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Chapter 20 - [20] Bloodline: Crimson Thunder Winged Tiger!

Levi's eyes flew open in excitement and a hint of terror.

Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times!

It was the highest multiplier he had ever received.

Suddenly his face changed.

He remembered the agony of the 3999x multiplier, how it had nearly torn his body apart.

This was more than double that.

Before he could even think further, the energy within him detonated. A massive, impossibly dense surge of energy erupted from his core, a torrent of pure power so violent it threatened to vaporize him from the inside out.

"Mm!"

He bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood, as he tried his absolute best not to scream in pain. It was a useless.

A choked cry escaped his throat as his meridians, muscles, blood, and cells were all forcefully expanded and fortified.

It felt like every single cell in his body was being individually torn open and then jam-packed with raw void energy.

The progress bar on his status panel didn't just blur; it ceased to exist, replaced by a waterfall of notifications that flashed by too fast for him to read.

He broke through the barrier of Rank 5 in an instant, the process so violent it barely registered.

The energy continued its relentless surge, pushing him higher and higher, until it finally, began to slow down.

When the storm finally subsided, Levi was left gasping on the floor, his body slick with a mixture of sweat and a thin film of black, foul-smelling impurities that had been violently expelled from his pores.

[Congratulations! You have broken through to Rank 5 Cell Tempering Realm!]

[Congratulations! You have broken through to Rank 6 Cell Tempering Realm!]

[Lifeform Level: Rank 6 Cell Tempering Realm <90.00%>]

He had leaped over two more entire ranks. He was just ten percent away from becoming a Rank 7 Cell Tempering Realm. The very thought was staggering.

He slowly pushed himself up, his limbs trembling with newfound, untamed strength. He clenched his fist, and a small, audible "boom" of compressed air echoed in the silent cave.

He could feel the power coiled in his muscles, ready to be unleashed.

It was the most powerful feeling he had ever experienced, a sensation of absolute control and indomitable might.

He quickly pulled up his full status panel, his eyes scanning the new numbers with excitement.

His base attributes had all increased by a great deal, a natural result of breaking through two major realms. He was in a completely different league now.

Happily, he scrolled down, his gaze landing on the lottery section. The last reward from his victory over Jacob. He realized he hadn't used it yet. And the system had rewarded him with another one for defeating the bear. He had two spins.

Instantly excited, his heart pounding with a gambler's thrill, he decided to use the first one immediately. "System, use one lottery spin!"

The cosmic slot machine appeared in his mind's eye. Fueled by his manic excitement and a sense of invincibility, he pulled the celestial lever with wild abandon. The reels spun, a blur of golden light, before clanking to a stop.

[Better Luck Next Time! Please Try Again!]

Levi stared, his excitement instantly deflating like a popped balloon. He got nothing. A complete dud. He let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed that even a system this powerful had its limits.

With his expectations now thoroughly managed, and without much hope, he decided to use his final spin. "System, use the second spin."

He pulled the lever again, this time with a sense of weary resignation. The reels spun, slowed, and clanked to a halt. He braced himself for another disappointment. But what appeared was something so astonishing, so far beyond his wildest dreams, that his expression turned completely blank.

[Congratulations! You have won a grand Prize!]

[Bloodline: Crimson-Thunder Winged-Tiger God (S-Rank Physique)]

For a long, silent moment, Levi was simply stunned, his mind unable to comprehend the words. An S-rank… bloodline? Before he could even begin to process what was happening, his world dissolved into pure, absolute agony.

An intense, searing pain erupted from the very core of his being, from his DNA itself. it was a pain a thousand times more profound than the energy-induced expansions he had endured before.

His genetic code was being forcibly, violently overwritten. His very cells were being unmade and remade from their core, their structure changing, transforming, evolving.

"GRAAAAAH!"

A raw, inhuman scream was torn from his lungs as crimson lightning crackled to life within him.

It was not a foreign energy attacking him; it was his own body, his own blood, turning into a weapon that threatened to fry him from the inside out.

Only his newly enhanced Rank 6 foundation and his monstrous physique kept his body from disintegrating under the strain.

The phenomenon was no longer contained within him. Crackling, crimson thunder began to spark around his body, arcing from his chest to his limbs. The air in the cave became thick with the smell of ozone as small, uncontrolled bolts of lightning shot from his body, striking the cave walls and leaving behind scorched, blackened marks. Even his eyes began to spark, arcs of red lightning dancing between his pupils.

The little mole-like thief, which had been watching curiously from a corner, let out a terrified squeak. It scrambled out of the cave as fast as its tiny legs could carry it, not wanting to be caught in the sudden, violent burst of chaotic energy.

The process felt like an eternity, but in reality, it lasted only a minute. By the end of it, the violent energy receded, drawing back into his body, now tamed and under his control. As the last sparks faded, a single, crimson mark, shaped like a stylized thunderbolt, appeared on his forehead before fading from view.

[S-Rank Physique: Bloodline of the Crimson Thunder-Wing Tiger God has been successfully integrated.]

[Grants the user a transcendent physique and innate mastery over any lightning.]

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