Living In Another World With A Farm Chapter 8380: The aftermath (1)

One could argue that Pan Qianlong met his end solely at Zhao Hai's hands. Initially, Pan Qianlong attempted a direct strike on Zhao Hai, but the bronze man intercepted him. Although he managed to bypass the bronze man due to its inferior speed, his progress was quickly halted by a battle corpse. Unable to evade this new obstacle, he found himself locked in a stalemate, dragged into a confrontation that prevented him from splitting his form. It was at this critical juncture that twelve puppets encircled him. Pan Qianlong was clearly outmatched by their combined strength. In a desperate bid for survival, he unleashed the Ten Thousand Infants Ghost Bone and attempted to flee, only to be cut off by Zhao Hai. With a final, decisive spell, Zhao Hai struck him down.

A powerhouse at the half-step Island Lord level had been eliminated by Zhao Hai with such apparent ease. What made it more terrifying was that Zhao Hai had achieved this while only at the Power Essence Realm. If he possessed such overwhelming strength then, how formidable would he be now that he had ascended to the Refinement Realm? The mere thought of his potential sent shivers down the spines of those watching.

Surveying the gathered crowd, Zhao Hai spoke in a somber tone, "This conflict has concluded. Everyone, begin clearing the battlefield. Also, ensure Pan Qianlong’s remains are cremated." Jiang Chen and the others acknowledged the command and set to work immediately. Zhao Hai then pulled Yan Bei and the core group aside, stating, "Following this defeat, the Alliance of the Thirteen Families will be like a dragon without a head. They won't be able to coordinate a response quickly. We must capitalize on this window to maximize our territory and seize as many islands as possible. However, I won't be leading the charge this time. I have other matters to attend to, so I am placing Big Brother Yan in command. Chang Jun, you will assist him. I'll leave the bronze man to support you; its strength is necessary to shatter the island-protecting formations. Meanwhile, I will lead a team to reconstruct those very formations. Is this understood?"

"Understood!" the group shouted in unison. Not a single person questioned Zhao Hai’s directives. They took his word as absolute truth, lacking the courage to oppose him. Through both his strategic brilliance and raw combat prowess, Zhao Hai had proven to everyone that he was not just a master tactician, but an incredibly powerful Cultivator.

"I’m leaving the rest to you. There is something I must deal with," Zhao Hai added deeply. Without another word, he vanished in a flash of light. While his sudden departure left many confused, they didn't press for answers, noting that the massive bronze man remained behind to assist them.

Yan Bei turned to the assembly and commanded, "Clean up this area at once and extract all the runes from the island. The moment the commander returns, we must be ready to rebuild the defensive arrays. Move!" As the disciples hurried to fulfill their tasks, Yan Bei’s eyes fell on a departing Cultivator. "Zhang Zhiheng, wait a moment," he called out.

The Cultivator paused, looking surprised. Zhang Zhiheng was no minor figure; he served as a steward for the Bloodsucker team and acted as its Deputy Commander. Since Zhao Hai held the position of Commander, Zhang Zhiheng was effectively his second-in-command and a regular participant in high-level briefings.

Zhang Zhiheng looked at Yan Bei with a puzzled expression, wondering why he had been singled out. Yan Bei scrutinized him and asked, "Zhang Heng, did you encounter anything unusual on the island? Anything out of the ordinary?" Even though Zhao Hai hadn't explained his departure, Yan Bei suspected an underlying issue had forced his hand.

Zhang Heng nodded after a brief hesitation. "We did run into a grave situation. We were ambushed by the Alliance forces, led by a blue-clad Cultivator skilled in poison. He likely belongs to the Corpse Demon Sect, as his curved blade matched the style of Pan Qianlong’s. More importantly, they utilized a disruption spell specifically designed to interfere with our puppets, causing them to malfunction. Because of that, we couldn't rely on the puppets during the battle on the Island of Fresh Blood. We had to rely entirely on our own strength."

Yan Bei immediately grasped the gravity of the situation. While Zhang Heng and the others didn't know the puppets' origins, Yan Bei knew Zhao Hai had crafted them all. If the enemy had discovered a weakness or a direct counter, the puppets would become liabilities. Losing the support of the puppet army would put their forces in extreme peril.

Exhaling a long sigh, Yan Bei said, "I see. You may return to your duties." Zhang Heng bowed and departed. Despite being in the Refinement Realm and technically holding a higher status than Yan Bei, Zhang Heng showed him great respect—not out of fear of Yan Bei himself, but out of reverence for the man standing behind him: Zhao Hai.

Yan Bei’s intuition was correct. Zhao Hai was currently preoccupied with the puppet issue. While neutralizing the blocking formation wasn't inherently difficult, the sheer scale of the problem was daunting. Modifying millions of puppets was no small feat.

Zhao Hai’s primary goal was efficiency. He needed a solution that was both simple to implement and effective, allowing him to fix the entire army in the shortest time possible. He eventually settled on using magnetic barrier plates. These plates lacked traditional defensive stats but could generate a specialized energy field around a puppet to intercept disruption spells.

These magnetic cards were forged from a specific magnetic metal. They could be attached directly to a puppet's frame, drawing power from the puppet's own internal energy-gathering array. This solved the power supply issue. Once attached, the card became an integral part of the puppet, staying fixed unless removed by extreme physical force.

Furthermore, Zhao Hai updated the puppet production lines to include a new integrated array. This ensured that all future units would be naturally immune to interruption talismans. Whether the enemy would find a new way to counter them remained to be seen.

The Blood Slaughter Sect wouldn't depend on these basic puppets forever, though. Throughout the recent conflicts, they had harvested a massive quantity of Dark Souls, which were being transferred into advanced puppet shells. These new models, while not yet on par with Zhao Hai’s twelve armored guardians, were significantly more powerful than the standard units.

It took Zhao Hai three days to retool the production lines. After churning out a vast supply of magnetic cards, he sent a large batch to the Sect and took the remainder back to Serum Island to upgrade the existing forces.

By the time Zhao Hai finished these tasks, five days had passed since Pan Qianlong’s death. Upon his return to Serum Island, he noted that the defensive arrays for both Serum and Blood Hawk Islands were still unfinished. He immediately took charge of the reconstruction while delegating the installation of the magnetic cards to his subordinates.

Zhao Hai remained deeply invested in the study of Dharma arrays. He began mentoring disciples who showed talent or interest in the field, hoping to cultivate a group that could handle these tasks without his constant supervision. He also kept the Sect updated on the Western Defense Line's progress. Thousand Blade and the other leaders acted swiftly, dispatching experts from the Dharma Array Hall to study under Zhao Hai.

The Blood Slaughter Sect had historically struggled with large-scale formations, and their island defenses were often mediocre. Zhao Hai’s arrays, however, were on a completely different level of sophistication. Recognizing the value of this knowledge, the Sect sent their best array masters to learn from him.

In the Blood Slaughter Sect, management was generally relaxed as long as one remained loyal and followed the basic rules. The Sect didn't typically seize treasures or secret techniques from disciples; instead, they offered rewards for contributions. This encouraged disciples to complete tasks willingly.

While Zhao Hai’s tactical genius was a unique gift, his knowledge of arrays could be taught, and he was happy to share it to lighten his own workload. The Sect leadership was also increasingly impressed by his results at the Western Defense Line.

Earlier, when nearly half the islands were lost, many within the Sect had called for Zhao Hai’s head. However, Dao Qianzhan had shielded him, honoring his promise that Zhao Hai wouldn't be punished for early losses. Zhao Hai had predicted the initial retreat, and though the Sect Leader had been skeptical and pressured by the mounting losses, he had held his ground. He couldn't move against Zhao Hai without hurting his own reputation or offending Ha Jing, Zhao Hai’s powerful Grandmaster. He could only wait and see if Zhao Hai would truly lose the entire line.

When the counterattack finally began, the Sect Leader knew his patience had paid off. The strike was devastating. Although they hadn't reclaimed all the territory yet, they had eliminated the enemy commander and wiped out hundreds of thousands of Alliance troops. The losses sustained by the opposing sects were staggering.

Since this was only the start of the offensive, the Sect Leader was delighted. When Zhao Hai offered to teach the Sect’s disciples his advanced magical formations, there was no reason to refuse. The leadership had come to realize that some problems required more than just brute force—they required the specialized expertise Zhao Hai provided.