Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 665

Chapter 665: Three Thousand Souls to Save a Life

Ethan rolled his eyes, but a new thought had already sparked in him. He stepped closer, curiosity and a sliver of hope brightening his features.

“This coffin… can it heal injuries?” he asked.

June had already nudged the two men away from the coffin and was standing beside it. “It’s one of the three treasures of the Nether-Realm: the Nether-Throne, the Nether-Armor, and the Nether Coffin. The coffin is ranked last, but its effect can defy fate itself,” she said.

“What effect?” Ethan pressed.

June hesitated for a heartbeat, searching for the right words, then answered with a strange mixture of clinical calm and awkwardness. “Think of it like a woman’s womb. As long as the soul remains, it can… restore.”

At that, the circle around them tightened. Regis, the Dragon Child, the Merfolk King, and Princess Star stepped forward, all of them watching Ethan. When June finished, surprise and disbelief rippled across their faces.

“What the hell, June, are you serious? You mean it—reforge someone?” Starfall Caelum exploded, the color draining from his face.

June’s eyes flashed. “Who are you calling ‘the hell’?” she snapped.

Starfall’s bravado evaporated instantly. Ethan, hearing the possibility of restoration, lunged for the coffin. He threw his weight against the lid and even called on Force Resonance, but the heavy cover did not budge.

“That’s not how you open it,” June said urgently.

“Then how do you open it?” Ethan demanded.

The Lord of the Underworld answered, her voice solemn and terrible. “You must deposit three thousand living souls and three thousand portions of flesh and blood into the coffin’s maw to open it.”

The number hung in the air and stunned everyone. Three thousand living souls, three thousand portions of flesh and blood. It was vast beyond casual imagining.

“Any restrictions on the kind of souls or flesh?” Ethan asked, his eyes suddenly bright with calculation.

June considered, then said, “The measurements are based on an ordinary human’s soul and flesh.”

That raised a new question, unspoken but obvious: would the spirits and bodies of powerful, sea creatures count for more?

The Lord of the Underworld answered bluntly. “Not necessarily. Humans are leaders among spirits. Other creatures often lack the same level of wisdom, so their soul-piwer can be weaker.”

Her words sounded dismissive, but the Merfolk did not bristle, and even the Dragon Child nodded in agreement. Ethan frowned, thinking fast. If lower-quality souls could be made up for by numbers, there was an answer.

“So quality matters, but if it’s low we can compensate with quantity, right?” he asked. If June had said no, he would have exploded into violence—there were countless unworthy people in the mortal world. With enough bodies, he reasoned, he could gather not three thousand, but thirty million.

“Yes,” she said, a single word that set his mind aflame.

“Dragon of Consumption, spit out everything you swallowed,” Ethan ordered.

He tapped his abdomen, and where his hand had pressed a small, eel-like fish slid free and landed on the ground. The miniature Dragon of Consumption looked pitiful and reluctant.

“But I finally ate so much,” it protested in a thin voice.

“Stop stalling,” Ethan snapped, and gave it a light slap.

The vanguard of the Twelve Sea Tribes had been made up largely of minor sea creatures, far more than three thousand, and the Dragon of Consumption had swallowed many of them whole. When it returned to Ethan, the dragon had boasted that it could hold its prey for a year or more while digesting.

Now the ancestral dragon whimpered, preparing to open its maw. Ethan slapped it again and pointed toward the yawning head of the Nether Jade Wraith Coffin, the Wraith Head gaping open like a hungry mouth.

The Dragon of Consumption dared not speak. It twisted its body, came forward, and, without growing larger, opened its mouth.

A torrent of countless sea creatures poured out like a flood, surging into the Nether Jade Wraith Coffin’s massive maw.

As the screaming creatures vanished into the gaping mouth, the coffin began to glow with a deep, ominous black light. A faint creak followed, and Ethan saw a hairline crack appear along the lid. The crack widened into a narrow slit, then stopped.

For a moment Ethan stood there puzzled, then noticed the Dragon of Consumption had closed its mouth. “Spit it out,” he urged.

“But it opened, didn’t it?” the little dragon muttered, sounding more pitiful than defiant.

“Don’t waste my time,” Ethan snapped, his patience worn thin. “If you don’t open this thing, I’ll throw you in as the flesh and blood myself.” His voice was flat, and the look in his eyes left no doubt he meant it.

The Dragon of Consumption shivered and obeyed. It continued to vomit up more sea creatures, far more than the required three thousand portions of flesh and blood. Ethan watched, surprised, as the numbers swelled into the tens of thousands and the dragon still hadn’t finished.

He didn’t know that, after the seawater receded, the Dragon of Consumption had secretly swallowed every stray creature that had followed the Megalodon Clan King, keeping them tucked away like a hidden larder.

Bit by bit, the coffin lid gave way until the opening was finally wide enough for a person to enter.

“That’s enough,” June said at last.

“It’s wide enough to go in?” Ethan asked.

“Yes… at least it can save his life,” the Lord of the Underworld replied, nodding once.

They worked quickly. Starfall, deprived of Ethan’s healing and near collapse, was pale and barely able to speak. With steady hands and gentle force, they lifted him and eased him through the foot-wide opening into the coffin’s interior.

“June…” Starfall whispered, words ragged but deliberate.

“Rest inside, Starfall. We will see each other again soon,” the Lord of the Underworld said, placing a hand on him like a benediction.

“Remember to find our son,” Starfall breathed, those the last coherent words he could manage.

Ethan stood frozen, bewilderment and a flash of guilt colliding in his chest. Starfall had been standing there this whole time, right beside them, and Ethan had not realized. He had almost killed him in a fit of reckless anger.

‘I’m right here, old man’, he wanted to shout, but the words stuck in his throat.

Once Starfall was fully inside, the slit in the coffin lid snapped shut with a series of mechanical clicks. The Lord of the Underworld watched the sealed coffin, her expression tight.

“His soul was already on the verge of dissipating,” June explained when she saw Ethan’s stunned face. “As his soul faded, his memories were slipping away with it.”

Ethan scratched his head, feeling foolish and a little sick to his stomach. He had been so wrapped up in the moment he’d failed to notice the most important thing standing beside him.

“How long until he comes out?” he asked, eyes fixed on the closed coffin.

The Lord of the Underworld shook her head, admitting she wasn’t sure.

Despite the uncertainty, a huge weight eased off Ethan’s shoulders. Relief and anxiety braided together, and for the first time since the chaos began he felt something like hope.

“Mom, why are you in this form?” he asked, remembering the Lord of the Underworld’s changed appearance.

“Oh no, I’m running out of time. I have to go,” she said, panic flashing through her eyes. Her voice turned urgent.

“What?” Ethan blurted.

“No time to talk, son. Take good care of your three little girlfriends!