Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 896: Mark of the Ancestor

Ethan could feel it clearly now. His physical body had crossed into entirely new territory. The strength coursing through him no longer felt like borrowed force or a temporary surge but something settled and real, as if his bones themselves had been reforged. This trial had given him more than any battlefield or narrow escape ever had.

Over time he had accumulated ability after ability, each powerful in its own right, yet he had always been scattered, spreading his focus thin, never pushing a single one to its limit. He had relied on versatility, improvisation, instinct. Now, for the first time, it felt as though everything was converging. His body had reached unprecedented heights, and that realization sharpened his desire for the final reward to something almost greedy.

The strength he was experiencing already came from mist that had diffused throughout the entire lake. If this diluted energy alone could elevate him so dramatically, then what would happen if he absorbed the source itself? How far could he go? The question burned in his mind as he chased the feathered figure ahead.

This time he did not hold back.

He no longer underestimated the angels. When the Fortune Dragon had erased one of them in a single breath, Ethan had assumed they were little more than expendable soldiers. He had not understood that the dragon’s breath was a one-shot ability, something it could use only once in its existence. That breath carried the world’s fortune, the very foundation of the dragon’s existence. It was not simply an attack but a suicide strike, a final release of everything it was. Ethan had mistaken the dragon’s immediate loss of life force as backlash, never realizing it had willingly burned itself out.

Ignorance had nearly cost him dearly. Now, having tested this angel’s strength firsthand, he refused to repeat that mistake.

Skill power surged through his meridians and muscles, flowing with precision instead of chaos. It gathered in his palm as a concentrated silver glow, dense and bright.

"Wild Charge," he muttered.

His speed, already slightly superior in Seal Form layered with Panther and Bear, closed the remaining distance. The skill locked on, and in the next heartbeat the stored power detonated forward. The world blurred. Ethan vanished from sight and became a streak of compressed light.

He reappeared on the angel’s back.

"Rend."

The second skill condensed instantly, compressing the momentum of the first into something far sharper. Three white slashes manifested, hovering for the briefest fraction of a second before solidifying.

The angel felt the impact of Ethan’s weight and the grip on his wing. For the first time, that perpetually cold and impassive face twisted. Humiliation flared across his features, followed by raw, searing fury.

"You filthy, contemptible human," the angel spat, golden light exploding outward from his body. "How dare you defile my sacred form?"

The radiance battered Ethan like a storm, hammering against him in violent pulses that nearly tore him free. The angel thrashed wildly through the water, twisting and spiraling, but Ethan’s left hand clamped down on the wing with unyielding force. His right hand continued to gather the power of Rend. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

It was then that he realized something had changed.

The three white slashes did not detach from his palm as they once had. Instead, they extended from his fingers, each nearly two feet long, like curved blades forged from condensed light. They hummed with contained violence. Ethan could feel their weight, their edge, their terrifying potential. More importantly, he sensed that he could control them at will. He could launch them outward, or keep them manifested as extensions of his own body.

If he had released them prematurely, the angel’s frantic thrashing might have ruined his aim. Now he did not need to gamble.

He steadied himself against the torrent of golden force, raised his right hand high, and brought it down with all the accumulated power behind it.

"Die, you feathered freak."

The blades carved through.

Golden blood erupted into the water, blooming outward in thick clouds that stained the cavern in metallic light. The angel did not scream. He only continued thrashing, his movements growing increasingly erratic.

Then came the tearing sound.

A violent rip split through the water, and a figure burst free from the gold-tinged cloud.

Ethan emerged first, one massive wing clutched in his hand. It was heavy, feathers slick with luminous blood that dripped in slow streams before thinning. He released it without ceremony, letting it tumble away.

Moments later, the angel forced himself upright from the shimmering haze. One wing remained, torn and unbalanced, yet he still hovered in the water through sheer force of power. In the open sky he would not be flying anywhere in that condition, but here he managed to keep himself suspended. Golden blood continued to pump from the wound on his back. His eyes burned with naked hatred as he summoned his greatsword back into his grip.

"Filthy human," he said, voice trembling with fury. "You will pay for this."

Ethan only smirked, shoulders rolling as if preparing for another sprint. "That’s a lot of talk from a broken feather-duster."

He kicked off the water and charged again.

But just as he closed the distance, something strange happened.

The angel’s eyes turned white. Not radiant or divine, but a dull, sickly yellow-white, as though something inside had curdled. The discoloration spread from his eyes across his face, down his neck, and over his body in seconds. His remaining wing stiffened. The golden glow flickered and died.

Then he went limp.

The greatsword slipped from his grasp. His body sank slowly, drifting downward like a discarded statue.

Ethan halted mid-charge, unease prickling along his spine. He could feel it clearly. The angel’s life force had vanished, snuffed out in an instant. There had been no final attack, no explosion of power or last curse.

Just silence.

"What the hell..."

He watched the body sink for only a moment. Curiosity tugged at him, but practicality won. Six angels remained above. Another could dive down at any time. Whatever had killed this one could be examined later. The prize came first.

He turned and swam toward the milky-white pearl.

As he approached, he noticed something unsettling. The sphere had stopped emitting mist. The cavern felt calmer, quieter, as though holding its breath.

He slowed in front of it. Up close, the pearl’s surface was smooth and flawless, light swirling faintly within like distant clouds.

"Just take it?" he murmured.

There was no visible barrier, no trap waiting to spring. After a brief hesitation, he reached out and wrapped his hand around the sphere.

The moment his fingers closed around it, everything detonated.

A roar filled his mind, not sound but sensation. The underwater cavern vanished. The pressure, the water, the pearl itself all dissolved in an instant.

He found himself standing in an endless milky-white space. Mist coiled in every direction, swirling in slow, chaotic currents that felt both infinite and confined.

"You have passed the Trial of Strength."

The ancient voice echoed through the void, the same one that had announced the beginning of this ordeal.

"Who are you?" Ethan asked, turning slowly. His voice carried, yet there was no clear source.

"That is of no importance," the voice replied. "What matters is whether you know the Ancestor of Strength."

"No."

"Have you heard of the Primordial Force?"

Ethan stayed silent for a beat, then answered plainly. "No."

There was a pause. When the voice spoke again, there was a faint trace of confusion in it, as though it had not expected such ignorance.

"You do not know?"

"I’m in a hurry," Ethan said flatly. "Can you skip the lecture?"

For a moment, there was nothing but the swirl of mist.

"Where is my reward?" he pressed. "Give it."

The silence stretched longer this time, almost awkward. Then, slowly, a milky-white figure began to form in the space above him. It solidified into the shape of a human silhouette, featureless yet perfectly proportioned.

A single point of light ignited at the sole of the figure’s foot.

From that point, a thin line of radiance began to crawl upward, tracing an invisible path along the body. When it reached a certain height, another point of light flared into existence. Then the line continued climbing, marking the form step by step.

Ethan watched without blinking.

Time lost its meaning. The ascent of that light felt both instantaneous and eternal.

Then, suddenly, the white void shattered.

Underwater once more, Ethan’s eyes snapped open. For a fraction of a second, the entire cavern flashed with brilliance as light burst from his pupils. The glow faded almost immediately, swallowed back into him.

Deep within his gaze, a faint milky-white silhouette lingered, then slowly dissolved into nothing.