Elder Gong witnessed the entire process and offered an unceremonious critique.
"You didn't control your strength properly. It might have something to do with using a stone-mining chisel as your tool—you used too much force. Felling trees requires skillful force, not brute strength. You still need to practice that carefully.
"However, your center of gravity is very steady, and you have a good grasp of balance. You probably won't fall."
Xu Chunniang glanced at the snowy pine branch in her hand, a faint smile appearing on her face. "Thank you for the guidance, Elder Gong."
"Heh, if you master the techniques for felling Snow-Accumulating Pines sooner, you can repay the Immortal Crystals you owe me sooner. By helping you, I'm really helping myself too."
Elder Gong shook his head, ignored Xu Chunniang, and went off to find a thick Snow-Accumulating Pine to chop down.
Xu Chunniang withdrew her gaze, put away the snowy pine branch in her hand, recalled the force she had used with the stone-mining chisel earlier, pulled over another branch, restrained her strength, and continued trying.
Both of them were busy with their work. For a time, the only sound on the lone cliff was the collision of tools against Snow-Accumulating Pines being felled.
Crack! Another crisp sound rang out as Elder Gong successfully felled his second Snow-Accumulating Pine.
After swinging his axe for so long, a thin sheen of sweat covered him, and his face was flushed.
A mountain wind blew past, stirring Elder Gong's full head of silver-white hair. Set against the ice and snow on the lone cliff, he truly looked somewhat like an immortal with the bearing of a sage.
He turned to glance at Xu Chunniang. Seeing that one-third of the branches on the Snow-Accumulating Pine she was felling had already been