Paragon of Sin

"I'm harmless, with no ill-will to speak of. I'm just curious why you're here. So, what are you serious about?" While the words of the mysterious woman lacked any aggression, her appearance instilled heavy vigilance in the male duo. Guan Yu held Wei Wuyin's warning with great importance, his eyes not leaving the mysterious woman's figure for a split second. 

An assassin was deadliest when one's guard was lowered. Furthermore, this was the Nexus Battlefield. It would be foolish to think that her intentions were pure and harmless. After all, all these Soldiers of War must obtain 1,000 War Souls to attain the qualifications to leave.

Besides earning that prior to arrival, there was no other way to obtain it except from the corpses of others. While this might not be the intention of the Nexus Battlefield, the cage it formed had left them with little choice but to resort to such violent actions. It was either that or staying in this restrictively harsh environment until the limits of their lifespan were reached. 

Guan Yu whipped his bident about, brandishing it slowly as he firmly held it in a defensive position. "It's none of your business. So carry on," Guan Yu replied with a hint of solemnity and aggression. 

"..." The mysterious woman remained silent in the face of Guan Yu's statement. Her stance was neutral and facial expression and countenance was concealed behind a blur, so one was unable to catch a glimpse of her thoughts or reaction. 

Wei Wuyin felt Eden trembled again, including Kratos' heart race slightly. They both sensed the extremely faint, almost impossible to detect killing intent. In terms of quantity, it was extremely minute, but its quality was the greatest he had ever felt before, far exceeding that poison cultivator. The killing intent, however, lasted for less than a picosecond, so it was almost impossible to grasp through one's normal senses. To the vast majority, they might not even be able to register its existence.

Wei Wuyin couldn't help but bitterly smile in his heart. Why were the women he had met thus far so outrageously dangerous? First, the sadistic poison woman. Then, this curiously mysterious woman. While the former wasn't much of a threat, his current situation limited his senses. If she had struck while he was completely unaware of her existence, he couldn't be certain if he could've reacted in time. 

"I just wanted to know? Is that so wrong?" The mysterious woman asked gently, her tone made it seem as if she was pouting, almost as if she was being bullied for her ignorance. Guan Yu was struck with a faint feeling that if he could see her facial expression, he might be struck with an internally crushing feeling of pity and guilt. 

Wei Wuyin audibly sighed. He lifted his right arm and pointed towards the direction they were walking towards, "You see the Obelisk of War? We-"

"A little to the right," Guan Yu awkwardly interrupted. Right now, Wei Wuyin was trying to point at the Obelisk of War, but he was a little bit off.

"..." Wei Wuyin was silent for a moment, then repositioned his arm slightly. Then, he continued: "The Obelisk of War, we-" 

"You're still a little off. More to the left," the mysterious woman added. 

"..." Wei Wuyin sighed again. He 'looked' at Guan Yu's direction and said: "Point to the Obelisk." Guan Yu was momentarily stunned, but he eventually did it. Not only did he do it, Guan Yu saw the mysterious woman do it too, causing his brow to be lifted curiously, as if asking: "What are you doing?"

"The Obelisk of War, we're going to be challenging it. You should leave before you accidentally get caught in this." Wei Wuyin finally got out his words, warning the mysterious woman as well. He decided to not lie or waste time with this. 

"Challenge it?" The mysterious woman paused for a moment, yet Guan Yu and Wei Wuyin could feel a sharp gaze sweep upon their bodies during this pause. It felt sort of uncomfortable, akin to an ocular spell being deployed. However, such skills were heavily restrained in this environment, so it shouldn't be remotely possible. Still, Guan Yu frowned and tensely clenched the shaft of his weapon.

The mysterious woman disbelievingly said, "But you're both Mortals. And you're clearly blind." From the tone of her voice, there wasn't just skepticism, but a tinge of anger as if they were trying to trick her. This emotional anger was more readily apparent, unlike that elusive killing intent before.

Wei Wuyin felt that this emotional response was falsified. This belief wasn't based on anything except a feeling of his. It caused him to grow a little curious about this assassin.

"Aren't you a mortal as well? So what of it?" Guan Yu bit back. Since the beginning of this encounter, he had always been on-guard against this woman. If she acted, he planned to fully unleash the maximal extent of his abilities to bring a battle to a swift end. He had no mercy towards the fairer sex, especially after witnessing the false skin of that sadistic woman from earlier. 

Hearing this, the mysterious woman lowered her pointing hand, yet this simple movement caused the atmosphere to abruptly chill. "I don't like being treated as a fool," the mysterious woman's tone was not glacial or violent, but extremely indifferent. It felt even more terrifying than a voice infused with murderous rage. 

"Whether you believe us or not, it doesn't matter. If you wish to risk your life to stay here, then so be it. We won't interfere. I imagine your abilities won't be able to escape the senses of other Ascended beings." After saying this, Wei Wuyin ignored the woman and made his way towards the Obelisk of War. 

"..." The chilled atmosphere heated up, normalizing in ambience. 

'I didn't think it'd be true, but I guess that makes sense.' Wei Wuyin's thoughts were stirring with various thoughts. When he deduced that this was Jing Jiu's fortuitous event, that eventually he'll return to observe the Obelisk of War, he felt that the chances of facing 10,000 Ascended in a trained army alone wasn't very practical. There might be others to support him. Others he might meet prior to leaving.

However, that gaze, those words of hers, the location she was at, all of it alluded to a single conclusion: She was an Ascended being!

It didn't make sense that outstanding Ascended beings weren't able to claim the right to enter, even Guan Yu's ancestor accomplished it. It was possible, but very unlikely, that he was the first, but he certainly wouldn't have been the last. These Ascended beings would've been explained the rules of the Nexus Battlefield as Commanders of War. Perhaps they would've learned that the act of fragging meant certain death. With the high number of War Souls needed for their escape, they certainly wouldn't try to kill Soldiers of War. Thus, they would be left with two choices: live out the rest of their lifespan here or challenge the Obelisk of War.

Those who challenged the Obelisk of War would almost certainly die. After all, it was one against ten thousand. As for those who decided to live out the unfortunate remainder of their lives here…

Wei Wuyin had his speculations at first, but the mysterious woman's existence all but verified it. Her piercing gaze, his inability to sense her existence on any level, and her ability to affect the surrounding atmosphere with just her emotions. This was all indicative that her powers exceeded Mortal Limits. 

Guan Yu was still boggled by the narrow-minded belief that Ascended wouldn't ever descend onto the Nexus Battlefield, so he hadn't figured it out yet. 

"Wait," the mysterious woman called out. Her tone carried a heavy trace of interest, far more genuine than before. It wasn't a byproduct of her mind-numbing boredom being transformed into curiosity, but sparked by something else. 

Wei Wuyin halted his steps. He 'looked' towards the direction of her voice. It didn't take long for her to arrive directly in front of Wei Wuyin, and Guan Yu's expression grew tense. The mysterious woman was merely a few feet away from him, but Guan Yu didn't believe Wei Wuyin was incapable of handling himself. 

Wei Wuyin allowed her to approach. In truth, he didn't have much confidence in dealing with an Ascended in a direct battle without unleashing all of his trump cards, but if she put herself in range of him, he had roughly a dozen ways to defend or eliminate her instantly. This would be even more so if she underestimated him. 

Just as Wei Wuyin was waiting for Eden to alert him of any ill-intent, ready to instantly retaliate, he instead received no response from Eden as he felt a hand press softly against his chest. The hand caressed his chest, causing his expression to change. 

"This is at the quasi-level of Mystic-World grade. World Heart Intent? Such a high-level World Heart Intent, and yet you're only a mortal." The mysterious woman kept touching, feeling the gambeson's texture and structure, alongside Wei Wuyin's firm chest. 

"..." Seeing the mysterious woman touch Wei Wuyin in such a manner, Guan Yu was quite shocked, but then immediately awkward. He could hear the interest within her voice, alongside the astonishment and deepening allure. 

Her hand trailed down from his upper torso downward, passed his dantian and then neared his…

Wei Wuyin reached out to grasp her wrist, stopping her from doing as she pleased. He didn't know what was going on in this woman's mind, but he had no intention of being taken advantage of so blindly, even if he was technically blind at the moment. 

The mysterious woman was entirely unbothered by Wei Wuyin's haltingly grab, offering no resistance to it. However, she reached out with her other hand, and attempted to touch his face. Wei Wuyin's brows instantly furrowed, using his other hand to stop this action.

It was one thing to allow her to draw close to formulate better retaliatory conditions, but another entirely to allow an Ascended of unknown strength to touch his exposed skin. While he was confident in his physical body and its currently refined state, he had no intention to allow this woman to test it in a sudden assault.

While he felt she was an Ascended, that she wouldn't act to kill allies while being aware of the rules, his feelings weren't an absolute certainty. Still, with their current position, Wei Wuyin was confident in curbing this Ascended instantly. Especially in this heavily restricted area like the Nexus Battlefield.

However, the mysterious woman still seemed entirely unconcerned as Wei Wuyin held both of her wrists. "You truly intend to challenge the Obelisk of War, don't you?" She softly asked, but her voice felt different than before. Carrying admiration and something else that was difficult to pinpoint. 

"Yes, I do." Was all he replied with.

"..." There was a long pause. The atmosphere became awkward, especially for Guan Yu. The last bit of conversation felt like a wife questioning her husband's decision, yet the husband instantly replied with the utmost resolve and courage, reflecting his strong will to march out to war. 

"What do you want?" Wei Wuyin decided to not keep this going any longer. He didn't have all day to wait, and he needed to challenge the Obelisk of War. If his planned actions don't work, he decided in his heart to depart the Nexus Battlefield immediately. Since he could outrun Cai Liuyang, he felt confident that he could outrun other Ascended in this small environment, reaching the Nexus Battlefield's walls. 

The mysterious woman stayed silent for a while, but then she slowly twisted her wrist out of Wei Wuyin's grasp. Wei Wuyin let her go. 

"What do I want?" She said, looking down at the ground. Despite her blurred expression, the level of internal conflict and sadness borne from this action could be felt, even by the blind. "I want to leave here." 

Wei Wuyin frowned upon hearing this. 

So did Guan Yu. He was still of the belief that she was a Soldier of War. Was she aware of the execution rule? He felt horrible if this was the case. Wouldn't this mean he was truly incapable?

Wei Wuyin clarified, "What do you want from me?" 

While the woman's facial expressions were blurred, if one saw the position of her head, they could roughly guess that she was staring intently at Wei Wuyin's face. She slowly said, "I've met few that could comprehend World Heart Intent as a mere mortal. I've met even less that were men, and none as incredibly handsome as you. While you might be blind, your body, instincts, and face match my preferences perfectly. You even discovered that I was an Ascended. No one else besides the others has yet."

"..." Wei Wuyin's mind stirred. Earlier, he had said 'other' Ascended beings in hopes to provoke a vocal confirmation, preferably an exclamation of surprise. He didn't expect it to lead to nonconsensual touching. More importantly, this indirectly confirmed that there were other Ascended present.

"What do I want?" The woman said through a strange smile, "I don't want to die an unloved, bitter and miserable virgin in some godforsaken Battlefield of archaic design, impossible to escape, and unable to ever see the stars again. I want a handsomely talented, intelligent, and courageous man to take me, allow me to experience how it feels to be a woman at least once. You fit that image perfectly." 

Wei Wuyin's mind stirred even fiercer, but his surging mind soon calmed down, halted by his own beliefs and principles.

"I'm offering you the Primal Yin of a Demi-Mortal Lord beauty, free-of-charge with no obligation, are you willing?" 

Guan Yu's voice resounded, "I'm willing! I'm ABSOLUTELY willing!"