As someone who was employed by a merchant or caravan owner, you would be treated much better and would even be trained within the organization. This was extremely common for those who were employed because even a large merchant group would find it difficult to recruit powerful experts since it would delay those with enough potential to become immortals which was the goal for every cultivator. 

Not just that, but those with enough potential would be soaked up by the royal family who controlled the entire empire so the number of those who had both strength and potential that would catch the eye of such merchants would be very few. There were of course exceptions, such as merchant groups that were owned by immortals that shared their cultivation methods and techniques. 

There were even agreements between some schools and merchants to recruit graduates who did not have a noble background which is how the top organizations including powerful auction houses have been able to compete against many ancient clans that had still existed up until now. He Chao was not interested in getting employed since he could make quite a bit if the Blazing Iron School accepted him. 

The Blazing Iron School did not just have a long history and many relationships, but it was also considered a training type school that would split profits made by the students who used the resources provided in order to train and become much more well versed in either the blacksmith or formations trade. 

This is why the school that Senior Cao chose for He Chao to attend was so highly sought after by many locals and even those outside of the Ancient Mountain Commandery. Since the school was willing to give their students twenty percent of the profits earned during their training, there was no end to those who wanted to attend. 

It was simply too perfect of a destination for He Chao to land in and as long as he was able to showcase his skills as a formations expert, he would be accepted according to Senior Cao. He Chao was only a level two formations expert, but since he was able to still make level three inscription patterns, it was enough to place him above his peers. 

The Blazing Iron School only accepted a total of twenty students every year; ten who were blacksmiths and ten who were formation experts. Over the years, even with their lack of recruiting numbers wise, the Blazing Iron School still had over one thousand students at any given time while they also employed cultivators to protect their territory. 

Unlike merchant groups, the Blazing Iron School had been able to recruit a large number of experts simply because they have been able to make an endless amount of weapons and armor that would make those envious of the experts employed who were able to use whatever they wanted out of the piles of available inventory.

Therefore, if a competitor or organization that did not get along with the Blazing Iron School wanted to pull them down, it would be a very unwise decision to make in not just a business sense. With many powerful experts and a large quantity of gold coins always being traded to the school, they were considered an unstoppable juggernaut that could only be destroyed or halted from growing if the royal family were to get involved. 

The funny thing was, that every sale by the school would be taxed at a very small tax rate to be given to the royal family, so since they continued to produce wealth for the royal family, there was no reason for them to remove the school from existence. That was, as long as the school continued to sell weapons only to those who openly supported the royal family.

The caravan did not stop for a full four days, and only did temporarily so that some of the carts carrying the crates could be fixed up a bit. The journey so far was a fairly quick one, but the landscape would constantly change and with these changes, some of the carts found their wheels breaking. The caravan was getting close to a large area that consisted of many rocks and boulders, so repairing the carts now instead of later since it was still a grassy area would be more comfortable for the humans who were regular workers. 

He Chao during this time was able to breakthrough as an Elementary level four Ki and Body Refinement cultivator. This rate of growth was rather normal considering that his combat experience already surpassed those his age and because of continuous battles, He Chao lacked the proper amount of time to cultivate peacefully. Since now was a time that he could do as he pleased, it was not strange for him to see a rather fast breakthrough. 

Feeling the rise of the ki in his body, some of the experts who travelled nearby He Chao congratulated him on his breakthrough. Unfortunately, unless one had a very specific type of technique, it was hard for an Elementary stage cultivator like He Chao to hide his strength as a ki refiner. However, no one realized that he also broke through as a Body Refinement cultivator so he still had some hidden cards. 

With the increase of the amount of ki he was able to use, He Chao also realized that he could increase the distance of his observation technique and when he did, it surprised him. After the first two days, He Chao thought that the two soldiers just gave up on following him. Being two Intermediate stage cultivators, they were able to at least hide themselves if they remained far enough away from the mysterious expert. 

But once he pushed out his senses, He Chao realized that they were still hidden nearby, it was just that they increased the distance between the caravan and themselves. They were clearly soldiers so it was not strange for the mysterious expert to give them no mind, so all He Chao could do was laugh bitterly to himself as he was ready to start eating his lunch.