"Xuanxi, should we move somewhere else? He Ziyi is no one to trifle with, and your health..."
Having seen Xuanxi's earlier condition, Granny Pear Blossom's concern was now more genuine than feigned. Xuanxi offered no further reassurance, merely clutching her chest without speaking.
Only after a long while did Xuanxi speak again.
"First... first, let's rest for a while. Once I weather this, I'll be fine. Compared to what I gained, it was all worth it."
On another mountaintop, the woman who had just left was looking back toward the Cliff Grotto. She nudged a rock beside her with her foot, and a faint wisp of smoke soon rose.
A spirit monster covered in lumps appeared beside her, looking at her fearfully.
"What did they say?"
The spirit monster hesitated before answering.
"Their cultivation is too high. I... I couldn't listen, s-so I didn't hear clearly..."
The woman turned her face toward him, then abruptly seized his throat, producing a series of cracking sounds.
"Urgh... urgh..."
The spirit monster trembled in agony, gripping the woman's arm with both hands. Yet he could not contend with the enormous strength in that slender arm and was forced to his knees.
"Don't spurn the favor you're offered. Serve me well, and I'll help you become a Mountain God someday. If you refuse, there's no reason to keep you alive!"
With that, the woman released him. The spirit monster knelt on the ground, taking a while to recover before looking up.
"I... I really didn't dare get too close, but I vaguely heard a few things. The older one wanted to leave and take shelter elsewhere. The younger one seemed injured and said she needed to weather it. Apparently, she'd gained so much that all the suffering was worth it."
"Gained so much..."
He