A hand reached out towards the back of the head of Ki when she was moving among the crowd but almost like she had eyes in the back of her head, she had changed the flow of her movements and allowed herself to avoid the grasp of her attacker.
She only turned her body around a little to stab a needle towards their outstretched hand as it pierced through their palm. "Gah!"
"Hah.."
"What is happening?"
Each person had seen her as an easy target and had underestimated her since she was a young woman who was not from their environment.
There were fewer female combatants in the north so they had looked down on a lot of the women that did try to raise a sword or any other weapon towards them.
Although the Central Lands did have some decent female martial artists that were well known and respected, most often got those through their connections or were placed there for various political reasons.
Some may have actually been very capable but to other places outside the Central Lands, they were just women that were holding a high position so that the Martial Alliance could draw in those that were attracted to or respected them.
Young men would work hard to join up with the Martial Alliance just so they could try to even get close to those women while women would want to join to follow in the footsteps or to overtake those women.
It was shown by the naming sense of the Dragon and Phoenix positions in the Martial Alliance that most men were given strong names based on their style of combat while women would be given a name related to their appearance and most other parts made them seem kind of cute and less intimidating.
The credibility of female Martial Artists had been the same even during the time in Ki's previous life since the Snow Fairy and the other names that she went by had not matched with her ruthless nature.
Rayleigh may have had some prestige built up over the years but she was still the dog of the emperor in everyone else's eyes and many had still looked down on her actual abilities.
Even through many years of building up her own influence and power, there were still many that looked down on her and they had later turned on her when she had shown a little weakness after coming back from raiding the base where Ki was located.
If it was a more well known man that came to the Northern Lands then they may have been more wary of them but it was still in the advantage of the northerners who had the home ground where they had been fighting and living in much longer.
If a man from the Central Lands could not adapt to the conditions of the north then someone like Ki would have been seen as a far easier target.
Ki did not run towards them unprepared and she could tell from their varying stances that they were not from the same places as each other since they used different martial arts styles.
Usually it was easier for those that trained together or had familiar styles to be able to coordinate their attacks together and to work as a team to bring down stronger opponents but the people around Ki either had different teachers and schools or they were from another group entirely.
Some may have learned different martial arts from the same group or school and could still work together but the group around her lacked the use of any kind of battle formations or teamwork so it suggested a couple of things.
As Ki pulled back the needle from the palm quickly, she spun her body around while keeping low and then stabbed someone else in the side with the same needle. 'These are all second rate martial artists at best and their varying styles along with their lack of teamwork suggests they have not worked together for long.'
It suggested that they had most likely been pulled together for a similar task and may have come from different backgrounds while being arranged to take up different points on the mountain.
Others may have been more powerful but Ki had already avoided anyone that might have been an annoyance to her.
Once she had understood the dynamic of the group, she avoided another hand that reached towards her hair then responded in a similar manner by stabbing their palm. 'This happened long ago and I have learned from it. Quit going for my hair already!'
After Ki had fought in a crowd when she was younger and had to cut her own hair once it was grabbed, she had not let it grow back until just recently.
It was a medium length so it was less likely to be grabbed but there was still enough for it to be grabbed anyways and there were others that attempted to use that to their advantage.
When in a crowd, she was already very limited in her movements so one slight tug of her hair could cause the moment that others would be waiting for to land a hit on her body.
There was a big difference in her abilities in the present and in the past so the same thing did not repeat itself.
Her flowing brown hair may have seemed like something to grab onto and as a weakness but that had just become another part of her own way of handling her opponents.
If she knew how her opponents were going to react to a weakness being shown and she knew how to respond effective then that weakness could easily be turned into being a lure for a trap.
Her style of combat was based around deception so even things that seemed like a weakness in the eyes of others was just when she could use her opponents predictable movements against them.
Almost every person would make a similar movement to go in for the kill or to do something else when they were more sure that they would be successful but in those final moments, it was usually the time that the tables could be turned in an instant.
Too many people fell victim to those same circumstances in the past, present and the future and that would not change even if everyone was taught not to do so.
If someone saw their opponent in a weakened state then they would have gone in for a final blow without any big tricks just like a swordsman raiding their sword in a way to cut off the head of their opponent or to stab their heart.
If their opponent could predict the path of the sword then they could use that chance to land a killing blow once the attack missed on them.
Just like her style of combat had deceived them which led them into a trap, her whole identity had been used to make them underestimate her.
They could have never known that a young lady from the Central Lands had fought against different invading forces that came through the borders towards her own families land so she knew a little about some of their combat styles and tactics while she had also spent some more time in the north to remove the unfamiliarity with the environment.
Any vulnerability that the enemy thought existed was just the result of them thinking she was just like any other female martial artist and that normal methods could be used against her but that was where they had begun to make mistakes.
More thoughts piled up in the head of Ki as she came to a conclusion once she had reached the back of the crowd.
Many bodies were left behind her clutching their wounds as they tried to stop the blood from flowing out while some others had knelt or lied down on the cold ground.
There were still two people ahead of her while the pursuers were getting closer after she had been stalled a little. 'It would have been easier if I could just kill them right now.'
Second rank martial artists were nothing to her and would not be able to cause her any trouble so she could have killed them with a single palm strike but she could not do so.
The closer that she was to a breakthrough in her realm, the more she had made efforts towards suppressing her mental demon and to not worsen it by killing even more people.
The two men had an anxious look on their faces as they pointed some sickle like blades as her, Ki took on their challenge and ran forward but once she had gotten within range of them, she had stepped back suddenly with a cold smile on her face. 'You think you got me?'