MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

As one of the Seven Secret Places, the Water World did not contain any monsters. Instead, it was filled exclusively with an endless supply of treasure. Those who managed to enter did not need to travel to the Mysterious Little Island in order to claim them. Just like Autumn Love had done, they could simply dive underwater to harvest the treasure.

Love Hotel, which was located at the center of the Mysterious Little Island, had strange properties. Players who lay

in its bed would automatically receive 1 random stat point after certain intervals.

Whether there was a limit to this permanent stat boost, Li Yi did not know. He had not been blessed with his current luck in his past life. He had neither owned the Mermaid Princess nor entered the Water World back then. Lying down in Love Hotel had never been possible to him back then.

The rattan bed was a bit cramped, having just enough space for two people to lie side by side. Currently, Li Yi lay in the bed, while Qian’er sat on its edge. Their stats were constantly increasing…

As the hardest place to reach in the Water World, it came as no surprise that players who managed to reach the Mysterious Little Island would receive lucrative rewards. Take the duo’s current situation as an example, they had already been continuously obtaining stat boosts for nearly two hours now.

“My INT has risen by 67 points, whereas my END and WIL have grown by 32 and 25 points, respectively. Those are pretty decent, I guess, but why did they increase my STR by 89 points? This is ridiculous, I’m a Wizard, what use do I have for STR?”

Qian’er was checking her stat increases and was not amused by her sudden explosion in STR points.

Li Yi groaned. “The stat increases are completely random. Just look at me, I’ve already gotten 56 INT points, tch, if only they were STR boosts.”

After five hours had passed, Li Yi and Qian’er’s stat increases had finally reached stopped.

All in all, they had received an increase of at least 200 points in every stat after five hours of continuous stat gain. For the average player, these stat gains were equivalent to equipping a Blue Quality Equipment Set.

Face flushed, Qian’er was still not satisfied. She complained, “Why’s it so short?”

“Just be thankful for what we’ve already gotten. If we were to continue the process any longer, we would become literal gods, and if that happened, how would that be fair to other players? Let’s go, it’s time for some treasure hunting.”

Li Yi hopped off the bed and walked out of the cabin.

Outside the cabin, the sun was radiating its resplendent rays, and azure skies and an emerald sea stretched for as far as the eye could see. Far out in the sea, the Mermaid Princess was playfully swimming around, and behind her, was a school of rare, valuable fish.

Li Yi took out the Purple Quality Fishing Rod he won in the Fishing Grand Prix last time, hooked some fish bait, walked onto a large boulder, and cast his rod.

“Pervert, aren’t we supposed to look for treasure? What’s up with your fishing get-up?”

The fishing rod arched downwards, and with a powerful swing, Li Yi caught a Red Arrowfish.

“Don’t you know? The fishes here have the same effect as the lovebed in our Love Hotel. Consuming them will provide us with the same stat boosts.”

Qian’er’s face turned beet-red. “Ptui! Ptui! What do you mean by our Love Hotel you damned pervert! How c-c-could you give it such a shameless name.”

Li Yi laughed off the statement, and as he tossed his fishing line back into the water, he said, “I’m going to stick to fishing for now. In the meantime, you can head underwater. There should be quite a lot of treasure underwater but do be careful while you’re looting. If the items inside the chests are bad, close the chest and don’t interact with it any further.”

“Why’s that?”

“There are no monsters in Water World, so we’re safe from any danger here. However, please don’t tell me you expect us to stay here forever.”

Li Yi pointed to the endless sea that stretched far beyond them, and continued, “The treasures within the Water World aren’t endless, and if there aren’t any restrictions in place, the both of us could surely grab all of them up for ourselves with some effort.”

“Umm-hmm…” Qian’er widened her eyes and nodded her head repeatedly. That was what she thought.

“Take a look at your Status Panel.”

Qian’er brought up her Status Panel, and to her shock, she realized that her stamina gauge had returned. She was currently at 71/100 points.

“When did it drop again? I’m currently at 71 points.”

With a smile, Li Yi responded, “I’m at 93 points.”

Qian’er grumbled, “Why is yours higher than mine?”

“Whenever you take something out of the treasure chests, whether it’s a single item or everything within, your stamina gauge will automatically drop. To make matters worse, this deduction is non-reversible. In other words, even if you regret taking the items you already have and returned them, your lost stamina will not be returned. Understood?”

Greatly startled by this revelation, Qian’er exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

Lamenting the situation, Li Yi could only answer, “I only just noticed myself.”

While he lay in the rattan bed, Li Yi slowly came to realize what the stamina gauge was for. However, by the time he had figured it out, Qian’er had already laid her hands on quite a few chests.

“Hurry up and dive into the water! Even if we lie around doing nothing, the stamina gauge will continue to decrease, so onwards, brave lass!”

While Li Yi was fishing, Qian’er dove underwater in search of treasure.

Qian’er was only interested in getting legendary items, and as a result, ignored chests that contained Gold Coins and the like.

Qian’er had accumulated a considerable haul, and so had Li Yi. In order to find Alenod the Smart, he had brought an enormous amount of fishing bait with him. With both fishing rod and fishing bait available, it would be a waste if Li Yi did not spend some time fishing?

Eating any fish from the Water World would grant the player a permanent stat boost. Furthermore, an opportunity like this only occurs once in a blue moon. Should Li Yi miss this chance, his next opportunity would not come by easily.

In a blink of an eye, another hour had passed. Li Yi had nabbed a total of 97 fishes, while Qian’er had fared awfully. In the span of an hour, she had only acquired items from two treasure chests.

Li Yi’s stamina gauge dropped by 3 points, whereas Qian’er’s dropped by 4.

Back on the boulder, Li Yi quickly packed up his fishing equipment and dove straight into the sea.

Although the stat-increasing fishes were pretty good, it was not worth losing out on treasure. It would be a shame if he had been too focused on fishing that he forgot to loot the chests.

Li Yi called out to the Mermaid Princess while messaging Qian’er, “Qian Qian, where are you?”

“I’ve already scoured the area nearby the isle. My current coordinates are at the East… Wait, you damned pervert, you… you played me!” Qian’er had a sudden outburst.

“How did I play you?”

“You told me to loot first so that I would eliminate all the trash nearby the isle. You… Arghhhh…”

“Hahaha, it does sound plausible when you put it like that, but I never thought of that.”

Li Yi gently stroked the Mermaid Princess’ peachy hind, and she joyfully swam towards the Western part of the sea.

The beautiful underwater world was littered with treasure chests. Red, green, blue, purple, all these colors dotted Li Yi’s vision.

‘No wonder Autumn Love refused to return. With ‘scenery’ this alluring, it’s no wonder she was hooked.’

Li Yi moved out of the area where Qian’er had already scavenged, and then he gave the Mermaid Princess the order to use Treasure Hunt. As for himself, he swam around in search of treasure.

Ding!

He had opened a huge red treasure chest, and the system emitted its usual chime.

[You have found a Stinger Arrow Skill Tome…]

[You have found a Broken Ring.]

[You have found a Shattered Crystal.]

…

Out of the three items that Li Yi had found, only the Level 105 Archer Skill, Stinger Arrow was useful. The other two were total garbage, and to illustrate how awful they were, if anyone were to toss them onto a city street, only Autumn Love would bother to pick them up.

However, Stinger Arrow was an amazing skill, and for Li Yi, it was too good to pass up.

“Clap!”

Li Yi brought his hands together, morphing the Stinger Arrow Skill Tome into a ray of white light that pierced his skull.

[Congratulations, you have learned the Stinger Arrow Skill!]

[Level 3 Stinger Arrow (Demon Tribe Commander Equipment Set has increased skill points by 2): Deals 120% ATK. Upon striking the target, the Stinger Arrow will not immediately disappear. Instead, it continues to deal damage for a duration of 8 seconds. The damage increases every 2 seconds. Skill Cooldown: 30 seconds. Effects can be stacked twice.]

Li Yi upgraded his Stinger Arrow to Level 20, and its effects changed.

[Level 22 Stinger Arrow (Demon Tribe Commander Equipment Set has increased skill points by 2): Deals 220% ATK. Upon striking the target, the Stinger Arrow will not immediately disappear. Instead, it continues to deal damage for a duration of 22 seconds. The damage increases every 2 seconds. Skill Cooldown: 15 seconds. Effects can be stacked five times.]

After upgrading Stinger Arrow, the skill’s power had doubled, and its duration had also been doubled. Better yet, its effects could now be stacked 5 times as well.

It was a powerful Assassination Archer skill, and for Archers who were nimble and enjoyed kiting around, the skill was a must-have.

Li Yi immediately tossed out the Broken Ring and Shattered Crystal. Even if he had sold them to NPCs, that trash would only be worth a couple of Silver Coins, and aside from Autumn Love, not a single soul would want them.

Li Yi continued looking for chests, and pretty soon he discovered a huge green chest.

Ding!

[You have found a longsword, Divine Judgment.]

[You have found a dagger, Venomous Heart.]

[You have found an Advanced-level Talisman.]

…

All three items bedazzled Li Yi…

Blazing Judgment, a legendary melee weapon. Currently, only a few top-tier players like Brother Windcloud Nine had gotten their hands on it. The item was not only highly valuable, but it was also highly practical as well…

As for the Level 105 Purple Quality Dagger, Venomous Heart, it was a legendary weapon for Poisonous Thieves. It increased all poison skill damage by 50%, and whether it was fighting bosses or PK-ing, it was an extremely versatile tool.

The last item was an Advanced-level Light Talisman, it was a great item that allowed users to revive on the spot…

‘Take them, take them all!’

Li Yi mentally calculated the prices of the items before picking them up and storing them in his backpack.

Ding!

[You have found a longsword, Lola’s Ice Crystal Sword.]

[You have found a Raging Firestorm Skill Tome.]

[You have found three Rainbow Diamonds.]

…

Lola’s Ice Crystal Sword, a Level 100 ultra-rare Purple Quality Sword. Its special effect was that during close-quarters combat, it had a 5% chance of freezing its targets.

On the other hand, Raging Firestorm was a Level 150 Instant AOE Burst spell used by Fire Wizards. Its damage was even higher than Meteor Fire Shower…

As for the Rainbow Diamonds, Li Yi desperately needed them…

‘Take them, take all of them!’

…