The group did not linger in Botillman Town. After stocking up on supplies, they headed north.
Chen Mu had made this decision only after gaining a rough understanding of the distribution of powers in Tiandongli District. He had previously assumed that the district was Frostmoon Cold Isle's territory. Only now did he realize how wildly mistaken he had been.
Frostmoon Cold Isle was indeed the largest power in Tiandongli District, but anyone who thought it held dominion over the region could not have been more wrong. The most numerous settlements in Tiandongli District were the small forts scattered across its ice-and-snow region. Apparently, there were roughly two hundred thousand of them, and only thirty percent fell within Frostmoon Cold Isle's sphere of influence.
The remaining forts either fought their own battles or formed small alliances. Some had histories even older than Frostmoon Cold Isle's. Each fort had a small town, though towns like Botierman were uncommon.
One important reason Chen Mu had decided to head into the ice-and-snow region was that Frostmoon Cold Isle's control over the region without ice and snow was far stronger.
Although Chen Mu had yet to deal with Frostmoon Cold Isle, the Six Great Academies had left him with an abysmal impression. Besides, he naturally could not unload his batch of Federation Comprehensive Academy cards somewhere like Botierman. That would be delivering himself straight into someone else's hands on their own turf.
The ice-and-snow region was a vast expanse of frozen plains and snowy mountains, with over two hundred thousand small forts scattered throughout. These forts were essentially slightly larger wilderness bases. Generally, each had only a few tens of thousands of permanent residents.
Even Frostmoon Cold Isle had little control over the ice-and-snow region, let alone the other academies. This was exactly the sort