A Cultivator in the World Dominated By Awakeners

Oliver's manifestation quickly shifted into the Chaotic World.

He was stunned to find himself in the middle of a forest that had been utterly destroyed. All the trees had been toppled, and the corpses of various giant monsters lay scattered across the area, their blood flooding the forest floor.

Luckily, Oliver appeared standing atop a broken tree branch, so he didn't step directly into the blood—but still, it was hard for him to believe what he was seeing.

The destruction stretched so far that even his Void Sense couldn't cover the entire area.

The number of monster corpses alone reached into the thousands.

Among them were massive serpents, some as long as 300 meters.

'Where exactly did I end up?' he wondered.

The Chaotic World was divided into many zones, and some of them were inhabited by high-level monsters—those at level 20 and above.

These areas were not meant for newcomers below level 20, and usually, beginners would not appear there when entering the Chaotic World for the first time.

'But who caused this massacre?' Oliver wondered, deeply intrigued.

This was a large-scale slaughter—no monsters were left. He couldn't imagine what kind of being had the strength to accomplish such a thing.

Whoosh!

Just as he was deep in thought, a powerful shockwave suddenly entered his Void Sense, coming from far away.

It was moving too fast—reaching his body in the blink of an eye.

The shockwave sent him flying helplessly until he crashed into a tree with such force that it shattered.

"Damn," he muttered.

Everything had happened too fast for him to react. He hadn't even had time to shift into his void form.

The impact left him slightly dazed.

Not long after, he saw a massive body fall in the distance.

It was a black gorilla, possibly 50 meters tall—an actual giant.

Its body crashed down hard, not far from Oliver. A gaping hole in its abdomen revealed it had been pierced by claws.

Then, from the gorilla's body, a Monster Core emerged—far larger than any he had seen before.

Naturally, he had no intention of claiming it.

Suddenly, a gigantic white eagle with wings wide enough to cast a shadow over the area swooped in.

The eagle flew swiftly to the gorilla's corpse, snatched the Monster Core, and left—without even glancing at Oliver.

He had no idea what level the eagle was, especially since he wasn't wearing his Observation Ring.

Just when he thought he'd be okay and needed to leave soon, the eagle returned—this time even faster.

Its target was clearly him. It stopped right in front of him, its beak hovering only half a meter away, its sharp eyes staring intently.

"A human... a cultivator... what a coincidence, hahaha..." the eagle actually spoke and laughed.

Then its beak opened and snapped him up.

But it didn't swallow him; instead, it held him gently in its beak and carried him back the way it came.

Oliver could have escaped by shifting into void form, but he chose not to.

This was just a manifestation. He didn't mind losing it—even if it meant losing his dagger.

It didn't matter. What mattered was that he could learn what was going on—his curiosity was too strong.

He even began to suspect that this wasn't a matter involving humans at all.

As the eagle carried him several kilometers, Oliver saw dozens of equally massive eagles flying through the sky. Slightly below them, he spotted one that looked different.

It was also white, but with golden stripes across its body. It wore a crown encrusted with multicolored diamonds and was slaughtering monsters that looked utterly helpless against it—its speed overwhelming, and its claws and beak easily tearing through them.

One by one, massive monsters were killed, and the other eagles quickly collected their Monster Cores.

The crowned eagle eventually stopped and looked toward the eagle carrying Oliver.

"King, I've found a cultivator and captured him," said the eagle respectfully.

"Bring him to the nest later," the Eagle King replied, then flew off to continue the massacre in another area.

Oliver's real body—still in his room—showed various expressions as he watched all this unfold.

Thankfully, his real body was safe. Otherwise, he would've been in real danger.

'Looks like I encountered a monster king… but why is it massacring other monsters?' he wondered, filled with confusion.

Although there were many kinds of monsters, they usually weren't hostile toward each other. Such conflicts were rare, and there had never been a case—at least that Oliver had heard of—where one monster race slaughtered another.

He wanted to ask his master, but that would be difficult. He didn't feel ready to talk about the World of Shadows yet.

Rebecca!

He suddenly thought of the woman he could ask.

Even though her level was low, she probably had more insight into the Chaotic World.

Oliver didn't overthink it and called her right away. She picked up immediately.

"What's going on, Oliver? I thought it was impossible for you to call me first," the woman's voice echoed, chuckling casually.

"I want to ask—do manifestations appear in different locations than the real body in the Chaotic World?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, the portal from a manifestation seems different from the one used by the real body," Rebecca replied.

"Something wrong? I doubt you called me just for that."

"Of course not… so, here's the thing…"

Oliver then explained what his manifestation had just experienced to Rebecca.

"Seriously?" the woman repeated the word multiple times, clearly shocked.

"That kind of thing is extremely rare," she said.

"So it's happened before?"

"Yes. It happens when a Monster King needs a huge number of Monster Cores to undergo a higher evolution—to become a True Monster. When that happens, they can even transform into humans. In fact, they'll gain access to a portal leading to Earth."

"What?!"

"You think those rare monster appearances on Earth are just random? It's because some Monster Kings evolved into True Monsters and opened portals to Earth. But Earth isn't defenseless. If a True Monster dares to enter, its power will be significantly suppressed by Earth's natural protective force. That's why they usually only send their manifestations."

"Looks like I'm going to witness a rare event… though I'm not sure they won't kill me first."

"Let's hope not… A Monster King's evolution into a True Monster is one of nature's greatest phenomena. You might gain something beneficial for your cultivation."

"I hope so..." Oliver ended the call and refocused on his manifestation, still clenched in the giant eagle's beak.