The space inside the Revival Temple wasn't large — just four or five low-level magic pulse bombs would easily cover it.
The repeated blasts didn't cause Xia Tianqi and his people to lose levels, but the damage to their weapons and equipment was severe — at least five pieces for some, six for others, nearly half of everything they had equipped. The resulting drop in combat power was obvious. Even though they still had superior numbers, they no longer posed a real threat to Jun Wuchang's group, given that the gap in their base stats already exceeded forty percent.
"Jun Wuchang, don't push it! We're all members of the Free Alliance!" Xia Tianqi glared at Jun Wuchang and Shi Feng through gritted teeth, the two having surrounded the Revival Temple's entrance. "Do you really want to make enemies of all ten fleets?"
If it had been just the Second and Fourth Fleets, Jun Wuchang could have brushed it off. But the crowd here included representatives from every fleet except the Third.
If Jun Wuchang made outright enemies of all ten fleets, he could forget about surviving in the Free Alliance ever again.
The only reason he'd been able to hold the Third Seat before was because the Free Adventurer Corps faction and the small guild faction were at odds, and the Corps had thrown their support behind him. Without that backing, his Third Fleet — relying on its own strength alone — would have been the Alliance's bottom-dwelling fleet in short order. Add to that the ostracism, and he wouldn't be able to get his hands on any resources worth mentioning.
Being forced out of the Free Alliance sooner or later would have been a foregone conclusion.
Jun Wuchang's expression darkened as he shot Xia Tianqi a venomous glare. Reluctantly, he leaned toward Shi Feng and whispered, "Brother Ye Feng, if we keep this up, we really will end up enemies with every fleet. That'll seriously derail our plans going forward."
A major reason he'd been able to become the Third Fleet's leader was that during every city-defense battle, he'd coordinated with the other Free Adventurer Corps fleets. If he burned that last bridge and got shut out of the inner circle, competing for the position of First Fleet leader down the road would become extraordinarily difficult.
"I understand." Shi Feng nodded.
"Good — at least you know when to back down, Jun Wuchang. We can let this matter rest for now. But you'd better return all the items belonging to our fleet members — they were ours to begin with. Otherwise, don't blame us for what comes next." Xia Tianqi watched Jun Wuchang's group, who had made no move for a while, and said with a grin.
This battle had cost him dearly.
Not only had he lost a small sailing vessel, but half of his top-tier weapons and equipment were gone. His elite subordinates had suffered equally heavy losses — who knew how long it would take to replace everything.
Naturally, he had to seize this chance to get it all back.
"Xia Tianqi is absolutely shameless! He ambushes us first, and now that he's losing, he tries to leverage the crowd against us!" Lan Xin seethed with rage, but there was nothing she could do about Xia Tianqi's thick-skinned tactics.
Just as Jun Wuchang was hesitating, Shi Feng used Silent Step to appear behind Xia Tianqi once more. With a gentle flick of the Holy Sword Thunder Slayer—
A streak of cyan sword light bloomed outward.
"You—!"
Xia Tianqi had only just realized what was happening. He couldn't fathom how Shi Feng would dare do this — dare to antagonize every fleet. Before he could say another word, his vision darkened, and he collapsed to the floor, dropping a Dark-Gold rank staff, which Shi Feng picked up without a second word.
The scene stunned everyone. Even Jun Wuchang stood slack-jawed, unable to stammer out a single word.
Jun Wuchang even wondered whether Shi Feng had understood a single word of what he'd just said.
"If you want to leave, it's simple. I'll give you three minutes from now. After that, only the fifty people still standing will be allowed to leave this Revival Temple. As for your spoils — we won't take them. Take them with you if you can. But the rest of you had better brace yourselves." Shi Feng swept a glance over everyone present, smiled faintly, and walked to the temple entrance, quietly watching the system's countdown.
Xia Tianqi might know how to leverage the crowd, but if he thought a fragile coalition like this could stand against him, he was at least a decade too early.