Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 193: The Grind Never Ends

This wave of monsters didn't include any of those annoying Life Guardians. Those things patrolled the entire map, and Ethan had been careful to avoid them while pulling mobs.

This time, he'd used seven Arcane Inscriptions to clear the wave. While that was two more than he'd used in the level 40 zones, the EXP gain was more than triple. Once he pulled the monsters, it only took about a minute to wipe them out.

The real time sink was pulling the mobs themselves. It took anywhere from two to five minutes to gather a decent-sized group. He had to carefully maneuver, kiting the monsters and herding them into tight clusters. The Fire Storm inscription only covered a 5x5 meter area, so efficiency was key.

To minimize waste, Ethan focused on perfecting his positioning and monster grouping.

With his mind fully focused, Ethan fell into a rhythm: pull monsters, throw inscriptions, watch them die, repeat. By the time the game's daily reset was approaching, he was down to his last three inscriptions. His level, however, had skyrocketed to 37 with 45% EXP.

When he'd hit level 36, he'd pushed deeper into the Life Greenhouse, entering the level 51 monster zone. He made sure to maintain a 15-level gap between himself and the monsters to keep that sweet 1,500% EXP bonus.

He'd considered going after even higher-level monsters, but he remembered that the level 55 zones had those half-deer, half-human creatures that threw spinning blades. Those ranged attackers didn't suit his current grinding style, so he decided to stick with the level 51 mobs.

In just one night, he'd gained over two levels. Ethan was starting to feel confident that he might hit level 45 before heading to Ironvale Mountains. That was the threshold Morzan had once mentioned. He wondered what special abilities unlocking that milestone would grant.

One thing he did notice was that with each level-up, the tiny sapling inside him grew a little taller. Its once-fragile trunk was now sturdier, though the two tiny buds at the top hadn't changed at all. It still looked more like a bean sprout than a tree. Ethan couldn't help but wonder if it was actually a tree or just some specie of vegetable.

With only three inscriptions left, Ethan knew he couldn't pull another wave. He activated his Teleportation (Divine), selecting a safe spot he'd scouted earlier—a place where no monsters spawned. After saving the coordinates, he teleported back to Springhaven. Thankfully, the distance was under 100 kilometers, so the teleport worked without issue.

Back in the city, Ethan opened his inventory to assess the night's haul. Direct gold drops from the monsters totaled around 12 gold. The rest of his inventory was stuffed with gray-tier junk—piles of leaves, petals, and other plant parts. He sold it all to the nearest vendor, netting him an additional 18 gold, 26 silver, and 58 copper. Combined with the gold he'd picked up, his total earnings for the night were around 31 gold.

It sounded like a lot, but Ethan reminded himself that he'd been farming solo. In his past life, clearing the Life Greenhouse had required massive 300-player raids—and even then, it wasn't easy. The monster density there was insane, supporting tens of thousands of players grinding simultaneously.

Ethan's grinding speed couldn't compare to tens of thousands of players, but it was on par with a large raid group. However, when you split 30 gold among 300 people, each person's share was pitifully small.

The monsters here only dropped low-tier loot, with the best being Bronze-grade equipment—and even that was rare. Most drops were Common Iron -tier gear, which was what most players were wearing anyway. For large groups, farming here was a break-even operation at best.

But for Ethan, this income was far too little. Shaking his head, he headed to his All-You-Need Auction House and listed the Bronze gear he'd picked up. Even the most basic Bronze items sold for 2 to 5 gold each, depending on their stats.

At those prices, only well-off players could afford a full set of Bronze gear. The auction house in Springhaven was still in its trial phase, so there were no fees for now, but that also meant no revenue.

Next, he checked the two All-You-Need shops across the street. The profit margins were decent, with each store pulling in around 30 gold a day. Both shops were staffed by two intermediate alchemists and two intermediate engineers, with the rest being apprentices. The production output was relatively low, but Ethan decided to leave the profits as operating funds for now.

After leaving the shops, Ethan made his way to the city's teleportation hub and returned to Harmony City. He needed to withdraw funds—his gold reserves were running dangerously low, and he still needed to buy more Arcane Inscriptions.

First, he stopped by the auction house and withdrew 200 gold. Then, he visited the potion shop and couldn't help but grin. The daily profits here were over 600 gold—more than enough to fund his expensive leveling strategy. Even the engineering shop was pulling in over 400 gold a day.

After withdrawing 500 gold from the shops, Ethan teleported to Plaguewood Valley. He found the NPC selling Arcane Inscriptions and logged off there. When the game reset that evening, the NPC's stock would refresh, and he'd be ready to buy more inscriptions.

After logging off, Ethan began another grueling day of training. Victor was relentless, pushing him, Leo, and Williams to their limits with intense physical and combat drills.

Ethan finally understood why Leo and Williams had looked so horrified when they heard the word "training." If it weren't for the life energy constantly emanating from the little sprout inside him, Ethan would've collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

A week passed…

During that week, Ethan spent every night in-game, burning through gold to level up. At first, the progress was rapid, but once he hit the level 55 zones, he ran into trouble. The monsters there were ranged attackers, forcing him to stick to the level 50 zones. As a result, his leveling speed slowed significantly. Still, after seven days, he finally reached level 41.

To Ethan, the grind felt agonizingly slow. He was spending 500 gold a day—equivalent to $500,000 in real-world money, just to level up. But to other players, his progress was nothing short of meteoric.

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Before now, rumors had started circulating about how the Druid God was falling behind in the leveling race. Some even speculated that Overlord would soon overtake him.

Even within Renegade Alliance, there were whispers about Ethan's slowing progress. While being overtaken in levels wasn't a huge deal, it could damage his reputation as the top-ranked player. And that, in turn, could hurt the guild's growth and standing.