My Infinite Cultivation System-Chapter 66: Found a baby dragon

The Lightning Hawk’s corpse lay steaming in two halves behind him. Alex allowed himself exactly thirty seconds to recover before he forced himself upright.

He had gained one thousand life essence.

At this rate, he would reach the next threshold after nine more kills. He would need to defeat nine more Saints.

He looked toward the deeper mountain ranges where the peaks grew sharper and the clouds themselves seemed to avoid certain areas. Somewhere up there, beasts that could crush him like an insect were undoubtedly roaming.

But he had faced a mid-level Saint and he had won.

"I need nine more," he repeated quietly.

He began to move forward.

Alex found an armadillo after looking for 30 minutes.

The armadillo had made a critical error.

It had chosen to sleep in a shallow depression between two boulders, and its massive shell was reflecting the pale sunlight that filtered through the canopy. From a distance, it resembled nothing more than an oddly shaped boulder.

Alex had nearly walked past it.

His spirit animal network had detected nothing unusual. The creature’s life signature was so subdued during its rest that it registered as background radiation. Only a faint shift in the beast’s breathing had drawn his attention, which was the subtle rise and fall of something organic in a place where nothing organic should have existed. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He circled widely and studied it from behind a ridge.

[Name: Diamondback Armadillo]

[Talent: Kinetic Absorption (SSS)]

[Rank: Low-level Saint Beast]

[Note: Its shell absorbs and disperses physical force. Conventional attacks are useless.]

Alex frowned.

Kinetic absorption meant that his usual methods would fail. If he punched it, cut it, or even blasted it with raw force, he would accomplish nothing. The shell would simply absorb the energy and disperse it into the ground.

However, the system had stated that conventional attacks were useless.

He smiled.

The armadillo continued sleeping, completely unaware of the danger.

Alex raised one hand and began to concentrate. Molecular gravity was not force that was applied to the target from the outside. It was force that was applied within the target, which meant it was a manipulation of the bonds that were holding matter together at the smallest scales.

He visualized the shell’s crystalline structure through his alchemy talent. There were layer upon layer of densely packed minerals, and each molecule was bonded to its neighbors in an arrangement that had been refined by millions of years of evolution.

Then he reached into that structure and pulled.

The armadillo woke up and began screaming in agony.

Its shell did not crack and it did not shatter. Instead, it began to shed. Entire layers of it flaked away like dead skin, except that the layers were peeling from the inside out. Molecules tore themselves free from other molecules. Bonds that had held for centuries dissolved in an instant.

The creature thrashed violently, and it rolled and clawed at the air, but there was nothing that it could fight against. Its own body was betraying it from within.

Alex maintained the pressure for three full seconds.

When he released his control, the armadillo lay still. Its shell had been reduced to a scattering of glittering dust around it, which revealed the soft and unprotected flesh beneath.

He walked forward and ended its life with a single strike.

[Ding. You have gained 800 life essence.]

"It is a low-level Saint," he noted. "It has given less essence than the hawk."

But the most important thing was he killed it without using dragon transformation. This alone proved how terrifying his attack combination was.

He turned and continued deeper into the mountains.

Alex had been moving through a narrow valley when the air around him suddenly grew heavy. The temperature dropped noticeably. The sounds of the forest, including the distant calls and the rustling leaves, faded into absolute silence.

He stopped and slowly turned around.

Something massive was standing thirty meters away. It had pure white fur marked with black stripes that seemed to absorb the light around them. Its eyes were the color of molten gold, and they were fixed on him.

He had not sensed it at all.

[Name: White Void Tiger]

[Talent: Spatial Stealth (SSS)]

[Rank: Mid-level Saint Beast]

[Note: It exists partially outside normal space. Detection is nearly impossible.]

The tiger curled its lips back, and it revealed fangs that were the length of his forearm.

Then it vanished from sight.

Alex’s danger sense began to scream a warning.

He teleported six meters to the left without hesitation. Claws passed through the space where he had previously been standing, and they emerged from nothing before retreating back into nothingness. A moment later, the tiger materialized in the exact spot where his afterimage had faded.

It tilted its head slightly, and it appeared curious. Prey that could teleport was something new to it.

Alex did not wait.

"Dragon Transformation."

The change tore through him in less than two seconds, and it was faster than before because the transformation was becoming more natural with each use. Scales erupted across his skin. Horns curved outward from his forehead. His body swelled with sudden and violent power.

His strength reached eight hundred fifty gigatons instantly.

The tiger’s eyes widened slightly. It understood that the creature standing before it was no longer the same one that it had stalked moments ago.

However, it did not retreat.

Instead, it launched another attack.

The tiger vanished again, and this time Alex was fully prepared. He did not rely on his eyes or even on his danger sense. He reached out with his own space talent, and he searched for the distortions that the tiger created as it moved between dimensions.

He found it.

He swung his arm with his claws extended, and he struck the tiger in the middle of its teleportation.

The impact sent powerful shockwaves through the valley. Trees within a fifty-meter radius splintered and fell. The ground beneath them cracked apart. The tiger was hurled out of its spatial shift and tumbled violently across the broken earth, roaring in fury and pain.

A deep gash ran along its shoulder, and dark blood began staining its white fur.

It rose slowly to its feet, and its golden eyes burned with hatred.

Then it charged forward. It did not vanish this time, but it came straight at him with all the speed and power that a mid-level Saint Beast could muster.

Alex met the charge head-on.

The tiger’s claw raked across his chest, and it tore through his scales and drew blood. His fist slammed into the tiger’s ribs, and he felt something crack beneath its fur.

They separated briefly, circled one another, and then crashed together again.

For nearly a full minute, the battle raged without pause. The valley was transformed into a war zone. Trees were uprooted. Boulders were pulverized. The very earth was reshaped by the sheer violence of their conflict.

Then Alex found an opening.

The tiger lunged forward with its jaws extended, and for a single instant its guard was lowered. Alex twisted his body inside its reach, and he grabbed its extended foreleg before pulling with immense force.

The tiger’s momentum combined with his own immense strength,sent it spinning violently through the air. Before it could recover its balance, he was already in front of it. His claws found its throat.

He delivered one final and terrible rip.

The tiger crashed to the ground, and it did not rise again.

[Ding. You have gained 1100 life essence.]

[Ding! You have copied Spacial Stealth]

[Ding! Spacial Stealth has been absorbed by Space Sovereign]

"Good! I needed something like this and it didn’t take any slot. This region is a hell for a lower level being like me", Alex nodded with satisfaction.

He instantly used spcial stealth and merged with space. Without someone with upper spacial talent than him, wouldn’t be able to find him anymore. He then started searching for more.

Alex had been following a stream because he had hoped that it would lead him to a larger water source where beasts might gather to drink. Instead, it led him to a cave, which was a dark opening at the base of a cliff and was partially hidden by hanging vines.

He had sensed nothing dangerous inside. There was no massive life signature and no territorial warning signs.

Out of curiosity, he entered the cave.

The cave opened into a chamber that was approximately fifty meters across. Bioluminescent fungi lined the walls and cast everything in a soft blue glow. A pool of crystal-clear water occupied the center of the chamber.

In that pool, sleeping peacefully, there was a creature that was perhaps three meters long.

It resembled a serpent, but it had four short legs and a head that already showed the beginnings of horns. Scales that were the color of the deep ocean covered its body. Steam rose gently from its nostrils with each breath that it took.

It was a baby dragon.