A Cultivator in the World Dominated By Awakeners

After the ambush from underground failed, the anacondas no longer dared to charge at him directly.

Their huge bodies didn't give them any advantage at all because his attacks could easily destroy them.

At this moment, a few green-colored anacondas were given space to move forward by the others.

However, they didn't lunge at Oliver. Instead, they surrounded him from a distance and opened their mouths, spewing green smoke in waves aimed at him.

Since it came from all directions, no matter where he moved, he would practically be hit by the smoke.

He paused for a moment, then came up with an idea: he turned his head into void.

In an instant, his head became pitch black, like a shadow.

If he could turn his entire body into void, he would've done it, but for now, he thought this was enough to counter the smoke, which seemed to be poisonous and would only have an effect if inhaled.

With his head turned into void, he no longer breathed. Even the air that touched his face was being erased.

Yet, he felt no discomfort. In this mode, his body seemed to convert Spiritual Energy into oxygen for his heart.

Soon after, he was completely surrounded by the green smoke.

And he truly wasn't affected—not even aware of what it smelled like.

That made him want to laugh. He quickly dashed toward one of the anacondas spewing the smoke—the largest one.

It didn't seem to have any other attacks besides that poisonous mist.

It kept trying to breathe it out as he approached, fully aware of his superior speed.

But it was useless.

Oliver stabbed its belly with his spear, instantly creating a massive hole.

The anaconda didn't die immediately. It thrashed around, whipping its tail like a whip in his direction.

But he stepped toward its head, easily dodging the attack before thrusting his spear into its skull.

BANG!

Its head exploded instantly, releasing a burst of green gas that splashed onto the other anacondas nearby, who were clearly affected—they began to twitch violently.

If inhaled, it clearly could kill quickly.

Some anacondas began to fear Oliver, and a few quietly retreated to the river. Those that had stayed in the river began to sink beneath the surface.

Their cold-blooded and aggressive nature seemed to only apply to those weaker than them.

However, a few seemed to have a prideful personality—especially the larger ones.

Their eyes grew colder, and they hissed loudly.

Oliver then saw one of them suddenly slithering toward him, moving so fast that the ground cracked beneath its weight.

He looked at it like it was just another one eager to die.

He calmly stepped forward to meet it, not waiting for it to arrive—he planned to stab its head first.

His combat skills had improved enough from experience that he no longer feared close frontal battles.

However, when he appeared in front of the anaconda, he saw something unexpected.

Its body suddenly shed all of its scales, and even its skin peeled off quickly, exposing raw flesh.

This was clearly not a normal molting process, because when snakes normally shed their skin, there's already a new layer underneath.

Oliver wasn't sure what was happening, but then he noticed the anaconda's body starting to swell—starting from the stomach.

It puffed up, then ballooned like it was inflating.

Boom!

The anaconda suddenly exploded, but it wasn't fire—it was blood, dark in color.

Oliver's eyes widened in shock, and when the blood splattered onto his skin, it felt like acid. His skin began to blister instantly.

He instinctively turned his chest into void as well—so now both his head and chest were void—then summoned a mass of void particles to protect the rest of his body.

Unfortunately, the timing was too short. The void layer wasn't dense enough. Some of the blood still splashed through and hit him.

He felt an intense urge to scream, but with his head in void form, he couldn't make a sound.

His legs moved quickly to retreat. Without Void Step, he wouldn't have been able to dodge, and more of that blood would have splashed onto him.

Even now, as he retreated, large wounds appeared on his arms and legs.

He hadn't expected the blood of that anaconda to be so dangerous.

Maybe it was unique to that one, because he'd been splashed with blood from other anacondas before and only felt a bit of heat.

Of course, since that anaconda exploded, it died instantly, leaving only its Monster Core, which was absorbed by the Observation Ring, but that didn't make Oliver happy.

Oliver could only show a bitter expression, forced to endure the pain throughout his body.

The wounds burned with a scorching sting, like fire roasting his skin nonstop.

Even though his pain tolerance had increased, it was still unbearable.

Worse, the other anacondas who had seen him get injured now began slithering toward him again—including the ones who had previously been afraid.

But that wasn't the worst part. Some of them—who seemed to be the same type as the one that exploded—were also starting to shed their skin.

They were clearly preparing to blow themselves up just like the first one did.

"Retreat!" Oliver didn't even think—he turned around and ran.

He didn't have time to summon his portal again and was well aware that he couldn't keep fighting head-on like this.

He needs to change his fighting style a little, by retreating and then attacking.