Wizard: I have ten trillion nanomachines

Five more days passed after that.

Host: Luo Kunlun

Physical fitness: 15.97→16.00

The afterglow of dusk filtered through the gaps in the dense forest, casting dappled golden and red shadows that stretched Luo Kunlun's shadow long.

As the final resonance body refinement ended, the thunderous sounds within the body gradually subsided, replaced by an intense feeling of hunger in the empty stomach—a signal that the cells were frantically craving energy replenishment.

He turned and walked toward the wild boar meat that had been piled up beside the campfire, which was his food for the day.

The meat was roasted until the skin was crispy and the fat dripped down the charred lines. Luo Kunlun picked up the wild boar leg, tore into it, and the scalding juices burst in his mouth, carrying the primal aroma of meat.

In less than half an hour, he had devoured the entire small pile of pork, even the bones.

He sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, and the hunger in his stomach slowly subsided, but Luo Kunlun's brows gradually furrowed, and a sense of frustration welled up in his heart.

As his physical strength increased, Luo Kunlun's appetite became increasingly astonishing. In addition, since he started hunting after running out of beast blood, he has hunted down very few large wild animals in this area.

If he wants to continue resonating with his body, he must expand his hunting range. However, the further he progresses in his cultivation, the longer it takes. He simply cannot spare a lot of time to chase and hunt wild animals and prepare food.

"Looks like the plan needs to be changed." Luo Kunlun looked up at the horizon beyond the dense forest, where the outline of distant mountains could be vaguely seen behind the cloud-shrouded horizon.

He originally planned to cultivate to his physical limit before leaving the mountain to inquire about spellcasters from nobles, but his current predicament forced him to change his mind.

Cultivation is inherently easy at first and difficult later on; the further you progress, the more energy you need to support every bit of improvement in physical fitness.

The wild animals in the forest are already in short supply, so why not leave the forest?

Those knights themselves relied on the land's support to undergo high-intensity training.

The grains in the farmland and the pigs and sheep in the pastures can provide the same or even better nutrition than the wild animals in the forest.

Artificially raised livestock provide almost the same amount of energy as wild animals, and farmed pigs and sheep can also avoid risks such as parasites and pathogens.

Most importantly, it's ready-made.

Find a few wealthy nobles, teach them a lesson, and you can get them to make offerings on time. This solves the energy source problem and allows you to extract information about the spellcaster, killing two birds with one stone.

Of course, Luo Kunlun was not so arrogant as to think he was invincible. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit, and no one can say for sure which noble family might have a mage advisor hidden under their command.

Although simply ruling over mortals is almost meaningless for a mage, and political social interactions and aristocratic etiquette are a pure waste of time, it is not impossible.

It's always good to be cautious.

"Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron—choosing a target that's neither too high nor too low is just right." Luo Kunlun pondered for a moment, the Roth family of Ashvalley appearing in his mind. "Perfect timing to go back and see how things are going there."

On that day in the swamp battlefield, he had seen Roth and Hand quietly fleeing with their injuries.

At that time, Luo Kunlun did not pursue them. Firstly, it was unnecessary, and secondly, given their injuries, it was uncertain whether they could return to their territory alive.

If you're lucky, you might survive, but you'll inevitably suffer lifelong injuries.

If one is unlucky, they would probably have turned to dust long ago, and their territory would have been coveted by others.

In either case, the Ashenvale region will undergo significant changes.

Luo Kunlun then decided to go back and take a look, since it was the place where he had stayed the longest since he came to this world.

Having made up his mind, Luo Kunlun folded and packed the Buluo Heavy Armor, slung it over his back, gripped the Broken Steel Greatsword tightly in his right hand, and with a flash, disappeared into the deepening night.

With his stamina of 16, he could run twice as fast as the fastest horse, and it wouldn't have taken him long to get back to Ashenvale. However, the sights along the way made him increasingly alarmed.

Everywhere you look, there is desolation.

The once fertile farmland is now overgrown with weeds, and the dikes have been washed away by rain, exposing the cracked soil.

The knight's manor was no longer as orderly as it once was. The walls had collapsed, and the courtyard was overgrown with weeds. Only ruins stood in the night, like silent tombstones.

Even more strangely, he passed through three villages in succession, and they were all deserted.

Luo Kunlun stopped at the fourth village, which was not deserted, but littered with corpses.

The corpses of men, women, and children lay scattered haphazardly along the village paths and inside houses. Even pigs, sheep, chickens, and dogs were not spared. The bodies were already stiff and blackened, emitting a nauseating stench of decay.

"This isn't war." Luo Kunlun crouched down, his fingertips brushing against the corpse of a child, his brow furrowing even more. "War is about plundering land, people, and wealth. What's the point of killing everyone and leaving only a wasteland?"

He stood up and looked around the desolate village. The air was thick with the scent of death, and even the wind seemed to be howling mournfully.

This was no scene that could be caused by ordinary war; it was more like a senseless massacre.

What exactly happened in the outside world?

Without further delay, Luo Kunlun donned the Blo heavy armor, held the Broken Steel Greatsword horizontally in front of him, and quickened his pace.

Along the way, he became increasingly cautious, scanning every shadow along the route and watching for any unusual occurrences.

He didn't know how long he had walked. As the night faded and dawn approached, a group of people finally appeared in his field of vision. They were refugees fleeing from war.

The group of refugees numbered about twenty, dressed in rags, emaciated, and with vacant eyes, as if they had lost their souls.

Luo Kunlun quickly stepped forward and blocked the front of the group.

Upon seeing this, the refugees turned pale with fright and retreated. Several strong men instinctively picked up wooden sticks and farm tools nearby, adopting defensive postures, their eyes filled with terror.

"Don't be afraid, I mean no harm." Luo Kunlun softened his tone, his voice steady. "I just want to ask, why are the villages along this route so desolate? Why are there so many corpses? What exactly happened?"

The leader was an elderly man with gray hair. He shakily raised his head, looked at Luo Kunlun's heavy armor and the greatsword in his hand, and his fear deepened. His lips trembled, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words: "My lord, it's a demon... a devil... a demon is roaming..."

"A devil?" Luo Kunlun raised an eyebrow. "What devil?"

The old man's body trembled even more violently, his eyes unfocused, as if recalling an extremely terrifying scene, but he couldn't say anything.

Luo Kunlun wanted to ask more questions, but the old man was too frightened to speak. He just kept kowtowing and begging him to let him pass.

Seeing this, Luo Kunlun stepped aside to make way, watching the group of refugees stagger away, their figures gradually disappearing into the morning mist.

The morning breeze carried a faint smell of blood and decay, making the atmosphere of sorrow even more intense.

Luo Kunlun gripped the broken steel greatsword in his hand, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

A devil? Does such a thing really exist? Or is it just an exaggeration by rumors?