Yunxi listened to the old woman's words and felt there was a great deal of information hidden within them. Lowering her eyes, she began to think.
First, this tribe's presence within the Secret Realm was no accident—it had been arranged by someone.
The old woman's ancestors had sent them into the Secret Realm in order to preserve their people. Clearly, leaving the Secret Realm would bring disastrous consequences. Either they had offended a powerful enemy and had been forced to hide for a time, or they possessed something precious enough to invite covetous eyes and had no choice but to take refuge in the Secret Realm.
Second, the people of this tribe were not native inhabitants of the Secret Realm. That was why they were harassed by the colossal beasts here. Over the long years, the defensive measures laid down by the old woman's ancestors had likely failed, and they had suffered grievous casualties in their battles against the beasts, forcing them to shrink their territory.
Third, although the old woman had not said so outright, they must have learned the Secret Realm's secrets and traded with cultivators who entered it to train, obtaining resources to protect the tribe and stumbling onward until now.
But this time, the Secret Realm had remained sealed for too long—so long that only these few tribespeople remained. That was why the old woman was so eager to strike a deal with Yunxi and let her people survive.
Most importantly, those excessively greedy cultivators had ultimately failed to leave the Secret Realm. This was also a hint to Yunxi not to make demands that were too outrageous.
After sorting through all this, Yunxi raised her head and said, "What do you want, Elder?"
The old woman seemed to have expected Yunxi to compromise. She said