MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

Sky Island was the Winged Ones’ forbidden land, and legend had it that the souls of the departed Winged Ones would rest here. Unlike other creatures, when Winged Ones died, their souls would automatically fly to the Sky Graveyard. When the Winged Ones’ Mother Tree collected enough energy, the Winged Ones’ souls would be reborn as eggs, granting them new life.

There were three Winged One bosses on Sky Island that posed the biggest challenge.

The strongest Winged One was their chief, the Winged Ruler. It had the special ability to talk directly to the Pantheon, and it had unlimited Divine Power at its disposal. It could even use several dozen powerful Divine Spells.

The second-strongest Winged One was their Sky Priest, Karina. It was the Winged Ones’ strongest priest, and it could freely use Divine Power as well as restorative Divine Spells.

The third-strongest Winged One was Karian, Karina’s younger brother. It was born with a special ability that allowed it to use a Divine Spell that could control souls.

The Winged Ruler stood guard at the Winged Ones’ Mother Tree, whereas the Sky Priest could appear randomly anywhere in the world. Karian, on the other hand, was in charge of watching over the Sky Graveyard.

 When the Gray Winged One carried a player to Sky Island, if the player did not break away first, there was a 90% chance they would be taken to the Winged Ones’ Mother Tree, where they would become the Winged Ones’ new food supplies. On the other hand, there was a tiny chance they would be sent to the Sky Graveyard instead.

In other words, Li Yi had struck the jackpot again!

He had the fortune to be chosen as Spirit Wing Karian’s food, so he was sent to the Sky Graveyard.

Several hundred arrows came raining down at him from all directions. Li Yi sensed the danger and immediately released his Chrono Territory in mid-air, slowing down the enemy’s arrows.

“Teleport!”

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh—”

Li Yi teleported twice in a row, moving several dozen meters through the air and deftly evading the hundreds of arrows the White Winged Ones had sent his way.

“God Mode!”

The Hunter Goddess appeared and held her arms open, taking Li Yi in her embrace.

She whispered into Li Yi’s ear, “This is Sky Island, my hometown…”

“Moon! Moon! Moon!”

When the Winged Ones nearby saw the Hunter Goddess, they began to cry out excitedly.

The Hunter Goddess had another name, Goddess of the Moon. That was her name back when she lived with the Winged Ones.

“Kill her!”

“Kill her!”

“How dare you betray the Wing King, Moon! Die!”

“Kill her, squawk!”

At first, Li Yi had assumed that summoning the Hunter Goddess could reduce the Winged Ones’ aggro, but instead, the opposite rang true. The Winged Ones’ tempers reached the boiling point and they squawked up a storm. More Winged Ones joined the riot, blotting out the sky.

That was when Li Yi found out that the Hunter Goddess was a traitor of the Winged Ones…

“Quick, fly!”

Li Yi had an idea, and with his command, the Hunter Goddess spread her golden wings, rising into the air quickly and breaking through the barricade.

They had caught the attention of every Winged One on the island, so the best course of action now was to leave the battle.

Li Yi did not mind dying once, but the one place he did not want to die at was Sky Island.

After all, dying on Sky Island was not quite the same as dying elsewhere…

If a player died on the outskirts of Sky Island, they could not resurrect for ten to thirty minutes, and they could not release their souls either. Even with the Sacramental Stone, Li Yi had to obey this rule.

If a player died near the Winged Ones’ Mother Tree, they could not resurrect for one to three hours.

It was precisely because of Sky Island’s unique resurrection restrictions that Li Yi chose to run without a moment’s hesitation.

He did not want to lie on the ground for half a day, unable to move.

The Hunter Goddess flew far faster than a regular Winged One could. With just a few swerves left and right, rising and falling, up and down, the Hunter Goddess had left the Winged Ones far behind.

“Nicely done!”

Li Yi praised her.

The Hunter Goddess sighed. Li Yi’s compliment did not make her feel any better at all.

“Goddess, did you really betray the Winged Ones? Color me surprised.”

They had left Sky Island, so even if they were mobbed and killed by Winged Ones now, Li Yi did not really care anymore.

“I knew this would happen as soon as I chose to oppose the Ruler of God.”

“Come on, Moon. Snap out of it.”

Something caught Li Yi’s eye, and he had the Hunter Goddess fly downward rapidly.

He then used Camouflage and Pseudocide.

With that, he had escaped from battle.

“Squawk…”

“Squawk! Moon disappeared.”

“That traitor, Moon, had disobeyed the Winged Ruler’s will! She must die!”

“Find her! Find the traitor!”

The herd of Winged Ones circled the sky above Li Yi. Their aggro did not fade just because Li Yi had left the battle, and they continued to search for the two of them.

Unlike regular monsters, the Winged Ones had considerable independence of thought!

If Li Yi had not escaped from their line of sight, he would not have been able to leave the battle even if he did use his skills.

Soon enough, the Winged Ones scattered, and Li Yi undid his Camouflage.

He looked around and saw that he had come to the edge of the Western Continent. If he went forth now, he would arrive at the Abyssal Rift, the entrance into the Demonic Invasion expansion pack.

“Roar— Roar—”

There were two booming dragon roars from the distance, and they caught Li Yi’s attention. He was still in God Mode, so he could sense a powerful aura headed his way.

“Roar—”

After another earth-shaking roar, a giant red dragon that was even larger than the Black Dragon Princess Onyxia flew toward Li Yi.

There was a tall female player wearing black armor and riding on the red fat dragon’s back. She had a greatsword in hand and she stood on tiptoe as she gave the occasional confident chuckle.

“Jiaojiao!”

After a moment of shock, Li Yi’s face spread into a smile.

It had been almost two whole years since he had Jiaojiao lure away Augustus’ Red Dragon Queen. Now, she had finally conquered it…

“Territory Release!”

Li Yi released his Territory at full strength. Using Teleport and Cyclone, he landed squarely on the Red Dragon Queen’s back.

“Roar— Get off, insignificant creature!”

The Red Dragon Queen instantly flew into a rage and kept swinging her body, trying to throw Li Yi off. She had only been tamed by Jiaojiao, so in her eyes, only Jiaojiao deserved to ride on her back. Other creatures had no such right!

“Don’t move! Stop, stop!”

No matter how Jiaojiao commanded her, the Red Dragon Queen did not stop, determined as she was to shake Li Yi off.

Li Yi was still in God Mode, so every time the Red Dragon Queen shook him off, he just managed to return to her back rapidly.

“Juanita, when did you tame her?”

“Today. Just now, in fact. Wahahaha, I made that old perv Augustus so angry he even fainted.” Jiaojiao looked very pleased with herself.

After all, Augustus had tamed the Red Dragon Queen for more than a millennia, but he had never successfully ridden her even once…

The Red Dragon Queen’s temper was far worse than even the Black Dragon Princess’.

“Die, you insignificant creature! You sullied me, and that’s unforgivable!”

The Red Dragon Queen turned her head around and sprayed a scarlet red-hot Dragon’s Breath at him.

Li Yi flew up gently and evaded the Dragon’s Breath.

“Whoosh—”

Li Yi then activated the Teleport skill that came with the Emperor’s Sword and returned to a spot near Sky Island.

“Ding!”

Jiaojiao immediately sent him a message. “Lil Yi’zi, where you at?”

“Sky Island.”

“Pull me over. I wanna do a quest there.”

“Dismiss that red dragon of yours first.”

“Sure, sure.”

Li Yi took out his friend summoning tool and pulled Jiaojiao to his side.

He was there on Sky Island to steal more Winged Ones’ Eggs so he could power up his Evil God Summoning Scroll.

On the other hand, Jiaojiao was there for the god-tiered buff quest. She also needed a Winged One’s Egg.

The two of them had different quests but identical quest items.

Li Yi led Jiaojiao into the bushes and asked as they walked, “If you hadn’t seen me earlier, were you planning on riding the Red Dragon Queen straight up to Sky Island?”

“But of course, that goes without saying!”

Li Yi rolled his eyes.

The Red Dragon Queen was an ancient dragon, and while she was much stronger than the Black Dragon Princess Onyxia, it was blatantly impossible for her to fight the billions of Winged Ones on Sky Island all on her own.

With Li Yi’s current capabilities, he could easily kill hundreds or thousands of Winged Ones at once, but if there were too many of them, even he would have to consider his chances of survival.

“So we’re not going head-on? Where are we going?”

“Where do you think?”

Li Yi looked at the bushes with half a smile on his face.

Jiaojiao suddenly understood. “Do you wanna do it here?”

“I’ll do you in the face! Just get down!”

Li Yi pointed at the edge of the shrubs.

“Here…?” Jiaojiao looked around nervously and shook her head, somewhat embarrassed. “Are you sure? What if someone walks past…?”

Li Yi was so angry he burst out laughing. “I told you to lie down, but I didn’t tell you to stick it up for me.”

Jiaojiao looked extremely suspicious, but she still obediently lay on the ground, face up.

Li Yi was curious. “Why not face-down?”

“Get lost!”

“Ba-thunk!”

Li Yi lay on the ground as well.

“Don’t move. Wait for my signal.”

“Mm-hmm…”

About two minutes later, when Jiaojiao was starting to get impatient, she heard the cacophony of squawks from the Gray Winged Ones in the sky

Gray Winged Ones had the lowest IQ and the weakest speech comprehension, so they communicated with almost nothing but squawking.

Two Gray Winged Ones flew down and picked up Jiaojiao and Li Yi, lifting them into the sky with a flap of their wings.

Jiaojiao sent Li Yi a surprised private message. “Wow, is this how we’ll enter the island?”

“Whataya think? Aren’t I impressive?”

“Eh, you’re nothing much. Now I know this too, wahahaha, this is a cool move…”

Jiaojiao was feeling participatory cocksure, so she suddenly patted the Gray Winged One’s head mischievously.

“Squawk squawk squawk?”

The Gray Winged One spun around in the sky five times, looking so dumb that Jiaojiao burst out laughing.

“Don’t go too far. The Gray Winged Ones are idiots, but there are White Winged Ones nearby. If they get called here, we’re screwed.”

“Uh-huh, okay.”

Jiaojiao lay on the Winged One’s back obediently without moving.

“Squawk!”

“Squawk!”

The two Gray Winged Ones carried the two of them toward Sky Island, one after the other.

After rummaging around the bushes for a while, Scumbag Wang crawled out, kitchen knife in hand.

“Hehe, so we can get onto the island by pretending to be a corpse. That’s a pretty neat trick.” Scumbag Wang rubbed his chin, nodding in satisfaction.

Scumbag Wang picked up his transmitter. “Sister Huahua, come to coordinates 250250, quick… I found a way onto the island.”

…