When Zhao Zhuyin walked over, the radiance had already faded from her body, and she was muttering: "You could've said so earlier."
"If you'd told me that factions could be joined freely, I wouldn't have wasted so much time."
This scene instantly infuriated the young master of the Red Soul Sect, who had just been feeling pleased with himself.
After all, Zhao Zhuyin was a True God realm cultivator. Such a powerful fighter defecting to Chu Feng's side put him in a very difficult position.
Because he had originally planned to crush Chu Feng and his group by force once all the volunteers had come over to his side.
After all, rumors held that Chu Feng had obtained the Origin of the Veins — such a fat prize, and he naturally had no intention of letting it go.
If he could capture Chu Feng, that would be an enormous merit indeed.
But with Zhao Zhuyin joining Chu Feng's side, the difficulty of executing his plan would undoubtedly increase tremendously.
Left with no choice, the young master of the Red Soul Sect asked: "Miss, you are an ancient clan descendant after all — why would you choose to join them?"
His tone carried no anger, only confusion tinged with a hint of grievance.
Seeing him like this, Zhao Zhuyin paused and turned back: "Because Chu Feng and I are friends."
"They know each other?"
Zhao Zhuyin's words struck like a bolt of thunder, leaving everyone's minds reeling for a long while.
This was truly unexpected, yet perfectly logical.
Though it was hard to believe, it explained exactly why this powerful woman had intervened when the young master of the Red Soul Sect attacked Chu Feng and the others earlier.
At this point, the young master of the Red Soul Sect no longer knew how to persuade her.
But that single word — "friends" — undoubtedly made his goal of targeting Chu Feng far more difficult to achieve.
Meanwhile, Zhao Zhuyin had already arrived before Chu Feng, but rather than merging directly with the formation, she looked up and asked: "Chu Feng, may I join?"
"Of course. A friend joining — very welcome," Chu Feng said with a smile.
Hum— Radiance bloomed around Zhao Zhuyin as she successfully joined Chu Feng's faction.
Though Zhao Zhuyin's arrival was surprising, it did nothing to stop the defections from Chu Feng's side.
After all, for the younger generation of this era, the name of the Seven Realms Holy Land was the most terrifying thing of all. They truly did not dare to offend it.
And so in the blink of an eye, the numbers flipped.
The Red Soul Sect's side, which had originally numbered only around a thousand, now had nearly ten thousand.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng's side was left with just over three hundred. A large portion of these were people Chu Feng had helped teach a lesson to the Red Soul Sect earlier.
They felt that Chu Feng had done them a favor, and since the Red Soul Sect also had a grudge against them, they chose to remain on Chu Feng's side.
But not everyone Chu Feng had helped chose to follow him. Some had given up as well.
They wanted to join neither the Red Soul Sect's side nor, out of fear of the Seven Realms Holy Land, dared to associate with Chu Feng. They could only abandon both and join no one.
"Chu Feng, you may be a cultivator of the current generation, but it seems you're not very popular," the young master of the Red Soul Sect said, gazing at the stark contrast in numbers. He seemed to have forgotten all about Zhao Zhuyin's defection and was once again putting on an arrogant display.
"If I were so unpopular, how would this young lady have joined me?"
"As for those who joined you — they're nothing but fair-weather fence-sitters. Forget a few thousand — even tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of them couldn't compare to this young lady alone," Chu Feng retorted.
But rather than being fazed by Chu Feng's counter, the young master of the Red Soul Sect only laughed even more smugly: "Don't you realize that what matters here is numbers?"
"Of course I realize it. I received that hint too. If not for it, why else would you have suddenly changed your mind? You just want more people in your faction so you can claim more benefits — that's all," Chu Feng shot back.
Hearing this, the expressions of the younger generation members who had joined the ancient faction turned complicated. They believed this to be true.
Though it was a matter of mutual benefit, being used by a descendant of the ancients still left an unpleasant taste.
"Yes, I do want to claim more benefits. But don't forget — the prerequisite is that I give them help. I am confident I can do that. Can you?"