Northern Families and Sects

The large man looked around towards everyone that was with Ki then turned to face her again. "You take good care of her."

He spoke like he was caring about Lumi but he was presenting Ki with a warning too.

The importance of those bloodlines was very treasured to him and many others so they would not wish to hear about Lumi suffering misfortune at the hands of others.

The large man continued. "Ahem.. I will not keep you occupied for too long but I thought that I would introduce myself a little. I am the current head of the Frost family, Darius Frost. I am from one of the greater families that are close to the royal family. The royals have been taking some notice towards your expansion into our lands."

Ki became intrigued. "I see. Is this interest that they have taken towards me a good or bad thing?"

The royals were those that she did not yet expect to catch the attention of but there were possibilities of it happening.

If Ki had weighed the odds of them taking an interest in her so soon then the chances were not very high since she had not done anything major besides doing business with the north.

Not everyone was so willing to pay attention to every merchant that appeared in their lands.

The goods that were brought into their lands did have a big effect on everyones lives so that increased the chances of them paying more attention to her movements.

Darius knit his brows as he went on to explain. "So long as you do nothing wrong… it will be a good thing to catch their interest. So be on your best behaviour."

Ki coughed a little. "Ahem.. I am sorry but it is not me that needs to behave."

Darius raised a brow and asked. "Is there something you wish to complain about?"

Ki nodded. "On our way here, there had been a hunting pen set up that was released onto our passing carriages. I believe that it was a targeted attack. The aim was to cause delays or to not let me and those with me arrive here today."

Darius frowned. "Lets just say that this is all truth… you have no real proof so it is best to drop it."

Ki continued to explain. "I am sure you have already heard about it though? I am sure that there was a group that was boasting about what they had done. I will ignore it for now but if my family is put at risk again…"

Her gaze turned colder as she said. "Then it will be difficult to maintain the current friendliness that my family have been showing you all and business can no longer be maintained. I am sure that it is not in the best interests to lose out on the things you have come to enjoy just because of a couple of fools?

If this behaviour continues from others then they will only continue to do much worse which will affect our trade in a bad way and I am sure nobody wants that."

Darius looked towards her gaze and was surprised that a young girl possessed such a cold glance and aura. "I will think about it."

He came to know that Ki possessed a reverse scale that if touched, she would immediately change into another person just like her elegant and noble appearance was just an act or a mask to hide something behind it.

He had seen similar gazes from warriors that had lived on the battlefield and would be running towards their enemies to avenge their closest allies.

The Frost family was one among those closest to the royal family and had a lot of military power so they managed the safety of the capital and sent out their men to locations where there were problems.

There existed an almost similar structure of power within the capital that had similarities to the capital of the central lands that was the Martial Alliance but they had no organisation name to call it.

It was just the existence of the greater families, the royal family and the sects that were allied with them.

One sect was very close to the royal family while another was a secluded sect that rarely participated in worldly struggles and would only move whenever there was a major conflict that put the north in greater danger.

It had been four major sects that existed with very few among them that possessed an expert that was able to step into the Mystic realm of martial arts.

They were rarer in the north but there were still some experts among the sects, families or even among the wandering martial artists and secluded experts.

The Warlord Sect, the Severing Emotions Sect, the Ice Phoenix Sect and the Divine Ice Sect were each among the four major sects of the north that existed with their own power, influence and alignments.

The Divine Ice Sect had little contact with the royals and stuck to their duty to keep the two sides of the border separate while accepting students from both sides to increase their depleting power until the day came for their fall.

The Warlord Sect took over the fortress that was left behind and had been subdued by Ki but they were more of a chaotic faction that moved for war and bloodshed or would start something themselves.

The Severing Emotions Sect was a sect that was more secluded and did not do anything unless there was a call for them to take action or there was too much risk of death in the north.

The Ice Phoenix Sect had been connected to the royal family for a long time so their actions were usually based on what the royals had come to a decision on.

Those that were the enemies of the royals were enemies of the Ice Phoenix Sect too and the two major families were there to form that close group that would move for the sake of the Northern Lands.

There did exist another major sect that was much further north where it was far more dangerous and colder.

It was a lawless place where murderers existed and there was a sect there named the Nether Sect that were just as bad as the unorthodox or demonic sects in the Central Lands.