MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

Jiaojiao may be proud of herself but she was not just tooting her own horn. She carried Li Yi through the Spellking’s Tomb, shuttling back and forth. Without needing his help at all, Jiaojiao took care of all the monsterlings herself.

Dark Paladins had an ultra skill, a Magic Barrier dedicated to spellcasters, which upon activation, could reduce 80% of damage caused by spellcasters. Jiaojiao relied on this skill to go on a killing spree in the Spellking’s Tomb dungeon.

The monsters in the Spellking’s Tomb, both the boss and monsterlings, were spellcasters.

If Li Yi were to go solo in this dungeon, he could easily wipe out the monsterlings but the boss at the end, on the other hand, was a different story.

The first six mini bosses were not complicated. Queen Jiao swung her greatsword about, slashing all of them into EXP.

Soon, they reached the end of the dungeon, causing the dungeon-keeping boss, the Ancient Spellking to appear. It cast a Group Thunder Lightning Spell the moment it revealed itself.

According to legends, the Ancient Spellking was the forefather of the Wizard class. Hence, he was proficient in all spell types.

His Group Thunder Lightning Spell struck so heavily that even with Li Yi releasing his Territory Light Barrier, he only managed to slow down the tempest of thunder and lightning. It was impossible to evade the lightning strikes completely.

Jiaojiao unleashed her Magic Barrier and stood still as she took on the blasts of thunder and lightning. At the end of the flashing and roaring, the duo still had 60% HP remaining.

“Take a good look, I’ll only do this once!”

Raising her greatsword high to force her way past the Spellking’s Frost Arrows, Jiaojiao repeatedly slashed at the Spellking.

Fire Meteors may have been crashing from the sky, interspersed with Blizzards but Queen Jiaojiao ignored all them and simply swung her greatsword at her own pace.

The HP bar above Jiaojiao’s head was dropping but the usage of Mortal Strike supported by her Instant Burst Territory Skill kept her HP above 80%…

Li Yi saw through this instantly.

Jiaojiao could kill the Spellking herself, not because of any technique but due to her… class’ ability.

Mortal Strike had the ability to drain HP and her Instant Burst Territory Skill multiplied Mortal Strike’s draining ten times, Although the skill could not be used continuously, it was the best skill to tackle the Spellking.

The Spellking may be strong but it did not possess any Instant Burst skills. Instead, all its skills dealt damage over time. In other words, it could kill multiple players at once but could not deal a large amount of damage to a single player.

With the Spellking unable to kill Jiaojiao instantly, the latter could utilize Mortal Strike to recover HP. This was no technique but a class’ characteristics.

Dark Paladins had always been acknowledged to be the Solo Kings. There were even players lamenting that the Dark Paladin class was a boss among players.

Li Yi attempted a Shooting Star Arrow Hail on the Spellking but immediately received a counterblow of Meteor Volcano, Blizzard, Thunder Lightning Spell, and the quaking ground beneath his feet that was… the Earthquake Spell.

Li Yi’s HP consistently dropped. He had HP recovery skills, such as Life Blood which was granted to the Apothecarist class. However, these skills could not keep up with the speed his HP was decreasing. He only managed to hold on for a while before collapsing…

Embarrassingly, Li Yi died…

“Die hahahahaha…”

Queen Jiao burst into laughter, swinging her greatsword with great joy.

Jiaojiao was delighted while Li Yi was… well, helpless.

This was the way to defeat the Spellking. If one did not possess the ability to kill it in one hit or shamelessly drain HP like a Dark Paladin, even with a full party of five members, they would all just end up dead.

The Spellking’s counterattacks bombarded the entire party, no one was spared, not even the healers. This was the toughest part about the Spellking’s Tomb dungeon. How could one think about others when they could not save themselves?

The Spellking’s HP had over 200 million and it could use magic to shield itself, minimizing any damage it took. Jiaojiao could not deal as high damage as Li Yi. She had to swing her greatsword dozens of times before it was on the verge of death.

It was then that Jiaojiao waved her hand at Li Yi, sending a dark vapor pouring into his corpse. Li Yi received a notification.

[Resurrect?]

[Yes!]

Accepting the option, Li Yi revived on the spot.

This was the Dark Paladin’s Level 105 skill, Raise Dead. It could revive any party member during battle. However, when compared to a Vagabond’s Battle Resurrect, this skill came with a huge negative impact as the revived member would suffer a minute in a weakened state.

Li Yi behaved himself this time, staying put and watching the scene unfold.

It was not long before the Spellking dropped dead. With a golden Achievement Panel popping into view, Li Yi obtained Facing a God-like Man achievement.

The Emperor Sword flew out and floated above the Spellking. The Spellking’s soul appeared and bowed down in submission. With that, a Spellking Imprint appeared on the Emperor Sword.

The Spellking’s Tomb dungeon was finally over and done with…

When looting the corpse, Jiaojiao was lucky enough to obtain plentiful equipment fragments and two Spellking’s Invitations.

“Lil Yi’zi, do you still want to continue? There’s two invitations, we can still clear it twice today.”

“Keep them for yourself.”

With the Spellking Imprint in his hand, Li Yi had no use for the Spellking’s Tomb dungeon any longer so he would not be returning to this dungeon.

“Where to next? Do you still my help?”

“Yes, of course, I do.”

Li Yi walked towards Jiaojiao and bit her dainty ear. “Come to my bedroom.”

…

Out of the five dungeons Li Yi was an expert in, apart from the Night Emperor, who had not submitted to his rule, the remaining were completed. His next plan was to ditch going alone and request aid from friends and clear the remaining dungeons with them.

The dungeons in which Brother Windcloud Nine and Unending Unmatched achieved first kills were the perfect example of this. One word from Li Yi and they carried him along, no questions asked.

One person’s strength may be limited but many hands made the work light. In just a few days, Li Yi had collected 10 Emperor Imprints.

Out of twenty dungeons, only half remained incomplete.

The dungeon difficulty grew harder the further he progressed. Li Yi may be familiar with the strategies but without coordination with teammates, the result would remain the same — failure.

Today, Li Yi partied with Jiaojiao and the others to tackle the Desert King dungeon. They followed the strategy to a tee yet never encountered the final boss.

A whole day wasted.

Judging by the time, they would not make it if they started all over again.

“Let’s go to Foreignland.”

While the Ancient King Series Dungeon had to be conquered, Foreignland should not be forgotten. Mercenaries from the Defiants’ Confederation should be hired as soon as possible. Like pets, they needed to be nurtured.

The Seventh Demon God had not spawned, making Li Yi and his group’s journey to the Teleportation Spell Circle hidden in the Demonic Forest a breeze.

The girls starting cheering and shrieking at the sight of the floating giant rocks post teleportation. They incessantly took pictures to mark the occasion…

“Are you girls done yet? We better get going…”

Li Yi led the way and soon, they arrived in the Defiants’ Home.

This time, there was no need for Alleria to show the way. Li Yi was a member of the Defiants’ Confederation now, making him qualified to recommend others.

With someone recommending, there was no need for test quests. After meeting with the mysterious leader, Jiaojiao, Fire Ice, Little Elf from the Magical Realm, and Qian’er joined the Defiants’ Confederation. The Affinity between both parties went from Neutral to Friendly.

“Go ingratiate yourself with whoever you find pleasing. When your Affinity rises to Worship, the option to hire will appear.”

Li Yi patiently explained the rules for hiring. The four women happened to run to the same naively charming Panda Fighter…

It seemed this national treasure was a hit no matter where it went.

Li Yi was not there for nothing. He came today bearing gifts for members of the Defiants’ Confederation to increase their Affinity.

At this point, conversation no longer enough to boost Affinity between them. He would have to present gifts or complete quests to raise it.

Li Yi only managed to settle Alleria. He was still far from attaining Worship from the Defiants’ Confederation as a whole, so he needed to put in more effort.

Showered with the four women’s surprised gazes, Li Yi retrieved a bundle of fresh bamboo form his backpack to gift to Pando Fighter.

There was no bamboo in Foreignland, and the Panda Fighter’s greatest wish was to nibble on bamboo. When Li Yi took the tender bamboo out, Panda Fighter’s eyes were gleaming with tears. It held onto the bamboo tight, unwilling to let go.

Ding ding ding…

The first player to present the Panda Fighter with bamboo to consume would obtain the highest amount of gratitude from it, boosting his Affinity up to Worship.

“You’re despicable, treacherous and a low life!” Sensing the situation to be less than assuring, the four women immediately shouted in anger.

“How am I despicable? How am I treacherous? How am I a low life?”

“How are you not despicable? How are you not treacherous? How are you not a low life?”

“I am not at all despicable, I am not at all…”

At the end of the vulgar exchange, Li Yi handed over the remaining bamboo he has in his backpack to make peace.

“Remember, don’t let it have it now. Wait for it to finish before giving it more, then you’ll have a chance to go straight to Worship,” Li Yi warned the girls with a serious look.

“Scram!”

With that, Li Yi hired the Panda Fighter at the rate of 10 Gold Coins per day.

Any player could hire the NPCs in the Defiants’ Confederation. Taking Li Yi as an example, he was able to hire Alleria and so could other players. However, there would be a change in name.

The first player to hire Alleria would have the hired NPC as Alleria herself. On the other hand, any other players who hired Alleria would still get a White Elf Vagabond, but it would not be Alleria. It would be another White Elf and, naturally, its abilities would be slightly lower than the original.

Li Yi brought a lot of gifts on his trip to Foreignland, covering Jiaojiao and the others share as well. However, after distributing these gifts, he found a pile left in his backpack.

He had bought too many and now had no one else to give them to.

The easiest NPCs to win over in the Defiants’ Confederation were probably Alleria and the Panda Fighter. However, this was only restricted in the early stages. As the game progressed, the conditions to hire these two would become stricter. The reason was simple. The Panda Fighter would be sick from chomping on one too many bamboos while Alleria’s test was no easy feat.

As Li Yi took a break in the ballroom, an alluringly sexy Demonic Tribe beauty swayed her bountiful bottom towards Li Yi. She placed her tender hand on his shoulder. “Lil Yi’zi, take us to Sin City please.”

…