MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

The path ahead was shrouded in darkness. As the party marched onward, the population of the Dark Elementals got denser.

The levels of the Dark Elementals hovered in between Level 50-80. More often than not, they appeared in packs of ten or so and it is especially true when they respawned. If they did not repel the monsters fast enough, they would easily be sandwiched from two sides.

Each Dark Elemental rewarded 5,000+ EXP points, and the elites would reward over 50,000.

The Hua siblings had joined the party as well. The overall strategy remained unchanged, whereby Pretty Good Mood and Pale Blue Elegance would rotate their Invincibility to draw aggro, while Li Yi and Hua Feiwu were responsible for dealing damage. While all of that was happening, Hua Feihua would dispel debuffs and heal at the backline.

While Li Yi was busy picking off Amber Sword Heart and the others, the Hua Siblings had seen everything from a hidden spot. Needless to say, they were also awestruck by his performance. When Li Yi turned to leave, the Hua Siblings stopped at nothing to reach him. After dying three times, they finally managed to catch up with Li Yi.

‘There’s strength in numbers. The presence of a healing class would make fighting these Dark Elementals a cinch.’ After much deliberation, Li Yi agreed to enlist them into the party.

Hua Feiwu’s attacking power far surpassed Pretty Good Mood and Jiaojiao. He had immediately taken the role as the secondary damage dealer of the party, whereas Hua Feihua was no slouch either. Her equipment was nothing to scoff at, and her presence had lightened the load of the party.

EXP points were soaring. Pale Blue Elegance gained a new level for every hour that passed whereas the others were gaining levels as well. This was especially true for Lady Jiao, who was oddly chipper as she eagerly swung her greatsword around while casting Double Curse and Infection to lower all of the monsters’ base stats.

It was because she was about to level up.

No matter what one’s level was previously, their level would immediately reset upon changing into a Dark Paladin. However, the Black Paladins had a silver lining in the sense that they gained 5% more EXP for killing monsters, which explains their quick rate of growth.

“Sigh, what a waste. If only I could obtain the EXP buff from the guild, I would be drowning in levels by now.” Although she was already gaining EXP at an impressive rate, Jiaojiao was still unsatisfied.

Li Yi teased, “Well, there’s an easy way to return. Just stand there and let me shoot you. Once you’re dead, you could return back to the capital by losing three levels.”

Jiaojiao glared at him, “I’ll bite you to death!”

Li Yi’s friend summoning tool only allowed him to pull people over, but not sending people away. There was still a way to return though, and that was by asking a Level 70 Wizard that had mastered the Epic-level Skill, Space Portal to send them back.

The Southern Continent Dark Wizard, Big Boy was one such person. However, at present, he was only able to open a portal to the Celestial Capital of the Southern Continent. The three other capitals were still locked for him.

The Southern Continent had one such person, but what about the Invincible Continent?

After going back and forth in thought, he finally thought of someone.

Fire Emperor, Lonely Semi City!

Lonely Semi City was currently at the top of Invincible Continent’s level ranking board. He was already at Level 75, which was only two levels lower than Li Yi. Thus, it was evident that he was quite a powerhouse in his own right.

Li Yi applied to join the rankings, and in no time at all, he had taken over Lonely Semi City’s rank.

This was Li Yi’s first appearance in the ranking board.

The System’s iconic red-text appeared once more!

[The Invincible Continent’s Military Advisor, Dark Wing has registered for the Invincible Continent’s ranking board. He is currently at first place. As such, he is rewarded with the title, ‘Second to None’.]

“My god, what have you done this time?” Jiaojiao yelped in surprise.

“Guild Master, you’re Level 77 now? Oh my god, how did you manage to do it?” Pretty Good Mood asked excitedly.

“Brother Dark Wing is so amazing.” Hua Feiwu stared at Li Yi with eyes full of stars.

Unable to control himself, Hua Feiwu stated, “Sister, I think you’re older than him.” Hua Feihua glared murderously at him as she privately messaged, “Mind your own business! Speak another word and you’re dead to me.”

“You’re at an even higher level than me?” Just as Li Yi had expected, Lonely Semi City instantly sent a message once the notification had appeared.

“Where did you gain the levels?”

“Wailing Grotto.”

“Southern Continent?”

“Yeah, want to join us?”

“I’ll join to check whether you’re actually at a higher level than me.” Lonely Semi City’s tone was filled with disbelief.

“I can pull you over if you’re interested in joining us. Before I do that, I need to ask. Do you know how to use Space Portal?”

“Yeah, but I can only open up the portal to my continent’s Celestial Capital.”

Overjoyed, Li Yi said, “Alright, I’ll summon you right now. Oh, before that, make sure to claim the Guild’s EXP buff.”

“What now, Perverted Wing?” Jiaojiao’s face was one of confusion.

” Spring is coming. ¹ ”

Li Yi used his friend summoning tool after he invited Lonely Semi City over to the party. The friend summoning tool let out various clanking and whirring noises and spat out a soot-faced Lonely Semi City.

The friend summoning tool had malfunctioned again…

Before Lonely Semi City had gotten a chance to sort out the situation, Li Yi muttered, “Make us a portal.”

“Okay…”

Lonely Semi City waved his staff and after a long incantation, Space Portal appeared before them.

Through the portal, they were able to clearly observe the situation in the Celestial Capital.

“To those who want to obtain the EXP buff, please make it fast. My friend summoning tool can only last for ten minutes.”

“Me first! Me first…” Jiaojiao was the first to enter the portal.

“I love you so much, Master.” Pale Blue Elegance ran up to Li Yi to kiss him. Then, she giggled as she entered the portal.

“Brother Dark Wing…” Hua Feihua puckered her lips as she dashed towards Li Yi. With a single sidestep, Li Yi evaded Hua Feihua’s grasp.

“Hurry up, hurry up! The portal will close at any second now.”

Hua Feihua entered the portal dejectedly.

After five minutes, Li Yi began summoning the others back. It did not take long for him to retrieve all the party members that received the 2.5 times EXP buff.

That was, all except him…

Just like his friend summoning tool, the Wizard’s portal could only handle one-way rides.

“I got it!”

“Me too!”

“Haha, same here.”

With Lonely Semi City in the party, they progressed at a much faster pace…

In terms of grinding monsters, Li Yi was no match for the mighty Fire Emperor.

After all, he was able to cast Meteor Fire Shower, Meteor Volcano, and the Sea of Fire…

After Lonely Semi City had finished his performance, Li Yi and Hua Feiwu, who were now the secondary and tertiary damage dealers respectively were finally able to shine. Hua Feiwu cast Blizzard Spell, whereas Li Yi used Shoot at Random to finish off the remaining monsters.

The number of Dark Elementals only increased. At first, there were only 30 of them, but now, there were hundreds of them.

Their EXP points rose drastically…

After an hour, Pale Blue Elegance had gained three levels, Jiaojiao had gained one and a half, Pretty Good Mood had gained one level, and Li Yi had gained a small chunk.

Everyone except Li Yi had received the 2.5x EXP buff…

Ding-ding! Ding-ding!

Every once in a while, somebody leveled up, which infuriated Li Yi as he lamented that he was the only one able to utilize the friend summoning tool. If he had gone back to the capital, he would need to physically run back over…

‘The banes outweigh the boons…’

Although there were plenty of Dark Elementals in the pitch-black hallway, aside from the occasional elites, there were no green-named Dark Elementals in sight, much less boss-level ones.

After a whole day of battle, Li Yi and the gang had finally made it past the pitch-black hallway. They took a few more steps forward and they received a system notification. [You have now entered the depths of the Wailing Grotto.]

‘Finally!’

However, they did not proceed into the depths. Instead, they took a quick rest and returned to the pitch-black hallway to grind more levels.

The small monsters gave a good chunk of EXP and they spawned regularly. Furthermore, there was still a ton of time left for the 2.5x EXP buff, it would be a waste to not fully utilize it.

“This is a good place. I can get my Level 100 here.” Lonely Semi City nodded his head, pleased.

Everyone was celebrating, but Li Yi was the only one that became more dispirited the more they fought. Without the EXP buff, he only received a few thousand points for killing the monsters, while the others gained tens of thousands. It was deeply upsetting to him.

Another ten hours passed by and Li Yi’s EXP points had only jumped by four boxes whereas the others had all leveled up, without exception…

After a full 30 hours of grinding, Li Yi finally gave up. “I’m tired. I’m going to rest, are you guys going to go on?”

“I’m fine. All of you can log out if you’re tired. I’m fine by myself,” said Lonely Semi City, the level-grinding maniac.

“I can go on for ten more hours!” Pretty Good Mood chimed in.

“Yesh, yesh! I’m not tired. I’m definitely not tired at all!” said Pale Blue Elegance with a sneeze as she tried to persevere.

Jiaojiao brandished the ultra-greatsword in her hand as she panted, “I’ll get to Level 70 by today to learn the horde skill!”

‘Sigh.’

There was nothing to say to these maniacs.

Li Yi was telling the truth when he mentioned that he could not carry on. He immediately ran out of the pathway and logged out.

Clan Master Jiao was still playing in the bedroom and the meal she cooked had already gone cold. Seeing that she was occupied, Li Yi reheated the food and delivered some to the bedroom.

“Eat some food before you continue to play.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jiaojiao nodded but she did not take off the goggles.

Li Yi was very tired. He lay beside Jiaojiao and dozed off as he caressed her slender hand…

Li Yi slept soundly. After sleeping through the night, he realized that there was a blanket on top of him when he woke up. He also noticed that the mighty Clan Master Jiao was still busy killing monsters and she was still wearing her goggles.

Through external observation, Li Yi learned that all of the battle gods from last night were still in the midst of battle…

Li Yi tapped on Jiaojiao’s shoulder, saying, “Did you sleep at all last night?”

“Yeah, I slept. Now leave me alone.”

Li Yi snatched the VR goggles away from her.

“What’s your deal? I’m about to die.” Jiaojiao approached Li Yi to take back her goggles, but instead, Li Yi pushed her onto the bed. A stern expression appeared on his face as he yelled, “I don’t care if you die, go to sleep!”

“Alright, but I’m about to level up, it’s just a teensy bit more. Just let me play for three more minutes, what do you say?” Jiaojiao showed three fingers to Li Yi.

“Not a minute more. Now, sleep!”

Li Yi tyrannically took the goggles out of the bedroom.

‘There’s a limit to everything. Anything after the limit is uncharted waters.’

Li Yi had experienced it first-hand in his past life. When he had finally noticed, it was already too late. Had it not been for his rebirth, he would have been resentful for the rest of his life.

“Jiaojiao, why didn’t your mother return last night?”

“She went out to join some kind of school-organized summer camp. She’ll be gone for three days…” Jiaojiao spoke wearily.

“Get to sleep, I’ll go and get lunch.”

To prevent Jiaojiao from playing, Li Yi took the VR goggles along with him when he went out.

‘Training is always necessary as the body is the currency of life.’ Li Yi always had that mindset in mind.

When Li Yi had returned, he was greeted by the sight of Jiaojiao sprawling on the bed like a small toad as she drooled in her sleep.

‘Even an iron-man would break down without sleeping for 50 hours…’

…