Xi Yue approached Sierra. However, right as he was about to place a finger over her forehead, she backed away, surprising him.

"Hmm? Is my gratitude perhaps too overbearing?"

"I saw what you just tried to do. I’m not doing it," Sierra replied.

Xuan and Yuelan were left confused.

After all, unbeknownst to them, Sierra had just sensed the intent in Xi Yue’s fingertips. He had planned on implanting a third eye into her, the same eye that would grant her another shot at life. As for her eyes that were badly damaged, he would take them.

Take them and implant new ones that didn’t work, but just acted like they did so he could spy on Xuan and Yuelan.

Sierra knew all that, and yet she held back all her thoughts and instead smiled at Xi Yue.

"I’m sorry, but I’m not really interested. You never asked how I felt. So let me set this straight... I don’t need my eyes. I can see what I want to see."

Xi Yue just stared at her for a moment, surprised by her response. Like most cultivators, he saw blindness as a flaw. A flaw that, when fixed, could greatly increase the strength of a cultivator.

But for that very same cultivator to reject such a grace...

"Pfft... I see. Then, Sierra, I also grant you the same opportunity I had granted Xuan and Yuelan. Do you accept?"

"Yes."

Her reply was instant, almost like that was exactly what she had been waiting for.

And finally...

"Good. In that case, I want you all to become Spirit Lords before I formally invite you to the trial chamber."

Xuan raised a brow.

"What? Is there some kind of twist to all of this where you parade us around like your three puppets?"

"More than three, and no, I’m not parading you as puppets," Xi Yue interjected. "My trial chamber is open for everyone, but only the chosen ones may enter the deepest levels. You will be granted that honor, but you need to have enough strength to not die to others."

"So basically, it’s a free-for-all with an extra chest at the end, then?" Yuelan chimed in.

Xuan didn’t really know what that meant, but Xi Yue seemed to understand.

"The chest at the end far outshines the entire free-for-all. So get strong, and once you’re strong enough, I’ll contact you."

With those words, he snapped his fingers, opening a portal that seemed to lead out into the ocean. If that was the case, then this portal was the exit.

Xuan still couldn’t really believe how it turned out, since he not only got a powerful benefactor whose true strength he didn’t know but also a new goal to look toward.

And Spirit Lord... It wasn’t that far away.

If he brewed a couple dozen pills and cultivated in them just like Yuelan did, then he could boost his cultivation speed significantly. In a year or two, he might be able to reach it.

Xuan blinked, and just like that, Xi Yue vanished without a trace, leaving behind a stunned Gabriel. However, Gabriel soon snapped out of it and narrowed his eyes.

"Did you get what you wanted?"

"Yep. We won’t be trying to kill you anymore. Also... is there any way you could help my friends downstairs? They suck at climbing tall mountains," Xuan replied.

Gabriel let out a sigh, then backed off. Once he was no longer in sight, his domain vanished, revealing the temple that had been slightly destroyed from their clash.

But thankfully, it was over.

"I was expecting it to be a harlot, if I’m being honest," Xuan said, plopping down on his ass.

Yuelan chuckled.

"You know, if you ogle every woman you see, your eyes might fall out."

"According to who?"

"Me."

She puffed out her chest proudly and slumped down beside him.

"In case it wasn’t obvious, that Xi Yue is actually a woman. She has some kind of body modification thingy, but Sierra should know better, right?"

Sierra sighed.

"Indeed... it was a woman."

"Huh."

Well damn.

"I’ll have to conquer her then," Xuan said half-jokingly.

Yuelan’s brow twitched.

"You have Hanbi fawning over you, that one woman from before, and now even Sierra... and you still want more?"

"Me? I’m not—"

"Hehe. I’m just kidding," Xuan cut Sierra off, and then just stretched out his legs.

"Honestly, I didn’t even have one normal girlfriend for longer than a month, so the thought of having so many beautiful women love me is a little bit... I don’t know how to explain it."

"But I guess yeah. I’m open to having a lot of women. So long as those women remain faithful to me and love me as much as I love them, I’ll protect them forever."

Yuelan grumbled.

"Whatever way you explain it, don’t you dare set your sights on me. Even if we’re not related, I’d never be your woman."

Hearing that, Xuan just scoffed.

"I don’t need to do anything. The day you find someone you like is the day I win my 10th lottery in a row. In short, with your shitty personality, I doubt you’ll ever find someone."

"Humph."

She turned away with a pout. Xuan did the same.

As for Sierra, she just rubbed the back of her neck with an uncomfortable expression and simply waited for the others to arrive.

Just a few minutes later, Hanbi ran into the temple, followed by Hua Liang and Huang Shuying. Hanbi seemed pissed, and once she saw Xuan, she became even more pissed.

"How dare you have a whole fight without inviting me?"

"It gave you time to bond with the two shadows, though, didn’t it?" Xuan replied.

Hanbi’s brows twitched repeatedly.

"You know what? How depressing their lives used to be? In the Lower Heavens, and especially in the Serene Blossom Valley sect, such behavior would make us purge half of a continent at least. How else would someone repay such a blood feud?"

Ah.

She wasn’t really mad at Xuan and Yuelan.

Instead, she was mad at the people who kept Hua Liang and Huang Shuying captive.

Xuan respected that. He also really liked that Hanbi was starting to step out of her shell, acting more feminine and more open-minded.

That was great...

Anyhow, Xuan glanced over to Gabriel, and then at the portal.

It was about time they left.