MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

“Bzzt bzzt bzzt…”

The Shieldsword shuddered rapidly, and Amber Sword Heart could only get five slashes in before Unending Unmatched broke free.

Amber Sword Heart had just learned his Territory, so his Territory was at a much lower level than Unending Unmatched’s. Add Unending Unmatched’s Holy-attribute Shieldsword to the mix and Amber Sword Heart’s Titan’s Grip could only last a few seconds before his Territory Power ran out.

“Whoosh-whoosh—”

The Shieldsword slashed repeatedly and Amber Sword Heart took hit after hit. If he did not have Priest-class players around him to refill his health, he would have gone down long ago.

…

“Let’s go! Our target is the Fluttering Snow Continent’s Celestial Capital!”

Just as Unending Unmatched and Amber Sword Heart were locked in battle, Li Yi rode Onyxia and flew straight for the Fluttering Snow Continent.

The headhunt last time frustrated Li Yi to no end too, but he gave it some thought and concluded that be it for the country’s advancement or to prevent further losses, he had no choice but to temporarily swallow that pill, no matter how bitter.

Although this incident had led to many defectors leaving the country, Li Yi was more than happy to see them go. After all, he always believed that once all the sand was filtered away, all that remained would be the best gold.

He was holding his ground these past few days, but that did not mean he did not want to get revenge. Instead, he had been holding it in, holding until all the possible defectors had left before he made his move.

‘I’ll fulfill my promises to those who trust me, but I don’t owe an explanation to those who don’t.’ That was Li Yi’s current mindset.

Li Yi flew into the Fluttering Snow Continent’s territory and immediately used a Random Teleportation Scroll to reach the Celestial Capital as quickly as possible.

It could be very exasperating to use a Random Teleportation Scroll, because it would send the player to another location completely at random, so there was no guarantee one could get where they wanted. Last time, for instance, Li Yi had teleported himself back and forth, only to end up even further away from the Celestial Capital. In the end, it delayed his progress.

This time, however, it seemed that Lady Luck favored him. With just one Random Teleportation Scroll, he appeared at the Fluttering Snow Continent’s Celestial Capital.

Before him stood the Celestial Capital’s majestic palace, and behind him, he saw the crowded Celestial Capital square. Overjoyed, Li Yi rode his Holy Light Warhorse straight into the palace.

Five minutes later, the palace was completely ablaze, and the Fluttering Snow Continent’s National Channel was filled with voices.

“Dark Wing has ambushed the Celestial Capital and is now burning down houses in the palace. All players, hurry there, we need reinforcements…”

“Dark Wing is here! His coordinates are the palace! He just killed me…”

“Bzzt-bzzt-bzzt…”

The sirens wailed and countless players rushed toward the palace, surrounding it from all sides.

A golden light barrier appeared around the palace, and every attack aimed at the light barrier slowed down. There were a few thuds, and people collapsed to the floor, one after the other.

“We can’t do this, he’s too strong! Get someone with a Territory, get the queen, or an official…”

“Hey, queen, officials, come to the palace right now, ASAP…”

Li Yi’s ambush sent droves of Fluttering Snow Continent players hurtling toward the Celestial Capital, even the ones stationed at Fluttering Snow City.

That was what happened when one was preceded by one’s reputation. To many Fluttering Snow Continent players, being able to kill Li Yi even once would be the utmost honor.

Among the Fluttering Snow Continent’s many players, Drifting Snow and Not Gray Wolf were the most enthusiastic about this. The two had been fighting Unending Unmatched, but Amber Sword Heart’s sudden appearance had allowed them to instantly retreat to the distance, where they stood their ground. When they heard that Li Yi had ambushed the Celestial Capital, the two of them immediately perked up and rubbed their Return City Stones, returning to the Celestial Capital.

“Dark Wing, today’s when you get a taste of Grandpa Wolf’s power!”

Not Gray Wolf and Drifting Snow summoned their mounts and rushed back to the palace at top speed.

“Smack-smack-smack-smack-smack!”

As soon as Not Gray Wolf and Drifting Snow rushed into the palace, Li Yi’s Meteor Arrow flew at them. Not Gray Wolf took four hits and fell straight to the ground. Drifting Snow, on the other hand, had Absolute Invincibility, so he was completely unharmed as he launched his counterattack.

Learning from his past experiences, Drifting Snow no longer dared to approach the Territory light barrier, choosing to shoot from outside instead.

He did not want to enter, but Li Yi was not giving him a choice. Activating his Rocket Propellant, Li Yi instantly darted 20 meters forward, forcing Drifting Snow into his Territory light barrier.

Just then, Not Gray Wolf resurrected. Li Yi raised his arms and shot out another three arrows, taking him down again.

Now that he was in the Territory, Drifting Snow moved even slower than a snail. His movements were decelerated so much that even lifting his foot took him 5 to 6 seconds.

Li Yi ran up to Not Gray Wolf and pulled out his Wind Sword, aiming at one of Not Gray Wolf’s arms and sawing through it. It fell clean off after three to five rounds, and then Li Yi moved on to the other arm, then the two legs…

“F*ck you in your p*ssy-*sss…” Not Gray Wolf spat out a string of expletives at him. It was true, he had an immortal body, but this was also his biggest weakness. Once he lost a limb or two, that same limb would not regenerate when he resurrected…

Now a human nugget, Not Gray Wolf lay on the ground, throwing every cuss word he knew at Li Yi. He had thought no one would figure out this secret of his, but now it was likely that he would never again know a day’s rest…

If he wanted his body to recover completely, it would take two days at the very least. In other words, Not Gray Wolf would stay like this for the next two days.

Finishing off Not Gray Wolf with ease, Li Yi aimed his Powered-up Arrow at Drifting Snow and shot it fiercely. With a pfft, a red damage figure of 260,000 appeared above Drifting Snow’s head, and he was dead with one hit.

“My Absolute Invincibility, f*ck…”

His Absolute Invincibility had failed again, and Drifting Snow remained as confused as ever.

Li Yi harrumphed coldly. “Idiot, as long as you’re in my territory, you’ll be slow if I want you to be. If I want to quicken things up, I can just as easily make all of your Territory Power disappear in an instant. If I do that, however, my Territory runs out quickly too. That’s why I don’t use it all that often.”

Of course, Li Yi was saying that to himself, and Drifting Snow could not hear a word. Li Yi was the kind of guy who got more excited the more frustrated his opponents became, and where was the fun in telling his opponent the truth?

Within minutes, he had finished off two Territory Masters. Although the players outside never stopped attacking, Li Yi remained in his Territory light barrier, so it was next to impossible for them to hurt him.

Unless they could activate a Forbidden Curse as deadly as Lightning Apocalypse, it was simply too hard for regular players to hurt Li Yi.

“Psst—”

Before Li Yi could walk out of the palace, the Fluttering Snow Continent’s current queen, Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut, teleported behind him and attacked him with a punch.

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut was inside Li Yi’s Territory light barrier, but her punch was only slightly slower than usual. There was a gush of wind from behind him, and although Li Yi did not see Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut, he could sense her. Suddenly, his figure vanished mysteriously and instantly reappeared at the edge of the light barrier. He then turned around and unleashed an arrow.

“Smack!”

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut’s fist fell through and she took an arrow to the chest, losing 8654 HP.

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut raised her pretty brows. “Teleporting within your Territory? Looks like you’ve gotten even stronger!

“Hraah…”

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut gripped her fists tightly and slowly raised them from her waist to her chest. A gold-colored aura surged all around her, and suddenly, she shot out her fists.

“Open!”

“Crack—”

A crevice suddenly appeared on the surface of Li Yi’s Territory light barrier, and it shook violently.

“You truly are strong. Take another one of my punches!”

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut gathered up her aura again, and the gold-colored aura surged once more.

“I’m afraid you won’t have the chance to anymore!”

Li Yi tossed a gold-colored Hunt Target above Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut and widened his stance, slowly preparing his Powered-up Arrow.

“Tch-psh-bish-tst-pst…”

“Ding! Ding!”

System Notification: [Warning, the server will soon reboot. All players, please prepare to log off in order to avoid any accidental losses…]

[Warning, the server will soon reboot. All players, please prepare to log off in order to avoid any accidental losses…]

Just as Li Yi and Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut were about to launch their attacks, the announcement of an annoying server restart appeared out of nowhere, stunning them both…

A server reboot? How was that possible? Things like that had disappeared from games ten years ago, no? For modern online games, be it version updates or bug fixes, all of it could be done online. So what was happening here? Why did they suddenly need to reboot the server?

Could it be…

A possibility occurred to Li Yi.

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut put down her fist, and Li Yi lowered his bow. The two of them looked at each other, but neither one launched an attack.

“Pa-pssh—”

Li Yi’s vision went black, and his brainwaves were disconnected from the game. He had been forced out of the game.

“What the heck? I was fighting a boss here! Gaaah, it was about to drop equipment too! What the heck, that’s fricking annoying!”

He could hear Miss Jiao’s roars from next door, and it was clear that she had been kicked out too…

Li Yi took off his headset and his phone immediately began ringing. It was Confused Fox, but before he could pick up, someone else called him. Within seconds, a few other friends from the game called him, one after the other.

It was obvious that they were calling about the server reboot.

Li Yi tossed his phone aside and stretched as he left the room.

“Lil Yi’zi, Lil Yi’zi! Come help me take a look. Why can’t I log on anymore?”

Jiaojiao ran over in a hurry, grabbing Li Yi’s hand and dragging him into her room.

“I can’t do anything about it. Didn’t you hear the server maintenance announcement?”

Jiaojiao was lost. “Maintenance announcement?”

Just then, the doorbell rang. It was Qian’er, ringing the bell as she yelled about how she could not enter the game…

“Alright, stop panicking. It’s server maintenance, I’m guessing they’re releasing the new version.”

“Releasing the new version?” Jiaojiao and Qian’er said in unison.

Li Yi touched his lips. “I’m thirsty.”

Jiaojiao ran over to the water dispenser, poured a cup of water, and obediently brought it to Li Yi.

Li Yi touched Jiaojiao’s little head and praised her before taking a seat on the couch and catching a little shut-eye.

Jiaojiao pulled Li Yi’s hand, waving it constantly. “Brother Yi, what do you mean by a new version? C’mon, tell us, tell us!”

“I… don’t know either.”

“I’ll strangle you.” Looking vicious, Jiaojiao reached out her hands to strangle Li Yi’s neck.

“Wait a sec!”

Li Yi held up his hand, signaling pause, and then he ran into his room and retrieved a notebook, opening it in front of the two girls.

“Whazzat?”

Li Yi coughed softly. “Since it’s a server maintenance, I’m sure there’s a notice about it on the official site. Won’t we know if we just check it?”

“F*ck you!”

Jiaojiao and Qian’er gave Li Yi the middle finger in unison.

…