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

When Rook called out, "Blade, come forth!", the sound of a sword being unsheathed echoed through the air.

Ethan's gaze sharpened. Before his eyes, a ten-foot-long blue blade burst forth from the crown of Rook's head, hovering briefly before dropping to the floor.

'Is this... a flying blade?'

Ethan was momentarily dumbfounded. From what he'd seen in movies, flying blades were supposed to be small and nimble. But this guy's flying blade...

The blade was a foot and a half wide, ten feet long, and five fingers thick—practically like a door panel. Even in the virtual world of Ethereal, there weren't greatswords this massive.

On the platform, Samuel Wynn covered his face the moment he heard his son call out, "Blade, come forth."

He knew exactly what his son's blade spirit looked like.

The Wynn family practiced the art of Blade Mastery. Flying blades were naturally meant to be as light and agile as possible. So, everyone in the family refined and compressed their flying blades to be sleek and efficient.

But his son? He went in the opposite direction, refining his blade to become larger and heavier. This was precisely why Rook's power ranked relatively low within the family. His training method contradicted the Wynn family's traditional magical practices, which had severely limited his potential.

Meanwhile, Ethan and the others in the arena had also noticed something peculiar. Rook's door-panel-like greatsword didn't even have a sharp edge.

Was this massive blade not meant for cutting... but for smashing people instead?

"Can that thing even fly?" Ethan asked, bewildered.

"Uh..." Rook's face flushed red.

Ethan understood immediately. This guy was also a close-combat fighter.

"All of you, stay here and protect Ryan and Bobby's barrier formation," he ordered. "And don't get knocked off the platform."

As he said this, he playfully winked at everyone.

"Ethan?" The group looked confused by his intentions.

As soon as Ethan gave his instructions, Ryan and Bobby sprang into action. One pulled out formation cards while the other held black and white chess pieces. After exchanging a glance, they quickly began setting up around the group.

Formation cards were placed on the ground, disappearing into the stone floor. Bobby shot chess pieces into the air one by one—it was as if he was playing a grand game of chess. Black and white pieces flickered, floating in the void. When he launched the final piece, the entire chessboard flashed... then vanished from sight.

Just as Ethan spoke his final words...

Hum...

Ryan's barrier activated at the perfect moment. A light membrane rose up, enclosing all eight of them within.

Simultaneously, hundreds of people launched a coordinated attack, violently striking the barrier.

Boom...

They were truly fighting with lethal intent. The first wave consisted of ranged attacks. Ryan's barrier membrane flickered several times, seemingly on the verge of shattering. But after the final attack passed...

It remained intact, flashing once more before disappearing into the void again.

Hiss...

Ryan's face turned crimson as he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. His entire body instantly wilted, collapsing to the ground.

Ethan's gaze intensified as he looked over.

Everyone rushed to Ryan's side, asking if he was alright. Ryan waved his hand, indicating he wasn't seriously injured.

"Evelyn..." he looked up at his sister.

Evelyn's eyes widened. "Second brother..."

Ryan glanced into the distance, where the second wave of attacks was already gathering force. He looked back at Evelyn and nodded with certainty.

Only their older brother, Leeroy, understood the meaning behind the siblings' exchange. He glanced at Ryan sitting on the ground and said, "When we get back, I'll buy you some rabbit meat."

Though the others didn't understand the significance of his words, they sensed it wasn't anything good.

Evelyn hesitated, then waved her right hand. Thirteen golden needles appeared. After a moment's consideration, she withdrew three of them. Just as she was about to shoot the needles at Ryan—

A large hand grabbed her arm.

Evelyn looked up. It was Ethan.

He shook his head at her and said, "Evelyn, take care of everyone."

She was startled but nodded.

In the next second, Ethan's figure vanished—a blur disappearing from within the barrier.

When he reappeared, he was already in the midst of the crowd.

Ethan's eyes were cold and fierce, his Panther Form's speed pushed to the extreme. The first person who encountered him didn't even have time to see what happened.

He only felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down...

He saw a hand clutching a heart, slowly being pulled from his body. His consciousness froze.

Ethan squeezed.

The crimson heart burst in his hand. Blood splattered across the surrounding people.

Those to his left and right were shocked—how could this man move so quickly?

"Energy Fusion: Rending Gale... Cleaving Tempest... Shred... Rake..."

Ethan charged into the crowd, using what he called Energy Fusion techniques. He cycled through all his Panther Form skills one after another. By now, his eyes had turned bloodshot.

When he unleashed Rending Gale, Ethan spun like a top. Around his body, a circle of blood-colored claw marks tore through the air. Wherever they passed, anything in their path was cleanly split in two. Severed limbs and torsos rained down across the arena.

Cleaving Tempest, Shred, and Rake, enhanced by Energy Fusion, all became semi-ranged attacks. Their effective range extended to three or four meters.

In this moment, Ethan was all offense with no defense.

While he tore dozens of people to pieces, he dared not use Soul Sense to predict everyone's attacks—so he couldn't avoid them either. Someone appeared behind him and—boom!—landed a powerful punch on his back.

Ethan's body shuddered. He spun around instantly and swung his palm, striking the attacker's face.

Crack!

Like a watermelon splitting, the man's head exploded, his headless body flying backward.

After using one round of Energy Fusion techniques, Ethan felt hollow inside. He estimated he could probably use them one more time, at most.

He silently lamented that while Energy Fusion techniques were incredibly powerful... they drained him far too quickly. His current state was like a mage who had used half their mana pool—he no longer dared to go all out.

Still, that single wave of attacks had torn over thirty people to shreds. He had eliminated a tenth of the three to four hundred opponents in one go. At the same time, many others, terrified by his ferocity, jumped off the arena.

But the arena was simply too large. Enemies surrounded Bobby and the others from all four sides. Ethan's charge could only defend one direction. Concerned for his companions...

He glanced back after completing his first wave of techniques.

What he saw stunned him.

Bobby was floating three to four meters in the air, holding a chessboard in his hands, his fingertips gliding across its surface. With each movement, Ethan could vaguely see what appeared to be a chessboard in the void, its pieces shifting.

Dozens of people charged into the area covered by the invisible chessboard.

Slice, slice, slice...

Without exception, none of them took more than ten steps before dissolving into bloody mist that sprayed across the stone floor.

"This is bad... it's the Wynn family's Celestial Lockdown: Ten-Step Gambit."

"That's impossible! You must be joking. Wasn't Celestial Lockdown: Ten-Step Gambit lost ages ago?"

Someone had recognized the formation Bobby was using.