The Thornstone Empire—undisputed ruler of this continent—held sway over a core territory spanning roughly two million square kilometers. Given the administrative capabilities of this world, this represented the absolute limit of feudal control. Through its feudal system, the empire's nominal dominion stretched far wider, with vast tracts of land granted to noble houses. This power structure reflected the fundamental predicament of all feudal states: the central government lacked effective control over the periphery, ultimately forced to cede authority through two means—either enfeoffing trusted confidants or co-governing with local warlords.

  Yet this was a world imbued with magic. The Thornstone Empire maintained absolute military dominance over regional powers through its formidable magical legions. The sheer terror of its devastating magical weaponry was enough to strike fear into any vassal harboring dissenting ambitions. It was this military deterrence that sustained the empire's superficial unity.

  Renyu and Yun Chenhe's group were traveling south along the winding trade route. The straight-line distance from the White Rock Duchy, where Xiao Feng resided, to their destination spanned 1,500 kilometers—equivalent to the arduous journey from Beijing to Guangzhou. The journey south revealed stark climatic shifts: from the bleak, bitter cold of the northern lands, to the temperate plains of the central regions, and finally to the lush, verdant mountains of the south. This vast expanse of land all fell nominally under the Thorns Gem Empire's dominion.

  Unlike Earth's civilizations, fixated on territorial claims, in this pre-industrial magical world, only fertile regions with favorable climates and accessible transportation were worth lords' contention. The vast majority of the land—barren wastelands, treacherous mountain ranges, and desolate deserts—served merely as strategic buffer zones, "no man's lands" where armies could plunder freely during their marches.

  Renyu and Yun Chenhe's journey southward was not merely a geographical crossing; it signified the penetration of Evolution Battlefield's influence into the core regions of this plane. The sights encountered along the way deepened Renyu's understanding of this magical world.

  Most striking were the sturdy "Earthwalkers." These rhino-like creatures stood about 1.5 meters tall, boasting massive tusks and legs as thick as an elephant's, leaving deep ruts in the muddy paths. As one of the continent's oldest domesticated animals, Earthwalkers possessed two key advantages: astonishing load-bearing capacity and an insatiable appetite.

  Renyu had witnessed their feeding firsthand—devouring grass like living vacuum cleaners, or baring sharp tusks to snap through wood with clean, jagged marks revealing broken fibers. This combination of strength and adaptability made them the backbone of long-distance freight transport across the continent. Caravans of Earthwalkers could be seen plodding along nearly every trade route connecting the principalities.

  Trailing far behind Renyu's forces was a caravan of forty-three Groundwalkers. Watching these creatures effortlessly carry loads equivalent to half a ton on Earth, Renyu marveled at the creatures evolved in this high-oxygen world—they were born transporters, and remarkably, they required almost no special food supply. After inquiring, Renyu learned that these seemingly ordinary creatures were actually strategic resources under strict national control.

  This caravan hadn't actively joined Renyu's group; instead, it had been trailing them at a distance since their departure. Renyu and Yun Chenhe's forces maintained a constant march. Every caravan they encountered stood ready for battle—wagons forming defensive circles, guards with drawn blades, eyes fixed warily on the unfamiliar army. Yet all this vigilance proved futile; Renyu had no intention of wasting time on these caravans. Plunder? These conscripts, worth their weight in gold, were more valuable than any cargo. Only a madman would raid such worthless supplies. Thus, Renyu's forces maintained a safe three-hundred-meter distance from the caravans. Crossbows were drawn but not fired as they silently and swiftly bypassed the convoys. Only then did the trailing caravans dare to slightly increase their pace.

  Only upon entering this dense forest did their pace inevitably slow. Maps proved useless here, forcing the column to advance cautiously, feeling their way forward.

  In this dog-eat-dog world, most caravans depended on allegiance to a lord for survival—a lord's endorsement at least deterred overt raids by rival lords. Yet some unscrupulous lords secretly masqueraded as bandits, plundering passing merchants. Thus, caravans had to pay protection fees to lords along the route while maintaining their own armed guards, their survival a constant balancing act on thin ice.

  When Marse, leader of the Round Barrel Trading Company, first laid eyes on Renyu's fully armed army (a standard legion in this world numbered 1,500 men), he nearly succumbed to despair. Setting aside the soldiers' exquisite breastplates, the mere sight of those man-sized, foot-operated crossbow mechanisms—prohibited weapons explicitly banned by imperial decree for civilian possession—was staggering.

  Yet this formidable force ignored them entirely, simply bypassing their caravan.

  As the caravan continued along the road, he stumbled upon a gruesome battlefield remnant—dozens of bodies riddled with arrows lay haphazardly piled by the roadside. Their attire clearly marked them as bandits. Surrounding traces indicated a classic cavalry ambush: roughly one to two hundred horsemen charging from all directions, only to suffer devastating losses. The chaotic footprints across the grass proved their eventual, panicked retreat—had the ambush succeeded, their withdrawal tracks would have been orderly and disciplined.

  In this era, an army capable of so decisively crushing a cavalry assault was terrifying. Judging by the orderly footprints left by Renyu's troops, they clearly hadn't suffered heavy losses. More intriguingly, this force bore no identifying marks, likely indicating they were on a secret mission.

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  Now, his face drained of color, he stared at the army that had abruptly halted ahead. All along the journey, he had urged the caravan to hasten its pace, calculating that by taking advantage of this army clearing the road, they could safely pass through this region. Yet now, they had encountered the enemy in this dense forest. When he saw the young nobleman (Renyu) at the front of the column abruptly turn his head, his piercing gaze sweeping over like a blade, Ma Se felt a chill run down his spine. His hair stood on end, and for a moment, he froze in place, utterly at a loss.

  "Brother Yun, those men behind us might know the way," Renyu remarked, observing the trailing caravan. Just as Yun Chenhe was about to respond, he suddenly turned alertly toward the forest's depths. Renyu immediately tensed—throughout their journey, Yun Chenhe's life-detection ability had been as reliable as a searchlight, leaving no ambushers hidden.

  "What is it?" Renyu whispered.

  "Dense clusters. Over five hundred life signals," Yun Chenhe frowned. Renyu assessed the wind direction and realized the threat was approaching from upwind—no wonder there was no scent.

  Renyu leapt like a wildcat to the treetop ten meters above, driving his dagger deep into the trunk to anchor himself. Yun Chenhe shouted from below, "It's a pack of wolves! Azimuth 175 degrees—a particularly powerful lifeform within four hundred meters!"

  The phrase "exceptionally powerful" spoke volumes to Renyu. Looking down from his vantage point, he saw a pack of wolves writhing through the underbrush like shadows. Renyu couldn't help but sigh. "I hate this magical world."

  Glancing back at the troops already forming a defensive formation, Renyu gritted his teeth in frustration and called out to Yun Chenhe, "I'll go deal with that 'exceptional' creature first."

  "Know your limits," Yun Chenhe cautioned solemnly.

  Below, the army swiftly shifted formations. Soldiers raised their spears into battle lines, their blades glinting coldly in the dappled sunlight. Archers and crossbowmen moved in perfect unison, lowering their heavy crossbows to the ground and cocking them with their feet. The metal gears ground with a teeth-grinding "clack" as they wound up.

  The caravan behind them instantly descended into chaos as mercenaries scrambled to grab their weapons. Masse hurriedly shouted, "The army ahead isn't targeting us! Maintain vigilance!" Just as the commotion began to subside, a young mercenary approached to ask about the situation. Masse, however, stared wide-eyed toward the front—a figure was soaring through the trees at a staggering height of five meters.

  "Is... that a Grand Knight?" Marc muttered, his voice trembling with shock.

  In this magical plane, magical power did pose a challenge to Combat Evolution Officers, but it was far from sufficient to easily suppress them. Magic's primary function in this world was to weaken, not surpass, the individual combat prowess of Combat Evolution Officers. According to the Evolution Battlefield's assessment of the current environment, any ordinary spellcaster attempting to single-handedly confront a fully armed Combat Evolution Officer would find themselves in an extremely perilous situation.

  When a Combat Evolution Officer's Strength attribute surpassed 5 points, their physical resilience reached terrifying levels—limb regeneration was merely a matter of time for them, and even extensive skin necrosis from large-scale flame burns could fully heal within days. Entities exceeding 5 Agility possess explosive power that leaves the world's most renowned Grand Knights in the dust, each precise critical strike carrying devastating, earth-shattering force. As for officers surpassing 5 Intelligence, while unable to directly confront native top-tier mages head-on, their extraordinary mental speed and tactical acumen make escape and withdrawal effortless.

  The average combat strength of knights in this world roughly equates to a Combat Evolution Officer with Agility 1.5 and Strength 1.5. Never underestimate this 0.5 gap—it translates to 0.5 times faster reaction speed, 0.5 times stronger recovery, and 0.5 times greater muscular power output, creating an overwhelming advantage in actual combat. Even the most elite Grand Knights rarely exceed 4 points in Agility, and those surpassing 4 points in Strength are exceptionally rare. As for mages, their need to memorize vast magical constructs generally grants them higher Intelligence. Archmages or Grand Mages might reach an Intelligence of 5. However, it must be emphasized that a Combat Evolution Officer's Intelligence isn't used for casting spells. Instead, it manifests power in this world through other means—be it intricate tactical planning or unimaginable engineering prowess.

  As Renyu's combat boots crushed a gray wolf's skull, he distinctly felt the vibration of shattered bone travel up his leg, even conjuring the horrific image of bone fragments piercing the brain matter. The soles of his custom-made boots were densely studded with microscopic metal spikes—these precision devices seamlessly integrated into the leather, now transformed into highly efficient killing tools.

  Racing through the thicket, Renyu's every step landed precisely on a wolf's head. The explosive force from his thigh muscles channeled through the metal spikes, colliding violently with the wolves' skulls—dubbed an "iron wall" by the pack. Victory was sealed the instant of contact. Life in this world remained carbon-based; even infused with magical elements, its physical essence could not be altered. Renyu's movements were as effortless as crushing a seashell. Under his transcendent dynamic vision, the wolves' defensive head-lifts stretched into slow motion, frozen forever.

  Given sufficient time, Renyu could eliminate the entire pack as effortlessly as an adult crushing an ant colony. Each strike was precise and lethal, devoid of superfluous motion or wasted energy. True combat artistry lay in efficiency—every attack targeted vital points: the heart, the throat, or the deadly triangle spanning the bridge of the nose to the eyes.

  The dying wolves emitted piercing whines, a sound that provoked the alpha. The colossal beast charged straight ahead at cannonball speed, its maw brewing a blue magical glow. The instant it unleashed the spell, an iron-clamp-like hand seized its nape.

  Renyu shattered the blue light with his bronze sword, studying its dissipation. What appeared as a solid blade of light was actually composed of countless crescent-shaped, ultra-thin shards—each just 0.03 millimeters thick, one-third the thickness of ordinary paper. As these shards scattered through the air, Renyu's extraordinary vision caught the faint flashes they produced as they frictioned against the atmosphere.

  Picking up a leaf coated with magical residue, Renyu cautiously touched it with the tip of his tongue.

  "Pah!" He grimaced and spat it out. "Alkaline? Magnesium oxide?"

  The silver wolf, now held by the scruff, had completely lost its imposing demeanor. Its ears pressed flat against its head, its gaze as docile as a domesticated dog. The surrounding pack retreated to a safe distance, animal instincts warning them: this presence was invincible.