The sixty-some people from the Carriage and Horse Shop were called off their wagons and made to walk east on foot. The veterans looked calm; this batch of goods couldn’t see daylight, and so much pig iron—nobody here was stupid. The drivers didn’t complain at all about retreating three li; the less they know, the better. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

However, Tan Bin and the other two Xuanqing Guard scouts weren’t so optimistic.

The three quietly gathered close, exchanged a few words, then decided two would provide cover while Tan Bin slipped back unnoticed to check things out.

Fortunately, when the sixty-some Carriage and Horse Shop people headed east, no one bothered to watch them. Perhaps after several safe transactions, the buyers got lax with these "reliable" transport crews, plus they were all ordinary folks, so no one cared.

With no cultivators monitoring and only ordinary drivers around, Tan Bin had no trouble quietly dropping out of the group—especially with comrades covering him. In just an instant, as the team chatted and joked, one person vanished from their ranks.

He dove into the roadside brush, rolled behind a small grove, and then used the shade of the trees to quickly widen his distance from the crowd, circling around to approach the earlier spot where the convoy had stopped.

He couldn’t get too close; the opposition was all cultivators, and Tan Bin had no clue about their cultivation levels. His training dictated strict avoidance—never enter within half a li of cultivators to scout, or risk exposure to their methods.

Tan Bin moved fast, darting through the woods with the agility of a monkey. On a hill, he quickly found a tree and climbed up. It was the highest spot nearby, and sure enough—one li ahead, he could clearly see the convoy’s resting place.

Once settled, Tan Bin pulled out a copper ball from his chest, covered with array patterns, walnut-sized. He then took out a General Spirit Stone and expertly slotted it inside, before activating it. Instantly, the copper ball hovered in midair, then zipped to cover his right eye like a mechanical lens.

This was a Scout Ball, a low-grade magical artifact, with one purpose: extend eyesight up to two li away.

Scout Balls had broad applications; in the military, every scout carried one. You could hide a li or two away and still watch your target’s movements—unless they deployed major countermeasures, it was nearly impossible to spot this remote surveillance.

With the Scout Ball and tree shade for cover, Tan Bin waited patiently. In the enhanced vision, the thick cloths atop the wagons had been lifted. Neatly stacked pig iron blocks were exposed, but the surrounding cultivators didn’t touch them, only keeping watch around.

About the time it took to eat a meal passed, and Tan Bin saw many figures emerge from the bamboo forest near the convoy... No, wait—Barbarian Race!

That bamboo grove was part of the southern Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea; go two or three li in, and you’re outside the Jingjiu Dynasty’s territory. South of the Bamboo Sea was Barbarian land; so whoever emerged from the bamboo now had to be from the Barbarian Race.

Huge size!

The Barbarians from the bamboo moved quickly toward the convoy, and their physique starkly contrasted with the cultivators standing guard.

Nearly eight feet tall—some looked nine feet! Massive and burly, with minimal clothing, their exposed muscles gleamed with metallic sheen, dazzling to the eye.

And their features: very large ears, slightly drooping; long noses, hanging down; and at the corners of their mouths, two upturned tusks sticking out.

Elephant Race! And specifically, the Long-toothed Elephant Race!

Tan Bin smacked his lips—a nervous tic. Even across a li, shielded by tree shade, those twenty-some Long-toothed Elephant clansmen in his Scout Ball’s view exerted heavy pressure.

For among the Barbarian Race, the strongest are the Long-toothed Elephant Race. The whole clan cultivates body refinement: immense strength, muscles tough as armor, regular magical artifacts barely scratch them. The only weakness—they’re few in number; otherwise, the Elephant Race would take top spot from the Wolf Race.

So, these pig iron blocks were being sold to the Long-toothed Elephant Race? Weren’t they famously fond of charging naked into battle? Why buy pig iron? To forge armor...?

Tan Bin shuddered at the thought. The Elephant Race, already built like treasure armor, if clad in heavy plate... what would that look like?

Still unsure, Tan Bin kept his eyes glued to the distance, not blinking.

He couldn’t hear what the cultivators and Long-toothed Elephant clansmen said, but it was clear they knew each other. After a few terse exchanges, the leader of the Elephant Race took out a Storage Bag and began loading up pig iron blocks, soon hauling away more than half. But Storage Bags had limited room—some blocks remained. The Elephant clansmen simply grabbed an iron block in each hand, showing no strain at all.

Just like that, each carried about fifty jin of iron and disappeared back into the Bamboo Sea.

The cultivators who delivered the goods didn’t stick around or summon the transport team; they simply tossed a Signal Talisman high into the air, which exploded with a bang, then quickly exited from another direction.

The loud bang meant the goods up front were all offloaded. Some drivers familiar with the routine called the others—who’d been lounging around in small groups, gossiping—to stand and return to the convoy, as Tan Bin quietly slid in to rejoin at the tail end.

They first returned to a small town near Hai Xia to rest up, then started the journey back the next day. Because it wasn’t downstream, the speed was actually slower than the land route. And the Carriage and Horse Shop never went home empty—they picked up various transport jobs along the way, taking more than a month before reaching Fengri City again.

Tan Bin’s report, however, had already been encrypted and sent via Xuanqing Guard channels back during their stop in Hai Xia.

Shen Hao received the encrypted Copper Rod in Fengri City on July 5th, three days after Tan Bin had witnessed the transaction.

Reading the detailed account in the Copper Rod, Shen Hao wasn’t surprised the pig iron blocks were sold to the Barbarian Race—he’d anticipated as much, and now the intelligence simply confirmed it.

But Shen Hao hadn’t expected that it was the Long-toothed Elephant Race who came out of the Bamboo Sea into Xiaochuan Territory to pick up the goods. Wasn’t it said that the Long-toothed Elephant Race was annihilated in the last major battle? Apparently not.

Also, the "Ma San" who purchased pig iron from Xiaoshan Tielu Manor through the Black Market wasn’t seen this time, but it’s clear that between the Barbarians (true buyers) and Xiaoshan Tielu Manor (seller), there’s a group brokering the deal; the fact that dozens of cultivators escorted the shipment suggests they’re quite influential. Who are they?

Additionally, Shen Hao was curious: If the Long-toothed Elephant Race is buying pig iron, what about General Spirit Stone and grain?