Ki had some guesses that perhaps the Divine Ice Sect and the Ice Phoenix Sect once had a more friendly and cooperative relationship in the past.
Old sects usually had some ties together whether they were cooperative, friendly or hostile relationships but since there was still some resources going to the Divine Ice Sect then it should not have been that bad of a relationship.
They must have seen the need for each other's existence which was why they were able to coexist for so long.
If it was not for the joining of so many forces that launched a surprise attack which wiped out so many lives and looted the Divine Ice Sect in one night then it would be unknown if the Ice Phoenix Sect would have made a move to stop it.
With it being too late to do anything about it then they must have had some regrets if there was some kind of relationship between them still.
No matter how hostile some forces were with the Divine Ice Sect at times, the Divine Ice Sect still took up the role of providing a wall and border between the Northern Lands and the Central Lands.
That border was crucial for controlling who entered and left the Northern Lands so it was a large vantage point for times of war which could put a halt to any invading forces and could provide a delay to allow those closer to the Capital to defend their lands before they became overrun with enemies.
It was the same in the way the Divine Ice Sect did not allow Northerners to invade and run rampant on the Central Lands.
They were needed for both sides no matter how much of a hindrance that appeared to be since they maintained the peace and prevented so many innocent lives from being casualties of war.
Ki started to understand a little more about how things worked in the Northern Lands and how important the Ice Phoenix Sect was to so many living there.
She also had something come to mind all of a sudden. 'Hmm.. now that I think about it, there was something within the records of the Blood Sect that could be related to this area.
If I am correct then this is something that was discovered much too late and could have been a crucial source of resources that could have provided a big help to the Northern Lands. It would have provided so many with a little more hope during the large war.
It would still be unlikely for them to succeed in the war and the result may have been the same but with the resources being available to them, they may have been able to fight back a little harder and to do more damage to those that they fought.'
The resources were found on the mountain or in another location and were recorded in the documents Ki read when she had access to them in the Blood Sect.
The information could have been about what Ki, Rayleigh and Lumi had discovered but it could also have been from another location since the exact location was not recorded.
It was only recorded that a large amount of resources were discovered in the Northern Lands which were claimed and distributed in the Central Lands some time after the Central Lands won the war.
It was the Martial Alliance that was able to reap the major benefits during that time as they claimed the remaining areas that produced anything of worth before leaving the lands stripped of any life and value.
The Northern Lands later became a place where few were living and those that remained alive were better off dead since they were suffering such harsh conditions were than ever before.
If Rayleigh had allied with the Martial Alliance in the Central Lands during that time or a little later then they would be able to reap more benefits later from being able to make use of those resources when combining what she possessed with their spoils of war.
It would be no surprise if they were able to start raising a new generation of ice qi martial artists under the Martial Alliance in secret and were keeping it as one of their trump cards.
Ki thought to herself. 'Hmm.. what to do. What to do! Should I take this for myself or should I use this knowledge to broker some kind of deal?'
She knew that such a supply of herbs would be discovered eventually if she intended to harvest them.
If they were in a large number like she believed then it was even more likely that there would need to be more exploration done and that there would need to be a larger team or carriage to harvest and transport them.
Such an operation so close to the Northern Lands Capital was very easy to be discovered.
Eventually someone would become aware of what she was doing on the mountain and it could even turn into a diplomatic issue that could earn her their hatred.
Losing out on the cooperation with the Northerners was not something she wished for just for the sake of some short term benefits.
Upon discovering such resources, she was busy deciding what was the best way to approach such a discovery that would benefit her most and keep the peace.
While pondering over those things, Ki had come to a decision about her next actions and the three of them moved away from where they were located while taking some time to take note of where the resources were located.
The three of them and two foxes moved around the mountain moving deeper rather than trying to escape.
It was where the forces were weaker and were in shorter supply so they would be much safer and would stand out far less compared to taking the risk to go down the mountain.
Unknown to them, there had already been some movement from further away from the mountain as some forces started to take notice of the battle taking place.
No matter how they tried to conceal their movements and actions, they could not get away with it for so long especially since they were creating a situation that was hard to ignore and go unnoticed.