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

The members of Renegade Alliance scattered after the battle, each using their teleportation stones to return to the city.

"Meatball, how'd it go?" someone in the team asked.

"Heh, Marcus Skeiner got screwed this time. Two curses triggered," Meatball replied with a sly grin.

"What kind of effects?" Skyblade asked.

"All attributes reduced by 80%, all gains reduced by 80%, heh heh… And luckily, it's for the full duration."

His skill was highly unpredictable. The number of curses, their effects, and even the duration were all random. But the most brutal part was that even if the target died, the curses wouldn't disappear after resurrection, and they couldn't be dispelled.

"Fifteen days? Damn, Meatball, that's brutal! That hidden class skill of yours is downright nasty!"someone in the team exclaimed.

"Nasty? Have you seen his skull face? That's the real horror show." another chimed in.

"You guys… damn it…" Meatball, still chuckling, was left speechless by the teasing.

Slashblade and Skyblade exchanged amused glances.

After thoroughly humiliating Marcus Skeiner, the team's frustration had dissipated somewhat.

"What's the boss been up to? He's been offline for a while," Skyblade asked.

"No idea. His phone's not picking up either," SeraphWarrior replied.

"I even went and rang his doorbell, but no one answered," Slashblade added.

The three exchanged looks, a shared suspicion forming in their eyes. They wondered if Ethan had left to find Lyla.

A subtle worry began to creep into their minds.

In reality, Ethan had gone offline the moment he entered Soulforge Abyss.

Normally, incoming calls would be routed into the game's system, but even that had failed.

Meanwhile, Ethan, still running and slaying monsters in Soulforge Abyss, was completely unaware of the situation.

Two days had passed. He'd only stepped out once to eat instant noodles and drink water twice.

The rest of the time, he'd been grinding in the game.

Now, he'd reached level 42.

Phase 3 Progress 4: Defeat Blaze Wraiths: 4895/5000. Just a few more waves of monsters, and he'd complete this phase.

After hours of grinding, Ethan was starting to feel numb.

Since Phase 3, which required killing 500 eyes, the monsters hadn't dropped anything.

Fortunately, the Blaze Wraiths at least gave experience.

They also dropped a material called [Ember Particles].

Ten Ember Particles could be combined into one Primordial Flame.

If he remembered correctly, all crafting professions at higher levels required Primordial Flame, especially blacksmithing, for crafting and upgrading equipment.

This was why Ethan hadn't upgraded the ring he'd looted from Shadowstrike yet.

Outside, farming elemental particles required going to Elemental Plateau, a level 55-65 zone with a notoriously low drop rate.

In the late game, Ember Particles would become extremely valuable.

Here, the drop rate for Ember Particles was high, and in Ethan's eyes, they were as good as gold coins!

In the future, Ethan planned to own not just potion shops and engineering stores, but also blacksmithing and tailoring shops, among others.

Achieving a monopoly would be difficult, but even a decent market share would bring in a fortune.

Every bit of income now was an investment in the future.

After clearing another wave of Blaze Wraiths, Ethan rushed toward the next group.

About ten minutes later, Phase 3 Progress 4: Defeat Blaze Wraiths: 5000/5000.

The task was complete, but Ethan's relief was short-lived as another system notification popped up.

Ding…

[System Notification: Prismatic Stone's Incubation, Phase 3 Progress 5: Defeat Death Essence: 0/1]

Huh?

'This time, it's just one monster. Is the task finally coming to an end?'

It was actually Death Essence, that level 59 elite monster he'd spotted earlier while exploring the map. Its massive, emerald-green body resembled an elemental creature.

Ethan opened the task description to check.

Task Description: Death Essence: Over countless eons, the trapped soul energy within Soulforge Abyss has coalesced into a malevolent entity, roaming the dark territories of the abyss.

No other hints were provided. Ethan relied on his memory to locate the area where Death Essence roamed.

His advanced analysis skill could only reveal the attributes of creatures within 15 levels of his own, all he could see was the monster's health bar.

Everything else was a series of question marks.

Health: 590,000/590,000

Ethan felt a headache coming on. He had no idea what skills the creature possessed.

How was he supposed to fight this?

Suddenly, he smacked his forehead. He hadn't even used the skills from his exclusive artifact yet.

Also, one of the weapon's attributes mentioned that it altered his appearance when he transformed, why was it that when he shifted into panther form, he still looked like a scruffy black kitten?

None of his other forms had changed either.

He opened the weapon panel and examined its attributes closely.

He noticed a button next to the first attribute.

Passive Ability #1: Equipping this weapon alters the appearance of all your transformations. [Enable/Disable]

No wonder there was no change—he hadn't clicked the enable button.

The moment he enabled it, Ethan's vision shifted, and a holographic interface appeared before him.

There were several options, each showcasing different appearances for his forms. In the panther category, there was a Flaming Lion, a fiery panther form that looked incredibly fierce.

Another option was called Soul of the Panther Mother, a semi-transparent form with a starlight effect, resembling a saber-toothed tiger.

This appearance was stunning.

Ethan eventually chose Soul of the Panther Mother (Red).

For the bear form, he selected Grey Throat's Might (White).

This was a unique appearance among the bear forms. While other forms were variations of the standard four legged bear, this one stood upright, resembling a mutated werewolf.

With its muscular limbs and explosive upper body strength, Ethan instantly fell in love with it. Finally, a bear form that didn't make him feel like he should be catching fish in a river.

For the travel form, the appearances were divided into three categories: aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial!

For the aquatic form, he changed the seal into a dolphin.

He left the terrestrial form unchanged because he realized that if he switched it to a sleek leopard, he wouldn't be able to carry passengers.

So, he stuck with the original stag form, even if it was less eye-catching.

The aerial form was grayed out since flight hadn't been unlocked yet.

After finalizing his choices, Ethan looked at himself. His panther form was now a breathtaking starlight panther.

From now on, as soon as he transformed, everyone would know who he was, a unique appearance with flashy effects.

When he ran, he'd leave behind a trail of shimmering starlight—like a streak of lightning.

He wanted to stay low-key, but damn, did he also want to look cool. Decisions, decisions.

In the end, Ethan gave up. Looking cool was a lifelong pursuit, and being flashy was the ultimate truth.

In the Northern Frontier Region, what did it matter if he was low-key or not?

It seemed like half the people out there wanted him dead anyway. But so far, who had actually managed to take him down?

Watching people try and fail to kill him was the best damn entertainment.