Living In Another World With A Farm Chapter 8558: Exterminated _1

The moment Zhao Hai's palm grazed the energy barrier, a swirl of intricate, thumbnail-sized magical formations manifested atop his hand. These shifting sigils were tethered by shimmering threads of energy, rotating in a continuous dance. Before long, several formations flared with radiance. As they surged with power, the defensive shield beneath Zhao Hai’s touch rippled outward, encompassing him entirely. Zhao Hai found himself safely nestled within the protective perimeter.

Once inside the veil, Zhao Hai shifted his stance, his form merging seamlessly into the island’s shadows. Moments later, he surfaced in a desolate corner of the land. After scanning his surroundings and offering a faint smile, he gestured, causing a cluster of dark mist to coalesce in his palm. With a casual flick, the obsidian haze dissipated, vanishing into the ether completely.

Zhao Hai drifted into the island’s depths, vanishing once more. An hour passed before he appeared on the surface again. By this time, the island had succumbed to a heavy slumber, with even the patrol guards slumped over in their spots.

Witnessing this, Zhao Hai smirked. Arrayed in a pitch-black cloak that obscured his identity, he unleashed a globule of golden light onto the island’s surface. A faint tremor rocked the ground, followed by a sharp pop as the island’s defensive barrier shattered into wisps of nothingness.

Summoning a magical formation from his robes, Zhao Hai murmured a brief command and stood in patient silence. Within fifteen minutes, a legion of men dressed in black emerged from the gloom. They bowed in respectful silence; Zhao Hai merely returned the nod and signaled for them to begin. Without hesitation, they fanned out, systematically dispatching every sleeping soul they encountered with cold, precise strikes of their daggers.

The column pushed forward with ruthless efficiency, meeting zero resistance. Zhao Hai hovered in the air, his eyes tracking the silent slaughter below. The entire spectacle unfolded like a gruesome, muted performance.

Zhao Hai felt nothing. As a pragmatist, the method of execution mattered little; the final result was the only thing that concerned him. He held no preference for honorable combat over stealthy liquidation. If he chose to strike openly, it would be for a specific design, but tonight, silence was a necessity.

Targeting the enemy in daylight was clearly impossible. Excessive commotion would risk alerting the Yin Yang sect, potentially revealing the connection between his forces and the Ghostwind bandits. That was an outcome he was determined to avoid, hence this calculated, nocturnal approach.

The group soon reached the heart of the Tang family island—a grand manor that served as the nerve center for their operations. Within its walls resided the most vital members of the clan, including the recently returned masters of the island. Exterminating everyone here would effectively spell the end of the Tang family.

While his subordinates infiltrated the manor, a sudden realization struck Zhao Hai. His eyes glinting with menace, he zipped toward a specific room. A surge of lethal black Qi erupted from his hand, pouring into the chamber. Moments later, the mist drifted back, dragging a captive in its wake.

The man had been meditating cross-legged. Now, ensnared by the dark energy and thrust into the open, a flicker of panic crossed his features. Zhao Hai descended before the captive, his hand snapping shut around the man’s throat. With a single, forceful motion, he crushed the windpipe.

A look of profound hatred and bewilderment marred the man’s face as he gazed at Zhao Hai in his final moments. Typically, Zhao Hai might have traded words to demoralize an opponent before the kill, but tonight he remained mute. The victim died in a state of absolute frustration, denied even a moment to purge the toxins ravaging his system.

The man Zhao Hai had executed was none other than Tang Zhengchun, the patriarch of the Tang family. Having consumed a rare heavenly treasure, he possessed a potent resistance to toxins. However, Zhao Hai’s concoction—a colorless, odorless blend of complex poisons—was too potent to be ignored. Tang Zhengchun hadn't detected it until he felt his internal Dharma power stagnate, prompting a desperate, failed attempt to flush the poison out.

Before he could react, Zhao Hai had arrived to snuff out his life without delay. It was an ignoble end—had he not been poisoned, a prolonged clash would have been inevitable, likely demanding Zhao Hai call upon his black blade. But Zhao Hai left him no such opportunity.

Zhao Hai’s approach mirrored that of a master assassin: avoid all unnecessary discourse. Talking against an enemy was an invitation to disaster; therefore, lethal strikes were delivered without the slightest hesitation.

Once Tang Zhengchun fell, the operation concluded without further incident. Every living soul on the Tang family island was eradicated. The cleanup Crew went to work, retrieving all resources and removing the corpses. Zhao Hai specifically ordered them to leave the faithful slaves untouched, knowing that a mass disappearance of slaves would surely link the atrocity back to his own faction at the Blood River Sea. By ignoring the servants, he preserved their cover.

Operations on the remaining islands proceeded with equal success, as they lacked any serious defenders. While breaching the protective shields consumed more time than it had for Zhao Hai’s team, the tasks were largely finished by the time his own raid had concluded. Upon completing their mission, the squads converged via teleportation formations, met their boat, and promptly sailed away from the Yin Yang sect’s territory.

The boat had been stationed nearby solely for extraction purposes, as teleportation to the vessel required close proximity—a limitation that did not apply to Zhao Hai himself, but was necessary for his subordinates.

Back in the safety of the origin space, the loot was deposited into the warehouse. Zhao Hai rewarded his fighters generously before organizing the sale of the surplus goods.

The bodies of the Tang family members were not squandered; Zhao Hai allowed them to be absorbed by the vessel, effectively fueling the Cold Wind Ghost Flag. This bolstered the ship’s strength and expanded his army of ghost soldiers, while the higher-level cultivators provided prime material for refining into battle corpses.

As Zhao Hai settled into the aftermath of the raid, news of the Tang family’s disappearance finally broke. The Blood Sea Realm was thrust into chaos. Word spread that not only had the family vanished, but every asset had been stripped from their compounds. Panic intensified when reports confirmed that the soul-tablets of every senior Tang member, kept within the Yin Yang sect, had shattered simultaneously.

Twenty islands and a prestigious family were wiped out in complete silence. The sheer scale of such a feat left everyone terrified. Who possessed the power to execute such a precise annihilation? Some wondered if it were the Ghostwind bandits, yet the total lack of evidence didn't align with their typical methods of carnage.

Following closely, rumors emerged from the Yin Yang sect claiming they had dispatched inspectors to Tang Island. Although scavenged clean, the island was still stained with traces of dried blood, proving that the inhabitants had been slaughtered without ever raising a finger in defense. This report sent shockwaves through the region.

Outside observers were baffled that a family led by thirty Island Masters could be so easily erased. The people of the Yin Yang sect, however, grasped the true gravity of the situation. The Tang family was no mere clique; their patriarch, Tang Zhengchun, was a formidable expert at the Dharma-opening realm. The fact that someone so powerful could be dispatched without even a clash was chilling.

The mystery deepened as onlookers speculated on the nature of the poison used. Why was it so potent that it left the victims paralyzed? And why go to the trouble of manually killing them if the poison was already lethal? The mechanics of the tragedy had turned into an unsolvable enigma.