Ren Yue's faction vs. Noble Shadow

Three days later, four convoys belonging to influential merchants departed from Dongchun City.

The Noble Shadow's members followed these four convoys secretly. They had brought enough dry rations to sustain themselves for two whole weeks. They were given dry rations to prevent them from cooking food.

After all, if they cooked food, they would produce smoke. This could alert the enemy that someone was following the convoy.

In the meantime, Ren Yue's group quickly headed towards their first target among these convoys.

Along the way, Ren Yue asked Long Chen, "Are you sure that the members of those mysterious organizations will really arrive?"

"I am fairly sure. They must have realized that we are targeting the caravans of rich merchants. This makes it easy to guess our next targets. So, they will send their members to pursue the caravans belonging to reputed merchants secretly. Only then can they hope to catch us."

"…Those smoke bombs will work, right?" Ren Yue asked with a hint of hesitation.

"Don't worry. It's from the same dealer that got us those sleeping pellets. They worked like a charm, so I have a good feeling about these smoke bombs, too," Long Chen responded.

In reality, these smoke bombs released a special fume that paralyzed everyone who inhaled it. Ren Yue's group had already ingested the antidote of this paralysis smoke.

After getting closer to the convoy, Long Chen asked everyone to halt.

"Split up and form pairs. Take positions a bit farther away from each other." He gave out short and precise instructions to everyone.

Ren Yue's group has six members. So, three pairs formed.

Long Chen and Ren Yue formed the first pair.

Grandpa Mo and Peng Gen formed the second pair.

And the third pair was formed by another two of Ren Yue's subordinates who were at the 3 Star Rank.

These three pairs secretly followed the convoy while keeping watch of their surroundings.

Long Chen utilized his illusionary skill and targeted a guard traveling along the convoy.

"Poison them all when you stop to rest and eat dinner," Long Chen sent this instruction by creating Golden Words in thin air.

The guard was clearly startled upon noticing those golden words. As he read the statement, he realized that the man threatening him was nearby.

After an hour, the convoy stopped. It was already nighttime. They were all tired and hungry.

It didn't take them long to eat their supper. Except for the guard, everyone dozed off in their position as soon as they finished their meal. The sleeping medicine had clearly worked.

"Third pair, attack the convoy," Long Chen sent instructions by utilizing his illusionary skills and creating golden words in thin air.

The third pair consisted of two guards belonging to Ren Yue's faction who instantly obeyed and entered the camp.

Now that they appeared in the light of the torches, their outfit and mask were finally visible.

They wore dark blue masks and dark green outfits that could conceal them in the thick forest around them.

They held thick ropes that were created of special material to restrain Ardor.

Just as the pair tied down the first person, a voice resounded, "Stop!"

The two guards instantly gazed in the direction of that voice. A few seconds later, four men leaped into the camp.

All of them are three-star warriors.

"…So this is how you assault the convoys," One of those four men spoke with a scornful tone.

Ren Yue's guards instantly attacked these four warriors. The guard who had poisoned his comrades joined them as he had no other choice.

The warriors from the Noble Shadow outnumbered Ren Yue's side and quickly overwhelmed them. However, they were so lost in their battle that they failed to see a small ball of baseball size heading towards them.

The target of this small ball wasn't a warrior but the ground near them.

All the warriors, excluding Ren Yue's guards, were startled as the smoke ball exploded. It released thick fumes into the area.

The warriors from Noble Shadow tried to find Ren Yue's guards, but the smoke was a bit too thick.

They quickly left the smoke area and gazed at the situation from afar.

Ren Yue's guards remained in the smoke, keeping their bodies concealed. The thick smoke prevented their opponents from accurately grasping their position.

The warriors from Noble Shadow decided to wait for the smoke to disperse. However, they didn't think they were falling into Long Chen's trap as the paralysis took some time to show its effect.

After a few minutes, these warriors could feel a sense of stiffness in their legs and arms. They moved around, and their movements were somewhat awkward.

Ren Yue's guards had been waiting for this opportunity and instantly launched an attack on these warriors.

They knew that the paralysis had clearly worked. It was time to finish this battle!

However, just as they stepped forward to finish this battle, a furious voice resounded in the camp, "Halt!"

Interestingly enough, Ren Yue's guards actually stopped. They gazed in the direction of the voice.

A relatively robust man jumped into the field. His Ardor flared crazily as he tried to intimidate Ren Yue's guards.

He successfully intimidated them as the two took a step back unconsciously.

"…You should step out. All those who are hiding!" He shouted with a hint of killing intent in his voice.

Long Chen knew that this was the final warrior of this mysterious organization.

He gazed in Grandpa Mo and Peng Gen's direction and instructed them with the same method, "Go."

Grandpa Mo and Peng Gen leaped into the camp. Grandpa Mo is a 4-Star Warrior, while Peng Gen is a peak 3-Star Warrior.

The opponent's Ardor couldn't wholly suppress Grandpa Mo and Peng Gen.

This robust man was none other than Zou Mu. He glared at Grandpa Mo and whispered with a sneer behind his mask, "…You really have a lot of nerve attacking these convoys. Did you not think they were under someone's protection?!"

Grandpa Mo responded by creating an Earth Punch. This Earth Punch quickly rushed to strike Zou Mu.

Zou Mu snorted in disdain as he saw that Earth Punch and brought both hands forward. He released a thick torrent of flames from his palms while targeting Grandpa Mo.

The Earth Punch was burned to ashes as those thick flames enveloped it.

Grandpa Mo jumped to the side and quickly approached Zou Mu.

In the meantime, Peng Gen also launched a lightning bolt at Zou Mu.

Zou Mu dodged it and jumped to the left side. At that moment, a smoke bomb exploded near his position.

This smoke bomb was naturally thrown by Long Chen.

He had seen Peng Gen's attack on Zou Mu and knew that Zou Mu would most likely dodge toward the left side. Thus, he had already thrown his smoke bomb.

Zou Mu unconsciously inhaled the fumes from this smoke bomb. Furiously, he flared his Ardor and rushed in Long Chen's direction.

He had kept his eyes on all the warriors in the camp, but he hadn't seen them throw a smoke bomb. This indicated another warrior of their group was still hiding.

The smoke bomb emerged from his right side, so it was fair to assume that the assailant was hiding in that direction.

At this moment, he suddenly saw a man standing ahead of him. This man wore a dark blue mask and a dark green outfit as well. This is naturally Long Chen.

Zou Mu's rage surged when he saw Long Chen, and he encased his palm in Flame Ardor and yelled, "You are dead!

"Flame Cloud Palm!"

In response, Long Chen remained in his position. He had no intention of moving.

Zou Mu had a pleased expression as his palm was about to strike Long Chen. However, his expression quickly changed as he felt his palm strike a hard object. This clearly didn't feel like human body.

He instantly realized that something was wrong.

"This is an illusion?!" Zou Mu spoke furiously. He quickly spoke out, "Break!"

As Zou Mu stimulated his Ardor, he noticed that he had struck his Flame Cloud Palm on a tree.

At this moment, Grandpa Mo arrived and restrained Zou Mu. He kept Zou Mu occupied for some time and waited for the paralysis to work.

Zou Mu was utilizing his Ardor to keep that smoke from affecting his body, but he couldn't concentrate that well as he fought against a four star warrior.

Slowly, he lost control over parts of his body. Zou Mu still fought valiantly, but unfortunately for him; Grandpa Mo was not an easy opponent.

After fighting for another half an hour, Zou Mu was successfully restrained.

Grandpa Mo personally tied him with the Ardor restraining ropes. He was restrained from moving by being bound so tightly.

After tying up all the warriors of the convoy and the warriors of the Noble Shadow, Grandpa Mo and Ren Yue's other guards checked the entire area. Only after conducting a thorough search did Long Chen and Ren Yue emerge.

"Let's take them to our hideout," Ren Yue spoke.