Living In Another World With A Farm Chapter 8482 8482: Surrender (1)
Previously on Living In Another World With A Farm...
The sight of Xu Gang's face left the others in shock. Soon, a few caught on to his reasons for acting that way. Yet, Zhao Hai's points rang true to them. Xu Gang's actions held no faults. As lone cultivators, they endured harsher and more brutal conditions. So, they saw no issue with his choices. In fact, they viewed them as a positive move.
With that in mind, they started to reflect deeply. Moments later, several of the stronger ones clenched their jaws and bent low before Zhao Hai. "Boss, we're ready to join you!" These stood as the top forces among the leftover independent cultivators. Their submission sparked the rest to follow. All the independents knelt to Zhao Hai and pledged loyalty.
Zhao Hai scanned their faces and let out a hearty chuckle. "Excellent, excellent. Starting now, we're all comrades. We'll stir up the Ghostwind bandits' fame again. Head out and spot any fools bold enough to challenge us. We'll wipe out a handful of their bands first to build our teamwork. After that, we'll tackle the rest."
The group roared in agreement. Zhao Hai had ignited a fierce hunger deep inside them. They yearned to slay, ravage, and plunder. They craved seizing all they desired, fueling their thrill even higher. In a flash, the mood turned electric, and they itched for a clash.
Seeing their fired-up looks, Zhao Hai laughed once more. He flicked his wrist, summoning the Yin Wind Ghost Flag into his grasp. Swinging it high, he boomed, "Very well, advance!" As his words faded, dark mist poured from the Yin Wind Ghost Flag, enveloping the entire crew. Then, it soared forward. Instantly, the mist churned wildly, radiating a fearsome presence.
Two hours into the flight, a band of cultivators approached from the opposite direction. Zhao Hai's team halted at once and eyed the newcomers. Roughly a thousand strong, they followed a Refinement Realm master. But their appearances marked them as independents, not sect members.
The incoming cultivators stared back at Zhao Hai's group in alarm. The intimidating vibe from Zhao Hai's side truly unnerved them. Clutching the Yin Wind Ghost Flag, Zhao Hai eyed them and bellowed, "Zou Xiao arrives—surrender now!"
Hearing Zhao Hai declare himself, the smaller band froze briefly. Joy soon lit their features. The leading Refinement Realm experts glanced at Zhao Hai, then his followers. One burst into laughter and declared, "Hahaha, we've hunted everywhere for you, only for you to deliver yourself. Zou Xiao, we've sought you out, yet here you come to us. Hand over the Yin Wind Ghost Flag, Zou Xiao, or face our wrath."
Zhao Hai fixed his gaze on the speaker and grinned. In a grave tone, he replied, "You fools truly court disaster. Daring to spout such nonsense before me, the Ghostwind Bandits' leader. Brothers, gear up for battle. Our first target stands before us!" His followers thundered back, buzzing with eagerness. This marked their debut fight as Ghostwind Bandits, and they burned to witness its outcome.
Zhao Hai's opponents drew their Dharma artifacts too. They stared at Zhao Hai, who sneered and flourished the flag. Endless ghost soldiers materialized, lunging toward Xu Gang and the team. A shielding layer seemed to wrap around their forms. Their power surged noticeably, filling them with delight.
Zhao Hai brandished the flag and yelled, "Charge!" Echoing him, Xu Gang and the rest shouted, "Charge!" They surged ahead. Zhao Hai didn't lag; he gripped the flag and spearheaded the assault. Meanwhile, he swung it again, unleashing hordes of ghost soldiers that swarmed the foes.
The enemies' faces twisted in horror at the display. They recognized the item in Zhao Hai's hold as the Yin Wind Ghost Flag. But they never imagined he'd wield it so well. Chills ran down their spines as the sky filled with spectral warriors.
Yet Zhao Hai pressed on relentlessly. With no escape, they met the attack head-on. They brandished their magic tools against Zhao Hai's forces. First, they clashed with the ghost soldiers. Their strikes dispersed a few on impact, but swarms more overwhelmed them. Quickly, the specters buried them under numbers.
Xu Gang and his comrades sensed this as their most exhilarating fight ever. They barely needed to advance; enemies simply vanished beneath the ghost soldiers' tide. Even more astonishing, as the specters struck, their own Dharma power flowed as if they struck personally. Yet they felt no backlash from the soldiers' wounds, leaving them exhilarated.
It felt like donning unbreakable armor. They landed blows freely, while foes couldn't touch them. Such a sensation was utterly new. The biggest shock came when each foe fell—they felt their own might grow. This fired them up further. By now, the front-line enemies lay slaughtered.
Just then, Zhao Hai swept the flag, recalling all ghost soldiers into it. The group's heads cleared, the euphoric rush fading. Still, they noticed a subtle boost in their strength, sparking pure joy.
Zhao Hai eyed them and chuckled. "Well done, that hit the spot. Let's pause to recover and absorb this energy." With that, he swung the flag, pulling everyone into the Blood Sea. They trailed him to its depths, where he planted the flag in the ground. Black Qi billowed from it at once. Then, vast numbers of ghost soldiers emerged, forming a massive barrier around them, shielding the core. Inside this ring, not a hint of blood mist seeped through. This thrilled Xu Gang and the others even more.
"Fine, take a break. We'll proceed once we've processed the energy within," Zhao Hai commanded firmly. They acknowledged and dropped into cross-legged seats. They set to refining the pure blood Qi strand in their systems. Absorbing it promised great gains for their physiques and magical power.
Zhao Hai settled in too, but his thoughts turned to the Yin Wind Ghost Flag's might. Truth be told, its potency surprised him. It wasn't a tool for solo use but for entire armies. Zhao Hai saw its vast potential. The larger the group, the better it shone. Here, "group" meant the cultivators, not the ghost soldiers. During the clash, the Yin Wind Ghost Flag linked every cultivator to the specters. Their strength flowed into the soldiers, empowering them. Slain enemies' essence fed back through the flag to Xu Gang and the team as refined blood Qi.
The Yin Wind Ghost Flag echoed his past killing aura barrier, yet far surpassed it. The nether soldiers packed more punch. This stayed hidden during the Ghost Market raid, as the flag hadn't fully mended then, with few ghost soldiers inside. But after that massacre of nearly 100,000, the blood and souls revitalized it to full glory. That's what delivered today's spectacle.
Moreover, the flag offered another edge. It blocked the Blood Sea's blood mist and hid their presence, evading detection. A priceless asset. Zhao Hai now grasped why the Ghostwind Bandits proved so elusive once. With the flag, the Blood Sea became their domain—they struck or fled at will, untouchable by any foe.
That said, Zhao Hai knew its limits. Against deliberate pursuit, like the Gu insect's trace in him, the flag couldn't shield. But for masking auras, it worked perfectly.
Naturally, this didn't weaken the Yin Wind Ghost Flag's offensive side. Its strikes remained fierce, especially via the ghost cultivators' yin winds. For body cultivators, it served as a brutal melee tool with immense force. An average cultivator wielding it, though, wouldn't match the God-Slaying Saber's raw power. But for boosting an army, the God-Slaying Saber paled against the Yin Wind Ghost Flag.
Even so, it sufficed amply. The Yin Wind Ghost Flag's offense, while shy of the God-Slaying Saber's peak, stayed formidable. It brimmed with versatility, channeling collective might into unified blasts for even deadlier results. Zhao Hai felt sure the Ghostwind Bandits' fabled power got overstated. If truly that mighty, plus the Yin Wind Ghost Flag, no way could the Severe Sword Sect fell them—unless they fielded a ha Jing-like expert with the God-Slaying Saber. If the bandits matched those tales back then, it meant they hadn't fully mastered the Yin Wind Ghost Flag. Else, the Severe Sword Sect couldn't have crushed them, let alone damage the flag so badly.