Eternal Temptation: Awakening Sinful Desires

The moment Asher turned around, he saw a beautiful woman standing not too far away from him. She had long black hair tied in a high bun and pale white skin. Her eyes were turquoise in color, while her lips were soft pink. She wore a white cheongsam with golden patterns embroidered on it that made her look elegant.

"What are you waiting for? I know that you have seen everything." Asher spoke to the woman, who revealed herself after witnessing him bury the couple. He had noticed her presence just after meeting Li Xueli, but she had remained hidden and had watched their entire exchange until now.

She stared at him for a moment before glancing towards where Asher had just buried the couple and the corpse of Li Xueli that was still lying on the ground. Then she looked back at Asher with her turquoise eyes shimmering with interest and spoke in a soft voice that sounded melodious to the ears, "Why did you do that? They are already dead."

Hearing her question, Asher raised his eyebrows as he replied, "Is there a reason for me to not bury them?"

"Well, yes," the woman responded. "They are not important to you. There's no benefit for you to put them to rest like that."

Asher nodded his head, agreeing with her statement before responding, "Indeed, I didn't know them. Yet, I still did it. Why? Because I wanted to."

The woman frowned when she heard his simple answer but soon nodded her head with a smile as she realized his meaning, "So, you are saying that since you had the choice and the opportunity to do so, it's better to honor the dead rather than ignore them. Right?"

"Something like that. As simple as it sounds, it makes sense to do what is right. Don't you agree?"

"Hmm... I see... Indeed, it makes sense to do the right thing when given the chance," the woman muttered with a thoughtful expression before looking at Li Xueli's headless corpse on the ground and asking, "Then, what are you going to do about him?"

"Good question... What should I do?" Asher pondered aloud as he gazed upon the decapitated corpse lying in a pool of its own blood before turning his attention back to the woman and answering, "Nothing. I will leave him to rot here in this place, where it would become food for the worms. Or maybe some predator would come along and devour his remains. It doesn't matter."

"Why not just bury him like you did for the other couple?" the woman asked.

Asher stared at her for a moment without responding. He could see that she had an unusual curiosity about him and his actions. However, he didn't think much of it and instead asked a question of his own, "If someone killed your family or a loved one, would you bury them with respect after their death? Or would you just leave their bodies to rot after their deaths?"

After hearing his words, the woman remained silent as her eyes flashed with anger, followed by a look of pain, but soon she calmed down and answered with an emotionless voice, "I guess I would choose the latter option."

"Well, then, there's your answer. He's a murderer who slaughters innocents and people weaker than him for fun. He's a disgusting creature that deserves neither respect nor compassion.

If anything, I believe he would be more useful with having his body turned into food for the wild beasts in this forest than being buried." Asher explained with a shrug before dismissing the matter with a wave of his hand as he asked with an indifferent tone, "Anyway, since you are here, are you going to fight me to get my token?"

The woman blinked twice and then stared at him with a confused expression on her face as she questioned, "Why would I want to fight you for it? I never intended to steal the tokens of others through fighting anyway. Besides, I was just curious about your actions in helping those who were already dead.

I don't think there would be many people who would bury them with respect even if they were given the choice."

Asher nodded his head upon hearing her words before speaking again. "I see. Well, then, let me introduce myself to you. My name is Asher Blake. Who might you be? Miss...?"

Upon hearing his introduction, the woman smiled as she introduced herself. "My name is Zhang Meiling. Nice to meet you, Asher."

"Nice to meet you, Meiling." Asher replied with a warm smile as he offered his hand for a handshake. "This is not the best situation, but since we met, I think it's good for us to get acquainted. Is there anything else you want to ask? Otherwise, I'll be taking my leave now."

Zhang Meiling shook her head as she placed her delicate palm in Asher's hand before shaking it while replying, "No, I don't think so. Although I would love to chat with you some more, you're right. This is not the right time to do so."

"Okay then. Take care of yourself." Asher spoke as he released her hand and turned around before activating his token to enter the next stage. With the points from Li Xueli's token, he had more than enough to qualify for the next stage.

---

On the other hand, outside the stage covered by the mystical dome, a large screen was projected to display the battle of the participants. It showed every event happening within the forest in real-time. However, since there were too many participants, it split the screen into numerous sections so that the viewers could observe multiple scenes at once.

At this moment, it displayed several key fights that had taken place within the stage, and one of them was Yuan Long defeating a High-Stage Rank 3-Star Beast with his light falcon spirit, Solara.

It attracted the attention of the Elder Kong Yu, who also had light element affinity, which was too rare in the world of cultivation. He saw Yuan Long's spirit and was mesmerized by its brilliance and power.

However, since he was participating in the Twilight Mist Sect's trial and seemed close to finishing the first phase of the test, he knew that he wouldn't have the chance to recruit him as a disciple of the Heaven's Glory Palace. Therefore, all he could do was spectate and admire it from afar.

Yet, while he was watching Yuan Long, he witnessed something that left him stunned for a moment before he turned towards Cai Xinyi, who had an amused expression on her face as she stated with a chuckle, "Hehe... I didn't think that Yan'er would use such a move to defeat a participant and secure his token."

"Humph. This is ridiculous! Is that what you taught your daughter, Matriarch Cai? To cheat others through trickery? And although that boy fell for your daughter's trick, I still find his talent to be quite exceptional. If possible, I would like to bring him into Heaven's Glory Palace.

I'm sure he will grow into a great cultivator." Elder Kong Yu spoke in an arrogant manner towards the woman sitting beside him.

Upon hearing his words, Cai Xinyi rolled her eyes as she retorted, "It's not your place to question me, Elder Kong. Just because you are an elder of the Heaven's Glory Palace doesn't mean that you can lecture me about how to raise my daughter.

She's doing very well on her own, unlike most children of the new generation, who were spoiled rotten by their parents and turn into useless fools who only seek pleasure. And it is her strength to achieve victory without needing to fight head-on like a dumb barbarian."

"Hahaha... Matriarch Cai, I don't think your daughter is any different from any of them. Just look at her embracing that young man when she just met him. What do you call that if not being spoilt and seeking pleasure?" Li Wang laughed out loud as he glanced towards the image of Cai Yan hugging Asher with a joyous expression on her face.

Cai Xinyi saw Cai Yan's actions and almost exploded with rage, but she managed to restrain her emotions as she looked at the scene in confusion. She knew very well that her daughter wasn't that kind of woman to be involved with a stranger just like that. At most, she'd befriend them, but this... Cai Xinyi wondered whether she was dreaming or not.

However, upon seeing her daughter's ecstatic expression and how she held Asher's arm with affection, she became more suspicious about him.

In the end, she just snorted in response and didn't say anything else, much to the disappointment of Li Wang. Meanwhile, Elder Kong Yu continued watching the young man hunt beasts without much effort while relying on his shadow abilities. He felt anger surge inside him as he clenched his fists tight. However, no matter how furious he was, there was nothing he could do about it.

Meanwhile, Li Wang smirked while looking at Cai Xinyi. He found it amusing that she couldn't respond back to him when he criticized her daughter, and this caused his ego to inflate. However, he knew that there was no need to press further with this topic for now, especially considering that there were a few elders from the other sects who were paying attention to their conversation.

Thus, he switched his attention towards the young man in the forest.

"Hahaha... He is walking towards my son. How interesting. I wonder if he will also fall like the previous fools." Li Wang's laughter drew everyone's eyes towards the image of Li Xueli confronting Asher.