"Did you all see what condition our people were in just now?"
Rather than answering, Qin Shaofeng pointed at the people lined up to heal and recover, then asked the question.
Everyone nodded subconsciously.
Only then did he continue, "If I hadn't been seriously injured, I would probably have been together with everyone else. Without the advantage of a clear view from the sidelines, we might not have discovered that something was wrong until several hours later."
"By then, even if everyone did not mutiny from losing hope of moving forward, the sudden relaxation would cause our combat strength to plummet."
"If that happened, once they confirmed our location, it would be no different from having us in the bag."
"What they call, 'The first drumbeat raises morale, the second weakens it, and the third exhausts it,' is precisely our current situation."
"With the Cloud Sea Sect threatening the Four Symbols Sect, they are unwilling to suffer losses lightly. This kind of gradual nibbling is the battle strategy most advantageous to them."
Qin Shaofeng laid out the situation bit by bit.
After hearing him finish, everyone sucked in a breath of cold air at once.
With even a little thought, the shock in their hearts grew all the more severe.
Just as Qin Shaofeng had said, everyone was already exhausted and drained of strength. They were only holding on by sheer force of will.
Once they felt safe and entered a resting state, letting that breath of resolve out, recovering their combat strength afterward would be far from easy.
Fortunately, Qin Shaofeng had discovered it early, preventing everyone from letting that breath go.
"Although we discovered the problem here, that does not mean the others will notice it as well. I sent them over to provide support partly because I