The Bombyx family were having a peaceful meal together where they were staying until the deadline for their departure was approaching quickly.
A messenger arrived announcing that Ki had been accepted to meet with Darius once more.
There was something big to discuss and it was of the upmost importance that it was handled before leaving.
Ki tidied herself up a little and was escorted towards a part of the inner city.
The walls were much thicker and higher making the defences even stronger than the previous walls she had passed through.
The guards protecting those walls all had a much more imposing and sharp aura about them which showed that most of the elites were assigned to the inner walls which protected the interests of the major families and the upper society of the Capital.
The stalls and shopping area was far more orderly and better maintained allowing for people of noble families to be able to walk through the streets with a minimum amount of escorts to protect themselves from any unexpected dangers.
Ki was able to take in many sights that she was not able to gain access to due to her being unable to pass through the inner walls.
Most of her business and contacts had been made with those who approached her first or who had caught her attention from the outer walls.
There was a clear distinction between classes and the living conditions between those in the inner and outer parts of Capital but it did not make her too surprised.
The higher up in rank any person or group became, their responsibilities and luxuries would become much greater.
Having come inside the inner walls, Ki was able to get a brief introduction towards the Northern Lands' higher cultural background and its inner workings so she did not miss the given opportunity to look around and learn more.
As a foreign visitor coming to the Northern Lands, there was a limit to how much of a say she could have and to what kinds of actions she could take towards how the Northerners chose to or had adapted to the way they lived their lives and ran their own city.
With her arms placed behind her back, Ki continued to follow behind the messenger who guided her through a gate leading to a stone built buildings and other areas within until she arrived on a courtyard.
Many muscular men were swinging around swords and performing various exercises.
Some among them were carrying heavy logs or stones over their shoulders as they continued exercising all around the courtyard.
Many of the methods used were very crude and basic to help build up the body but that did not take anything away from the strong discipline and efforts being put into their training.
They were areas that they could gain from seeing and experiencing the training Ki put her own forces through but the scene in front of her could help to teach many others under her an example of how they could improve themselves.
She had to admit that there were some among her people who had started off working hard but as life progressed and other things got in the way, there were some that just did not have the same determination they once had.
It could be said that while Ki did have her experience of raising many people up from nothing during her previous life as a Blood Sect Elder but that was not much help towards her current situation.
Those practicing the Blood Sect Martial Arts and Qi Arts just needed guidance on how to better understand and perform the techniques.
Effort and diligence had nothing to do with it since the only advice that could be given to anyone practicing the method was to collect more blood and elixirs to nurture their Blood Qi.
It was quite simple for to raise an army of powerful Blood Sect members so long as they did not die early during their time hunting down prey they could drain for their blood.
They would get very strong quickly so long as they were able to collect enough of a quantity or a high enough quality of blood until the time came where they would hit their limit of growth.
The problem would come when they hit their limit and needed to make up for it by supplementing more efforts into their bodies training and their own insights into their martial arts.
The wall of the Mystic Realm was one that many struggled with once they reached it and it could not just be overcome with trying to constantly increase the quality or quantity of one's own Qi.
There were some things Ki had picked up along the way through her previous life and her current life but it was not enough to build a strong amount of power in a legitimate way.
Without elixirs or evil arts to use, ordinary Martial Artists would find themselves struggling to catch up unless they had enough diligence towards their training along with a certain amount of talent to aid that.
If Ki left it to those who were practicing ordinary Martial Arts within her influence then it would be a very long time before they would be able to protect themselves from other forces in the world.
Unfortunately not everyone was cut out for such hard practice and routines of training like Ki had put herself through over the years.
The village surrounding the Bombyx family was really lacking in a proper military presence besides those who were a part of her brothers forces.
Even those people had their limits when it came to how much training they did.
It was easy to slack off and not give it their all when they received power without working for it like how they had gained a familiar through a contract which had aided their growth in power suddenly.
It would be troublesome to keep letting everyone continue that way so Ki stood inspecting the training trying to gleam any insights that she could from how everyone interacted and managed to keep everyone driven and focussed towards their tasks.
Even as they trained in the cold for a long period of time which many people in the Central Lands would use as an excuse to ditch training for the day, the people in front of her did not let out any signs of dissatisfaction or complaints.
The more she observed them, Ki started to see why the strong people from the Northern Lands preferred to call themselves warriors over Martial Artists.
There was a certain something that let them look like strong warriors who were preparing themselves for battle at any time which was something many people in the Central Lands lacked.
They had a fierce drive for survival and battle that could not be obtained in a less extreme environment.
As she was taking in all that she could learn, some ideas were coming to mind for future plans but she was interrupted once a large figure approached who she had recognised.
Ki cupped her hand up in front of her chest and bowed a little. "Thank you for accepting my request to see you."