After some extra escorts had been arranged by the sect, the journey began once again.
The journey to Slate City had been uneventful and so was their stay there which allowed everyone to rest up.
There were several formalities and minor things to go over that were related to the business in Slate City and those allied with the Bombyx family but Ki and her family had left most of the work to others while they enjoyed their short stay within the city.
Some minor gifts had been brought over and handed to valued business allies within the city but most of the stock had been kept for being transported to the capital.
While most of the preparations had been done and things had been transported over to the celebration venue, there still needed to be some things that needed to be brought still fresh.
Ki emerged from her room followed by Nova who stuck close by her with its tail wagging from side to side.
With her current strength, her physique was not as affected by the cold so while she had dressed in slightly thicker clothing, she still wore less layers than the others.
The hot and cold resistance that her body gained in the past played a large role in her being unaffected by the environment but she still had to put up appearances for others.
It would be strange for someone like her to be seen walking around in thin layers of clothing and many would find it strange that she was not shivering from the cold.
Those that had seen her and were knowledgeable would suspect that Ki had either a high level of martial arts or practiced a form of martial arts that helped her adapt to the cold.
Most people in the north practiced ice martial arts and rarely passed out their arts to others from other regions, the only ice or snow qi martial arts which had been lost to them were from the Divine Ice Sect.
The Divine Ice Sect martial arts had been divided up by many that participated in the attack on their fortress while their main treasures and manuals were lost.
Being known to have one of the manuals would earn the hatred and suspicion of the northerners because she would be seen as one of those that were connected to the attack.
If Ki and others close to her had been suspected of possessing the main martial arts then if it was spread out, there would be a large target on her back not just from the northerners.
The sects or families of the righteous and unlawful factions within the central lands would covet the martial arts manuals for themselves.
The other type of martial arts that would allow her to keep her body from being cold was a fire type martial art but they rarely appeared in the north besides a couple of places which had more conflicts with the people of the capital and the sects of the north.
If she showed up looking fine in the cold weather then they may suspect her involvement with their enemies or may use their own motives to push the blame onto her if there was ever a problem with them.
Since she was from the central lands, there were some fire based martial arts but they were not so widely known and were not spread out because most fire martial arts sects were kept within the sects and most fire martial arts manuals were rarely discovered.
One that Ki had come across was a very rare martial art while there existed one that the Spirit Flame Mercenaries leader had practiced after it had been passed down to him by his master, most heat or fire based martial arts would have usually been found more within the western desert rather than the central lands or the northern lands.
It would be a difficult task for the Bombyx family to acquire a fire based martial art even with their vast wealth and they had no direct connection with any of the known sects so it would be easy for others to point the finger towards them once something bad happened.
Using her bodies immunity was one way to solve the issue but it could not completely dispel everyone's opinions once someone had pointed out their suspicions.
An expert would have to check over her body and confirm her martial arts level which would expose her current abilities which she had worked hard to keep from spreading outside.
Ki looked towards the large snowy mountains and trees outside the city and sighed. "How much longer.."
Ki had been tired from suppressing and hiding herself being unable to live freely but the dangers were all around her.
Years had passed since her regression and her power had halted at the peak of the transcendent realm or it would be more correct to say it had been suppressed to the limits she could handle it to prevent a sudden breakthrough.
If she lost focus and loosened her control over her own qi then there was a high chance of it breaking past the barrier that was called the Unrestrained Realm.
Ki took a short breath then revealed a small smile as she saw the restocked carriages, sleighs and sleds off in the distance. "Time to leave."
She did not yet know how the capital would be but Ki was very excited to visit there.
Upon setting up her sled, Nova was at the front of it and pulled her away.
A large group exited Slate City and headed deeper into the cold north towards the northern capital where the main influences of the northern lands gathered together.
Many new allies were to be made but there were also potential enemies and dangers ahead.
The first part of the journey had been peaceful because Ki had enough control to allow that peace to be kept but the capital was out of her current range of control.
In the past, there had been some supplies which had been sent that had not arrived because of attacks or robberies on the carriages but with the Northern Warlord Sect increasing the security, there had been less incidents like that.