MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

The night passed peacefully without incident and Jiaojiao had found it hard to believe when she woke up in the morning.

“I seriously thought that I was going to lose my virginity,” said Jiaojiao during breakfast.

Li Yi only smiled at the remark, as the only reason he stayed his hand was due to him reminiscing about his time with Qian’er. He recalled their first night together, and how they hugged each other to sleep… uneventfully as well.

Once they finished their meal, Jiaojiao tidied up the table, whereas Li Yi got a change of clothes and went out to jog.

When Li Yi returned, he was drenched in sweat, and Jiaojiao had already donned her VR goggles.

Unlike the previous times, however, Jiaojiao did not lock the door…

Soon after, Li Yi logged into the game as well.

The controller for King of Pantheon was made with the latest technology, and though it was not as good as the Nourishment Chamber, long gaming sessions were hardly tiring. In fact, they were equipped with a self-massage function, which curbed any discomfort the users may have.

Back in the pitch-black hallway, bursts of flames appeared every now and then. The flames were actually the result of Lonely Semi City unleashing his magic. The madman was still grinding monsters and he has yet to log off.

When Li Yi had logged off last night, he was at Level 79 and as of now, Lonely Semi City was also at Level 79. It was only a matter of time before Lonely Semi City would overtake Li Yi.

“Brother Lonely, it’s almost four days now, aren’t you tired at all?” Li Yi was now looking at Lonely Semi City in a new light, it was no longer just plain respect, but reverence.

“Nah, I would’ve gone to sleep if I was tired,” chuckled Lonely Semi City. Just as he had said, he still seemed energetic.

“…”

Li Yi finally understood why Lonely Semi City was at such a high level despite not being in any major guilds. As a matter of fact, it would have been weird if he was not at a high level, as he had skipped both food and sleep in order to raise his levels.

“I’m using a Nourishment Chamber, as such, I can go several months without food or drinks.”

Li Yi was speechless, he had used the Nourishment Chambers once before, but the sweaty feeling that came from being in it had drained all the interest out of him.

Back when the Nourishment Chambers were first released, several players posted their experience on Pantheon’s official forum. The majority lasted around two days before they came out to replenish their nutrients, a small portion of them lasted for three to five days, and even the extreme ones with inhuman bodies could only last for around ten days.

The fact that Lonely Semi City only came out once every few months was just… too horrifying. Furthermore, even if he was using a Nourishment Chamber, his sleep cycle would still remain the same.

Lonely Semi City killed some monsters as he explained to Li Yi, “I’ve been kicked in the head by a donkey when I was little. Ever since then, I’ve gotten much less sleep, since it takes me three to five days to sleep once, even without the aid of the Nourishment Chamber.”

“So, you’ve been kicked by a donkey eh…” Li Yi was at a loss for words.

Once Jiaojiao and Pretty Good Mood had retrieved their EXP buffs, Li Yi pulled them over. He also brought along Little Elf from the Magical Realm as she was like Hua Feihua, who also received a purple treasure chest Epic-level Quest.

The friend summoning tool whirred and clanged as it spat out five people in total.

Aside from Jiaojiao, Pretty Good Mood, Pale Blue Elegance, and Little Elf from the Magical Realm, there was also Autumn Love.

The penny-pinching missy had made the most out of her time in the lava map. Suicide was out of the question as it costed her greatly. As such, she relentlessly used her Scavenging Skill to collect numerous ‘Volcanic Rock Ash’ and converted them into materials. All in all, she had gathered around 3,000 pieces of it.

“20 pieces comprises a bundle, and I can sell each bundle for 3 Bronze Coins, a worthy trade if I do say so myself.” Autumn Love rubbed her dark-circle-laden eyes as a look of relief crept onto her face.

Finding it odd, Li Yi asked, “Wait, you can’t even continue your quest, so why bother coming over?”

“It’s because I’m still in debt. My personal mantra is to die than to suffer a loss. If I do end up losing, I’ll earn it all back from the place I lost it from!”

‘Sigh…’

‘Suit yourself, I guess…’

Lonely Semi City opened up a portal and returned to the capital to receive the EXP buff and was recalled back by Li Yi once he received it. His objective for returning was not to complete quests, but to raise his levels instead. After the grueling experience from the last few days, he had gotten used to flying solo. As such, he did not form a party this time and went off by himself to grind more monsters.

There was no way he would squander a 5.5x EXP buff.

Autumn Love was booted out of Li Yi’s party and following that, the remaining five began their journey of grinding monsters.

They were grinding at a much faster pace this time.

Pretty Good Mood was able to summon Scarab King again and he had also learned his lesson. Throughout the battle, he stood behind Li Yi and avoided anything dangerous, opting to let Scarab King battle alone.

The monsters were bombarded with Shoot at Random, Dark Strike, Wind Swipe, and Scarab King. Aside from Pale Blue Elegance who was gaining free EXP, everyone, and even Little Elf from the Magical Realm was progressing at an impressive pace.

Ding! Ding!

Within a short span of ten minutes, three players within the party had leveled up. Naturally, Li Yi was not included among them as he did not receive any EXP buffs.

After another thirty minutes, the System’s red-text appeared.

[In a sudden burst of willpower, Little Drunk Cat Guild’s Lonely Semi City has surpassed Military Advisor Dark Wing to become number one within the Level Ranking Board. Therefore, he has been granted the title ‘Second to None’.]

It had only been for a few days since Li Yi’s debut on the Level Ranking Board, and the maniac had snatched it back just like that…

“Perverted Wing, why don’t you return to receive the EXP buff as well? It’s not worth it for you to grind like this,” blurted Jiaojiao as she could not stand to see Li Yi leveling up that slowly.

“I have a plan in mind, I assure you, I’ll definitely make the most out of my EXP buff. You, on the other hand, should level up quickly. You’ll finally be decent once you learn Undead Horde.”

“What do you mean decent? I’m already impressive at my current state,” snorted Jiaojiao angrily.

Again and again, their grinding strategy was to aggro and annihilate the monsters in groups…

Since they were a 5-man party, their pace was much faster than Lonely Semi City. Despite that, their large numbers meant that the splitting in EXP was greater as well. Even if they had the EXP buff factored in, the EXP gained from killing a single monster in a group was much less alluring than that of a solo player’s.

Out of all of them, Jiaojiao had earned the greatest amount of EXP. The 5.5x EXP buff coupled with EXP Pearl and her class’s privilege had enabled her EXP to soar like a rocket, enabling her to earn thousands of EXP in mere seconds.

Ding! Ding!

When the 10-hour EXP buff finally wore off, Jiaojiao had successfully risen to Level 70. The others were not far off either, as Pretty Good Mood was now Level 74, Little Elf was now Level 73, Pale Blue Elegance was now Level 60, and Li Yi was at the edge of reaching Level 80.

This was the terrifying might of the 5.5x EXP buff combined with unlimited small monsters!

Autumn Love had never left, and she collected any scraps she found, not leaving any Dark Elemental corpses untouched. While she looted the corpses, she also made sure to take note of her profits. By the looks of it, she truly meant what she said and would not return unless she made up for her losses.

Now that Jiaojiao was Level 70, Lord of Disaster had grown in size once more. However, she was excited, as she finally unlocked a special effect.

[Lord of Disaster (Orange-colored, Legendary-level)]

[Equipment Level: Level 70 (Level increases automatically, and the attributes are adjusted in tandem)]

[Equipment Class: For Black Paladins only (two-handed weapon)]

[2200-6200 Damage]

[STR +600]

[END +600]

[ATK SPD 3.5 seconds]

[Defile (Special Effect): When the Lord of Disaster successfully hits a target, the target will be defiled by the power of darkness. Both its P-DEF and M-DEF will be reduced by 20%. Effect lasts for 20 seconds.]

[Undead Slave (Special Effect): Targets (only those of flesh and bone) killed with Lord of Disaster will automatically be converted into Undead Slaves that are under the command of Lord of Disaster. Effect lasts for an hour. Additionally, Undead Horde’s cooldown is halved, and the lifespan of summoned Undead is extended by an hour.]

[Special effect (level requirement not met)]

[Special effect (level requirement not met)]

[Undying Body (Special Skill): Grants invincibility against all negative effects, including death… This status lasts for 15 seconds. Cooldown time: 5 minutes.]

[Special skill (level requirement not met).]

[Note: This is the Lord of Disaster’s weapon, so all the undead will bow before this sword…]

…

The newly unlocked special effect, Undead Slave, had surprised even Li Yi.

When Black Paladins unleashed Undead Horde, they can summon 10 to 100 ghouls in one go (continuous summoning is not allowed), depending on the skill’s level. Although the ghouls have sky-high attack stats, they were limited by their HP pool, as it was a hundredth of the user’s HP. Since Jiaojiao was currently at 9,800 HP, the ghouls she summoned would only have 98 HP.

Certainly, not only would the number of ghouls increase when Undead Horde is maxed, but their HP would also be adjusted to be a tenth of their user’s HP.

Each summoned ghoul came with the skill, ‘Charge’. Their attacks are ferocious, but their weakness was their short lifespan as they would automatically die after a minute. To make things worse, the skill’s cooldown was one hour.

Normally the skill was only used as a last-ditch effort. However, with Lord of Disaster, the skill was basically a hack, as the ghouls can now live for an hour and their cooldown has been halved…

Jiaojiao hurriedly took out the Undead Horde Skill Tomes that Li Yi had given her and clapped her hands to learn it.

She instantly upgraded to skill to Level 10.

“Undead Horde!”

Jiaojiao held her greatsword up high, and a black ray shot out of its tip that engulfed the area in front of her. In that instant, several filthy and nasty ghouls that drooled from their mouths dug their way to the surface. After counting carefully, they confirmed that there were 38 of them.

At Level 10, Jiaojiao’s Undead Horde is able to summon ghouls with around 400 HP.

“KILL!!”

Jiaojiao pointed her greatsword forward, and the ghouls charged head-first into the group of Dark Elementals.

The ghouls’ attacks were powerful, but their HP was pitifully low. Although they wiped out a large amount of Dark Elementals, their numbers had also decreased by a huge portion…

Jiaojiao shook her head. “They’re too soft…”

“Get used to it. Your pets can last for an hour whereas others’ can only last for a minute, what more could you ask for?”

“All of you stay here while I bring Director Yang to do her Epic-level Quest.”

With Little Elf from the Magical Realm in tow, they headed towards the depths of the Wailing Grotto.

“How many times do I need to tell you? Don’t call me Director Yang, call me Big Sis instead.”

“Alright, Director Yang.”

Little Elf from the Magical Realm’s quest was pretty easy to complete, as it was the same as Hua Feihua’s. Li Yi brought her over to the lava map, scooped her up, and activated God Mode to blaze through the map. When God Mode ended, they were already able to see the big purple treasure chest.

The Ember Spirits on the platform had also respawned, but with Little Elf from the Magical Realm at his side this time, the battle was even more effortless than before.

The two of them advanced as they slay the monsters, pretty soon, they were already in front of the purple chest.

Ding!

[You have obtained a Skill Tome for Air Dance Technique.]

‘Done!’

…