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

Author’s Note:

Hey everyone. I made a few small adjustments to the ending section of the previous Chapter. Because of that, I’d really recommend going back to reread the final part of the previous Chapter before continuing, just so everything connects smoothly.

Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks as always for reading and supporting the story.

—

Long Chapter

Hearing the serpent’s words, Ethan’s eyes narrowed. Without hesitating, he lunged forward and reached for the strange light where golden light and dark energy intertwined.

"Screw you, you ungrateful bastard! I saved you, and this is the thanks I get?"

His hand closed around it.

Szzzzzzz—

The instant his palm touched that strange Buddha-demon light, the sound was like raw meat dropped into scorching oil. Ethan’s entire face twisted as agony exploded through his hand.

It felt as though thousands of steel needles had pierced straight through his flesh.

You know that saying, how pain in the fingertips shoots straight to the heart? Ethan had all five fingers buried in the middle of that thing, and the nerves in his fingertips were screaming in unison.

"Holy mother of—!"

He howled out loud. He had never experienced pain like this before in his entire life. It felt like it was going to tear him apart.

And yet he refused to let go.

Through the pain, his hand clamped down on the shaft of the Twilight War Spear. His fist tightened as he poured every ounce of strength he had into the grip.

"AAAHHH—!"

Immediately Ethan realized something was terribly wrong. The Twilight War Spear, which normally felt almost weightless in his hands, now weighed like a mountain. With all his strength, he could barely move it even a fraction.

"GET... UP...!"

His other hand shot forward and grabbed the spear as well. Both arms strained as he gripped it with everything he had.

CRRRRK—

BOOM—

The ground beneath Ethan’s feet shattered apart under the pressure.

Slowly, with a violent groan of effort, the Twilight War Spear began to lift.

"Hm?"

The massive serpent head that had been watching from nearby had not tried to stop him earlier, but now it let out a faint sound of surprise.

It had absolute confidence in the power of that light.

What Ethan believed to be demonic aura surrounding the golden glow was actually something else entirely. That faint dark energy with a now visible pink hue was not demonic energy in the ordinary sense. It was pure demon energy.

The technique itself had another name besides Buddha-Demon Resonance Light. It was called the Buddha-Demon Magnetic Light.

Anyone other than the individual who created it would be crushed by unimaginable weight the moment they touched even the smallest fragment of it. That was precisely how it had managed to suppress the Twilight War Spear until now.

And while the serpent had been lost in thought, Ethan had attempted to sneak the weapon away.

In its mind, that should have been completely impossible.

"Sucker. Later!"

Ethan suddenly wrenched the spear free.

The moment he did, the crushing weight vanished as if it had never existed. Because he had been pulling upward with everything he had, his body shot into the sky like a launched rocket.

The Buddha-Demon Magnetic Light still clung to the weapon, but Ethan no longer cared.

The instant he grabbed the spear, his connection with Luna snapped back into place.

Now he was shooting upward so fast that escaping the serpent head seemed almost guaranteed.

"Thief! Stop right there—!"

The roar came from below, but by the time the serpent reacted, Ethan had already blasted out of the ninth level.

Just as he broke free, a tiny child’s voice drifted up from below.

"Thief? Who?" Ethan frowned in confusion. Since when was there a kid down there?

He had no time to think about it. In a matter of seconds he burst through the curtain of water above, blasting through a hundred meters of lake water in an instant.

BOOM—

The lake exploded behind him. Ethan quickly glanced around, trying to decide which direction to escape.

A flash of light flickered and someone suddenly appeared directly in front of him.

"Thief! Don’t you run!"

Ethan froze midair, staring in disbelief.

Where the hell had this kid come from? Then the realization hit him and his eyes widened.

"You’re that giant serpent?"

The child floating before him wore a Buddhist robe. His head was shaved completely bald, and on the crown of his head were twelve perfectly arranged incense scars.

Thinking back to how the giant serpent had chanted scriptures like a monk earlier, a strange thought crossed Ethan’s mind.

Could its human form really be... a child?

"I am Vasuki! Give it back! My Buddha-Demon Magnetic Light!"

The little monk glared at him angrily.

"Hand it over, or don’t blame me for what happens next!"

As he spoke, golden light flashed in his right hand and a vajra scepter appeared. At the same time, a soft pink glow shimmered in his left as a crystalline pink alms bowl materialized.

The moment both weapons appeared, they radiated a faint aura.

It was remarkably similar to the aura of the Twilight War Spear, though lacking its deeper spiritual presence.

Before Ethan could even respond, the little monk suddenly raised the vajra and swung it straight toward Ethan’s head.

"Whoa! You bald bastard, have you got no honor at all?"

Ethan cursed as he reacted, barely bringing up his spear in time.

"Wait... what did you say your name was?"

’Did this kid just say Vasuki?’

There was no time to dwell on it. Since the Twilight War Spear refused to enter his spatial pouch for some reason, Ethan simply swung it up to block.

Strangely enough, earlier it had weighed like a thousand tons, but now it was light as a feather again. However, those gold and pink lights were still clinging tightly to it, refusing to disperse.

Because of that, the spear could not be stored away. Ethan swung the weapon to intercept the incoming strike.

Ting—

There was no earth-shattering collision, Just a crisp, almost delicate sound. The vajra that the little monk had been swinging with such force suddenly flew straight out of his hands.

It shot upward at terrifying speed.

Within seconds it flashed once in the sky and disappeared completely.

"Huh?"

Ethan blinked in disbelief.

"Damn... you’re useless. How do you drop a weapon that good?"

That vajra had clearly been at least artifact level. Now it was gone. Who knew where it had ended up?

That final flash in the sky felt suspiciously like it had pierced straight through the atmosphere. Did it just fly into outer space or something?

Ethan glanced down at the little monk.

The child was also staring blankly up at the sky, completely stunned.

Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the kid whipped his head around and glared at him accusingly.

"You... you bad man... WAAAAH! You stole my Magnetic Light and knocked away my weapon!!"

"...."

Ethan stood there speechless. Completely, utterly speechless.

The kid’s tears came pouring out like a broken dam, splashing everywhere as he wailed at the top of his lungs. Ethan wanted to say something, anything, but the words refused to come out. For a moment he even forgot how to breathe.

He had absolutely no idea how to handle this situation, so the two of them simply floated there in the air.

One small monk bawling his eyes out and one grown man looking painfully awkward and helpless.

This ridiculous scene lasted for a full ten minutes.

If not for the constant sound of sobbing and the endless stream of tears, anyone who saw them might have thought time itself had frozen.

Fortunately, no one was watching.

If word spread that Ethan Caelum had bullied a child monk to tears, his reputation would be finished.

"Hey... can you stop crying already?"

Ethan finally broke the silence. They could not just stay there forever, but this brat had been crying nonstop with no sign of stopping.

"No! WAAAAH... sniff..."

At least he answered. One word, though.

"What do you want me to do?" Ethan asked, completely exasperated. He had never dealt with children before. Honestly, he still felt like one himself.

The little monk ignored the question entirely and continued crying.

"Fine. Cry all you want then. I’m leaving."

Ethan’s patience was wearing thin. What kind of absurd situation was this? He had been running for his life earlier, and now it turned out this guy was nothing but a child.

If he had known that from the beginning, he wouldn’t have wasted his time debating with the giant snake.

As Ethan started to move away, a flash of light appeared. The little monk suddenly stood directly in front of him again, still crying loudly.

"Seriously?"

Ethan turned and shot in another direction, but the child appeared there too.

He changed directions again.

Flash.

He was met with another interception. This ridiculous chase continued for half an hour.

By the end of it Ethan felt dizzy. The brat simply would not give up, and the tears still kept flowing like a damn river.

Was this kid made of water? How could someone cry for this long and still have tears left?

And that crying noise was unbearable, someone would think his entire family had just died. To make matters worse, the kid’s speed was terrifying.

Ethan considered himself fast. In short bursts he could break the sound barrier, but this kid seemed to teleport.

"Damn it, stop crying or I’ll smack you!"

Ethan finally lost his temper and raised the Twilight War Spear as if he were actually going to strike.

"AHHH! Murder! Help! Someone—!"

The little monk dodged effortlessly. Ethan’s swing, which he thought had been pretty restrained, missed completely.

In that moment, a brief flash of cunning appeared in the child’s eyes.

"Son of a—!"

Ethan gritted his teeth. This brat had found his weakness. He could not match that ridiculous speed, and If this continued much longer, his reputation really might be destroyed.

Not that he had much of one anyway.

"Fine! You win!" Ethan shouted in frustration. "Take this thing back! I don’t even want it anymore! Just remove the suppression on my spear!"

He rubbed his forehead as he continued.

"And I’ll help you find your staff deal? Then we’re even. After that we pretend we never met each other. Forever."

But just as he finished speaking, a voice suddenly exploded inside his mind.

"No, no, no! You absolutely cannot give it back!"

It was the Dragon of Consumption.

"Why not?" Ethan asked mentally, surprised. The dragon had been silent the entire time.

"I’ve been watching carefully," the dragon said. "This little monk matches the legends of the young Vasuki perfectly. You’re right. He was a brat when he was a kid."

"And?"

"And that Buddha-Demon Resonance Light you’re holding is his lifebound energy. He’s the only being in history who practiced Buddhism while still being a demon."

The dragon’s tone grew more serious.

"Something went wrong during his practice and he became what’s known as a Wrathful Buddha. For some reason, that Magnetic Light responded to you instead of returning to him. That might be why he reverted back to his original childish nature."

Ethan frowned.

"If you give it back, there’s a good chance he’ll kill you immediately."

"Wait... he’s really Vasuki? The one from the legends?" Ethan asked.

"The same one," the dragon replied darkly. "I don’t know anything about trapping any snake, but I do know this. At my peak, when I was a thousand times stronger than I am now, he was the one who sealed me."

The hatred in its voice was unmistakable.

"And now look at us. I ended up bound to you, and this brat got knocked all the way back to a child’s form. The universe really does keep its balance."

The dragon sounded almost gleeful.

Ethan stopped listening halfway through. Because the dragon’s next suggestion was even worse.

It wanted Ethan to capture the little monk, tie him up somewhere, and apparently "discipline" him daily.

Ethan ignored that part.

Still... capturing the kid and tying him up somewhere so he could escape peacefully did not sound like a terrible idea.

He already had six children living in his head, fortunately Yaya kept them all in line. Even Luna listened to Yaya. But this little bald monk? He was a complete wild card.

While Ethan was speaking with the Dragon of Consumption, the little monk rolled his eyes and pouted.

"That little catfish isn’t wrong," Vasuki muttered to himself. "Decent analysis."

He folded his arms thoughtfully.

"But I didn’t lose my memories. As for reverting to this form... I’m not completely sure why either."

His gaze drifted to the glowing spear in Ethan’s hand.

"And that Buddha-Demon Resonance Light? I don’t even want it anymore."

He scratched his head.

"Maybe it really was affecting me like he said. Practicing Buddhism while being a demon definitely had problems back then. That’s what created the Magnetic Light in the first place."

His expression shifted slightly.

"When you took it just now, my demon form was completely destroyed. Now only this human body remains."

He paused thoughtfully.

"Though..."

His eyes suddenly moved, locking onto Ethan. In them was a strange look; part childish mischief and part ancient, calculating cunning.

The combination made Ethan feel a chill run down his spine.

"Though what?" Ethan asked warily. "Don’t tell me you want me to take you with me."

He was already imagining the worst.

If the kid really asked that, how the hell was he supposed to respond? This little monster clearly was not the peaceful type. Traveling with him would probably lead to endless disasters.

"I remember some old monk tricked me into practicing Buddhism," Vasuki said slowly.

Then his face brightened.

"And I never had any disciples before."

He pointed straight at Ethan.

"I want a disciple to play with. You should take me as your master! From now on, you’ll follow me!"

He said it as if it were the most obvious and reasonable idea in the world.

Ethan’s jaw dropped.

’Yep.’

This kid was definitely a handful. Just as anger began boiling up inside him...

BOOM—

The sky suddenly shook and a bolt of lightning split the clear blue sky.

CRACK—

The lightning shot down like a striking viper, aimed directly at Vasuki’s head.

"AHHH!"

The little monk yelped and instantly teleported away. But the lightning curved in midair and chased after him.

"What the hell?!"

His shocked shouting echoed across the distance.

Ethan watched as the kid flickered from place to place at incredible speed, teleporting repeatedly while the lightning bolts twisted and changed direction, relentlessly pursuing him.

"What the hell..." Ethan muttered.

"Disciple! Wait for me! I’ll find you!"

Vasuki’s voice shouted from far away. Then the single lightning bolt split into two.

Both streaked across the sky like serpents, chasing the fleeing monk into the distance until they finally vanished from sight.

Ethan stared in that direction for a long time. Finally he spoke quietly to himself.

"He’s... gone?"

Even as he said it, he could barely believe what had just happened.

’What was that?’

Was the kid undergoing heavenly tribulation?

It did not look like it.

When Ethan had gone through tribulation before, the sky had been covered with thick black storm clouds.

But now...

He slowly looked up at the calm, cloudless sky above him.

Then he muttered to himself,

"Could it be... that he got struck by lightning for showing off?"