MMO: Pierce Heaven Til' It Breaks
chapter-544

Chapter 544: Soaring Aspirations

Plenty of players in the crowd had intended to sabotage Li Yi. However, they did not expect Onyxia’s double roar to frighten their mounts so badly that they ran amok, paying no heed to their master’s orders.

Both the Skeletal Gryphon’s and the Green Dragon Whelp’s flying SPD were at 280%. Compared to a normal mount, their speed was extremely fast. However, against Onyxia, they could not even hold a candle to her. Their difference was just that huge.

Not even a minute had passed and Li Yi had already chased up to Night Moon and Amber Sword Heart.

Onyxia spat her Dragon Breath at them. However, due to the rules of Conquer which prohibited PKs between players, the Dragon Breath automatically disappeared before it even touched her opponents’ body.

“ROARR ROARR—”

Onyxia let loose two thunderous roars, and the bodies of the Skeletal Gryphon and the Green Dragon Whelp shuddered slightly, which diminished their flight speed.

Undead mounts possessed a ridiculously strong resistance against abnormal statuses, whereas the Green Dragon Whelp possessed ‘Draconic Aura’ as well. Though its aura was not as strong as Onyxia’s, it greatly reduced the impact of the ‘Draconic Aura’ of their kins.

Onyxia rushed forward, and her massive frame blocked the vision of the Skeletal Gryphon and the Green Dragon Whelp, causing their flight speed to diminish even more.

Bill Buggy switched between flying upwards and downwards regularly. He was riding a Blue-horned Griffin, and its flying SPD was only a measly 180%. It was so pitiful that trailing behind him posed no difficulty at all.

Ten minutes went by in a flash. Bill Buggy had reached the finish line, followed closely by Li Yi. A few seconds later, Night Moon and Amber Sword Heart arrived simultaneously.

Further behind them was the rest of the players. Since the challenge was not difficult, a huge portion of the players had cleared the challenge, despite a number of them falling down due to collisions.

A sparkling gold Achievement Panel slammed down, and all the players who had passed were awarded the title, ‘Trainee Aviator’.

As if there was anything to doubt, Li Yi had passed the challenge with an ‘SSS’ grade. However, no attribute seeds were rewarded for his accomplishment. The only thing he received was a title, just like the rest of the players.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to see all of you here. My name’s Kent, and I’m the Senior Instructor of the Royal Aviation Academy.”

A middle-aged NPC who was riding a White Gryphon greeted the players. He was the instructor for the second flying competition.

To most players, completing the first flying competition was enough as it would reward 1% dungeon progress upon completion. For them, the other flying competitions were non-compulsory, and they could choose whether to participate in them or not. Furthermore, they were allowed to leave whenever they wished.

Several players had left, leaving only a small portion of players who owned good mounts behind.

Naturally, Night Moon, Amber Sword Heart, and Li Yi had stayed behind.

The Senior Instructor, Kent gave a short briefing. The rules of the competition were the same as the first’s, but there was a twist. Players were no longer chasing after Bill Buggy and had instead will chase Kent.

The White Gryphon was a Gold Quality Mount, and it’s flying SPD was 220%.

Based on the stats alone, Night Moon, Amber Sword Heart, and Li Yi’s flight speeds far surpassed the White Gryphon. However, a mount’s flying SPD was not representative of their actual flight speed, as the skills of the rider would massively affect that value as well.

The competition had begun, and Kent shot forward like an arrow. Compared to Bill Buggy, he had greater speed and his maneuvers were much more energetic.

The players hurried onto their mounts and gave chase.

Compared to the first flying competition, the second flying competition’s difficulty had spiked by several magnitudes. The biggest reason for this was due to the presence of obstacles in the air now.

Once players crashed into the obstacles, they would become entangled, and when that happened, they would need to struggle for at least a minute to escape the obstacles’ grip.

As such, those who owned large mounts were at a disadvantage.

Onyxia could turn into human form, but she was unable to shrink down while maintaining her dragon form.

As such, Li Yi switched his mount to Black-feathered Golden Eagle in order to compensate for his mount disadvantage.

Players crashed into the obstacles non-stop and by the time the competition was half completed, only eleven players remained behind Kent. Everyone else was eliminated.

Fortunately for Li Yi, Black-feathered Golden Eagle was no slouch, enabling him to easily catch up and preventing him from being eliminated.

Five minutes later, Kent flew past the finish line. This time, there were only a total of eight players who had successfully cleared the competition.

Another Achievement Panel popped out, and all eight players were given the title, ‘First Class Aviator’.

Just like the last time, no attribute seeds were rewarded.

Li Yi, Night Moon, and Amber Sword Heart had all passed the challenge.

Another instructor riding a Flame Gryphon flew over and greeted all eight players.

“Greetings everyone! My name’s Ralph, and I’m a Special Class Flight Instructor of the Royal Aviation Academy. I’m in charge of the next competition.”

The competition was not over yet, but the players were allowed to leave if they so wished. However, the cost of their departure would be to forfeit the next competition.

Ralph, the Special Class Flight Instructor of the Royal Aviation Academy was riding on top of an Epic-level Flame Gryphon. Its flying SPD was 280%!

‘Continue the competition!’

None of the eight players backed off and they all chose to continue the competition.

“Bang!”

A gunshot could be heard, and Ralph burst forward like a cannonball. He vanished in a blink of an eye. The combination of 280% flight speed and his riding skills had given rise to this terrifying result.

All eight players flew out one after another. Li Yi had switched back to Onyxia, as Black-feathered Gold Eagle was no longer utilizable in a match against Ralph.

“Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!”

Four artillery shells hurtled over. Ralph was not just skilled in riding; he was an expert in Engineering as well. So, when players went against him, they needed to endure a constant barrage of explosives as well.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The grenades exploded automatically, and there were three players who did not manage to evade in time, causing them to be blown to smithereens. One of those players was the Guild Master of Reigning the World, Night Moon.

“Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!”

Another four grenades were flung over, but Li Yi and the others pre-emptively evaded them.

Ralph’s flight pattern was different from the previous two instructors. He had a straightforward personality, and thus, he flew in a straight line most of the time. However, the most annoying part about dealing with him was the constant need to evade his grenades.

As long as players used evasive maneuvers, their speed would definitely take a hit. However, while the players’ speeds were affected, the alarming 280% flight speed of Ralph’s was unaffected in the slightest.

At that instant, one of the players who played as a Summoner was unable to avoid the grenade and had cast Phantom Footprints to tough it out. However, he was blown to bits along with his mount, and had scattered along with the wind…

“We’re doomed! Ralph’s absurd!” The players who saw the scene had jumped in shock.

As the players forged ahead, the grenades that Ralph threw gradually grew in size…

The rate the grenades were being thrown had increased as well. In addition, the grenades were hurled wherever the players were. As such, the players needed to constantly dodge them.

Bit by bit, the gap between Ralph and the players had begun to widen. Currently, only two players were able to keep up, they were Li Yi and Amber Sword Heart.

Once the players strayed too far from their target, the system would automatically fail the players.

“Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!”

Ralph threw his grenades as if they cost him nothing. Onyxia constantly roared in response and evaded them effortlessly. Though her frame might be huge, she was not to be underestimated. When it came to evasive maneuvers, she was extremely agile.

Amber Sword Heart had gotten smart. He constantly tailed Li Yi. Whenever Li Yi flew up, he flew up as well. Whenever Li Yi flew downwards, he flew downwards as well. Though the gap between them steadily grew, he was still barely able to keep up with Ralph.

Right as there were only 20 seconds left to the competition, Ralph — who had been flying straight all this time — suddenly changed his flight pattern. He made a hard turn in mid-air and shook off Li Yi and Amber Sword Heart.

‘He’s not flying straight, dammit!’

Onyxia was extremely fast, and she had caught up with Ralph before long. Amber Sword Heart, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. By the time he managed to spin around, he could no longer see Ralph’s silhouette. There was only the vast, azure sky, untainted with clouds, and nothing else.

He had failed the challenge in the last 20 seconds…

At that moment, Li Yi had managed to follow Ralph until the finishing line. A golden Achievement Panel appeared once again, and he was given the title, Special Class Aviator along with a STR seed.

Li Yi was the only one who was able to last through all three flying competitions.

However, the flying competition was still not over…

The last NPC had taken the stage. His name was ‘Flying Tiger· Void Shredder’. The mount underneath him was a white tiger that had wings protruding from its back. The white tiger’s body size was nowhere near Onyxia’s, but in a battle against Onyxia, it would definitely not fall short.

It was the Legendary Mount, Flying Tiger King. It had a flying SPD of 350%, and it owned a speed boosting special skill, Mighty Tiger Impact, which doubled its movement speed for a short duration!

Flying Tiger· Void Shredder wielded a Purple Quality Bow, and he was an Assassin Archer. When he did battle against players, he would constantly use his Purple Quality Bow to ‘shoot’ at the players.

[The final challenge, Soaring Aspirations!]

Before the competition began, five huge golden words appeared within Li Yi’s field of vision. It was the system’s way of forewarning the next challenge’s difficulty.

Amber Sword Heart, Night Moon, and plenty of other players who were eliminated had flown back to the scene. Though they had failed the challenges, they still wanted to catch a glimpse of the battle between the two Legendary Mounts.

“My name’s Flying Tiger· Void Shredder, and I’m the specially invited Instructor of the Royal Aviation Academy. My riding skill’s at Level 555, which makes me the world’s first.” Flying Tiger· Void Shredder pompously declared.

There was only one way to raise the riding skill’s level, and that was by using mounts regularly. Furthermore, the more flight patterns one made while flying, the greater the rate that the riding skill improved. However, the highest riding skill level currently achieved by players was only at Level 525. Thus, when Flying Tiger· Void Shredder boasted about his ranking as the world’s first, he was not exaggerating. It was indeed the truth.

Li Yi checked the challenge records of Soaring Aspirations, and he realized that there were already 25 players who had challenged Flying Tiger· Void Shredder before him. Despite that, the outcome of their battles was always the same. They had all lost without exception. In other words, at that point of time, no player had managed to clear the challenge.

“Bang!”

Another gunshot rang out, but Flying Tiger· Void Shredder did not rush ahead. Instead, it slowly ‘flew’ a few steps ahead, and stopped to wait for Li Yi. His actions had clearly shown his intent on allowing Li Yi to fly first.

“ROARR—”

Li Yi was not angry, but Onyxia had already blown her fuse. The boastful Flying Tiger King had ticked her off a long while ago.

With a long roar, Onyxia rapidly ascended. She beat her wings energetically and left Flying Tiger· Void Shredder in the dust.

Onyxia’s normal flight SPD was 350%, but once she was enraged, the SPD would increase. As of that moment, her SPD had already rocketed to 380%.

“Let’s go, Flying Tiger!”

Long after Onyxia’s silhouette had vanished, Flying Tiger· Void Shredder finally tapped Flying Tiger King’s skull and slowly gave chase…