...."

It was a very grand name. However, this grand title carried a hidden meaning; this land was a land of saints, not Astral Cultivators.

There were no noteworthy Astral Cultivators in this country.

The Great Moon Country had long since lost the glory and prosperity it had over sixty years ago. Not only was the country internally fragmented into over three hundred warlords, there were constant battles and it was filled with chaos. It was also plagued by the open and covert conflicts between the Royal Empire and Great Shang, with which it shared borders.

Moreover, companies from Solar Radiance and the Star Alliance had planted personnel to siphon off what they could from this country that can barely be called one.

For decades, Great Moon's development had completely stagnated, becoming a true third-world country. These days, Great Moon’s gross domestic product per capita would definitely rank amongst the bottom three globally.

Li Pin flipped through the book. "Wow, this Molong Chronicles is quite interesting. According to its description, the outside world has been completely overrun by ferocious beasts and demonic creatures? If anyone dared to venture out, they'd surely become fodder for these beasts.

"Even the neighboring countries around Molong Country are said to be living in hellish conditions, filled with slaughter, ferocious beasts, and demonic creatures... They might as well be saying that leaving Molong Country would definitely mean death."

Without a doubt, this was a propaganda book.

After the era of turmoil, the Great Moon hardly developed at all. Forget connecting to the world through the internet; the rate at which there was nationwide access to electricity didn't even reach ten percent.

Li Pin took a look out of the window.

By now, night had fallen, and aside from the brightly lit city lord's manor, the entire Xiangye City was dotted with just a few points of light, mostly engulfed in darkness.

This was still only because Xiangye City was under the jurisdiction of this city lord. The people in the other villages probably didn’t even know what electronic devices were.

"Once an Astral Cultivator is detected, they are taken by the Royal Empire, the Great Shang, Solar Radiance, or the Star Alliance. For regular people, the only way to change their fate is through martial arts. However, without proper nutrition, many end up ruining their bodies. Despite so, it's still the only path available to the people of Great Moon...."

Li Pin thought of the Grandmaster who had been with Wen Yusheng. That Grandmaster portrayed the most accurate depiction of a Great Moon martial artist.

"As long as they don't die from the training, they will continue to push themselves to the limit. How much blood and deaths are hidden behind the land of ten thousand saints?" Li Pin muttered.

He took around half an hour to briefly go through the entire book.

Comparing the information in the book with what he had seen in just one day, he could already conclude that compared to the people of Great Moon, those of Taibai and Tianyuan were practically living in paradise.

As he was lost in thought, someone knocked on the door and informed Li Pin that it was time for dinner.

Under Qiao Wen's lead, Li Pin was brought to the dining hall where many people were already waiting.

Over ten servants were busy at work, serving the food.

Wen Yusheng called out to Li Pin, "Martial Saint Li."

After that, he introduced the people next to him to Li Pin.

It turned out Wen Yusheng had three wives, four daughters, and five sons. However, Li Pin soon discovered that this wasn’t the full extent of Wen Yusheng’s family.

At the dinner table, while hosting Li Pin, Wen Yusheng introduced the situation of Molong Country and Xiangye City.

Xiangye City, despite being a national political center, only had a population of 60 thousand, while Xiangye Territory had a population of over 300 thousand.

There were dozens of similar territories in Molong Country with varying population sizes. Some had a population exceeding a million and some had as little as a few hundred thousand.

Molong Country had a total population of over 30 million, and Molong Country's royal family was one of the top ten warlords of Great Moon. They ruled over an area of more than a million square kilometers.

Of course, none of this really mattered.

That was because Molong Country's population count and land size were constantly fluctuating.

Taking Wen Yusheng as an example, he had only become Xiangye City's city lord nine years ago. His predecessor had surrendered to Kanyun Country's invasion. After Xiangye City was recovered, Wen Yusheng's predecessor was executed by Molong's royal family.

Wen Yusheng had become the city lord due to his military merits in external wars and because his eldest son showed great aptitude in martial arts, reaching the Martial Saint realm at only thirty. He was now in the service of Molong Country's third prince.

Since both sides were not very familiar with each other, they only exchanged a few words before ending the conversation.

After that, Li Pin returned to his room.

In the entire Xiangye City, there were almost no entertainment activities to speak of. Forget shopping, watching movies, or playing games—there wasn't even television to watch.

It wasn't that there weren't any, but...the signal was really terrible around here.

Li Pin had no choice but to continue reading.

"The Great Moon's written language has been completely abandoned. Currently, in Molong Country, or even throughout the Great Moon's territory, two main languages are used—the Great Shang and the Royal Empire's languages. As Molong Country is nearer to the Royal Empire, the Royal Empire's language is more commonly used."

Li Pin checked the map.

The Royal Empire and Great Shang were situated in the Southern Star Continent and Northern Star Continent respectively. Both continents were wide in the middle and narrow at the ends, with the central, wider part being the Great Moon.

In its prime, both the Royal Empire and Great Shang were under the Great Moon's overwhelming dominance.

At the height of its power, the Royal Empire's predecessor had even held a referendum to join the Great Moon, but the latter rejected the request with disdain.

These days, however, be it the Royal Empire or the Great Shang, they were too occupied with their internal affairs and treated the Great Moon as a buffer zone. At the same time, after finally toppling this superpower, neither of these two countries wants to see a unified Great Moon rise again.

With this tacit understanding, Great Moon's internal wars and constant emergence of warlords continue without end.

After reading these descriptions, Li Pin fell into contemplation.

After a long while, he muttered, "Wasn't it said... that the human race is already on the brink of extreme danger?"

Yet, it seemed that, despite the crisis looming over humanity, each nation was busy securing its own interests. This was how it was for the Great Shang, the Royal Empire, and... how it was for Tianyuan.

He sat on the chair for very long without saying a word.

***

The next day, Li Pin woke up very early.

As Xiangye City's city lord, Wen Yusheng naturally had his own security team. In addition, there was a six-hundred-man army stationed outside Xiangye City.

After finishing breakfast and heading downstairs, Li Pin saw many people gathered to train and practice martial arts.

It wasn't just the security team members, but even Wen Yusheng's three adult or nearly adult sons were among them.

The one teaching them martial arts was an elderly Grandmaster.

Qiao Wen quickly came over and greeted Li Pin with a smile. "Good morning, Martial Saint Li."

Qiao Wen had been appointed to serve as Li Pin’s personal translator during his stay.

"Help me find some books to learn Great Shang's language," Li Pin said.

Qiao Wen was stunned. "Books to learn Great Shang's language?"

"Mmm, I know the basics of Great Shang's language. It’d be faster for me to pick it up," Li Pin said. "Besides, that's the most widespread language around here, right?"

"Of course. I'll inform the city lord right away."

"Haha, I've already asked someone to make the preparations," someone said from inside the house.

Wen Yusheng stepped out, laughing. "Martial Saint Li, it seems you plan to stay with us for a while. If you’re interested, I can help you apply for Molong Country's citizenship."

Li Pin said as his gaze fell on the elderly man beside Wen Yusheng. "We'll see."

Wen Yusheng smiled and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Qiao Yuanshan."

Li Pin didn't speak but instead sized Qiao Yuanshan up.

Qiao Yuanshan frowned, feeling pressure from Li Pin’s gaze. "Such powerful martial intent... but Martial Saint Li, staring like that is somewhat impolite."

Li Pin looked at him silently. After a long pause, he said, "If you don't work on your self-cultivation, you might not live another year."

Hearing that, Qiao Yuanshan’s eyes widened in shock. "Who are you!?"

"Work well on your self-cultivation." Li Pin looked at him and sighed. "You... aren't even fifty, are you?"

He’s not in his fifties yet looked this old....

Li Pin turned to Wen Yusheng. "I plan on heading to the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield to scout the situation. Can I trouble you to arrange for someone to guide me there, Lord Wen?"

"Alright," replied Wen Yusheng, nodding and turning to the Grandmaster behind him.

Before Wen Yusheng could instruct the Grandmaster, Qiao Yuanshan interjected, "Let me go."

He continued, "I know a bit of the Tianyuan language. If I were to go, at least we don't have to let Little Wen[1] go along as a translator."

When Wen Yusheng heard this, he fell silent for a moment before nodding.

Soon, he beckoned someone over and gave the person some instructions.

The person quickly drove off in a car.

The car seemed to be an off-road vehicle that had been used for many years and had also been modified.

"Do you prefer any specific weapon, Martial Saint Li? We can make the arrangements..."

"An ordinary greatsword will do."

Who knew what kind of dangers lurked in the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield. Having a weapon on hand was the safer option. The weapon they’d provide would definitely be no astral equipment, but it would at least add to his killing power.

Li Pin and Qiao Yuanshan got into the car and soon left Xiangye City.

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The roads in Xiangye City were full of potholes but were mostly paved. However, shortly after leaving the city, the paved road turned to gravel. Soon, the gravel turned to dirt, causing the already-slowing vehicle to slow down even more.

Fortunately, the vehicle was powerful.

If it had rained, though, they probably wouldn’t have had any luck arriving today.

Li Pin was speechless. This isn't much faster than going on foot.

Looking at the large pothole ahead, which could easily flip a car over if not careful, he couldn't help but ask Qiao Yuanshan, "By the way, doesn't your city lord plan to fix these roads?"

"Fixing roads isn't that simple. On one hand... there's no money. On the other hand... they'll get destroyed."

Li Pin was taken aback. "Destroyed?"

He was quickly reminded of the situation in Great Moon; the three hundred warlords were always in incessant battles.

Although Xiangye City wasn't technically a border town of Molong Country, it was less than a hundred kilometers from the enemy forces of Kanyun Country.

"Martial Saint Li, your complexion and demeanor suggest that you are unlikely from our enemy forces, but please forgive my intrusion.... The people of this land have suffered greatly, and I hope your arrival is with good intentions," Qiao Yuanshan said solemnly.

Li Pin glanced to the side of the road.

They happened to pass by a village.

The village had a considerable population, likely in the hundreds, but there wasn't a single decent building to be seen. Most houses were thatched huts. On rainy days, it was easy to imagine the constant leakages through the roofs.

Most of the children on the road were barefoot, running on gravel-filled paths, many of them not even wearing clothes.

Upon seeing the vehicle approaching, they quickly ran back in fear.

Most households probably didn't have many pieces of furniture, if any.

Who'd have thoughts of harming them?

Li Pin shook his head. "I'm only here to train for a while."

"Then," Qiao Yuanshan bowed slightly to him, "For a guest who comes with goodwill, we will do our best to meet all of your requests."

1. Referring to Qiao Wen ☜