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

The thought alone made Ethan seethe. That old man—had he been enjoying his misery all this time?

He snapped, "Damn it! Was it fun, playing weak this whole time, only to reveal your true strength now?"

Uncle Jed took a slow swig from his wineskin, his gaze sliding lazily to Ethan before returning to his drink. He didn't bother answering. Julian, sensing the tension thick in the air, hurried to mediate.

"These past few years... Uncle Jed's been fighting off every last Deathstalker Scorpion in the entire Southwest Domain. All for the sake of a life-preserving elixir—so you could stay alive. You were unconscious for three years. No food, no water. How else do you think you survived?"

Ethan froze. His anger evaporated, replaced by quiet confusion. "That weird stuff Crystal fed me...?"

"That's because he added three ten-thousand-year-old Crimson Moon Flowers from the Extreme North Ice Fields," Julian said. "They're known to cleanse the body and mask unpleasant odors with the world's richest natural fragrance. Mixed with ground horn of a Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros and meat from various high-grade demon beasts, it became a nutrient-rich brew."

Julian paused, watching Ethan closely.

"And to get that... Uncle Jed wiped out an entire tribe of Moon-Gazing Rhinos. Alone. After that, on his way back from the Extreme North, he got poisoned by Plague Ice. If Ormund hadn't been waiting outside the Ice Fields to fly him home—and if Father, Old Hank, and Old Quinn hadn't worked together to purge the poison—you might never have seen him again."

Ethan stared at Jed, stunned. But the old man just waved dismissively.

"Why bring all that up? The brat's ungrateful! If I hadn't been weakened, that poison wouldn't have touched me."

Ethan swallowed hard. He hadn't known. Uncle Jed had traversed the most dangerous terrain on the continent, delved deep into the Extreme North Ice Fields—marked "Extremely Dangerous" on the system map—and risked his life for him. And apparently, Jed's power had already been damaged before that.

Regis once said Jed had sealed his strength. But even after unsealing, his power barely increased by a few levels. Looking back now, the aura Jed unleashed three years ago on the city wall felt childish in comparison.

Embarrassed, Ethan had no idea what to say. After a moment, he tried to change the subject.

"So... why do we have to join the Four Domains Sacred Assembly?" He glanced at Uncle Jed, knowing he was the one who'd insisted they go.

"For a thousand years, I've been the only one to break through to War God-rank by the age of thirty in this Sea of Death. Do you know why?"

Jed's tone wasn't angry anymore. He took another drink, staring into the distance.

Ethan shook his head. "Because you're... an unparalleled genius?"

Uncle Jed snorted a laugh. "Unparalleled genius, my ass. It's because I took the Soul Gathering and Form Refining Dust Cleansing Pill—a relic passed down from my ancestors. My family's ancestor brought it back from a past Sacred Assembly. If I were some heaven-blessed prodigy, one pill would've pushed me straight to Saint-rank. But no... I was just a mediocre nobody."

He looked Ethan dead in the eye. "So tell me. Should we go to this Sacred Assembly, or not?"

Julian looked like someone had just kicked the foundation out from under his worldview. He'd always seen Uncle Jed as an unattainable benchmark—a man born for greatness. Now, hearing that Jed had once been considered trash and only climbed the ranks because of an ancient pill... his faith wavered.

Ethan's reaction was different. His eyes lit up.

"Wait, if that pill's so amazing, why would Hurricane City offer it as a reward? Wouldn't they keep it?"

Jed's eyes narrowed. "Who told you it's a reward? My ancestor stole it from the trial grounds. Risked his life to escape with it. That place is filled with treasures—more than you could imagine. If I were younger, I'd storm in and loot the place myself."

He sighed and took another long drink, clearly mourning lost opportunity.

"But still... If it's that precious, wouldn't Hurricane City try to hoard the trial grounds entirely for themselves? Why share it with the other cities?"

Ethan never hesitated to ask what he didn't understand—a trait Uncle Jed secretly admired.

Julian answered this time. "Because no single city can open the trial grounds on their own. Without all four City Lord's Seals, the gate won't activate. That's why Father said that if you didn't wake up in time, I'd have to represent us in Hurricane City."

He leaned forward, voice low and grim.

"If one city doesn't show, the other three won't wait. They'll retaliate. Ten thousand years ago, Forgotten City refused to join, thinking Hurricane was playing dirty. The City Lord back then, held early War God strength—but three enforcers showed up. In under a minute, he was dead. Headless."

Julian's voice dropped further. "Three days later, they stormed Forgotten City. Besieged it. Slaughtered every official and their families. Only the common folk were spared."

Ethan's mouth hung open.

So... every city harbored secret powerhouses, capable of devastating war. If Regis had gone to Hurricane City without the Sigil of the Wild Legion... It would've been a death sentence. And if the other cities weren't appeased, they might've destroyed Beastfall entirely.

Regis had staked everything—his city, his people, his son—on Ethan waking up.

Ethan couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"Why?" he asked. "Why trust me that much?"

Julian didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached behind the table and pulled out three scrolls.

"These came from Clearspring City, Hurricane City, and Forgotten City. Read them."

Ethan opened the scrolls. He recognized none of the script. All three bore square seals in the lower right corners, but the languages were different, and the messages unreadable.

Then Uncle Jed shuffled over and pulled out a blank scroll. "Take out your Sigil of the Wild Legion," he said.

Ethan summoned it and pressed the seal down on the blank scroll.

Jed took a deep breath, swigged from his bottle, then sprayed four mouthfuls of liquor across the scrolls.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!"

All four scrolls were soaked.

"Now stack them. Hold it up to the light."

Confused but curious, Ethan did as told.

"Look at the seal, not the text," Jed muttered.

As Ethan lifted the stack, the soaked seals aligned under the light. Slowly, strange characters emerged—faint but unmistakably formed by the combined symbols.

"This is..." Ethan began.

Julian and Jed leaned forward, waiting with bated breath.

"Is... is... What's that?"

Both men nearly collapsed.

"You can't read?!" Julian gaped.

Ethan scratched his head, embarrassed. "Uh... no."

Just then, Bongo walked in, carrying a tray piled high with roast meat. She passed behind them, peeked over Ethan's shoulder, and paused.

"Ethan," she said casually.

He blinked. "Yeah?"

She turned, frowning. "No. Ethan."

He frowned right back. "Yes! It's me!"

"Oh," Bongo said. "Ethan."

She set down the tray.

Ethan glanced sideways at Julian. Did this guy seriously marry a girl with a loose screw in her head? he wondered, but wisely kept it to himself.

"I said it's me..." he muttered.

Even Julian couldn't hold in his laughter this time. Bongo puffed her cheeks and stomped over. Ethan flinched instinctively.

But Bongo simply pointed a firm finger at the characters revealed in the seal. She pronounced each syllable slowly.

"E-Than."

Ethan repeated it like a schoolboy. "Ethan...?"

He blinked. "Wait. These characters... say Ethan?"

Bongo gave him a shrug, turned to the others, then twirled her finger beside her head with a helpless look.