Chapter 38

Without delaying any longer, He Chao immediately headed in front of the carriage and went into a defensive formation. This made the middle aged man smile because it looked as if He Chao technically had no small openings that an inexperienced cultivator could take advantage of. This was enough for him to continue walking towards the Wind Guard with the rest of the group of stronger experts presently on their side.

Further away, the two soldiers who were following He Chao to spy on his movements, were met with a large group of bandits. The battle lasted only momentarily as the two soldiers were cut down after trying to exchange blows with an Adept stage cultivator that seemed to be only a step away from advancing into the Master stage of cultivation.

The stronger experts on the side of the caravan were able to sense the battle, but it would be impossible for them to assist the two soldiers so all they could do was finish any last minute preparations they needed before the bandits began to approach. It was unexpected, but it turned out that four large bandit groups were in fact merged into a single entity.

The only positive that could come from this situation, was that from their point of view, it looked like this would be their first attack as a merged organization, which meant that they were not necessarily working as one in a perfect unity as of yet. The mysterious looking expert made a quick comment about this using his ki to let every expert know.

"They may outmatch us through the sheer amount of experts on their side, but as long as we work together, this battle should be our win. Do not worry, there is only one Master stage cultivator who is clearly their elected leader who I could delay while our two Adept stage cultivators battle their two. Be aware, they have over thirty Elementary stage cultivators and three Intermediate stage cultivators which we have no choice but to temporarily leave under your care."

"We can win this, just everyone needs to work as a unit until we are able to defeat their stronger members. The goal of this battle should be for as many of us to survive as possible so if you see someone in a dire situation, make sure to assist them!" Hearing the mysterious expert giving everyone orders, He Chao felt a little more calm, especially since many of those present did not seem to have very simple backgrounds.

Bandit groups were known to be thrown together by cultivators who did not have the best backgrounds and lacked enough resources to remain independent. Therefore, the majority of the time, even the strongest bandit may have lacked proper foundational based training and techniques. This was what gave the group present yet another reason to remain calm.

He Chao eavesdropped on these experts during the past four days, and he found out that although they were not all part of big organizations that had a sphere of influence large enough to be proud about, it seemed that everyone at the very least were part of a school or clan that properly trained even their not so thriving members.

"If you all choose to not retaliate, we are willing to not become too hostile towards any of you. Sheath your weapons and walk one thousand yards from the caravan and we are willing to keep our own weapons sheathed. Our aim is only the crates so there is no reason for any of you to lay down your life for such a thing."

The Master stage cultivator along with the two Adept stage cultivators all headed close enough to the caravan for everyone to hear their leader's voice. The Master stage cultivator was a very large and muscular man with a thick beard. It was rather obvious to everyone present that he was a cultivator of the Body Refinement path. What shocked everyone, was that he also had withdrawn a very high quality scimitar.

It was strange that out of all the possible weapons, the Master stage cultivator chose to use a scimitar which was not a very popular weapon that was used by many experts locally. Not only that, but it looked as if it was a weapon especially made for him. Before anyone could even respond to his words, two more experts arrived next to the group of three that were both dressed in black outfits with a strange looking badge.

The Wind Guard recognized the badge right away and quickly notified everyone present using his ki to hide his words from the enemy who was not close enough to intersect. "Everyone be very careful and remain vigilant. It looks like the two are part of the Blood Assassins who are a local hedgemond known to take on missions that directly target those who work with the royal family."

"It is safe to assume that they are not the only two present because they usually work in groups of ten for big jobs like this one. Do not worry, once I launch the signal, reinforcements should arrive to assist us in the matter of no time at all. Just remain still and whatever you do, do not let your guard down!"

The mysterious expert once he updated everyone, was the first to act as he withdrew a strange looking item from his storage ring. The item looked to be in the shape of a dragon, but it did not radiate a level of energy that would be expected of an item used by a Master stage cultivator, let alone someone who was part of the Wind Guard.

It caught the bandits and the two members of the Blood Assassins off guard, because instead of aiming the weapon towards them, the mysterious expert aimed it towards the sky! Pushing a button on the item, the top opened up and a large blue flame emitted from it as the blue flame was shot into the sky.

However, once it reached the height of the clouds, the blue flame disappeared as if it did not exist. The bandits chose not to move right away in case it was a trap and something was about to happen. They were only half right, because it was not a trap, but a signal as the blue flame suddenly appeared once more, except it exploded and caused a major commotion!