A Cultivator in the World Dominated By Awakeners

"Are you afraid now?" Oliver taunted as he stepped forward, appearing right beside the startled lion.

"Die…" Oliver thrust his spear again, but the lion countered by releasing an even larger sun, exploding in the sky above.

Yet Oliver only shifted into void form, rendering the blazing sun completely ineffective.

The lion's eyes widened in disbelief. At the same moment, Oliver's spear pierced into its body.

He then drove the weapon into the ground, pinning the beast's massive frame, and even stepped on it with both feet to keep it from moving.

"Darling, finish it now!" Oliver shouted at Ivy.

"Boy, you want the girl to be the one who kills me?" The lion's fury burned hotter.

Perhaps it could accept death at the hands of a stronger foe, but being restrained so the weaker one could strike the killing blow was a humiliation beyond measure.

Oliver couldn't be bothered to answer. He simply pressed harder, weakening the beast further as void particles severed its limbs one by one.

Ivy didn't hesitate.

She summoned two Undead Kings to attack.

At Level 20, they exuded an aura of death so chilling that even Oliver felt uneasy in their presence.

They moved swiftly, flanking the lion from both sides, each raising their blade toward its heart.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

From the tips of their swords, dark beams of death energy shot forth like black lasers, striking the lion's body—not piercing through, but draining its vitality.

Oliver watched as patches of the lion's flesh began to decay, its mighty heart thundering one last time before it too started to rot. Soon, it weakened rapidly.

It didn't take long before the lion's heart stopped entirely. Naturally, death claimed it. Even its Monster Core slipped free from its body.

Oliver collected the core while Ivy's aura flared violently for a moment, her strength clearly increasing.

She had leveled up—likely by two levels at once, considering the slain foe was a Boss Monster.

Oliver walked over and saw Ivy's delighted expression.

"Did you gain something?" he asked.

"I can control more undead now—twice as many as before," Ivy replied excitedly.

"Also, I can actually turn this Golden Lion Boss into my undead. At first, I thought it would be impossible since Boss Monsters are far too strong, but… my skill leveled up too," she added, smiling at him with satisfaction.

"Darling, thank you," she whispered.

Oliver chuckled and nodded. "If you want to thank me, just make sure I'm happy in bed tonight."

Ivy blinked in surprise at his shameless words, but soon smiled as if to say she would do anything he desired.

After that, she reanimated the lion's corpse. Its severed limbs reattached, and soon it transformed into a towering black skeleton brimming with savage strength.

"Darling, there might be treasure in this lion's lair," Ivy said, glancing toward the cave.

Naturally, Oliver was intrigued.

With a Boss Monster that powerful, it surely must have collected valuables—perhaps even tributes from other monsters under its protection.

Side by side, they entered the massive cave.

It wasn't as dark inside as it seemed from the outside. Countless cracks in the stone allowed beams of sunlight to filter in.

The cave, towering nearly thirty meters high, was vast and spacious.

Oliver even spotted a gigantic bed inside.

But what he didn't see was treasure.

All that lay in plain sight was a massive golden sword, likely only a Tier 2+ weapon—something worthless to him now.

"Why is there nothing here? Did the lion not gather any treasures at all?" Oliver muttered.

Ivy also looked puzzled.

She walked toward the enormous bed, then peered beneath the shadows where the light couldn't reach.

BANG!

Suddenly, one of her Undead Kings shoved the bed aside, revealing what lay hidden beneath.

"Ohh…"

Oliver's interest immediately spiked when he saw a massive white diamond nearly as tall as a man.

"That's a Beast Diamond—it holds a special energy useful only for monsters, allowing them to increase their level," Ivy explained.

Oliver confirmed it through his Observation Ring.

It seemed the Golden Lion Boss had exchanged all its wealth for this diamond, perhaps through unknown means—and had already used part of it.

Essentially, it was something valuable only to monsters.

"Darling, Beast Masters will pay a fortune for a Beast Diamond. You can sell it to them," Ivy said.

Oliver nodded, storing it away, along with the golden sword.

"Let's go," he said as they stepped out of the cave.

But then—

"Ohh…"

Oliver halted abruptly.

Ahead stood a massive black wolf.

It looked identical to his teacher's wolf, though slightly smaller—about fourteen meters tall, still larger than the Golden Lion Boss.

(Boss Monster, Level 25!)

The notification from his Observation Ring confirmed it.

"This is a Shadow Wolf Boss," Ivy warned. "Its combat power is terrifying because it can become intangible shadows, attacking unseen while being nearly impossible to hit."

"Did you kill the Golden Lion Boss?" the wolf asked coldly, its voice dripping with menace.

It was clearly trying to intimidate them.

But Oliver? He could not be intimidated.

"Yes, and what of it? Do you want to end up like the lion?" Oliver replied, eyes sharp as a blade.

Naturally, he had to respond with equal threat—showing that he was not an easy prey.

The wolf stepped forward, its breath gusting so hard that Oliver's and Ivy's hair whipped about from the force.

"So… the Beast Diamond is in your hands now," it said, voice turning hoarse.

"You want to take it?" Oliver asked, brows furrowed, his golden spear materializing in his grip.

Of course, he was eager for a fight—especially against a Level 25 Boss Monster whose natural combat strength surpassed the Golden Lion's.

"Hmph!" the wolf growled, its crimson eyes glowing even brighter.

"Careful!" Ivy shouted.

In an instant, the wolf transformed into a shadow, melding into the ground and surging toward Oliver at blinding speed. It was so fast, Oliver estimated it was nearly half as quick as his Void Step.

'No wonder my teacher made this kind of beast his companion,' Oliver thought.

Quickly, he seized Ivy's hand and stepped back, reappearing above the cave.

At the same time, the wolf struck where they had stood—its claws swiping the air, missing by a breath.

Its body wasn't as powerful as the Golden Lion's, but its speed was many times greater—making its claws far deadlier.

"Hm…" The wolf seemed surprised by Oliver's movement.

Its gaze sharpened with newfound seriousness, holding back from striking again.

But Oliver chose to attack first.

With a single step, he appeared atop the wolf's snout, right before its glaring eyes.

"Die…"

He drove his spear toward its face—but the wolf dissolved into shadow once more.

The void particles tore the shadow apart, splitting its head—but as it retreated, its form regenerated, leaving Oliver frowning.

"Boy, you do wield terrifying destructive power. But so what? While I am shadow, your strength is meaningless against me," the wolf said smugly.

"Overconfidence can destroy you," Oliver replied coldly.

"Hahaha… Material attacks are useless against me. That's the law of nature. Shadows, light—they cannot be harmed by matter," the wolf laughed.

"So this makes you happy? Unfortunately, you cannot kill me either," Oliver retorted.

"Oh really?" The wolf sneered.

Its body melted fully into darkness, and from it erupted a massive orb of shadowy energy, rapidly expanding until it swallowed Oliver whole.

"This is a domain…" Oliver instantly recognized it—one of the deadliest forms of skill: a Domain.

He too possessed a Void Domain, though he had yet to fully comprehend it. The difficulty alone showed just how fearsome domain-type powers were.

"This is the Shadow Domain," the wolf declared.

Within it, Oliver saw the beast's shadowy form swell larger and larger.

At the same time, the domain seemed to forcibly twist his body into shadow.

"Inside here, I can appear anywhere in an instant," the wolf's cold voice echoed, materializing before Oliver as its claws lashed forward—this time solid, not shadow.

Naturally, shadows could not strike without form.

When Oliver tried to move, he found his body heavily restricted. The domain pressed down on him, every step demanding immense force.

But he was not concerned. He simply shifted into void form.

The wolf's claws passed through him—yet in doing so, the void erased every part of its paw that touched it.

"You!"

The wolf looked stunned, retreating as fast as it could, staring at its hand that had lost its claw.

"Even matter cannot attack me. And any matter that comes into contact with me will vanish. I just wanted to know if you could strike using your shadow form," Oliver said with a chuckle.

After that, he thrust his hand forward.

"I'll show you matter that can erase even shadows," he added before unleashing his Black Hole.

It appeared and devoured everything around it, especially that Shadow Domain.

Its suction force even spread toward the wolf itself.

He didn't hold back when using it, pouring in all of his energy every second, then channeling the new energy that came from his reserves.

That way, his Black Hole not only released its suction power at the maximum, but also didn't stop in a short time.