I have been bound in a forbidden place for five hundred years. Why are you crying when I am a casual

After giving Shen Yanshu a final flirtatious wink, the alluring woman returned to his side, and together they walked into Wuwei Fortress.

From beginning to end, Shen Yanshu, the young master with the folding fan, never once looked directly at Gu Xiu. Even when his gaze occasionally swept over, his expression was indifferent, highlighting the pride of a noble young master.

However, Gu Xiu was quick to notice.

In fact, Shen Yanshu's attention was always on himself, even when he stepped into Wuwei Fortress, he was always observing his own reaction.

Gu Xiu was an understanding person, so he naturally wouldn't disappoint them. He immediately put on the expression that Shen Yanshu hoped to see. It was an expression of longing for power and status yet being powerless to achieve it, and admiration for charming women yet feeling lost and disappointed—perfectly fitting the image of a country bumpkin with little knowledge.

really.

This performance prompted Shen Yanshu to let out a cold smile, as if he had everything under control.

"I never thought that a country bumpkin like you from a small place would gain favor with the locals just because of your looks before even being assigned a position."

"That girl looks pretty hot. You're in for a treat tonight, kid.

Gu Xiu's performance not only fooled Shen Yanshu, but also the scarred general. The general spoke in a low voice, subtly glancing at the bag in Gu Xiu's hand. Gu Xiu naturally understood his meaning, reaching into the bag and grabbing a handful of what appeared to be coins, which he then handed over.

"What are you doing? Trying to bribe someone in broad daylight?"

The scarred general was putting on airs a bit, but Gu Xiu smiled and said, "General, you're joking. This is something I found while following behind you. You must have dropped it by accident. It's just being returned to its rightful owner. Come to think of it, I even pocketed a little bit."

As he spoke, Gu Xiu tossed the bag in his hand.

"Really?"

The scarred general grinned, glanced at the coins in his hand, and put them away: "Looks like they really are my coins. You're not bad, kid. I thought you were just a clueless greenhorn who didn't know anything, but I didn't expect you to be so cunning, even daring to deceive a noble young master?"

The next sentence was spoken in a flat tone, devoid of any emotion. Gu Xiu naturally understood that the other person was referring to his earlier acting. He didn't seem to care, maintaining his clear yet naive gaze.

"General, you flatter me. My hometown may not be as good as your esteemed place, but it's not easy to survive there either. To live, one has to be quick-witted."

"Hahaha, good, that's right, you have to be quick-witted!" The scarred general laughed heartily.

"Only those foolish young masters who have never had to worry about food and clothing since childhood would think that someone who could seize the opportunity of my Ziwei Yuan from Tian Shi Yuan would really be a foolish boy with no knowledge."

"They even wanted to send a maid to gather information about you and recruit you into their group. But they were so stupid that they managed to extract a lot of information about you without even realizing it, and they still wanted to recruit you into their group."

"What a bunch of idiots, good for nothing except being born into a good family."

Clearly, although Gu Xiu seemed to have acted extremely well in front of that charming woman, with no flaws whatsoever.

But it is precisely because there are no flaws that his biggest flaw is. At least the scarred general had already become somewhat suspicious of Gu Xiu when he was hiding his abilities and pretending to be stupid. Now that Gu Xiu is so open and doesn't hide anything anymore, the scarred general's suspicions have lessened.

"Let's go. You've already gathered a lot of information about my Ziwei Yuan. Now that you know this, you probably understand that if you come to my Ziwei Yuan and appear in Wuwei City, then you are considered a person of my Wuwei City."

"Next, I will take you to register and formally register you as a resident of Wuwei City."

It’s been a long journey.

Gu Xiu did indeed gather a lot of information.

In Hao Yu's view, the Three Enclosures and the Sea of ​​Sin seemed to pose roughly the same level of threat, but in reality, within the Three Enclosures and the Sea of ​​Sin, there were strict rules governing the division of status, strength, and level of danger.

The lowest is the Tian Shi Yuan, followed by the Tai Wei Yuan, and the highest is the Zi Wei Yuan.

The Purple Forbidden City is rife with war and warlordism, with each city practically a kingdom. It boasts countless powerful figures, and the dangers lurking within the gray fog are the most terrifying. However, correspondingly, its environment and resources are superior to those of the other two forbidden cities.

Putting aside other things, cities like Wuwei City, which can easily accommodate a population of 30 million, do not exist in the other two walls, because it is simply impossible for the other two walls to be able to cover such a large area with holy light.

This is why people say that Tian Shi Yuan is made up of villages, and they call Gu Xiu, a person from Tian Shi Yuan, a country bumpkin, which is not wrong.

and.

The Ziwei Enclosure is in a superior position, corresponding to the Tianshi Enclosure and the Taiwei Enclosure.

They possess absolute control.

The lower-ranking Taiwei and Tianshi need to frequently offer powerful individuals to replenish the strength of Ziwei Yuan. At the same time, Ziwei Yuan can also summon people from the lower realms during non-offering periods to replenish its manpower, ensuring that even if Ziwei Yuan loses a large number of people, it can be quickly replenished.

According to the rules of the Purple Star Enclosure, every person who comes from the two lower realms is considered part of the population of the city where they appear. Generally, after their strength is tested, these people are registered and assigned to various positions within the Purple Star Enclosure.

If you have enough strength and enough value, you can have power and status.

However, if it has no strength and no value.

They would be thrown into the fourth ring, becoming laborers and breeding machines, or even slaves. This is why Gu Xiu couldn't pretend to be stupid forever; after all, here, value determines everything.

The "pretend to be weak to fool others" tactic won't work here, because you might end up as someone else's braised pork on their dinner table.

However, it also cannot be too shocking.

"Golden Core cultivation, and even a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator?"

"I must say, you are really amazing. Not to mention that dilapidated place Tian Shi Yuan, even in my Zi Wei Yuan, it is rare to see someone who can possess this ability on their own."

In a small, deserted temple in the temple area, the scarred general couldn't help but exclaim in admiration as he looked at the fluctuations of spiritual energy displayed on the spirit-testing stone.

This is the strength that Gu Xiu has demonstrated.

He only has the cultivation level of the peak of the Golden Core stage, half a step into the Nascent Soul stage.

Even so, it still caused quite a stir in the Three Enclosures Sea of ​​Sin, where spiritual energy is scarce and has long ceased to be mainstream.

Because of the scarcity of spiritual energy, this cultivation path has long been abandoned. After all, the difficulty of cultivation is too high, and most people waste their entire lives trying. For Gu Xiu, a native of Tian Shi Yuan, to cultivate to this level on his own is nothing short of astonishing.

If it were any higher, it wouldn't just be shocking; it would immediately be reported up the chain of command, repeatedly investigated, and might even raise suspicions that the individual was a spy for Hao Yu. Half-step Nascent Soul is just right; while still rare, it's not impossible.

but.

After the initial surprise came regret.

"It's a pity that our spiritual energy has long since declined. If you could be reborn in the vast universe, you might even become a supreme being in the future."

The scarred general shook his head, and after finalizing the household registration matter with Gu Xiu, he said:

"Not many people follow the path of spiritual energy. With your strength, you can easily become a captain in the Fifth Ring Army Camp, leading fifty or a hundred men. As for brigade commanders or colonels, that depends on whether you have enough military merits later on."

"Of course."

"As for going any higher, that would be very difficult."

When the scarred general said this, there was a certain meaning in his eyes. Gu Xiu was sensible and said, "If you don't mind, General, I would like to follow you."

"Follow me, why?" the scarred general asked with a smile.

Gu Xiu rolled his eyes inwardly. This scarred general's military rank wasn't too high, but it was definitely not low either. Yet, this was the kind of person who had taken him along all the way. Although he hadn't said it outright, he had subtly inquired about it several times. And now he was even pretending to be serious.

but.

If he wanted to pretend, Gu Xiu would play along.