Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 217: The Stone’s Awakening

Ethan walked through the streets of Harmony City, leaving the guild hall behind. The day had been a waste, and it was already close to 5 PM. But he wasn't about to let the rest of the evening go to waste. He headed straight for the teleportation hub, planning to continue leveling up in the Life Greenhouse.

Suddenly, a system notification chimed in his ear.

Ding…

[System Alert: Side Quest - Prismatic Stone's Nurturing, Progress 100%, Second Stage (Feeding) Completed.]

Ethan paused, momentarily confused. He had completely forgotten about this quest. Back when he had obtained the Prismatic Stone, it was meant to help him complete the Druid's Artifact Fusion quest. But after acquiring the artifact, he had completely forgotten about the flying stone in his inventory.

When he first received the quest, he had been curious for a long time, wondering if the stone would eventually hatch into some kind of mythical creature. He chuckled at the thought.

He did a quick mental calculation—the stone had consumed over a hundred gold coins worth of ores. That amount of ore could easily be traded for a piece of Gold-tier equipment. But he had already pulled out three Prismatic Stones that could be turned in for the quest, so in terms of value, he had already broken even.

Opening the quest panel, he read:

[Prismatic Stone's Nurturing]

Time Limit: 72 hours.

Quest Type: Side Quest.

Progress: Third Stage (Soul Infusion).

Description: Teleport to the designated map, kill monsters to collect Soul Essence, and infuse the Prismatic Stone with soul energy.

The description was brief, as usual. It didn't specify how much soul energy was needed or how many monsters he had to kill, but there was a time limit now. What was more intriguing was the dynamic button at the bottom of the quest panel. It looked like a portal.

Is this the teleportation button?

If he was going to kill monsters, he needed to stock up on supplies first. He headed to his All-You-Need Potions and grabbed a few Medium Health and Mana Potions. Next door, he browsed the shelves of his shop and noticed something new—Universal Keys were now being produced.

These keys were ridiculously expensive in system shops. Ethan remembered the prices: Bronze Key for 1 Silver, Silver Key for 1 Gold, Gold Key for 100 Gold, and Dark Gold Key for a whopping 10,000 Gold. Buying keys to open treasure chests was like gambling. Especially the Dark Gold Chests—the system was practically robbing players.

Ten thousand gold for one chest? Unless it contained something extraordinary, even a Dark Gold-tier item wasn't worth that much.

But in Ethereal, treasure chests were a finite resource. Once opened, they didn't respawn, and the items inside were usually fixed. For others, it was a gamble, but for Ethan, it was more like picking up an order. This realization made his eyes light up. He had always thought the keys were too expensive, but now, in his own shop, Gold Chest Keys were only 60 Gold each.

'I wonder what the production cost is.'

Ethan quickly made his way to the second floor, where the Mad Engineer's private workshop was located. From outside, he could see the engineer tinkering with something inside. Ethan knocked twice, but the engineer didn't even look up, completely absorbed in his work.

Ethan waited for a moment, growing impatient but not wanting to interrupt. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a loud BOOM.

Startled, Ethan spun around to see what had happened.

The door to the Mad Engineer's workshop swung open, and he stepped out, covered in soot. His face was blackened, and when he spoke, only his teeth were visible, gleaming white against the grime.

"Boss, did you need something?" he asked, his voice muffled by the smoke still wafting from the room behind him.

Clearly, the explosion had come from his workshop.

"Cough… cough… I hope I didn't interrupt you and cause that mess," Ethan said, waving away the acrid smoke that was making him cough.

"Uh…" The engineer hesitated, his face turning red—though it was impossible to tell under all the soot. "N-no, it wasn't because of you!"

Ethan could hear the embarrassment in his voice, so he decided to change the subject to spare the man's pride. "I noticed the shop has Universal Keys in stock now. How much do they cost to make?"

The engineer's eyes lit up, and he scratched his head. "Oh, the Universal Keys? They're pretty expensive to produce. The profit margin is only about 40%."

"Hmm," Ethan nodded. That wasn't cheap, but it was still better than the system shop prices. If he focused on opening Gold-tier chests—especially the ones that dropped high-quality loot, he could still make a decent profit. Finally, he wouldn't have to envy the Rogues' lockpicking skills anymore!

"Boss, are you planning to open some chests?" the engineer asked, curiosity evident in his voice.

"Yeah, I know the locations of a few chests that drop good loot. Did the math, and it's worth it."

Ethan expected the engineer to warn him against it. After all, Ethereal had been running for over two months now, and everyone knew how much of a gamble opening chests could be. If it weren't for the Rogues' lockpicking skill, most players would ignore chests altogether.

They were just too unreliable. Silver-tier chests, for example, might drop one Silver-tier item out of ten, with the rest being common junk or maybe a Bronze-tier item if you were lucky. Higher-tier chests were just as bad—always a gamble.

"Boss, here, take this!" The engineer suddenly pulled a small object from his pocket and handed it to Ethan.

"What's this… Holy crap! Did you make this?" Ethan's eyes widened as he examined the item, and he couldn't help but swear in surprise.

[Demonic Universal Key (Unique) [Upgradeable]]

Properties: Can unlock all locks up to and including Gold-tier.

Description: The lower the lock's level, the shorter the decryption time required. Higher-tier chests require longer decryption times. Any attack will interrupt the decryption process.

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Usable by: All classes.

Crafted by: NoPaperOnTheBigOne

In Ethereal, crafted items bore the name of their creator. Once listed in a shop, they also carried the shop's logo and name. Holding this item, Ethan couldn't help but be stunned. A Unique item—meaning there wouldn't be another like it in the entire server. And it was exactly what he had been dreaming of. Ethan could already see countless treasure chests beckoning to him.

"Yeah," the engineer began, launching into an explanation. "After I leveled up to Intermediate Engineer and learned how to make Universal Keys, I tried crafting a Silver-tier one. But then my Demonic Engineer talent kicked in, and I got this burst of inspiration. I started adding all sorts of materials—honestly, I can't even remember what I threw in there. When it was done, I ended up with this thing! It started as Silver-tier, but I managed to upgrade it to Gold.

The weird part is, after I made it, the option to craft regular Universal Keys disappeared from my skill list. I can't even make another Demonic Key—the option's just gone. Now, the only thing I can do is upgrade this one. The good news is, the upgrade recipe says it's a 100% success rate. But to upgrade it to Dark Gold, I'd need five Dark Gold Universal Keys. That's way too expensive for me right now. Anyway, since you're planning to open chests, this should help you make a killing!"

The engineer rambled on, but Ethan got the gist of it. The man's hidden class, Demonic Engineer, had somehow triggered during the crafting process, resulting in this unique key. But in doing so, he lost the ability to craft regular Universal Keys. Still, it was a win in Ethan's book.