Although it was the dead of winter, Lookout Fortress in Icewind Territory remained heavily guarded.
Even someone like Xu Nan, whom Evelyn had notified in advance, had to pass inspections by the gate guards and the Truth Crystal before being allowed into the city.
Xu Nan understood this and even appreciated the guards' meticulous attitude—after all, the demon armies Icewind Territory had fought against for centuries included many skilled shapeshifters. If these necessary procedures fell into neglect over time, what awaited Icewind Territory would surely be an unprecedented slaughter.
Demons were the cruelest and most chaotic creatures.
After passing through the city gates, a steward from the lord's residence soon came to receive him. It was a carriage that was not particularly luxurious. Once Xu Nan climbed aboard, he found that although it looked somewhat shabby on the outside, its interior was quite decent. Several thoughtful permanent spells made the inside warm and comfortable while maintaining a subtly balanced temperature with the world outside.
"It's the work of an alchemy master."
As a born alchemist, Xu Nan's own alchemy level might have been mediocre, but he still had a good eye.
When many novice alchemists designed this kind of permanent spell, their thinking tended to be overly simplistic. For example, they might simply set a permanently comfortable temperature—but that often caused tremendous inconvenience for the user.
Take Icewind Territory right now. The temperature outside was roughly thirty degrees below zero. The natives of this world were clearly far more resistant to cold than Earthlings, but they were still living beings. If the indoor temperature were set to twenty degrees, it would certainly feel comfortable inside the carriage, but the enormous temperature difference when entering and leaving it would definitely lead to a nasty cold, perhaps even something worse.
The carriage's