Living In Another World With A Farm Chapter 8497: Lucky survivors (1)

Zhao Hai soared ahead, his face serene. Abruptly, a faint ripple ahead drew his focus. In his mode of utter rationality, he picked up on every minor disturbance. Precisely for that reason, this particular ripple seized his interest.

His body shifted, propelling the blood lotus beneath him toward that spot. Within moments, he hovered right over the disturbance. Zhao Hai observed it closely and discovered the ripple stemmed from within the blood sea. Deeper still, beneath the surface. Without delay, he plunged into the blood sea. He needed to uncover the source of that ripple.

Before long, Zhao Hai reached the blood sea's depths. There, a fractured sword emerged before him. It bore a bronze hue, though now it appeared worn and ragged. Innumerable magical formations adorned its blade, yet they glowed faintly, almost extinguished. Dark patches marred the sword's surface. These stains crept gradually across other sections. Though their advance was sluggish, it persisted. Each day, as the darkness engulfed a formation, that formation faded entirely, drained of all vibrancy.

Zhao Hai's gaze sharpened at the sight of the sword. He recognized it instantly as the bronze statue. He was intimately familiar with the formations etched upon the bronze statue. He also knew its sword manifestation well. Thus, Zhao Hai identified the blade as the bronze statue without doubt.

Gazing upon the sword's damaged form, it spanned merely two-thirds of its former size. The point had clearly snapped off. Myriad black flecks clustered at the broken end. The whole weapon exuded an aura of lifelessness, yet Zhao Hai sensed a faint spark of life within it. He understood clearly that this spark originated not from the blade alone, but from a living being concealed inside.

Still, Zhao Hai realized he couldn't free the entity trapped within just yet. Nor could he attempt to extract it directly. First, the sword required restoration before any release. Forcing it out now risked grave injury to the one inside. He refused to take such a chance.

With that in mind, Zhao Hai's intent stirred. The blood lotus unleashed a pulling force at once, drawing the sword straight into itself. In truth, this was merely a facade. Once the sword vanished into the blood lotus, Zhao Hai slipped inside after it, then transferred it to the space. The elaborate steps arose from his suspicion that the black haze was more treacherous than it appeared. Direct contact with the haze might allow escape, but wielding space power outright could alert foes. By funneling the sword through the blood lotus into the space, suspicion stayed low. Even witnesses would assume the blood lotus held its own inner dimension as a mere artifact. No one would probe further or uncover the space.

The instant the sword entered the space, a system prompt rang out. "High-level energy surge detected. Initiating extraction. Extraction unsuccessful. Extraction unsuccessful. Extraction unsuccessful. Extraction unsuccessful. Extraction unsuccessful. Extraction complete. High-level death energy acquired. High-level death energy integrated. Integration successful. Space enhanced!" With these words, Zhao Hai felt a subtle tremor ripple through the space, then subside.

Zhao Hai scanned his surroundings and noted no alterations. Puzzled, he recalled the prompt right away. His eyes gleamed. He shifted and stepped into the hell dimension. Upon arrival, he saw profound changes had swept the realm. The bone mountains endured, but their skeletal masses had transformed. No longer stark white, they now shimmered with a jade-like pallor. The yin energy throughout the hellscape had thickened. The blood pools had deepened to a richer crimson. Yet Zhao Hai sensed their blood energy had intensified markedly. Above all, every undead spirit in the domain had advanced. Even the fresh, mindless ones boasted far greater power than previously. The boost spanned multiple levels.

Zhao Hai yearned to test the changes personally, but he knew pressing duties awaited. Thus, he withdrew to the primary space. The sword remained in its ruined state, unchanged from its statue guise. Zhao Hai examined it and saw the damage had worsened. He promptly channeled a spell into the blade. Simultaneously, with a gesture, several unbound souls from the hell space materialized. They surged directly into the sword.

No sooner had the souls merged with the sword than it burst into radiant light. The blade quivered faintly, then reshaped into a vast formation. Instantly, a cluster of figures materialized within the array. At that moment, the space's voice declared, "Unsubmitted awareness detected. Commencing subjugation!" A flash of white light enveloped the group. Unconscious as they were, they offered no resistance. The light bathed them and faded, yet they remained insensible.

Zhao Hai regarded the group with astonishment. Members of the bloodsucker team and the divine Arms Battalion stood among them. He even spotted Zhu Yong and Gou ‘Zi. Joy surged through Zhao Hai. He had believed them lost forever, yet here they lived. This revelation filled him with immense delight. He swiftly probed their conditions with his spiritual sense and detected severe wounds. That explained their prolonged stupor; the injuries were grave indeed.

Zhao Hai promptly shaped the great Vajra Wheel Seal and bellowed, “Soldiers!” As the command echoed, a golden Buddha emblem materialized overhead. It descended gradually, enveloping the group. Finally, the emblem permeated their forms and sank into the earth, vanishing.

Once the emblem fully dissolved, the group stirred. Each shifted slightly, then pried open their eyes. Recollection hit them like a thunderbolt; they leaped to their feet. They scanned the area wildly. Spotting Zhao Hai, they froze in disbelief, then lit up with rapture. But sorrow swiftly overtook their joy. In unison, they dropped to their knees before him. Wen Yuming and Chang Jun, at the forefront, wailed, “Island master! Wuwuwuwu!” Their cries gave way to heaving sobs.

Zhao Hai observed them and formed the Fudo seal with his hands. He intoned, “Lin!” The utterance resonated like tolling bells at dawn and dusk, piercing their souls. Though grief lingered, calm gradually settled over them.

Zhao Hai fixed his gaze on Chang Jun and Wen Yuming and spoke gravely, “Chang Jun, explain this. Who dares oppose my blood slaughter sect? Tell me!” Still immersed in absolute rationality, Zhao Hai posed the most logical query, the one burning foremost in his mind.

By now, Chang Jun had composed himself. With a face etched in anguish, he replied, “Island Lord, it’s divine punishment! Our blood slaughter sect has suffered the divine retribution!” His tone brimmed with boundless dread, as if uttering those words invoked a curse of terror. He shuddered involuntarily at their mere mention.

“Divine punishment?!” Zhao Hai recoiled in shock upon hearing it. He had never fathomed the blood slaughter sect's downfall tied to divine punishment. Of course, he grasped its nature. As a core disciple of the blood slaughter sect—and the most cherished one—nearly all sect records lay open to him. Zhao Hai had seized every chance to amass knowledge, devouring virtually every document in the archives. Thus, he knew divine punishment intimately.

In essence, divine punishment meant an assault from a supreme being in the upper realms upon a lower realm sect. The spiritual array sect had crumbled in a single night to such a strike. Back then, it had wielded immense might. Zhao Hai had never suspected the blood slaughter sect would face the same fate. The revelation stunned him utterly.

“Detail it fully—what precisely occurred,” Zhao Hai urged Chang Jun at once. As a prime disciple of the blood slaughter sect, Zhao Hai commanded far deeper insights than Chang Jun or the rest. Though Chang Jun and his comrades now rivaled Island Lord strength, their standing in the sect paled beside Zhao Hai's. Hence, countless classified sect secrets eluded their grasp.

Zhao Hai understood divine punishment as an onslaught from an upper realm powerhouse against a lower realm faction. This much was common knowledge. What escaped the masses, however, was that the ten great sects stood immune to it. Lesser sects endured divine punishment due to lacking upper realm patrons or because those patrons had perished. That invited the upper realm titans' wrath. The ten great sects differed; each boasted ancestors in the upper realms. These forebears shielded them from rival powers' assaults, sparing the ten from divine retribution. The blood slaughter sect followed suit, with its own upper realm ally. Its founder resided there too, ensuring no such punishment should befall them.

Yet divine punishment had struck them now. Under absolute rationality, Zhao Hai deduced a dire truth. Catastrophe had surely befallen the blood slaughter sect's upper realm supporter. The founder himself must have met ruin. Nothing else could explain the divine punishment's arrival. It was inconceivable otherwise.

This realization fueled Zhao Hai's profound shock. He demanded Chang Jun's full account. He needed to identify the assailant against the blood slaughter sect. Only then could he pinpoint the foe. And with the enemy known, he could devise strategies to confront, vanquish, and eradicate them!