After performing a quick sweep of the fallen guards' spatial rings, Lu Tianzi proceeded to rejoin his companions.

By now, the sound of the warning horn had changed slightly, the meaning behind this change something privy only to the members of the Dragon Cauldron Army.

Even so, it was not too difficult to make a guess – it was more than likely to be the warning for an escalated level of threat.

Lu Tianzi was not too worried though.

In the absence of any Origin Core realm martial artists, there was probably no one who would be able to match him in combat, not even Fourth Prince Mosha when he was still at the Peak Essence Condensation realm.

As long as he kept an eye out for dangerous formations, it should not be a problem for him to stay safe.

The only issue was with the operation itself.

But if worse came to worse, they would just have to minimise their impact and make an early retreat. And even if it came to that, Lu Tianzi was confident of bringing up the rear for the group.

Now then, how much time would they be given to wreck havoc before the main force decided to return?

***

A good distance away from where Lu Tianzi was, energy undulations flooded the area as countless martial artists summoned forth all of their strength.

These martial artists were split into two distinct parties, one from the Scarlet Moon Army and the other from the Dragon Cauldron Army.

This was not some friendly contest, and all they had in mind was to completely annihilate the opposing side.

Those who had yet to reach the Origin Core realm clashed against each other on the ground, while those at the Origin Core realm battled in the air.

Powerful explosions occurred one after another, giving birth to shockwaves and energy of various elements that spilt into the surroundings, resulting in a myriad of colours that endlessly filled the region.

Far above the violent battles, two men hovered in the air, silent as they stared hard at each other.

From their position, an oblivious person might even mistake the ever changing colours below as a beautiful scene.

Of course, a tinge of deep red was slowly creeping over the area. But even without that, neither of them would have thought of the scene below as something pretty.

They were the acting commanders of the Scarlet Moon Army and the Dragon Cauldron Army respectively, and both of them knew very well just how savage the fight had gotten at this point.

"I really don't understand what is going through your mind right now," the commander of the Dragon Cauldron Army sneered. "After seeing the numbers under my banner, do you really still think that you can break through in such a manner?"

The commander of the Dragon Cauldron Army was also known as General Longming, a young looking man with long black hair. He was donning light armour that seemed to be tailor made for him, comfortable to the point that it felt as though the light armour was just a cloth shirt.

He was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor skinny, with just an average build that seemed to be nothing impressive.

However, his counterpart would certainly not underestimate him.

Yet despite his recognition for the opponent's strength, General Mojian of the Scarlet Moon Army did not feel pressured in any sense.

He had been selected by Marshal Xianming to take command of the Second Battlefront, and that in itself was testament to his capabilities. There was no way that Marshal Xianming would assign a weak minded individual as commander of an entire battlefront.

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General Mojian let out a confident smirk in response to his opponent's question. "Why don't we wait and see just how things play out in the end, General Longming?"

The commander of the Scarlet Moon Army was tall, had short white hair, and was dressed in fitting battle robes. When compared to the youthful looks of the other party, he looked just like an old man.

After factoring in the difference in their appearances, General Mojian with the smirk on his face looked as though he was an adult toying with a kid.

General Longming of the Dragon Cauldron Army crossed his arms confidently, completely unfazed by the hint of threat in General Mojian's voice.

"If you are thinking of relying on that bunch of brats that had snuck into our camp, hoping for them to deal some significant damage to us, I'd advise you to stop harbouring such overly optimistic thoughts right now," it was General Longming's turn to taunt.

But General Mojian's grin only widened even further. "Looks like they have finally taken action, it is about damn time too! Now then, what will you do? Are you intending to sacrifice your camp for an uncertain victory here? Or are you going to send men back and have them turn their backs on their opponents?"

"Do you really think that I would have to do so? How disappointing!" General Longming shook his head in disapproval. "I don't know how you manage to get them to bypass our defensive formations, but that is not the only thing we have prepared!"

Hearing that, General Mojian was more surprised than intimidated.

He had provided the assault party with talismans to brute force their way through the defensive formations, but they actually managed to bypass the formation altogether?

Then again, perhaps he should have expected that of Nanlu Tianzi, the student of Formation Master Beimu!

As for the other party's remaining words..

"Stop boasting!" General Mojian laughed. "You have no idea just what sort of character is devastating your camp right now!"

"I see you are still taking my words lightly," General Longming was calmer than expected. "That does not matter. You will soon realise just how wrong you are, and that we of the Dragon Cauldron Kingdom are more than prepared to deal with your little tricks!"

***

Back at the camp of the Dragon Cauldron Army, the assault party led by Nanqing Haowen and Nanlan Qianxue had split up to sweep through the enemy recovery tents.

There were many martial artists in these recovery tents who were at the Essence Condensation realm, but none of them were able to summon forth their strength to resist the assault party.

After all, it was only because they were heavily injured that they had to remain in the recovery tents to recuperate.

Otherwise, as martial artists, they would be fine after taking a few medicinal pills and resting in meditation. Who would want to stay in the recovery tents if they had a choice?

Even for those who were not as brave of heart, an injury that did not incapacitate them would be no excuse for them to skip out on battles, especially a battle that was as large scale as the one that was being fought by their comrades right now!

This meant that only those who were genuinely injured to the point of severe weakness were resting in these recovery tents.

And in their current weakened states, even the Essence Building realm martial artists of the assault party proved to be too much for them to handle.

Many of them felt shock and unwillingness in their hearts, cursing their luck for being suppressed by enemies who were obviously weaker than them.

However, no matter how unwilling they were, that would not change the situation.

One by one, these injured men fell to the blades of the Scarlet Moon Army.

"I will not let you get away with this!" a lightly armoured young man swung his sabre down at Nanlan Qianxue, his emotions overwhelmed with rage.

While few in comparison to the number of injured men, there were still medical staff who were assigned to attend to the injured. And in order for them to treat such heavy injuries, these medical staff were naturally martial artists themselves, albeit ones who had dabbled in the art of healing.

This man attacking Nanlan Qianxue right now was none other than one of these medical staff.

Nanlan Qianxue flicked her wrist and the Frost Jade Sword immediately appeared in her hand, slashing out to meet the incoming sabre.

Bang-!

Unable to resist the strike, her opponent's sabre was knocked straight out of his hand, piercing into the ground behind him.

The young man froze, horrified at the outcome of their clash!

They were both martial artists at the Intermediate Essence Condensation realm, but why was there such a huge disparity in their strengths?

No, that was impossible.

She must have relied on some strange trick!

While the young man was still lost in his thoughts of self-deceit, the Frost Jade Sword sliced straight past his neck, ending him once and for all.

After which, she turned around to face the entrance of the tent, and her cold expression broke into a gentle smile. "You are here."

"Yes, sorry for taking so long," Lu Tianzi smiled in response. "It took me a while to throw off the defence team."

"Squad Leader Nanlu!" Juncheng rushed over immediately upon seeing Lu Tianzi.

When Lu Tianzi acted alone, he had made arrangements for his squad to temporarily join up with Nanlan Qianxue's for protection. After all, they were only Essence Building realm martial artists.

But now that he had rejoined the group, it was only natural for him to regain control of his squad.

"Juncheng, how is everyone?" Lu Tianzi asked immediately.

"Reporting to Squad Leader Nanlu! There are around ten of us who have suffered some light injuries, but it will not impede their combat ability by much," Juncheng answered.

"Well done, let's keep this up," Lu Tianzi nodded in relief.

Considering that there were no fatalities on his side, things were going far better than he had expected!

However, his relief was destined to be short-lived.

"Good! You have finally all gathered up in this area!" a loud voice bellowed from outside the tent. "I was starting to get tired of waiting!"

Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue immediately exchanged glances before rushing out of the tent, their squad members following closely behind.

When they exited the tent, Nanqing Haowen was already standing outside with his Black Maned Shadow Lion and the rest of his squad. He had a deep frown on his face as he stared up at the sky, not even bothering to greet Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue.

Following his gaze, Lu Tianzi quickly found what Nanqing Haowen was looking at.

An old man was casually seated on the roof of a huge tent, staring right back at them while rubbing his short white goatee, all the while wearing a smile on his face.

Out of everyone present, Lu Tianzi was the only one who was able to read the other party's cultivation level.

First Cycle Origin Core realm.

There was still an Origin Core realm martial artist of the Dragon Cauldron Army remaining in the camp!

This was not part of the plan!

But whether he liked it or not, the situation was already as such. Now, he could only try to find the best possible response to this.

"I will hold him here for as long as I can. All of you retreat immediately."

Lu Tianzi dared not speak, instead choosing to convey his voice directly to Nanqing Haowen, Nanlan Qianxue, and Juncheng.

Nanlan Qianxue opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but eventually stopped herself.

She wanted to suggest joining hands to take down the Origin Core enemy, but was afraid that her presence would only end up being a burden to Lu Tianzi.

And she was not wrong either.

Had he been alone, Lu Tianzi might not have been as nervous.

After all, even if his combat capabilities ended up failing to match up to his opponent's, Lu Tianzi was still confident of making a safe escape.

But with the entire group here, the enemy could easily pick them off one by one, and there was simply no way for Lu Tianzi to protect all of them!

"Hahaha! It is obvious what you are thinking, but just give it up!" the old man laughed heartily.

Upon finished his sentence, the old man waved his hand, summoning forth an immense amount of Essence energy that in turn cast a heavy pressure upon the assault party.

An illusory white circle shimmered into existence behind him.

At the same time, an endless white wall rose up from the ground behind the assault party, extending all the way around to form a circular prison with the old man as the centre, effectively caging them in with him.

This white wall appeared to be fluid in nature, as though it was made of white smoke, yet was strong enough to completely uproot tents that were in its way when rising from the ground.

The white wall kept rising, up to a height of almost fifty metres before it finally stopped when the old man waved his hand once more, a smile of satisfaction evident on his face.

He then turned his attention to the nervous assault party standing below, his smile not fading one bit. "Relax and don't be too nervous. After all, no matter what you do or how hard you try, not a single one of you will be leaving here alive."