Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 910: The King

The man and the dog stared at each other in silence, both equally confused by what they were seeing, when a sharp rush of wind cut through the air.

Whoosh.

Whoosh.

Two figures shot out of the ancient well in quick succession.

Blackie landed first, steady and relaxed. Ethan followed a heartbeat later. The Infernal Hound barely needed a second look. He knew immediately that the Ethan who emerged last was the real one.

Blackie squinted at him, then at the massive black dog standing nearby, and broke into a grin. He slung an arm around the shoulder of the Cosmos Tower duplicate as if they were lifelong friends. "That’s a dog," he said cheerfully. "Tastes amazing."

"Taste... amazing?" the duplicate repeated, eyes lighting up with interest.

The Infernal Hound stood there, completely lost, unsure whether to be offended or alarmed.

"From now on, you’re called Cosmos," Ethan said casually, naming his avatar without much thought.

The duplicate did not object. Arguing would not have helped, and he did not seem to care anyway. He was too busy circling the Infernal Hound, examining him from every angle, close enough that the dog’s fur slowly stood on end.

---

"The barrier is open, Patriarch. We can come and go freely."

"At last, we’re not trapped anymore."

At the peak of the Moonfrost Direwolf clan, howls echoed as countless clan members celebrated. Excitement spread like wildfire, but their Patriarch, Xakier, did not join them. He stood still, staring into the distance toward the brightest point of the aurora, deep in the South Pole.

His expression held no joy, only unease.

He noticed figures lifting into the sky from distant peaks, one after another. Turning back to his people, he spoke firmly. "The barrier may be open, but do not wander. Stay here until I return."

With that, he leapt into the air and glided toward the Pole.

After he left, the younger wolves whispered among themselves, puzzled. "The Patriarch doesn’t look happy."

"Maybe he thinks we’ll be harder to control now."

"Come on. The ancestral rules only said we couldn’t leave while the barrier was sealed. They never said we couldn’t explore once it opened."

Laughter followed. Plans were already forming, trips to the human world, celebrations, freedom long denied.

Xakier raced through the sky and landed on a snow-covered peak near the Pole. A dozen figures were already waiting. Among them was Cloudfang. Their eyes met, and the mood grew heavy.

"They succeeded," Xakier said quietly. "The barrier is gone. The King’s bloodline awakened, and he emerged carrying the King’s mark. Does that mean..."

He did not finish the thought.

Cloudfang shook his head. "Impossible. The Mythic Age of this cycle ended less than ten thousand years ago. A new cycle cannot begin so soon."

"But the records—"

Others shared Xakier’s concern. Cloudfang’s denial did not sit well with them. The clan archives were clear. When all subjects were recalled and the barrier sealed, the Mythic Age ended. When a new King appeared, when the Qilin manifested, received the bloodline inheritance, and carried the King’s mark out of the forbidden zone, that marked the dawn of a new era.

Cloudfang raised a hand. "No more doubts. The records also say that a new cycle begins with destruction, followed by the revival of all races. And ’all races’ does not mean only us."

The gathered leaders lowered their heads. His reasoning was sound, yet one question remained unanswered. Why would a newly awakened King follow a human like a subordinate?

"Everything points to that kid," Xakier said softly.

Cloudfang nodded, and the others followed suit.

"What do we do?" Nightclaw asked, her ears twitching.

Cloudfang answered after a long pause. "When the King rises, all beasts follow. We battle heaven. We battle earth."

Silence fell, then the peak trembled. Power erupted from every leader at once. Their auras surged upward, intertwining, condensing into a single ancient symbol suspended in the sky. Modern eyes would not recognize it, but these beasts did.

It meant war.

"I... I broke through?" Nightclaw gasped as her furry ears dissolved into smoke, replaced by human ones. Her transformation was complete.

Shock rippled through the group. Every leader present felt their strength surge. All of them advanced, some by more than one stage. Across the entire South Pole forbidden zone, every race felt it. As that word formed, beast clans everywhere experienced a surge of power, and many immediately sat down to meditate.

The words Cloudfang had spoken were more than a declaration. They were an oath, and the entire forbidden zone responded.

Even Blackie, nearing the edge of the zone, felt it. His body shuddered as a faint green light pierced through space and flowed into him.

"Huh... faith power?" the Infernal Hound muttered, eyes widening.

"Faith power?" Ethan repeated.

"It’s weak," the Hound said slowly, "but it’s real. Kid, you’re something else. You have followers?"

He circled Blackie, studying him with open curiosity.

Ethan’s thoughts immediately went to the beasts within the forbidden zone. They had never openly called Blackie King, but they had hinted at it often enough, and Ethan’s soul sense had caught far more than words. Something had clearly happened after Blackie entered that deep cave. Earlier, the beasts had even begged Ethan to bring Blackie to the heart of the forbidden zone.

That ancient well was the heart.

Ethan had asked what happened down there. Blackie, who usually answered without hesitation, had stumbled over his words. Ethan understood and did not press him. He did not want lies.

Blackie had changed since emerging. He was quieter, more thoughtful, frowning often as if carrying a weight. Cosmos, by contrast, was curious about everything, endlessly poking his nose into trouble.

Their return journey was uneventful. When they passed the deep chasm, no giant hand reached out. Ethan hovered above it briefly, considered exploring, then decided against it. The chasm felt bottomless, much like the well, and going down would only waste time.

His business here was finished.

He needed to leave for the Southern Seas, to find Lyla and the others at the City of the Whale Fall. He did not know they had already returned to the Silverwood family’s hidden territory. There was too much waiting for him. The Divine Sea Temple was spreading like a disease, and those strange energy spheres were appearing everywhere, releasing power into the world while hiding something deeply wrong.

He needed answers.

As they climbed the snow-covered peak, Ethan remembered the ruined camp he had seen earlier. There were no bones inside. Had the three people from a decade ago escaped? If anyone made it out of the South Pole forbidden zone, the world would know. There would have been headlines.

The first skeleton lay at the base of the cliff, bones shattered from the fall. Another lay not far away, the same fate. Ethan searched until his gaze stopped near the peak. A body lay preserved in ice, peaceful, beautiful, like a sleeping woman.

She had not made it either.

Ethan stored her gently within his mindscape. Two skeletons and one frozen body. He would bury them properly when he returned. They were all humans, although separated by ten years, they were still connected all the same.

Over the ridge and down the far side, they finally reached solid ground. Everyone let out a breath of relief.

Cosmos landed and immediately tried to take off again. Ethan grabbed his arm. "One hundred steps first."

This was Cloudfang’s instruction: Fly too soon, and you would be lost. Cloudfang himself had made that mistake once and wandered for three years before escaping.

Cosmos muttered under his breath but followed, step by step.

After the hundredth pace, the world shifted. Everyone behind Ethan vanished, then reappeared beside him one by one.

"Ethan!"

"Boss!"

"Blackie!"

Voices rushed toward him. Familiar faces appeared. Leo, Victor, Williams, Markham, Regis, Uncle Jed, everyone who had been trapped in the Moonfrost Direwolf territory. Behind them were countless others, organized into groups led by clan leaders Ethan recognized.

He blinked. How had it grown this large?

"Heh. Shocked, boss?" Leo grinned.

Ethan nodded. He really was.

Then Leo shoved him aside. "Move it. They’re here for the new Beast King, Lord Blackie. You’re blocking the view."

Ethan’s raised hand froze mid-air. His face burned. He had not braced, never expecting that from someone he considered a brother. He lowered his hand and rubbed his nose, wishing the ice would open and swallow him whole.

Blackie stepped forward with a tranquil expression.

"We greet our King," the beasts declared as one. Every hand pressed to a chest, three beats and heads bowed.

"Mm," Blackie replied.

The leaders waited. Then Blackie spoke again. "Follow me, and there’s no food. I can’t afford freeloaders."

Confusion spread instantly, then chaos, until the clan leaders roared for silence.

Blackie continued calmly. "But I have a boss. Let me introduce him."

He grabbed Ethan and dragged him forward. "This is my boss. From now on, you call him Big Boss. Big Boss eats meat, we eat meat. Big Boss fights, we fight. Anyone got a problem with that?"

He pointed at Nightclaw, now fully human.

Silence followed, then every beast lowered their heads again.