Chapter 171 - Be wary of the Naturals!

"SHE IS KATENARI AS WELL!?"

As soon as I revealed this bit, it seemed like Venna was struck by a lightning. Considering how this family was one of the strongest powerhouses in the entire city, it was no wonder that appearance of such an important figure with their blood would make Venna's resolution to conduct business with me waver. Despite being unable to even gauge her strength, I was resolved to fight with her with everything I got if she were to try anything funny.

"No wonder that you aim for their heads then… It's a due time for those bastards to fall from the grace!"

Contrary to by grave expectations, Venna only exhaled with a relief plainly visible in her face before passing the sword back to my hands.

"If you want to pit yourself against them, I can't help but accept your proposal. I only hope that you are not trying to bite more than you can swallow!"

"Before I leave back to the tribunes, mind explaining to me why absorbing different weapons intent caught your attention? Hailing from lower sects I have no idea about the common sense present in middle ones, making me quite vulnerable to involuntarily flaunting my abilities, hence I would like to learn as much as I can to avoid similar mishaps in the future. Considering that I didn't hide making my way here at all, there is a high chance that everyone else already knows that I'm in cahoots with you!"

"In short, comprehending a weapon's essence means that your affinity towards said weapon is good enough for you to assimilate the intent. While there are some people that are able to train in two different styles, seeing someone comprehend all three from the main swords techniques is really uncommon. That's also the reason why I can already say that there won't be any problems in granting you access to the heavenly sword sect while avoiding the process of going through the sword sect."

Wait, sword sect? Isn't this the place that Stella's master headed to?

"Can you tell me something about this sword sect you mentioned? If I recall correctly, former sect master of the place I'm hailing for got accepted there. With how much she helped raise my beloved one, I would love to be able to thank her personally!"

Since that's not any valuable information, I outright explained the matter. While ignoring the points about the assault, and killing Eve's father was an obvious thing to do, I didn't hold back while recounting the events that happened already back at the sect.

"In short, if someone has enough talent to be looked at with favour by even a single sword sect, but is too weak to apply directly to the main branch, they can make their way through the sword sect. This organisation isn't affiliated with any of the major powers directly but serves as something that you could call a training camp. Not a real destination, but merely a step on your way towards being accepted as the outer disciple in the major sects."

That makes sense. There ought to be cultivators with immense talent but lacking towards some weapon, but lacking in terms of cultivating. Accepting them directly into a place filled with people way more powerfull would only stall their growth by forcing them to think that only your cultivation mattered. Just by looking at how I was able to fight opponents way stronger than me by utilizing various techniques provided by Bonger showed that raw strength wasn't the only thing that mattered!

"Thanks for explaining, I hope I will be able to met her soon."

Placing my Utopy back to the storage ring I was about to go on my way back to the tribunes when Venna gestured at me to wait.

"Do you know the name of that person? If she joined the Heavenly sword sect, I might be able to help you looking for her!"

Ahh, I would love to know her name or any other details, but all my knowledge about that person came from Eve's memories alone!

"All I know is that her direct disciple and friend is called Stella. I doubt that will be of any he…"

Seeing a strange expression appearing on Venna's face, I couldn't help but stop my sentence halfway.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I know who do you mean… I hope to break it down on you, but she apparently already became a core disciple of the natural edge sect!"

Wait, was that a bad thing? From our entire talk I could understand the rivalry and brewing conflict between heavenly and draconic sects, but how did the third party fit into the picture of this power struggle?

"Excuse me, I don't really understand why is that something that should tick me in a bad way?"

"While enmity between us and dracons is open and wildly known, the naturals… If you want to fully understand my hesitation you should visit their sect yourself. Seeing that you were on the tribunes instead of joining the tournament contestants on the stage I take it that you won't be participating in this event? When you are done with your crafting and scheming, just pay them a visit. Compared to my sect or the draconic one, you won't be expelled or killed on the spot… Just mind that you will never be able to look at the world from the same perspective as you used to… And about Nadia, ah! The person you are looking for… Stella seems to be her younger sister!"

From visible embarrassment and slight confusion steeming from Venna's voice, it was obvious that approaching that sect put the visitors in some kind of precarious situation. Why won't she just tell me what's going on then?

"Since we are going to strike down one of the powerhouses of this area, don't you think it would be better to just inform me in advance what should I be worried about? What if my experiences there will turn me unable to continue my plans?"

With those words obstinately pushing towards the topic of this natural sect, Venna blushed slightly taking on insanely cute expression before uttering.

"To put it in simple terms… They like to be as close to nature and natural instincts as they can… Compared to what you saw on the stage… They tend to cultivate a lot more… bare techniques!"