MMO: Pierce Heaven Til' It Breaks

Panda Novel

Li Yi traveled through the worlds and entered Foreignland like a spirit. This time, however, he was alone, and he went even deeper than before. Taking advantage of the Seventh Demon God’s absence, he went past the Path of Darkness and directly into the Demonic Forest.

The Demonic Forest was the territory of the Sixth Demon God, and the monsters within it were far stronger than those at the entrance of Foreignland. Furthermore, all monsters, be it bosses or monsterlings, had a special trait that set them apart from their relatives at the entrance, their intellect.

In this map, monsters would not stand around like dummies as they watch players charge at them. Instead, their actions would mirror those of players. Whenever they spotted solo players, they would carry out ambushes; and when they encountered a group of players, they would flee without even attempting battle. In other words, the monsters here had some sort of intellectual capacity that enabled them to make judgments based on the situation at hand.

Unlike the territory of the Seventh Demon God, at this point in time, the players who dared to challenge the Sixth Demon God’s territory were few and far between. After all, the way the players were right now, who had yet to even assemble a full set of Holy Equipment, blindly forging on in Foreignland was akin to a death wish, no?

Players had to first assemble their equipment before attempting higher difficulty maps. That was the natural cycle in the game. Those who rushed this process would only bring about their own demise.

Naturally, there were no absolutes in life. Though the cycle applied to normal players, for the cream of the crop, challenging these new areas was not nonsense, as they really had the ability to conquer these new areas.

Li Yi was now in the Demonic Forest. After walking straight for half an hour or so, he came face to face with Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut.

Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut was leading around a hundred of her guild’s elite. Using their current position as their base of operations, they were currently hunting down monsterlings one by one. All hundred-odd of them had surrounded a demonic monsterling and they each unleashed a wide variety of skills, from blade auras to shadow walks, to the four elements, fire, electric, wind, and ice. Pretty quickly, the monster was taken down.

Just as the demonic monsterling was taken down by Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut’s men, Drifting Snow lured in another demonic monsterling. Everyone in the party had clearly defined roles, with Drifting Snow being responsible for luring in a monsterling, and Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut responsible for leading her men.

The moment the demonic monsterling spotted the group of players, it tried to turn tail and run. However, it was quickly run-down by the main tanks that Charged into it. With utmost haste, they surrounded the monsterling, and before long, the monsterling was brought down… As of that point in time, nobody in Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut’s party had equipment that was good enough to single-handedly take down these monsters, including herself. As such, if they were to fight one-on-one against these monsterlings, the only result that awaited them was a free trip back to the capital. However, that was not the case if they outnumbered the monsterlings by a hundred to one.

The drop rate of the monsters here was quite decent, and after farming in that location for almost five hours, they had nearly completed the Demonic Apex Equipment Set that was used by main tank Warriors along with various other trash Holy-attribute items.

The demonic monsterlings dropped equipment sets, but the equipment they dropped was a tier lower than the Purple Quality Demon Tribe Commander Set that would drop from bosses. Furthermore, their loot was considered the lowest-tiered Purple Quality Equipment in the Foreignland expansion.

The more Holy Equipment one was armed with, the easier the battles with monsters would become. Initially, Fluttering Snow Purple Water Chestnut’s party had a tough time beating the monsterlings. However, as they gathered more and more Holy Equipment, they found themselves spending less and less time defeating the monsterlings.

After observing their movements from an obscured corner for quite some time, Li Yi decided not to instigate them. Instead, he morphed into a Lightning Leopard and snuck away by using Stealth.

Foreignland’s map was far too big. Compounded with the fact that coordinates were omitted within the map, those unfamiliar with its surroundings would easily find themselves lost as they stumble through the map.

After walking forward for about two hours, Li Yi was greeted by an ancient Demon City.

The Demon City’s size was far greater than the major cities of the humans. Its city walls were constructed from the sturdy Styx Metal, and it spanned for over a hundred miles, further than the eye could see.

The Demon City before Li Yi was called Karan City. Unlike the human cities, the Demon Cities were named to commemorate their fallen Demon Heroes, and Karan was one of these heroes.

Li Yi did not enter the city. Instead, he circled around the Styx Metal wall and continued west until he encountered a crippled, corpse-like, green-skinned demon. He then paused, flashed the demon a smile, and started to walk towards it.

This green-skinned demon was unlike the others. Not only were its looks different from other demons, but its stance on matters was also different from the other demons. Whenever players encountered it, the name above its head would be displayed in yellow. This signified that it was a Neutral entity, and as such, it would not attack players for no good cause.

The green-skinned demon was called Aragon, and its position was quite unique. In order for the players to have a good time in Foreignland, they would first need to establish a good relationship with it.

“Greetings friend.” Li Yi gave a courteous smile as he walked forward.

“I’m not your friend, you disgusting human.”

Aragon gave Li Yi a disdainful glare, and then it limped away from Li Yi.

With a smile still on his face, Li Yi followed behind like a chick following its mother. Wherever Aragon went, Li Yi was bound to follow.

Aragon stopped walking, and it roared at Li Yi, “Scummy human, what are you trying to accomplish?”

“Stay away from me, or else…”

Aragon waved its fists in an attempt to chase Li Yi away. The name on top of its head continued to flicker between red and yellow, signifying that it would turn red at any moment.

Li Yi took a few steps back without uttering a single word, and he continued to smile as he did so.

“Loathsome b*strd, stop following me or I’ll show you what it means to die a horrible death.”

Aragon gave Li Yi a malicious stare before turning around and leaving. Once again, Li Yi tailed Aragon.

Aragon was heading in the direction of Karan City’s city gates. Normally, when there were no players that followed it around, its daily routine would consist of walking in and out of Karan City, and it would continue to repeat it with no deviations whatsoever.

Seeing that Li Yi was following it again, Aragon sneered. This time, he no longer attempted to chase Li Yi away, and instead hastened its steps towards the city gates.

Hundreds of superior demons could be seen walking in and out of the city gates. Had any player came here for the first time, that sight alone would have scared the wits out of them.

Not Li Yi though, as he knew that the only way to activate a new Foreignland quest was to tail Aragon.

Just as there were only a dozen or meters left before they reached the city gates, Aragon halted abruptly. It then turned behind to look at Li Yi — who was still all smiles and closely behind him.

“Human, if I were to shout right now, do you know what fate awaits you?”

Li Yi answered, “I’d die.”

Aragon sneered coldly. “If you know that you’ll die, then why do you still insist on following me?”

“You’re unlike the other demons. I know that you will not harm me.”

“Heh… Human, and how is it that you know that I won’t harm you?”

Li Yi gave a simple response. “My gut instincts.”

Actually, it did not matter how the player answered. As long as they followed Aragon all the way to the city gates without angering it, the new Foreignland quest would automatically trigger.

Aragon narrowed its eyes for a moment before taking out a black pill and handing it to Li Yi.

“You said that I won’t harm you. Fine, eat this pill then.”

The black pill looked highly suspicious, and it emitted a rotten stench. It looked a lot like poison.

Li Yi immediately downed the pill upon receiving it, all the while maintaining his smile at Aragon.

“Follow me.”

Aragon ordered coldly and walked into the city.

The black pill had taken effect, and a black vapor enveloped Li Yi, turning him into a long-horned green-skinned demon in a blink of an eye.

The black pill was not poison. Rather, it was a Demon-morphing Potion. Upon consumption, the user could temporarily become a demon and its effects lasted for 2 hours.

A demon-form disguise was one of the necessities for entering Karan City; but what if one intended to barge right in? Well, they should probably wake up from their reverie. Even if one ignored the tremendous strength of the Sixth Demon God, the Superior Demons themselves had already numbered over a million, and they would give any intruder a run for their money… Internally, Karan City was not much different from the major cities of humans. There were streets, there were pedestrians, there were demon NPCs, and even shops such as Apothecaries, Ironsmithies, Tailor Shops, Alchemy Workshops, and various others.

Aragon walked extremely slow, and as such, Li Yi no longer followed it after making it into the city. He first entered an Ironsmithy, procured a White Quality trash weapon, then he made his way to a Tailor Shop and procured a White Quality trash shirt. Once that was done, he rushed towards the Alchemy Workshop and bought himself a White Quality trash ring.

By the time he walked out of the Alchemy Workshop, Aragon could no longer be seen.

Despite that, Li Yi did not attempt to seek out Aragon. Instead, he went in the opposite direction with great speed.

Due to Karan City’s large area and his transformation lasting for only two hours, by the time Aragon led them to their destination, Li Yi’s transformation would have already ended. Furthermore, he would need to wait until the next day in order to take another batch of the transformation potion.

Li Yi took large strides forward, twisting and turning through different paths until he finally made it into a secluded street. There were no demon shops to be found within it, only a scarlet-haired beautiful demoness.

The demoness was called Naixiu, and while the potion was still in effect, her name would be displayed in green. Besides that, there was also a small line of text at the corner of her name, stating: [Advanced Infuser].

Infusers were a special class that belonged only to demons, and Naixiu was the Mentor.

“Greetings Mentor, I’d like to learn Infusion Spells.”

Time was of the essence, and Li Yi cut straight to the chase, explaining the purpose of his visit.

“I sense great potential within you, I’m sure that you can bring fame to the art of Infusion.”

Naixiu nodded her head and issued Li Yi a collection quest. It required Li Yi to purchase a weapon.

Li YI took out the trash White Quality weapon he bought a while back and gave it to Naixiu.

“Very good, now keep your eyes peeled.”

Naixiu nodded her head, took the trashy White Quality weapon along with a crystal, and slowly focused the crystal into the weapon.

A rainbow-colored ray of light shot out, and an additional Holy+1 attribute could be seen infused within the trashy weapon.

At that moment, Naixiu issued another gathering quest, which required Li Yi to purchase a piece of clothing from the Tailor Shop.

Li Yi immediately handed in his newly bought clothes.

Pleased, Naixiu nodded her head. “Very well, I’ll leave it for you to try this time.”

Naixiu did not take the clothes and instead explained. “The Magic Crystals (Holy Crystals) possess a form but they have no mass, allowing them to be infused within equipment and increasing the item’s strength…”

Though Li Yi was not interested in listening to Naixiu’s gibberish, he had no choice. After all, he could not proceed to learn Attribute Infusion without first listening to it.

Sometime later, after Naixiu had finally completed her lengthy speech, she took out a Holy Crystal and presented it to Li Yi.

Li Yi extended his hand to receive it, only for the system to notify him: [In order to receive the item, you must first pay ten thousand Gold Coins…]

…

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Li Yi generously paid the ten-thousand Gold Coin fee and retrieved the Holy Crystal from Naixiu’s hand. Using Attribute Infusion, Li Yi slowly infused the Holy Crystal into the trash White Quality clothes.

Crack—

The Attribute Infusion was a failure, and the Holy Crystal evaporated…

“What a shame. You need to focus.” Naixiu shook her head regretfully as she issued Li Yi another quest, in which he needed to purchase a ring.

Li Yi brought out his ring and presented it to Naixiu. Once again, Naixiu did not accept it, and instead offered a Holy Crystal for him to infuse.

Again, Li Yi spent ten thousand Gold Coins to receive the Holy Crystal. This time, however, he was greeted with a rainbow-filled light as he successfully Infused the Holy Crystal into the trash White Quality ring.

A huge golden achievement frame popped out, along with a melodious chime.

[Congratulations! You have learned Attribute Infusion and have earned 100 Demonic Reputation Points! You have also obtained the Achievement, Devil’s Advocate!]

All three trash items that Li Yi had experimented on was taken away by Naixiu. By spending only twenty thousand Gold Coins, Li Yi had successfully learned Attribute Infusion.

Attribute Infusion was actually a very simple process. Just like Decomposition, it did not require any tools, only one’s own two hands. Also, it could be done anywhere, at any time, and it was free, practical, and convenient…

After checking the clock, Li Yi realized that he had been there for almost half an hour. He gave his farewells to Naixiu, and based on his memory, he retraced the path he took and made his way back to Aragon’s abode.

Aragon would only head out of Karan City once per day. Any time else, he ¹ would be in his house sleeping. Players who wished to have a chat with him in the city would need to be in demon form. Otherwise, he would show no remorse as he pummeled the players.

With only half an hour of the transformation to spare, Li Yi finally reached Aragon’s dwelling.

Li Yi had been proceeding forward along the streets. Due to his current physical state, he was unable to use any of his mounts or skills, otherwise, his transformation would be forcefully dispelled.

Aragon’s abode was a dilapidated straw house. Demonic society was not much different from the human’s, as they were both stratified according to the wealthy and the poor.

The upper-class demons’ most obvious trait was their pair of purple eyes. The Infuser Naixiu was one such upper-class demon, and even among the demons themselves, her position was highly respected.

Aragon, however, was the lowest of the low. His abilities were weak, and while the upper-class lived in mansions that were as huge as palaces, Aragon could only live in a dingy shack.

Within the poverty-stricken area of Karan City.

Aragon laid in his bed and stared emotionlessly at Li Yi. “Human, I really thought that you were too afraid to follow me.”

Li Yi grinned as he pulled over a chair to sit on.

“The demons are a tribe of savage invaders in the eyes of humans, so why weren’t you afraid when you saw me?”

“I had a feeling.” Li Yi gave an extremely dumb reply.

“Hoho…” Aragon chuckled as he got out of bed. He then narrated the history of the Demonic Tribe to Li Yi.

Unlike the history of humanity, the history that Aragon described was far more accurate than what that the humans had recorded.

When the gods created the Pantheon World, they also created tens of thousands of living beings. Among them, the purple-eyed Demons that possessed unbelievably beautiful looks were the creation that made the gods the proudest.

During the early period of the Pantheon World’s creation, all the tribes lived in perfect harmony. This era of peace lasted for thousands of years, and though there were small conflicts every once in a while, there was never a large-scale war.

As a whole, the relationships between each tribe could be said to be quite closely knit. Furthermore, during this period, the perfect ‘demons’ that were created by the gods had taken on the role of the leaders, becoming the envoys of the gods within the mortal plane.

Later on, during a blank era in demonic history, the humans had appeared out of nowhere. Within a period of a thousand years, they had taken over the position of the demons in the hierarchy of leadership and had become the Pantheon World’s newest overlords.

That era was known as the Pantheon Continent’s dark ages. For some reason, the gods had ignored the plight of their messengers, and they did nothing to aid them as the humans slowly replaced them.

Back then, the strongest demons were known as the Seven Demon Kings, and later on, they would come to be known as the Seven Outlander Demon Gods.

At that time, the Demonic Tribe were faced with an extremely dire situation. The originally weak humans had gotten hold of mysterious power, and that power had overwhelmed even the perfect ‘demons’ that the gods had created.

‘Didn’t the gods not say that the demons were their most perfect creations? So, how were the puny humans able to surpass us, the demons’ power?’

In order to unravel the mystery, the Seven Demon Kings got together and headed into Mount Pantheon so that they could question the Pantheon of gods themselves. However, the Seven Demon Kings have since vanished, never to return again. Rumors say that they committed the greatest offense against the Pantheon, entering Mount Pantheon without prior permission. As such, they had long since been sentenced to death by the gods.

With their strongest members, the Seven Demon Kings gone, the Demonic Tribe began to collapse. The demons at that time were no match for the humans who had acquired this mysterious power, and in the end, the wisest of the demon elders had come to a conclusion. They proposed a plan to forcefully open a path to another world and to leave the Pantheon Continent behind. By doing so, the Demonic Tribe would manage to live on.

Not long after, the Demonic Tribe had set the plan into motion. They opened up a path to another world, and moved every demon into it, forming the current Foreignland.

Later on, after an extensive breeding process, the Demonic Tribe regained their former strength. Upon realizing this, they immediately set off to attack the Pantheon Continent, and they massacred all the races indiscriminately. That period of time was known as the Demonic Tribe’s golden age, and during that period, the name — Foreignland’s Seven Demon Gods — struck fear into the hearts of every soul living in the Pantheon Continent.

The Humans, the Orcs, and the Elves had all lost in the battles against the Demonic Tribe. The latter was made into the Demonic Tribe’s private slaves whereas the former two had been subjugated. The Demonic Tribe had defeated the hundreds of races in the Pantheon Continent and reigned supreme in the Pantheon World.

A long time later, nearly a thousand years after the Demonic Tribe’s slaughter, a few powerful figures had appeared within humanity. It was at that time that the heroes such as Augustus and Emperor Lan had come into being. Despite that, they were relatively unknown back then, and one could even say that they were hiding in the dark. It was only after the Demonic Tribe had been pushed back into Foreignland did their names finally make a mark in history.

They were called all sorts of names, such as the Heroes of Humanity, the Slayer of Demons, the Legendary Sword Saint, the Divine Punisher, the Holy Light Envoy, and many more.

“For the Demonic Tribe, their attack on the Pantheon Continent had only been an attempt to reclaim their home. However, for the humans, the Demonic Tribe was akin to Evil, and as such, they needed to be disposed of.”

Aragon raised his brow. “Human, what’s your take on the matter?”

Li Yi answered, “The Demonic Tribe is evil, and they must be dealt with.”

“Hahaha…” Aragon laughed out loud.

“As expected, one’s stance on the matter can really affect their judgment…”

Aragon continued to talk about the Demonic Tribe’s history, and Li Yi constantly clicked his fingernails as he listened to Aragon’s speech. He had already heard the story once in his past life, and even then, it did not interest him. However, that was how the game had been set up, and in order to obtain Aragon’s trust, he needed to endure the lengthy sermon.

He took a quick glance at the clock, and realized that there were only 6 minutes left until his transformation ended…

“Mr Aragon, I just remembered that I have a matter to attend to. I’m afraid I’ll have to leave as I need to complete this now. Let’s continue this chat on another day, alright?” Li Yi stood up from his chair, interrupting Aragon’s speech.

Li Yi had spent too much time learning Attribute Infusion, and because of it, he no longer had enough to finish Aragon’s speech in one session. Should he continue to listen any longer, his transformation would vanish, and Aragon’s Affinity towards him would drop, despite Aragon’s Neutral disposition. Recovering that lost Affinity was not an easy task, and as such, Li Yi would like to avoid it as much as possible.

Li Yi’s sudden interruption triggered a tinge of anger on Aragon’s face, but in the end, Aragon had reluctantly agreed.

Li Yi promptly left Aragon’s straw house. At breakneck speed, Li Yi made various twists and turns as he made his way into an old straw house in the slums.

The house was empty and devoid of all furniture. If any player were to complete all the quests issued by Aragon once he finished his speech, he would tell them that the abandoned straw house was the safest place in Karan City. As long as the players were there, they would be safe from all demon attacks.

The moment Li Yi entered the straw house, his demon form vanished.

‘Safe at last.’

Li Yi heaved a heavy sigh.

Within the Sixth Demon God’s territory, players were forbidden from using any forms of Spatial Transportation, and be it the Return City Stone, King’s Order, or even the Dungeon Escape Scroll, they were all useless there. There were only two means of leaving the place. One was to suicide and get sent back to the Capital, and the other, was to bravely walk out of the area!

Players who chose to return to the Celestial Capital would definitely lose 1 level, and if their luck was awful, they would even lose 5 levels. It was for that reason that Li Yi hastily left Aragon’s humble abode.

Although Aragon would not attack players, the same could not be said for the other demons as once the transformation timed out, Aragon would forcefully chase players out of his house…

Li Yi sat cross-legged in ‘Karan City’s Safest Shack’ and took out all 36 of his Holy Crystals.

The mystifying brilliant Holy Crystals laid in his palms, filling the little house with its scintillating brilliance.

Li Yi took out his Orange Quality Bow and placed it onto the ground. After sucking in a deep breath and with rainbow lights still streaming out of his palms, Li Yi slowly infused one of the Holy Crystals into the bow.

One of the greatest advantages of learning Attribute Infusion was the option to turn non-Holy Equipment into Holy ones.

While infusing the Holy Crystal into the bow, the Orange Quality Bow’s surface began to light up.

“This power, how mysterious…”

Woosh—

The Hunter Goddess popped out from the Orange Quality Bow and stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of her.

“This power is indeed formidable, but it definitely isn’t the power of a god. How strange…”

The Hunter Goddess mumbled to herself. From the looks of it, she did not seem to be familiar with Holy Power.

Sst-sst—

Li Yi completely infused the Holy Crystal into the Orange Quality Bow. After a series of vigorous flashes, a System Notification popped out.

[Congratulations! You have successfully infused your weapon!]

[Gift of the Hunter Goddess, the Wrath of the Stars (Orange Quality, Holy +1)]

At that instant, the Hunter Goddess’ eyes suddenly lit up. In an excited tone, she stated, “I sense an increase in the Wrath of the Stars’ attributes!”

Li Yi chuckled as he took another Holy Crystal to infuse it into the Orange Quality Bow.

After all, how could a measly Holy +1 fulfil Li Yi’s standards?

This was just the beginning!

…