Another week had passed as many things were being put into motion.
Many skilled and loyal Cold qi martial artists were ordered to come back to the village during this time to receive a reward for their hard work.
The top fifty of the chosen ladies were given a pill to help boost their qi but some would also be given the option to make a contract with a beast.
After the establishment of the group under Leon who specialised in varying martial art styles but had one thing in common which was their contract with a wolf, another group could be formed from the chosen women.
However there was also the option to promote those women to become a branch manager or protector of one of the places that they worked at so that they could solidify their position and become more useful to the family.
In order to avoid exposing the contracts so quickly, the village has always been strictly controlled so that no information is leaked outside but if the contract was used out in the world and there was a sharp rise in people that were being attacked by animals then that was going to draw some suspicion towards her own people and come back to herself.
So the best option was to establish who wished to be part of a team but also who had the hope to work alone.
The team would be under her or Lumi's direct command but the branch manager would either answer to Rayleigh or herself so long as she still had a share in the Entertainment Halls.
While the new recruits were also being transported from the north, various orphanages belonging to her also had been providing suitable young girls who could begin practicing so there was always a steady increase of new talents appearing.
As the preparations were being made to let those with enough talents consume a pill and choose their path, Lumi and Rayleigh were breaking through to the Transcendent Realm along with Elizabeth.
After finishing up another batch of pills, Ki removed them from the cauldron, placed them inside a glass vial and placed them on the shelf within her research room.
She let out a tired yawn as she stepped out of her room before locking it.
She walked down the hallway of the mansion and stepped towards the meeting room and opened the door.
Inside was Marilyn who was sitting waiting with a pile of papers, unlike when Ki had first met her she had changed a lot.
Her previously malnourished body had become much fuller but also her skin had become tanned thanks to Ki's support over the years but also an aftereffect of the martial arts that she was practicing.
Although she still carried the same kind of temperament of a young female hero, there was a little more of an experienced vibe that she gave off after the many years of managing Nox behind the scenes.
She placed the documents on the table and looked up then began to smile. "So after many years of asking for us all to hide and gain strength, you have only made a couple of requests that have been difficult to do or a little challenging… but this one certainly is interesting."
Ki shook her head as a helpless smile appeared on her face. "I would be telling you the same thing today if it wasn't so important. As I said I needed information on any known or rumoured Unrestrained martial artists or ones that may be close to breaking through but have not announced their success or failure. For now let us just focus on what is nearby and try to dig up as much information as possible."
Marilyn looked over at Ki for a while and then sighed. "Investigating such people will only bring trouble to ourselves if we dig too deeply."
Ki closed her eyes and leaned back on her chair as she spoke in a tired voice. "There won't be any trouble so long as you do not dig too far into other peoples business. All I want is the estimated or rumoured strength of them but also some basic information about their temperament, lifestyle and background. From there I will decide what to do after that."
Marilyn frowned. "You are making a move yourself? I don't think this is your usual style of doing things? You wouldn't usually target someone unless they had done wrong to you…"
Ki opened her eyes and looked determined. "Do not worry.. I am not targeting these people, nor am I scouting them for my own schemes but instead they are live bait and potential allies or enemies."
She could not trust anyone to reveal her identity and skills to them outside of her circle but that did not mean she could not let those people have a debt to her that will one day need to be repaid.
If she saved someone's life then they would have to repay her one way or another but most of all, she needed their information for something more important.
She spoke again. "The Blood Sect's actions have been less active in our territory lately but also the presence of the Yin Sect has been a small thorn in our side for some time but we have dealt with any small nuisances. However there may come a time when their true disciples, elders or even the sect heir or leader will begin to act to gain further strength. The most likely targets for any evil faction who use humans as cultivation tools would be what exactly?"
Marilyn blinked and then responded. "Powerful humans that have a very strong vitality and qi but are vulnerable due to their lifestyles."
Ki nodded. "Exactly.. this time I hope to counter any or some possible movements of those forces and deal them a heavy blow. Even if it isn't enough to damage them, it should reduce some of their numbers and reduce their success rate of their missions."
If successful and several Unrestrained realm martial artists are saved from their clutches, not only would the next sect leader be delayed in his training but many promising subordinates that he had under his command would possibly lose their lives.
Under the chaos of the flooding disaster, a silent and secret battle would take place from the shadows to determine the future of the Blood Sect, who was once her fateful enemy of her previous life but also the place that she had become accustomed to living in for so many years.
If anything, it was a somewhat twisted relationship that she had with them, she hated them but she also practiced their martial arts and became a person with a high position there, even if it was for her goal to get revenge for the loss of her family.
Looking back on it, she could hardly call them the true perpetrators of her families end but merely the ones that spread their influence to the wrong place which resulted in creating her current self however back then that was all that she could use to keep herself alive and with a purpose.
In the end she did get her revenge on one of the people behind it which gave her a little closure before she ended her life.
However it still does not change the fact that existences like the Blood Sect are nothing but a plague that continues to spread and deal damage around the world.
Although she knows of many strongholds and places that are used by the Blood Sect, she would not yet use these trump cards unless absolutely necessary.
Even if she had let go of her desire for vengeance against the sect itself, she could not let it to continue to take from everyone around them as they had continued to do in her previous life.
Back then she was too focussed on her path of revenge to think straight or look back at the many corpses of the innocents that were piled up to realise that because of her weakness many more bodies continued to pile up until it was finally over.
Even if she wished to lay low and remain unnoticed until the right time, she could not remain so indifferent to the continuing victims that would keep growing like the Martial Alliance had been doing for so many years.
It doesn't matter if she becomes known as a hero or a villain in the future so long as she can provide those around her with enough protection and so that she no longer has to hear the news of the approaching dangers that are sweeping through the land created by those who either control the world or those who wish to claim the world for themselves and usurp that position.
She looked up into Marilyn's eyes and said. "I think it is time that you complete your bone metamorphosis. Before we handle anything else, let's get this over and done with."