Chapter 38: Lost Lake Sect

Yoze lifted up his finger again the same distance above the rock and channeled all his Inner Vigor into his one finger. Once he sensed that all his Inner Vigor was in one finger he gently lowered it down to the rock.

As Jewel watched Yoze's finger gently touch the rock without doing anything she wanted to chuckle but the pressure she felt coming from Yoze's finger made shiver as she knew that the show wasn't done.

As she expected without Yoze adding any additional force, cracks quickly covered the rock before it shattered and pieces of rock and dust were sent flying all over the place.

"With just the weight of my finger alone I was able to crush this rock. I didn't use any strength or use a martial arts technique to accomplish this. So do you now believe me that I'm a first rate Martial artist." Yoze slapped the gray dust off his hand as he looked at Jewel with expectations.

He didn't have much hope that his little demonstration would never be enough to convince her but seeing the wow on her face he couldn't help but feel his confidence increase.

"Yes, you're a first rate martial artist boss." Jewel quickly hid her shock and said to Yoze calmly.

"Wow, you believed me so easily." Yoze lifted one of his eyebrows to show his doubtfulness.

"Of course, why would I not believe my employer that he had become a first rate martial artist? This will just make my job easier and this trip safer, there is no need to doubt." Jewel smiled to show her support.

If Yoze didn't hear the strong doubt in Jewel's voice earlier and seen the funny looks on Leah's and his father's faces he would have thought he had misheard what Jewel said.

"As for the additional payment..." Jewel coughed into her hand as she used her other hand to signal for the money.

Keeping his promise, Yoze placed the money that he owed her and felt like he was tricked. Seeing her cheeky smile when he put the money in her hand further confirmed his suspicions.

"She didn't care whether I was a first-rate martial artist or not, this was just another way to get some more money. At least I could get some information for getting tricked." After figuring out that he had been tricked Yoze sighed but picked himself up when he knew that he could get some information about martial art sects.

"It's now your turn to do your part of the deal, tell me about martial arts sects."

"Okay, what do you want to know about them?"

"Everything, how many sects are there? What sects are considered the strongest? The closest sect nearby? What are the requirements to join a martial arts sect? And what's it like to join a martial arts sect?"

"Okay okay okay, I'll start at the very basics." Jewel waved her hands frantically to stop Yoze from continuing with his long line of questions.

"First up is that I don't know the total number of martial art sects there are in the world but there are only 100 notable sects considered to be the most powerful."

"The top 10 sects in order are, The Human Empire, The Crimson City, The Lost Lake Sect, The Sword Sect, The Fire Sect, The Grand Empire, The Demon Children Sect, The Honey Sect, The Ice Sect, and lastly the Charred Sect."

"After the top 10 sects, the positions are debatable but in general all martial artists have to avoid the top sects in addition to the Evil Sect and the Blood Sect. These two are known for their evil practices and have no qualms with provoking and targeting children for their evil arts. "

"Now those are the notable sects that you have to look out for and make sure not to get in their way. " Jewel took a deep breath before telling Yoze a huge amount of valuable information.

At the end of it, Jewel couldn't help but take out her water sack and take a few gulps of fresh water. While Yoze digested everything Jewel had told him.

From what Yoze knew now, his suspicions that there was more to these supernatural borders was further confirmed as not only were the cities separated but even the large sects were separated from each other as if something didn't want them to interact with each other.

Each of the most powerful sects control a region alongside with the largest city in a dual monopoly fashion. Take the Jade Mountain Region that held Jade City this region was under the jurisdiction of the Lost Lake Sect, the third most powerful martial art Sect in the world.

But also the one that interacted the least with its neighbors so unless one had direct contact with someone inside the Sect it was difficult to gather information on them. The balance of power between the City and Sect was tense but also symbolic.

Neither the City nor Sect could fully control the whole Jade Mountain Region so they allowed the other to control half. The sects were filled with the strongest martial arts experts and had the most Martial Grandmasters.

However, sects were just too small to challenge a city for its territory full of people, resources, and farms. The sects might hold the hands of many experts but they would only drown from the massive armies that each city cultivated.

It was the same for cities that wanted to encroach on the sect's territory. If the cities wanted to claim the territories of these sects they needed to pay a drastic price for every inch they gained. So it was rare for a city or Sect to control a whole region to themselves.

There were of course some notable exceptions, The Human Empire, The Crimson City, and the Grand Empire were all exceptions to this rule. The Human Empire was formerly called the Human Sect before it took over the city that ruled with it, taking full control of the whole region.

The Crimson City was a city that destroyed its partnered Sect, The Farm Sect. And the Grand Empire was another City that ate the Sect in its region completely taking over its region.