MMO: Pierce Heaven Til’ It Breaks

In the silver-white world of the North Pole Continent, Li Yi rode the Holy Light Warhorse to plod along slowly.

Ordinary flying mounts could never withstand the cold in the air of the Northern Continent. Since Onyxia has died, Li Yi could only rely on land-moving mounts for mobility.

With every breath, two lines of white mists spewed from his nostrils. Li Yi could no longer feel his body from the cold after trudging just a small distance on the ground.

[Realism adjusted. Touch is set below 5%…]

Only after Li Yi has changed his settings that the discomfort was greatly reduced.

The map of the North Pole map was bigger than the Eastern, Southern and Western Continent combined. All kinds of strange creatures live on this map, including the powerful yet barbaric mammothmen, the good-natured yakmen, the timid-as-mice frost ravenmen…

In the King of Pantheons, some races were naturally kindhearted. When players see them, the names above their head would be in yellow which represents Neutral. NPCs like these will never actively attack players, and players could directly accept their quests in order to improve their relationship with these NPCs.

However, some races were not the same. The four-legged, two-armed, elephant-looking giant mammothmen had red names above their names. That represents Aggro, and they would definitely attack players if they were to come across one.

It will be easy to increase Reputation among Neutral factions, but changing an Aggro faction to a Friendly faction would require much more effort.

For first time players at the Northern Continent, it is a problem for the player to even survive in the area. However, all of that posed no difficulties to Li Yi because he already had two years of experience wandering around this continent in his past life.

He knew best on where could be and could not be traversed in this continent.

After easily bypassing a tribe of mammothmen, an ocean appeared before Li Yi. There was no land in sight.

Gulp! Gulp!

Li Yi took out a bottle of Walk-on-water Potion and fed it to the Holy Light Warhorse. The four hooves of the Holy Light Warhorse immediately lit up afterward.

Clip-clop! Clip-clop! Clip-clop! Clip-clop!

The Holy Light Warhorse ran towards the ocean but it did not sink. Instead, all four of its hooves miraculously floated on the surface of the water as it galloped. The Walk-on-water Potion was a common item that everyone in end-game would usually have some with them.

Li Yi did not use the Mermaid Princess on his journey. This was due to the fact that the temperature of the water in the North Pole was lower than what was recorded on-ground. If they were to be hit by a cold current, he would probably be frozen into a popsicle and die.

Since it was too dangerous to travel underwater, the surface of the water was thus his only choice.

The Level 100 Epic-level Boss, Akna, was very rare. Similar to Yuria, her whereabouts were erratic and uncertain. Hence, it was very difficult to locate her.

Li Yi knew a place near the Frostfall Mountains, west of the Northern Continent, where players have reported frequent sightings of Akna.

He remembered previously in the quest that he snatched, the Shoot Til’ Morning Light quest, Yuria had told him to find her in the Frostfall Mountains. However, he did not have a flying mount such as Onyxia before and thus could not even set foot into the Northern Continent. Now, it was great that he could take advantage of this opportunity to hit two birds with one stone.

However, things would not develop the way Li Yi wanted to sometimes. After all, he was not a god, and he could not stop the development of issues despite being able to predict some things in the game.

Just when he was riding on the Holy Light Warhorse above the ocean, Pretty Good Mood sent him a mail.

“Amber Sword Heart’s team has only 2% left.”

Li Yi’s heart sank when he saw this message.

2% HP left on the third Boss was the last line that Li Yi was willing to draw. Even though he seemed to be unbothered by the dungeon and was entirely focused on grinding his levels, he was actually paying close attention to the progress made in the dungeons.

But still…

It was very difficult to come to the North Pole. If he were to go back now, it would be too much of a waste…

Li Yi pondered for a very long time before he replied Pretty Good Mood’s mail.

“I can’t go back now. You go and lead the team to snatch the First Kill!”

“Guild Master, I can’t do it when you’re not around…”

Li Yi became stern, “Cut this nonsense. If you can’t do it, just step down from your position. I don’t need anyone who would hold on the post without actually doing anything.”

Pretty Good Mood was quiet for a long while before he replied with an “Oh.”

“Be confident in yourself. I want to hear you say, ‘No problem, we’ll definitely take the title!’”

“No problem, we’ll definitely take the title!” It was painfully obvious that Pretty Good Mood still lacked confidence.

“Go and prepare now. You could just send me the team assignment to me later.”

“Oh…”

Clip-clop clip-clop clip-clop clip-clop…

Li Yi galloped forward with all his might. Gradually, snowflakes fell from the sky, and a boundless snowy mountain appeared in view.

He had reached Frostfall Mountain!

“Roar!”

Four snowy-white polar bears prowled around on the ice. In the distance, a group of fierce giant mammothmen with thick iron bars in hand patrolled the grounds.

A clan of mammothmen lived in the Frostfall Mountains. This was their territory.

Li Yi released the Holy Light Warhorse and transformed into a Lightning Leopard to move quietly forward with Stealth.

The giant mammothmen were all elites. The lowest level among them was Level 100, and every one of them was huge tanks that have over 3,000,000 HP.

If Li Yi encountered a single giant mammothmen, he still had the confidence to kill it. However, if it was a group of over a dozen giant mammothmen, he could only run and hide.

Plonk!

A large black iron rod was thrown over and accurately smashed into the head of a polar bear. The polar bear’s 30000 HP plunged immediately, dying on the spot.

“Yorashi! Yorashi!”

A giant mammothman ran over happily and grabbed the polar bear as if it was a kitten before going back to his group in triumph. The other three polar bears were so scared that none of them had the courage to even move. Instead, they laid still on the icy ground and trembled in fear.

Li Yi bypassed the team of giant mammothmen and ran full speed ahead like a bolt of lightning.

Even though Beast Soul’s Possession was a very useful skill, but the downside was that it was not a permanent transformation and will automatically wear off after a period of time. Thus, optimum usage of the skill would be something that requires detailed calculation.

When Li Yi managed to reach the Frostfall Mountain in his sprint, the transformation effect has worn off. Thankfully, the group of giant mammothmen had long been left behind.

Finally safe!

Li Yi sighed in relief.

Not far ahead was a village that has a battle flag embroidered with the head of a bear, waving in the wind. Even if he was standing quite a distance away, he could vaguely catch bellows emanating from within.

Li Yi summoned the Holy Light Warhorse and rushed to the village.

In the vicinity of Frostfall Mountains, the giant mammothmen were not the only faction here. Instead, the giant mammothmen only resided in the outer areas of Frostfall Mountains. The true masters of the inner areas were not them, but the mighty and courageous Tuhr Clan.

The Tuhr Clan was a branch of humans, and thus their initial attitude towards player was Neutral, as shown by their yellow names.

“Hello there, fellow partner. Are you a foreigner?”

When Li Yi approached the village, a middle-aged man dressed as a hunter greeted him in a friendly way.

The hunter was Gaga Hoo.

“Yes, my partner. Do you know Ardahan?”

“Do you know our clan leader?” Gaga Hoo stared at Li Yi in amazement.

With a wave of Li Yi’s hand, the Violent Bear King with its golden fur appeared under his feet.

“This… This is the Violent Bear King!” Gaga Hoo exclaimed in shock and ran immediately into the village.

“Bear King, I saw the Bear King!” Gaga Hoo’s shouts alerted all the villagers. Soon, more and more villagers poured out of their houses to gather at Li Yi.

“Bear King, it’s really a Bear King!”

Over three hundred people from the Tuhr Clan all knelt down to worship the Violent Bear King…

The Tuhr Clan’s only faith was the Violent Bear King. Li Yi has relied on the help from Adarhan, the Tuhr Clan’s clan master, back when he was trying to tame the Violent Bear King.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Your Affinity with Gaga Hoo from the Tuhr Clan has increased. Your Reputation Value with the Tuhr Clan has increased by 5000 points…]

[Your Affinity with Young Gaga Hoo from the Tuhr Clan has increased. Your Reputation Value with the Tuhr Clan has increased by 5000 points…]

[Your Affinity with Old Gaga Hoo from the Tuhr Clan has increased. Your Reputation Value with the Tuhr Clan has increased by 5000 points…]

The System Notification chimed nonstop as Li Yi’s Reputation Value shot up maniacally with the Tuhr Clan…

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Congratulations, your Reputation Value has achieved Worship in Shattered Frosty City.]

Without completing any quests, Li Yi’s Reputation Value with the Tuhr Clan had turned to Worship after showing the Violent Bear King to them.

Above their heads, the names of everyone in the Tuhr Clan has a different color now. It was no longer a yellow Neutral, but purple that signified Worship.

“Hahahaha, my partner, it’s been so long since we’ve met! You really came to see me.”

Ardahan the middle-aged hunter chortled and strode towards him. He bowed three times to worship the Violent Bear King before he took Li Yi’s hand and walked him into the village in an amicable manner. The other Tuhrs who still knelt in worship would shuffle their knees as they gave way to the two men…

Since Li Yi’s Reputation Value has become Worship with the Tuhr Clan, his identity has leaped from an ‘outsider’ to a respectable ‘sir’ among the Tuhrs.

The houses in the Tuhr Clan were crudely built, but their interior was very much presentable. The fireplace burned strongly as it warmed up the house nicely.

Both men sat on the carpet on the floor. Immediately, a Tuhr woman approached them to offer strong alcohol.

Ardahan patted Li Yi’s shoulder with enthusiasm. “Partner, it was all because of you that I could successfully inherit the position as Clan Master here.”

All of the higher-level NPCs in the King of Pantheon would have ‘Memory’. This was present in both Onyxia and Ardahan. As long as they do not die, this Memory would last forever with them.

However, if the Ardahan that has a Memory on Li Yi were to sadly perish, the newly respawned Ardahan would no longer possess any Memory on Li Yi.

“Roar…”

Outside of the house of the Clan Master, the Violent Bear King stood on top of an altar as it roared energetically at the Tuhrs who was still kneeling to worship it.

This bear has lost all of its self-awareness the moment Li Yi has tamed it. Its present behavior happened because Li Yi has activated the Tuhr’s storyline.

Ardahan gulped down some alcohol. “Partner, we are recently at war with the mammothmen’s tribe. Do be careful when you’re wandering outside.”

Li Yi nodded and finished the bowlful of alcohol.

Warmth curled in his chest and a wave of drunkenness washed over him. The only difference between drinking in Pantheon and drinking in reality was that there was no need to go to the bathroom with the former.

After some small talk with Ardahan, Li Yi has finally explained the purpose of his visit.

“I heard that Akna the God-Devourer is active around the Frostfall Mountains. Have you seen her around?”

Ardahan narrowed his eyes as he studied Li Yi. “You’re looking for Akna?”