Blockade

On the road a couple of days passed by and late into the night several carriages and horses continued to move at a fast speed towards their destination.

Under the dark clothing, cloaks and masks the group transporting everything were completely unidentifiable in the nighttime but the sound of their movements stood out in the quiet environment.

Further ahead there was a blockade set up on the road, although a poor excuse for a blockade it was still able to obstruct the carriages and horses if they continued to keep their current speed.

By the blockade a group of people were camped out on the road as if they had stopped there for the night and claimed the road as their own.

They even had lit up a bonfire late into the night which made them stand out so Ki was fast to notice their presence before she got close enough for them to notice them all.

Ki looked at the carriages and tents ahead that were behind the blockade and a cold look flickered in her eyes. "Stop and turn around."

After speaking and sending out several hand signals she immediately halted her horses footsteps and had her people become on alert.

She lead the horses and carriages off the road and entered the forest area and continued further away from the location that was occupied by the group blocking the road.

She got off her horse and tied it to a tree then stood in front of everyone. "Up ahead on the road that is blocked there is a large group camping out. I need to investigate their purpose for doing so. Either they are some noble travelling somewhere or they are a group with ill intentions that have blocked the road to extort or rob those passing through using force and intimidation."

Bandit groups, gangs or various kinds of organisations usually use various means to take root in places without laws or rules so they are free to act as they please without fear of retaliation or punishment from the law.

The roads that Ki was travelling on was one of the roads that did not have any checkpoints or outposts set up by the nearby cities, small towns or villages so it was considered an unlawful zone which many merchants and nobles tended to avoid rather than risk being extorted and attacked by any unlawful groups.

On the way to the destination, Ki did not encounter many people on the roads besides the group she had fought before arriving at the tomb.

On the way back although there was the occasional person or carriage passing by and minding their own business the group ahead had blatantly set up their camp right in the middle of the road and set up several obstructions preventing Ki and her group from passing through.

She looked at those around the carriages and ordered. "While I approach and check to see what is wrong I need a team that can protect the carriages and horses so split into two groups. The first group will stay behind and send out a signal flare if attacked and the second group wait in the forest and surround the camp and wait for my signal. I want you arranged so that there is someone watching your back from afar so you can avoid being counted tracked and snuck up from behind."

Marilyn who was within the carriage as it came to a stop, stepped out after familiarising herself with her new qi art and had began to undergo a huge change.

During her time of rest within the carriage on her way back she had begun to convert the vitality and blood that she had collected within her storage part of her blood mystical arts into her body to help replace any lost vitality she had lost.

As a seed of evil flame qi was beginning to form it began to greedily absorb all of the qi she had built up over her lifetime through constant training.

The untouched qi within her dantain that she could not access without a qi technique or a certain understanding of her body was converted into the evil flame qi seed with a small portion of what she had within her body.

After the flame qi had formed within her dantain the evil flame qi greedily absorbed the remaining qi in her dantain to grow further and take root within her dantain.

Rather than converting her qi's nature within her dantain through her qi art this method involved growing the evil flame qi with a small portion and then letting it engulf and devour the remaining qi within her dantain.

In order to solidify her foundation and refine the flame to increase her flame qi to a higher level she had begun to move onto the stage of using the evil flame qi to grow with the help of sacrificing some vitality to feed it.

She either had the option of sacrificing the vitality within her storage or using her bodies vitality and then replenishing the lost vitality in her body with what was in her storage.

Marilyn chose the latter because she believed that if she used her own vitality her connection and control over her evil flame qi would be stronger if she nurtured it with her own vitality rather than others.

As Marilyn stepped out of the carriage and a layer of greyish and evil looking flame qi spread out over the palm of her hand and then it disappeared as if it were never there. "Can I come with you? I don't think I will be suited to fighting in this environment."

Ki nodded and then turned to Lumi who was seated outside of the carriage. "How is your training going? Has it been fully absorbed yet?"

Lumi's brows furrowed and then shook her head. "I have only been able to absorb a small amount of the qi boosting pill. It seems that to absorb it all I need to undergo closed door cultivation and also train my body for about two months."

Ki smiled and then spoke. "Well, that should be enough. You have your own ways of fighting and protecting yourself so what you have absorbed should help increase your qi to a higher level. You are in charge of protecting the carriages so use your fox to scout the surroundings for intruders."

Lumi then looked towards the arctic fox by her feet that jumped down the carriage alertly and back to Ki. "Mm.."

Usually when one consumes a qi boosting pill of a good quality and efficiency they would gain sufficient qi within their bodies that would help many people reach the level of a peak or master level martial artist after it has been fully absorbed into the body after undergoing harsh training for a period of time.

Although their martial arts may not be at the level of a master or peak martial artist they are still able to match someone at the peak in terms of raw power and qi within their dantain so long as they are able to absorb all of the qi boosting pill completely.

Ki then replied to Marilyn's earlier question. "You can follow me since Lumi can help protect the carriage."

Marilyn looked a little excited after she had the chance to follow behind because she knew that tonight would not end peacefully.

Marilyn may have her own views of the world after growing up in the harsh slums but she still had some form of morale code.

Although she would not attack someone that did not provoke her it did not mean that there weren't times when it was necessary to silence someone within her organisation who could potentially do fatal damage to her and those working under her if they had learnt something they shouldn't have.

As the leader of Nox she had been slowly exposed to all kinds of plots and betrayals but was still able to keep the organisation stable because of her decisiveness and talent.

If she was weak minded then the organisation was doomed to fail and when Ki had already decided to go somewhere there would usually be death that would follow if she took her sword with her.

However there would also be a reason behind why she drew her sword so Marilyn trusted Ki to explain later after the battle is over.