MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

Just as Li Yi had brought up the black steed, golden sparks shot out from all the players present. They had all leveled up.

One level after the next, the golden sparks continued pouring out. Only after quite some time had passed, did the sparks finally died down.

“Holy f*ck…”

“I….”

“Oh my god!”

“Hahaha! This is amazing!”

Once players cleared Kannon’s Heart, a colossal amount of EXP points would be distributed to the players. With that, Li Yi immediately shot up to Level 172…

Changes within the World Level Rankings immediately took place. Naturally, Li Yi had took the place of first place, followed by Qian’er, who sat at second place with Level 166.

The other members had also climbed up the rankings as well, and Lonely Semi City, who was originally at first place, was now pushed down to the eleventh spot, which was on the second page of the rankings…

If they had followed normal means of leveling up, there was no way for Li Yi to reach Level 172 in merely a month. It was absolutely impossible, and he would have needed at least two to three months.

However, by exploiting a bug, leveling that quickly was definitely doable…

Li Yi had earned the most experience within the party, not because he was the leader, but because he was carrying an EXP Pearl on him.

From the first day they entered Kannon’s Heart, Li Yi had been calculating and planning out when he should farm monsters and when he should attempt the bosses. Everything the party did was already something he had accounted for.

The first few bosses had been easy enough, but the Shield of Kannon, Barbarossa had proven to be a bit more challenging. However, it was not something that meticulous planning would not solve.

As for the final boss, the Sword of Kannon, Bahanuq, in terms of strength, it was three times more powerful than Barbarossa. However, behind all this power, laid a special mechanic, that affected players who challenged Bahanuq after defeating Barbarossa. Just before the dungeon reset, Bahanuq would commit suicide in despair even if the players could not defeat Bahanuq.

Barbarossa and Bahanuq were equally renowned in Pantheon lore, and the backstory of Kannon’s Heart had described them to be a pair of close friends with a relationship of master and apprentice. Between these two bosses, there were also two completely different strategies that players could utilize against them.

The first of which, was to slay Barbarossa, which would force Banahuq to kill itself.

The other one was to reduce Barbarossa’s HP to below 10 million HP. Once that happened, Barbarossa would commit suicide, and news of it would reach Bahanuq. Should that happen, players would need to face Bahanuq in its Berserk form for the entirety of the dungeon run.

At their current strength, the party would definitely not stand a chance against the Berserk version of Bahanuq. As such, Li Yi had forgone the second method and instead employed the first, which was to kill Barbarossa.

Once Barbarossa was taken down, the dungeon was basically already over. However, Li Yi could not have told the party about it. As such, he was forced to purposely bring about the party’s annihilation several times.

“I’ve finally… finally reached Level 160! I… I… I’m so god*mned happy!”

“I’m at Level 163!”

“I’m at Level 161!”

The players were totally immersed in the euphoria from the sudden jump in levels. So immersed were they that they had not even noticed the black steed in Li Yi’s hand.

[Ebony Warhorse (Epic-level Combat Mount)]

[On-ground SPD: 180%]

[Terrify (Special Mount Skill): Ebony Warhorse roars, decreasing the target’s attributes by 30%. The effect lasts for 20 seconds. Skill Cooldown: 2 minutes.]

[Loyalty (Special Passive Skill): The battle-worn Ebony Warhorse ignores all abnormal statuses and is loyal only to its owner. It also provides its owner with 1% magic resistance.]

Ebony Warhorse was pretty good. It had good movement SPD and it had a great special skill that reduced its target’s stats by 30%, which was akin to raising one’s ATK by 30%.

“Oh wow, a mount!”

“Ebony Warhorse, the mount the final boss was riding on!”

“I want it I want it I want it…”

Queen Jiao was the first to request it.

Every time a mount appeared; Queen Jiao would always call dibs on it. At times, Li Yi would even suspect that she shared the same hobbies as Hua Feihua…

Naturally, Li Yi was only referring to her hobbies of collecting mounts, and nothing else.

After looking at Ebony Warhorse’s stats, everyone turned their heads towards Brother Windcloud Nine.

Whether its distribution was up to rolling points or auctioning, it was for this rich person to decide.

Brother Windcloud Nine gave it some thought before saying, “Ahem, we’ll distribute this mount based on rolls guys.”

“All Hail Brother Nine!”

“I love you, Brother Nine!”

“Brother Nine, you’re so generous!”

Those who knew that they were no match for Brother Windcloud Nine’s wealth excitedly clamored. While Brother Nine himself had already gotten used to it, the same could not be said of his woman.

“My husband doesn’t like guys, thank you very much…”

“My husband doesn’t like gals as well, thank you… Wait, ack, no, what I mean is that…”

“Go stand in a corner!”

Before Sister Windcloud Nine had managed to complete her sentence, Brother Windcoud Nine gave her a deathly glare. With that, she meekly walked into a corner.

Ebony Warhorse was a guaranteed drop so long as Barbarossa was killed and Bahanuq had committed suicide.

Since the mount was guaranteed to drop after every dungeon reset, it was not hard at all to get the mount, provided that one was willing to dedicate some time for it.

Certainly, when they said that it was not hard to obtain, they were actually refering to three primary groups. The first were those that were rich; the second were for those who had a good party, and the third was for those who had good luck.

After all, when 50 people rolled points at the same time, who else but the lucky ones would obtain it from rolls?

It was now time to roll.

Queen Jiao suffered from tragic luck this time, as she had only gotten 1 point. With that, she was essentially out of the running.

Li Yi had participated in the rolls as well, and his luck was pretty good this time. He continued making past his contenders, and soon enough, he had defeated everyone, nabbing the Ebony Warhorse for himself.

Li Yi’s luck was only trash when it came to looting monsters. However, when it came to rolling points, he had never truly lost as eight out of ten times, he was bound to win.

After getting the Ebony Warhorse, Li Yi immediately traded it to Jiaojiao. He was only mildly interested in it, and the only reason he rolled was to give it to Jiaojiao.

Within the Iron Alliance, rolling was considered fair game. As long as the members wanted to participate in it, they would be given the chance to roll. As for the rewards gained from rolling, whether or not one sold it or kept it for themselves, it was no longer the alliance’s business, as the property was no longer theirs.

“Brother Yi, why are you treating me so well this time?” Jiaojiao narrowed her eyes into a kitten-like stare and looked at Li Yi.

One look at Li Yi’s eyes though, Jiaojiao had immediately understood.

“Scram!’

Li Yi announced the party’s dismissal. “The party will now be dismissed. Tomorrow, we’ll run Kannon’s Heart again!”

…

After claiming Kannon’s Heart’s first kill, the Iron Alliance had managed to bounce back, taking away the Fluttering Snow Alliance’s spotlight.

When Li Yi returned to Invincible Continent’s Celestial Capital, he looked up on Tyrant Sword King the Fifth. However, he noticed that the b*stard had gone offline, spoiling his intentions as Li Yi had originally intended to flaunt his victory over Tyrant Sword King the Fifth.

Li Yi went for a walk at the Auction House. He originally planned on getting some ‘trash Holy Equipment’ from Big Headed Dong Dong, but he was surprised when he learned that Big Head had been out of business for several months now…

“I… I… I… I did…didn’t even receive a … single one…” Big Head frustratedly scratched his big head.

Li Yi decided to contact Autumn Love, and the Black-hearted Chick replied almost immediately. Due to the guidance he provided her with, the Black-hearted Chick’s title had disappeared, and she had gone back to her old habits, camping at the Auction House day in and day out, buying low and selling high.

However, due to her various less than stellar anecdotes, many had discriminated against her. No one gave her any hints about the markets nowadays, and as such, she was forced to toil legally and single-handedly.

“Yo missy, how much you’ve been making recently?”

“Only about ten million. It’s a small number, tsk, many people are still treating me poorly…”

“… Could you get your hands on plenty of trash Holy Equipment? I need them in bulk, and money’s not a problem.”

“Hmm, the recent production of trash Holy Equipment is actually quite small. It’s not worth the trouble, but since it’s a request from Brother Dark Wing, I’ll travel to the ends of the earth to get them for you.”

“Thanks in advance.”

After walking around in the Auction House for nearly half a day, he noticed that the prices of the trash Holy Equipment had gone up by a considerable amount, whereas the prices of the Holy Crystals had stabilized, albeit having a lack of stock.

Li Yi purchased some Holy Crystals and then teleported to Shattered Frost City. He was about to walk into his home when he realized that his house had been reduced to rubble.

The city had been destroyed, and the houses were razed to the ground. It was definitely Tyrant Sword King the Fifth’s handiwork…

Although the items in his inventories were unaffected, rebuilding his house would cost him plenty of Gold Coins, and after roughly calculating it, he realized that it was indeed a large figure.

“How cruel, to think that he would even destroy my house.”

Li Yi shook his head, and after making sure no one was in his surroundings, he sat on the rubble and began Infusing his equipment.

While he farmed Kannon’s Heart for a month, his Attribute Infusion had become something that was no longer exclusive to him. Many players had picked up the skill as well, and it was now common to see players shouting stuff like ‘Level 1 Master Infuser, providing free Infusing Services’ in the World Channel.

The reason the players were shouting like that though, was that they had still not understood how to raise their Attribute Infusion levels. They were still locked in the mindset that the only way to raise their levels was via practice.

Limits were meant to be broken, and only via continuous improvement could Li Yi stay ahead of the others.

In truth, once Attribute Infusion became commonplace, the Pantheon’s official forum had made a slight adjustment to the skill.

One of the changes was that for every time the players Infused their equipment, a large quantity of ‘materials’ would be needed along with the Holy Crystals.

The materials required would range from Grade 1 until Grade 10, and for every increase in Infusion levels, the materials required would also change.

Without a doubt, the Pantheon’s official forum had introduced this mechanic to increase the players’ expenses. As such, in the far future, despite being a common skill, High-level Infusers were a rare sight.

After spending all 100 of his Holy Crystals, Li Yi’s Holy Value still remained at 1001.

There was not a single increase, nor was there any decrease. It was the same as before…

“Dammit, the odds of success are too low.”

After cursing the Infusion rates, Li Yi stood back up and gave an exasperated sigh.

He walked to the Castellan’s Residence and ordered the city to be repaired. Once that was done, Shattered Frost City’s bank was now devoid of money.

It seemed that Tyrant Sword King the Fifth had some beef with Li Yi’s Shattered Frost City. After all, he would always destroy it whenever he came to the Invincible Continent.

All Li Yi could do was give a bitter laugh after he finished repairing the city.

That night, Jiaojiao came to visit Li Yi’s room. He hugged him from the back and used the two apples in front of her to hump his back.

Despite that, Li Yi did not log out. Instead, he continued playing the game…

…