MMO: Pierce Heaven Til' It Breaks

Panda Novel

The longer the standstill went on, the more the party’s disadvantage grew.

Shangguan Bailu was troubled, “Guild Master, have you figured it out?”

“No?”

“Then what are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to test my luck.”

Shangguan Bailu contemplated for some time before reluctantly agreeing, “Alright…”

Li Yi randomly walked into one of the Soul Gates.

Ding!

With a crisp beep, a System Notification appeared.

[Dark Wing has activated a specific condition, decreasing the number of Soul Gates…]

Szh szh szh szh…

By the time Li Yi had walked out of the Soul Gate, a hundred out of the hundred and fifty-eight Soul Gates had disappeared.

“What… What’s going on?”

“Luck…”

“Was that really luck?” Shangguan Bailu was awestruck.

Li Yi nodded with a serious look in his face.

He may not have found the right Soul Gate but destroying a hundred of them in one go had increased the party’s chances of clearing this stage.

There were now fifty-eight Soul Gates remaining.

With the dimensional windstorm increasing its strength by another level, Eleanor’s facial muscles started to tense up as she wielded her staff with increasing speed.

Ouyang Qian quietly sent Li Yi a message, “Was it really luck?”

“Come to my room tonight and I’ll tell you.”

“Bah!”

Ouyang Qian spat at Li Yi and raised her hand, “Commander, I want to give it a go as well!”

“Testing your luck?”

“Yeah yeah…”

Shangguan Bailu bit her tongue. She would not deny Li Yi if he spoke about fortune, but if someone else did, she would have to think about it.

The party’s survival depended on this, and thus should not be taken lightly.

Li Yi smiled, “Let her go. Who knows, maybe she’ll have better luck than me.”

“Alright then…” Shangguan Bailu sighed. With all the Soul Gates having a similar appearance, there was no way to tell the difference between them. If they dragged things out for too long, they were going to die anyway, so why not let her try.

Ouyang Qian stepped into one Soul Gate and with a Ding, a System Notification was issued.

[Ouyang Qian has activated a specific condition, decreasing the number of Soul Gates…]

Szh szh szh szh szh szh…

The fifty-eight Soul Gates decreased once more and by the time Ouyang Qian exited the portal, there were only eight portals remaining.

“What… What’s going on? I didn’t do anything. I only went in and stood there for a little while,” The entire party, including Ouyang Qian, was in a daze.

“Is it really luck?” Shangguan Bailu expressed her doubt.

Li Yi secretly sent a message to Ouyang Qian, ” Was it luck as well?”

Ouyang Qian glared at him, “Duh!”

Li Yi sure had developed some thick skin, “I thought you’d ask me to come to your room tonight.”

“Bah!”

With the strength of the dimensional windstorm doubling, their HP was reduced by 1,600 points per second. Eleanor was feeling the pressure, prompting the six healers to join forces and keep the party’s HP above 80%.

Shangguan Bailu was bursting with excitement, “Entering once reduces the portals by at least half, and now there’s only eight Soul Gates remaining. We’ll make it if our healers can pull through!”

“My turn this time! My turn this time!”

“It, it should be my turn now. I’m not afraid of death!”

“I’m not afraid of dying either. Guild Master, c’mon, let me go in.”

A group of people were calling out. They yearned for the opportunity of entering the Soul Gates.

Shangguan Bailu answered, “Brother Fox, your turn next.”

“No problem.”

Confused Fox patted his chest and went in.

Ding!

[Confused Fox has activated a specific condition, decreasing the number of Soul Gates…]

The dimensional windstorm’s power doubled once again, and four Soul Gates were left standing…

With a horrifying 3,200 HP reduced every second, Eleanor and the six healers were having a hard time keeping up with their heals, barely able to prevent the group’s HP from reducing, let alone increasing it.

Shangguan Bailu ordered, “Paladins and Vagabonds, temporarily shift to healer roles and the rest, take your potions if you can, to ease up the pressure on the healers.”

Paladin and Vagabonds were capable of healing spells, but they lacked in quality when compared to dedicated healer classes. Nevertheless, desperate times call for desperate measures, a little help was better than none at all, and with everyone putting in the effort, more time could be bought.

Shangguan Bailu asked Li Yi, “Guild Master, what do you think about entering all four Soul Gates together?”

Li Yi thought about it for some time yet could not come up with an answer.

In fact, while a hundred and fifty-eight Soul Gates seemed intimidating, truth be told, the first two times were Colored Egg mechanisms and towards the end, no matter which portal is entered, their numbers would be halved. This was what Pope Shirui told him prior to his death.

Li Yi did not want to explain to avoid public questioning. If the conversation between Pope Shirui and him was discovered, there would be an endless interrogation.

Instead, he would take the time and bury himself in the mysterious quest issued by Pope Shirui afterwards…

Entering four Soul Gates at the same time would guarantee finding the soul core, but the power of the dimensional windstorm would quadruple. Would there be a battle after finding the soul core? Of course, there would be. How would the other party members enter while facing the quadrupled dimensional windstorm?

They would probably be ripped apart by the dimensional windstorm before making it in…

The distance between the four Soul Gates was quite far. It would be a good idea to split the party into four but with the strength of soul core unclear at this point, they would be at a disadvantage if the participation of an entire party was required.

Li Yi spoke what was on his mind.

The party went silent. There may only be four Soul Gates at present, but the pressure shouldered by the party members was getting heavier.

Shangguan Bailu responded, “Let’s try one more time, who’s going in?”

“Me!”

“Me!”

“I’ll go!”

The crowd roared.

Shangguan Bailu disregarded the babbling men, but instead turned to speak gently to Fire Ice, who was standing on the sidelines, “Miss Ice, you go.”

“Can… Can I?” Fire Ice blushed.

Li Yi nodded, “Try it out. It’s okay, don’t be afraid. It doesn’t matter whether you fail or succeed.”

“Alright then.”

Fire Ice extended her dainty finger, pointing around for a long time. Her lips were quivering. Apart from herself, no one knew what she was mumbling.

Ouyang Qin sent a message to Li Yi, “What’s Ice doing?”

“She’s counting.”

“What?” Ouyang Qian was stunned.

“I can hear her going, Big-tits Qian, Tits Big Qian, Qian Big-tits…”

“Die!”

After pointing for a while, Fire Ice finally entered a Soul Gate.

Ding!

[Fire Ice has activated a specific condition, decreasing the number of Soul Gates…]

The power of the dimensional windstorm doubled once more, and only two Soul Gates remained.

With 6,400 HP reduced every second, Eleanor activated Great Recovery to heal the whole party. She would not be able to hold up this state for long — any more than 5 minutes and it was game over.

“Two more, two more, who’s up?” Shangguan Bailu’s voice was trembling with nervousness. The next choice was between life and death, it was do or die.

“Holy Light Illumination!”

“Breath of Fresh Air!”

The party’s six healers were pulling out all the stops, unleashing their greatest skills. Everyone knew it was game time.

“I’ll go!”

It was then that, Windcloud Killer raised his hand and after obtaining Shangguan Bailu’s approval, he walked into a Soul Gate.

There was no beep this time, but Windcloud Killer was heard yelling, “Quickly come in! I see the soul core!”

“Get in!”

With a swing of his arm, Li Yi activated Rocket Propellant to rush in…

“Wham!”

Li Yi was deflected back, falling on his butt. Ouyang Qian was going to speed in with Flash but immediately stopped after witnessing what happened to Li Yi.

Ouyang Qian ran towards Li Yi out of concern but did not help him up. She pretended to care, “Brother Yi, what’s wrong?”

Li Yi stared deeply at Ouyang Qian’s bosoms, gasping in admiration, “How bouncy…”

“Bah!” With her face flushed red, Ouyang Qian turned away.

The reason why Li Yi was deflected was simple. Anyone who had entered a Soul Gate once was no longer permitted entry…

Li Yi was not allowed, Brother Windcloud Nine was not allowed, neither were Ouyang Qian, Confused Fox and the others who had entered…

Just then, the dimensional windstorm increased its power doubled again, causing difficulties for those who could not enter the Soul Gate…

All six healers had gone in and only Eleanor had stayed by Li Yi’s side to heal him. Forced into a contract with Li Yi, she centered her movements around him. Healing others was secondary to her, as she primarily tended to Li Yi’s needs.

Gazing deeply into Qian’er’s eyes, Li Yi spoke, “My dear, we’re about to die and before we do, I have one thing to say to you…”

“Save it if you’re going to ask me to come to your room tonight. I only love women but if you’re gonna have Jiaojiao come over to mine, we can talk about it.”

By the time Ouyang Qian finished talking, she was lying on the ground. She did not have a lot of HP, being a Wizard. How could she survive against a dimensional windstorm causing 12,800 damage per second?

Li Yi too fell flat, but prior to collapsing, he managed to die on top of Qian’er.

Although there was no contact between their corpses, this death left Li Yi feeling very satisfied.

“You’re such a hooligan.”

“It depends on who I’m with. I’m serious to others but a rascal to you.”

“Why? What did I do?”

“The offense of having huge tits!”

“Bah!”

…

Inside the Soul Gate, the party gathered around the soul core. It pulsed with a rhythm similar to a heartbeat. They attacked it and reduced 50% of its HP in a mere 5 minutes.

The soul core was a dummy with a single ability — unlimited HP recovery. If the party’s ATK was not high enough, it could not be killed even if they tried all day.

Fortunately, the party led by Li Yi was made up of elites. Everyone was equipped with powerful equipment, allowing them to defeat the soul core with ease.

“No… No, it’s impossible!

“No… No… No, it’s impossible!”

Each time the soul core lost HP, it let out a loud cry.

Once the soul core’s HP was reduced to less than 10%, the Soul Gate’s dimension crumbled, teleporting all party members back to the Soul Abyss.

“I am the Soul King; my soul is undying. Scram!”

The soul core suddenly pulsed rapidly, catapulting all party members away…

Suddenly, a greatsword appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the soul core. At that moment, the entire world stopped…

The person who had attacked was the powerful NPC ally, who according to the plot would get the kill, Great Lord Moigne.

…