Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!

With the Force Resonance technique surging through him, the silver, starlit patterns beneath Ethan's skin pulsed with an almost blinding glow. Even his bones shimmered faintly, casting a kaleidoscope of colors through his frame.

Rip.

"Ah... bleh bleh bleh..."

The Blood Clan warrior flailed wildly in Ethan's grip. It was hard to tell if the sounds were genuine cries of pain or some grotesque mimicry of Ethan's own strange antics, but the noise was ridiculous all the same.

"'Bleh bleh bleh' you mutt!" Ethan barked, his voice sharp with irritation. He tilted his head back and drove his forehead forward with brutal force. Bone met bone. The warrior's half-uttered cry died in his throat as his nose caved inward, his face collapsing into a ruined mess.

Before the Blood Clan fighter could recover, Ethan's arms wrenched apart. The man's limbs tore away in Ethan's hands, ripped clean from his shoulders by sheer strength. The horror on the warrior's face barely had time to register before the pain overtook him. Freed from Ethan's grip, he spun in panic and slammed straight into the barrier the Dragon Child had raised.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He staggered, slamming himself repeatedly against the barrier in his daze.

"Trying to run, huh?" Ethan growled.

He was already behind the man before the words finished leaving his mouth. His legs locked around the warrior's waist, pulling him down in a mounted grip. The claws at Ethan's fingertips dug into the man's wings before he could even react. Rip. Both bat-like wings tore free with a single, merciless pull.

The Blood Clan warrior let out a piercing wail as his body dropped from the sky, spiraling toward the ground with Ethan still clinging tight.

Ethan stayed calm, hands closing around the warrior's skull like a vice. Crack. He twisted without hesitation. The neck snapped clean through, and the head came free. Blood spurted violently from the stump, and from it burst a streak of dark red—the Blood Clan's essence.

"Trying to escape?" Ethan hissed.

He crushed the corpse beneath his heel, the body bursting into mist, then threw himself forward after the fleeing essence. His palm gathered immense force, a weight that shook the air.

"Heavy Strike!"

The blow landed squarely. But instead of shattering, the essence gave no resistance at all. Ethan's hand passed straight through it as though he had struck a pillow of cotton. His eyes narrowed in disbelief. Was the essence truly indestructible?

That single hesitation was enough. The streak of blood-red light surged forward, ignoring the Dragon Child's spatial barrier as if it wasn't there, and vanished into the horizon, far beyond Ethan's reach.

When he turned back, he saw the others were already finished. The Dragon Child, Bongo, and the rest had wiped out the remaining enemies. Even the two warriors who had been giving Bongo trouble had fallen under their combined assault. Now, all of them were watching him, their faces unreadable, as though they'd just been spectators to his performance.

Before Ethan could speak, a warning voice thundered across the battlefield.

"Not good. Another powerful presence approaches!"

It was an old man's voice, booming with caution. For someone of his strength to sound wary, the incoming figure had to be formidable.

Ethan instinctively turned toward the horizon. A silhouette was closing in fast, wreathed in a suffocating blood-red aura. His brow furrowed. The outline was familiar, painfully familiar—but he couldn't be certain it was the person he thought.

The figure halted midair, directly in the path of the fleeing Blood Clan essence. One hand extended casually, and in that hand the streak of blood-red was caught, pinned in place as though it were solid.

Ethan froze. The essence had always been intangible—he himself had just proven it when his palm passed through like air. Yet this stranger held it effortlessly, as if it were nothing more than a physical object.

The next scene left Ethan frozen in shock.

The figure that had stopped in the distance—there was no mistake now—it was Uncle Jed, the man who had vanished for some time.

Ethan watched in disbelief as Uncle Jed clenched the struggling Blood Clan essence in his fist, raised it to his mouth, and swallowed it whole.

Buzz.

Uncle Jed's body trembled, the blood-red aura around him swelling until it rolled like a storm. Only then did Ethan truly see his face. One of Uncle Jed's pupils burned scarlet, the other remained its normal black and white. The power pouring off him was terrifying—greater even than the old man in yellow robes who had once taken the form of the Serpent-Turtle.

Ethan's heart pounded. Uncle Jed had only just passed through the Saint-rank tribulation not long ago. How could his aura now be so overwhelming? And with his distorted expression, his mad eyes, and the fact that he had just devoured the Blood Clan's very essence, the sight was enough to make Ethan's stomach turn.

Despite the dread crawling through him, Ethan started forward instinctively.

The Dragon Child moved in a blur, seizing Ethan's arm, but Ethan shook free without slowing.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine!" he said quickly, though even he knew the words rang hollow.

Uncle Jed hadn't moved since stopping in midair. But as Ethan drew closer, he noticed his features twisting and his muscles rippling as if something beneath his skin were alive. Ethan's heart sank. He recognized it instantly—Uncle Jed's trademark technique, Force Resonance, was still raging at full force.

"Uncle Jed..." Ethan called softly.

"You little brat," came the answer, gravelly but steady, "don't look so glum. I'm not dead yet!"

Ethan finally let out the breath he'd been holding. This was still Uncle Jed. Whatever else had changed, he hadn't been seized or hollowed out by the Blood Clan.

"Damn it," Ethan shot back, his voice sharp with frustration. "I wasn't worried about you dying. I was worried I'd have to cut you down myself if they took control of you!"

"Hah! You little rascal, already thinking of betraying your master?" Uncle Jed snorted, though his face still writhed with the strain of holding himself together. "This pathetic Blood Clan thinks it can control me? Look closely, boy. Their so-called essence, the thing they depend on for survival, has already been refined into my Starlight!"

He raised his arm. His muscles bulged, and a spray of tiny silver motes—Force Resonance's starlit points—rose to the surface of his skin. Ethan's eyes widened. Those points weren't silver anymore. They gleamed red, as if they'd been stained with blood.

One after another, the red sparks flared, spreading across Uncle Jed's body. Ethan realized with a start that nearly half of his

Starlight had turned crimson, while the other half still burned with its original silver glow.

"Holy crap, that's even possible?" Ethan muttered. The excitement quickly shifted to worry. "Won't that have side effects?"

"Why not? Who do you think I am?" Uncle Jed puffed out his chest, grinning with pride. For a moment, it was the same familiar, cocky look Ethan remembered.

But then the grin faltered, and his expression turned sour.

"It's just... it feels like a million people are going 'bleh bleh bleh' inside my head," Uncle Jed admitted through clenched teeth. "I'm about to lose it!"

Ethan almost doubled over laughing. That stupid, childish noise from earlier—the exact same irritating "bleh bleh bleh" the Blood Clan warrior had made—was now echoing endlessly in Uncle Jed's mind.

No wonder he looked half mad. Anyone else would have broken already.

Still chuckling, Ethan shook his head. "Figures. Leave it to you to end up like this. By the way... how much Blood Clan essence did you actually swallow?"