Chapter 206: The World Is Vast, But Where to Find a Place to Live?

Dawn was breaking, and all the high-ranking members of the empire had gathered in the palace. The grand hall was solemn, with everyone wearing serious expressions, creating an extremely tense atmosphere.
“Alright, this is how we’ll handle it. Okaz, you’re in charge of this. Give me a satisfactory result!” Waving his hand to signal everyone to leave, an old man in his sixties sighed, his gaze filled with complexity.
He was the current king of the Lance Empire! At that moment, his heart was heavy. The return of the demons had left him utterly perplexed! Their appearance heralded chaos across the continent. Over the centuries, the demons had appeared time and again, each time causing turmoil. After each appearance, the balance of power on the continent changed significantly. Especially after the second appearance of the demons, several empires saw major territorial shifts, particularly the Lance Empire, which rose as a new empire during that time. What about this time? No one knew. He was deeply troubled. Upon hearing the news, he was stunned and immediately summoned all his ministers and high-ranking nobles to discuss this astonishing situation.
After nearly an entire night of discussion, they came up with three plans. The first plan was to inform the various empires across the continent. The second plan, of course, was to urgently pursue and eliminate the demon Knightrod. As for the third plan, it was to prepare for attacks from the vampires and werewolves.
The continental conference had just ended. The latest news was that the vampires had already spread across the major nations of the continent. Those vampires who had lurked among the people for thousands of years had now begun to act. Almost everyone on the continent was aware of this developing crisis.
Now that the plans were in place, all that remained was to take action. There could be no mistakes—everything had to be done perfectly. He appointed Marshal Okaz, a battle-hardened veteran, as the leader of this operation, also serving as the supreme commander of the continental alliance. This was the best candidate chosen after discussions among various empires and kingdoms.
As everyone left, Okaz felt heavy-hearted. The burden on his shoulders made him feel unusually tired, especially regarding the issue of the demons. The daunting task filled him with concern. With the demons back, turmoil was on the horizon!
……
The feeling of weakness gradually faded. As his combat energy recovered, Rod felt his strength returning rapidly, and he could also sense his wounds healing at an impressive pace.

At this moment, the combat energy within him was flowing on its own. In this dark and damp cave, Rod’s body emitted a faint golden glow as he sat cross-legged, enjoying the rare comfort of the moment. He didn’t know how long he had been hiding here to cultivate. The battle in the forest last time had left him severely injured; he had never felt such exhaustion and weakness before—this was the first time. Although he was in the midst of cultivation, he could still faintly sense the rise and fall of the sun outside, the silver light of the moon covering the earth, and the workings of all things in the universe. Perhaps it was due to some enlightenment, or maybe it was because his abilities and combat energy had been exhausted to the limit during the last battle, pushing his body to its limits. After escaping danger, this recovery made him feel that he had made another step forward. His originally pale yellow combat energy had now turned deep yellow, becoming much more solid. Only when the combat energy in his body reached its optimal state did Rod stop. Yet he felt a bit puzzled—during this cultivation, he noticed a strange presence lurking in his dantian, something he had never detected before. It was a foreign energy with a chilling sensation. Previously, he hadn’t dared to investigate further because recovering his body was the top priority. Now that he had finished cultivating, he decided to find out what it was. Worried that this energy might affect him—after all, the dantian was the most crucial part, the source of a warrior’s life—any problem there could be disastrous. He directed a sliver of his mental energy to guide his combat energy toward that area. Soon, he located the energy, which was very small, like a strand of hair, coiled within his dantian. Taking a deep breath, he approached carefully. Suddenly, a chilling sensation caused a sharp pain in Rod’s dantian, and the cold spread throughout his body as if it had penetrated his bones. It felt as though he had fallen into an ice cave. Under the influence of the cold and pain, he quickly redirected his combat energy and withdrew his mental energy, gasping for breath. He felt as if he had escaped death by a narrow margin. Though that energy was extremely weak, its resistance was terrifyingly strong—it had almost caused him trouble. Thinking about this, Rod felt a headache.

“Xuanyuan, help me figure out what’s going on with that energy!” With no other choice, Rod turned to the Spirit of the Xuanyuan Sword for help, unable to shake his concern over that mysterious energy flow. It was like a time bomb hidden in his dantian, ready to explode at any moment and pose a huge threat. Surely no one could stay calm in such a situation.

“I see it. I don’t know what’s going on either. I can’t get close—there’s an extremely powerful energy. You’d better not act rashly, or the consequences could be disastrous. I’ve tried a few times, but it repelled me back. I dare not approach forcefully. Your dantian is still very fragile; anything could go wrong!” After a short while, the voice of the Spirit of the Xuanyuan Sword came through, tinged with helplessness.

“Damn it!” Even the sword spirit couldn’t help, and Rod really didn’t know what to do. His heart remained uneasy. He tried again, only to encounter the same situation and face Xuanyuan’s furious scolding. With no choice, Rod gave up on further exploration. After all, if something really went wrong, it would be catastrophic.

“Forget it. It doesn’t seem like it will cause you any harm. Take your time; there’s no point in rushing. It won’t help!” Xuanyuan said helplessly after scolding Rod.

Rod secretly despised Xuanyuan’s words. If it weren’t happening to him, he wouldn’t care. But since it was inside his body, he would be the first to die if something went wrong! As for that energy? It wouldn’t fear anything. At most, it would go dormant for another hundred or a thousand years—there would still be a chance then! The situation was completely different. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Rod thought unhappily to himself.

“Alright, stop overthinking it. It might be something left over from the awakening of your bloodline. I think someone placed a seal inside you. That person is very powerful—enough to evade my detection. They must be a strong opponent, but they probably pose no threat. If they really wanted to, would you still be alive today?” Sensing Rod’s thoughts, Xuanyuan tried to comfort him.

“Damn it!” Muttering under his breath, he had no choice but to accept it. Whether it was good or bad, he couldn’t avoid it. What else could he do?

Although he was troubled by that mysterious energy, he had no way to deal with it, so Rod decided to put it aside for now.

There was a slight movement, even a series of crisp snapping sounds. The friction from his joints sounded like a melody playing in the darkness.

He couldn’t help but twitch the corners of his mouth. Though those minor injuries had mostly healed thanks to his abnormal recovery ability, the serious ones—especially the internal injuries—were still unresolved. Moving his body caused intense pain, making cold sweat stream down Rod’s forehead.
“It seems I’ll have to stay here for a while longer!” With a bitter smile at his current condition, Rod muttered to himself. In this state, he definitely couldn’t go outside. Who knew how chaotic the outside world had become?
“A demon? I’m actually a demon!” He laughed self-mockingly, his gaze confused. He had never imagined he would be associated with demons, never thought he was one. Once he had loathed and feared demons deeply, yet now he was one himself—what a twist of fate. He really didn’t want to believe it, but the facts were before his eyes, forcing him to accept them. Many things happened when least expected; perhaps Rod could only sigh at the caprices of fate.
By now, news of his recovery must have spread across the entire continent. With demons appearing, surely the whole continent was hunting him. Countless people wanted his head for glory and wealth, and many assassins were waiting in the shadows for him to show up! Rod could imagine all this, but there was nothing he could do.
After all, the threat he posed to the continent was too great—too much pain had been caused in the past, scaring them. While everyone was desperately searching for him, he was hiding here?
He laughed self-mockingly, his face filled with sorrow and desolation. The pursuit by his friends, the hunt by outsiders, and the scorn from others—all of it had come. The events in the forest flashed clearly through his mind: those people chasing him desperately, even his most trusted friends turning against him. A sense of despair overwhelmed him. If it weren’t for the final actions of John, Wiski, and Kenny, which brought him a glimmer of warmth, how cold would his heart have become? Rod couldn’t imagine.
Alice, Lucia, and Linda’s heartless abandonment, Kiro and Anderson’s icy gazes, and Lawrence’s murderous intent—all made Rod realize that everything had changed. The world had changed. Where could he go from now on? He felt lost. Though the world was vast, his own world seemed so narrow. With a quiet sigh, he sat there, frowning, lost in thought, his face filled with confusion.