After Lilia had served him breakfast, Nalant made a circuit of the small town, ensuring that none of his subordinates' work had gone awry.
As he made his inspection, low-level Dark Creatures prowling several hundred meters away could once again be seen eyeing them like tigers watching prey.
In this Land of Death, low-level Dark Creatures were like lice and fleas. So long as deathly energy remained, they could never be killed off completely.
Nalant paid no mind to these clingy pests. After confirming that the Sacred Thorn had been planted properly, he had his subordinates raise the securely fastened Storm Territory banners atop the castle walls, then set out again with the group.
Although his route was rather remote and he encountered few towns, there were still five small towns and two small cities.
And every one of them represented Energy Points, so naturally Nalant would not let them slip by.
Before long, the party continued onward. Their next destination lay more than eighty li away, a journey that would take at least a day and a half.
Along the way, Nalant once again exchanged the Energy Points earned from yesterday's battle for strange fruits.
Of those, Nalant was still generous enough to spend nearly two thousand Energy Points on his subordinates.
After all, their progress was plain to see, and it could greatly lighten the burden on him, their lord.
Nalant kept the remaining thousand-odd Energy Points for himself.
However, after his previous rapid leap in strength, the effects of consuming the strange fruits this time were not especially noticeable.
Neither his Battle Qi nor his magic achieved a breakthrough in realm.
Nalant understood this perfectly well.
As his strength increased, further breakthroughs would require spending ever more Energy Points.
Fortunately, he was in no hurry. Though he