After hearing Tang He's unreliable remarks, Chou Wu shot him a cold glance. This was Fengdu City, not some backwater dump of his.
Yet Chou Wu had thoughts of his own. A person could fake anything, but cultivation methods were something any discerning eye could see through at a glance. Ling Xi Wanderer excelled at bewildering incense; his attacks drifted like smoke and mist, killing without leaving a trace. This one, however, wielded Gang Sha Manifestation, with an overwhelmingly majestic presence. His cultivation was especially deep, his aura surging like tides—he was clearly walking an entirely different path.
Once his suspicions faded, not only Tang He but even Chou Wu himself felt somewhat tempted.
The world said that the Northern Wastes were a paradise for Rogue Cultivators and parasitic cultivators, a place where one could live without restraint. Yet in truth, the halls scattered across the Northern Wastes laid only one choice before every cultivator:
Either join them and become an oppressor, or be squeezed dry until one wished for death.
A cultivator—especially one with some strength—was the target of recruitment for halls everywhere. If recruitment failed, suppression followed.
You said you wanted to escape disaster? Fine. Just register your name with a hall. If your enemy was strong, you could hide. If your enemy was weak, the hall would help wipe them out!
You said you wanted secluded cultivation? What a joke. The world was so vast—if you wanted to cultivate, why come to the Northern Wastes?
Thus, in the Northern Wastes, the great majority of cultivators, especially those above the Elixir Restoration realm, had ties to some hall. Naturally, most were merely nominal affiliates, choosing a side first. If they wanted to reap greater benefits from the halls, they had to take part in more battles and conflicts.