Chapter 1093

"So that's it, this is the path to demigodhood that Miss Galina has been seeking so bitterly."

Standing in the white, thick fog that seemed to be glowing, Xia De, lost in thought, gripped that cold, oval-shaped ice crystal tightly. The extreme cold temperature stimulated his palm, also reminding him that this special souvenir ultimately belonged to him.

He looked up ahead. In the white fog was a giant tree connecting heaven and earth. Its root system was developed, its canopy was lush, and the tree rings on the transparent trunk recorded the stories of time and years.

Although there was no wind, the branches and leaves were still swaying in the white fog. A warm feeling was washing over Xia De's body and soul, dispelling all negative states.

"But is Miss Chloe's journey really repeatable? Or rather, can someone else's path to demigodhood be walked a second time?"

Xia De asked himself, then saw two leaves overlapping and falling downward in the swaying canopy.

He overlapped his hands together, and in another mood of loss, cupped them toward his head to catch the two fallen leaves. In this way, he had four Youth-Preserving Ye Zi in his hand.

The shadow of the giant tree gradually became blurry, and the white fog before his eyes was also dissipating. But before Xia De completely exited the 【Corridor of Time】, "She" spoke in his ear:

【Outsider, the Father of the Infinite Tree has detected the power of the Pantanal evil object.】

"Hmm?"

For a moment, Xia De hoped that the power of the Father of the Tree could directly finish off that evil object. Although in that case, the nun's firewood would be gone, at least this battle would be much easier.

【Message from the Father of the Infinite Tree:】

【This is the resentment born from the decaying plants of the material world.】

"I see... then that really is an ancient, primordial evil object."

The white fog before his eyes dissipated completely. At this moment, Xia De was still sitting on the stone by the campfire by the lake in the same posture as when he had left, with the relics and alchemical items he had left behind by his feet. The two extra leaves and that cold ice crystal in his hand represented the end of another adventure story.

And with Xia De's return, although the coldness of his body and soul had been driven away, some of the terrifying chill from the peak of the Silver Mountains had been brought out. He almost immediately heard the rustling sound of ice forming coming from the lake water.

Fortunately, the area where ice was forming was only a small area by the lakeside illuminated by the campfire.

【Outsider, you have returned to the current time.】

【Message from the Old God "Father of the Infinite Tree":】

【Infinite time protects you.】

Holding the two leaves in his hand, he was just about to open his mouth to tell Iluna about the magical experience just now, but saw Iluna holding the 【Night Watcher】 high, as if holding a silver torch, walking toward the lake water with a flushed face. Xia De could clearly see that there was a struggling expression on her face, as if she couldn't control her own movements at this moment.

"Didn't I only leave for three seconds? What happened?"

Doubt suddenly rose in his heart. After the powerful miracle elements brought by the shadow of the Father of the Infinite Tree disappeared from around his body, he almost immediately felt the trace of another extremely terrifying element—that was the whisper element.

He heard the splashing sound of water coming from the surface of the snowy lake, and he heard the alluring giggling sound of a beautiful woman playing in the lake.

Even without looking at what had appeared in the lake, he had instinctively associated it with a beautiful lady, naked and snow-white all over, laughing and playing in the water in the pitch-black lake amidst the heavy snow. This eerie scene not only didn't make Xia De feel terrified, but instead caused some kind of human's most primitive desire to rise up.

"Oh!"

He sprang up as if jumping from the spot, blocking in front of Iluna in one go. The campfire illuminated Xia De's slightly panicked face. He widened his eyes and looked toward the edge of the dark lake.

A beautiful woman's head was laughing and looking at him in the lake, her head appearing on the outer side of the ice layer, as if treating it as the edge of a swimming pool. That beautiful face was exactly at the edge of the campfire's light, light and shadow interlacing on the face. It could not be described with any adjectives, as if all the beautiful characteristics in the world were concentrated on that face.

Xia De saw the shadows of the young ladies he was familiar with in it, and even those purple eyes were extremely similar to the color of Luweiya's eyes.

Glowing eyes looked at Xia De, and white teeth bit her lower lip lightly, leaving a not-so-obvious red mark. Strands of hair on her forehead covered her fair forehead, and water droplets on her wet hair slid down from the side of her face, falling into the cold lake water along her neck, making one unable to help but fantasize about what kind of enchanting posture existed beneath that neck.

The panicked Xia De already knew what he had encountered:

"Desire!"

He didn't cover up his hostility and panic at all. He had already been completely clear about what a Level 0 relic meant during the Battle of Midhillburg. His body completely blocked Iluna. Only when he spoke did he realize his voice was so hoarse:

"Why are you here?"

"Long time no see, interesting soul."

The woman's slightly hoarse voice said. In the snowy night, a fair arm that was truly glowing stretched out from the lake, her upper arm placed on the ice surface, her forearm held upright, her little finger hooking a strand of black hair wrapped around her ear.

Bright and charming eyes looked at Xia De with a smile, but Xia De could clearly see the greed in those soul-stirring eyes.

"Father of the Infinite Tree, shouldn't you protect me when I complete the mission and return to the current time? Why..."

【Probably because she has no hostility toward you.】

Xia De didn't believe this judgment at all. He tried hard to block Iluna with his body. When the seventeen-year-old girl faced the Level 0 relic 【Desire】 for the first time, she was just as unbearable as Xia De had been in the underground of the Aphrodite mansion in Coldwater Port. After Xia De appeared, she became a little more clear-headed, hiding behind Xia De, grabbing his hem and lowering her head with a flushed face.

Even without looking directly, just that one glance earlier, the image of that "mermaid" had already burrowed into her heart.

"Let me see, 【Gluttony】, 【Greed】, 【Sloth】, and now there's 【Wrath】. Not bad, really not bad."

The hoarse woman's voice continued to say. Her voice was incomparably clear in the wind, even though the two sides were separated by a distance of ten meters.

Behind that beautiful woman's head, a huge splashing sound came from the lake. Xia De immediately associated it with the huge tail of a mermaid slapping the water surface, but then immediately thought that the "mermaid" before him was not a mermaid in the true sense.

Xia De didn't want to recall the true form of 【Desire】 again.

"Can Wrath also be considered desire?"

Xia De asked. That beautiful woman's head laughed softly, the laughter plucking the heartstrings of the two people present. Xia De clearly felt Iluna behind him tremble.

"I am here because someone summoned me. An ancient ritual, using a crystal of desire as a sacrifice. Before they used the ritual, they probably didn't know what would be summoned either. After seeing me, they were quite surprised. However, those humans don't seem to know what I am."

She said with a smile. The water surface was rising and falling, but her smooth chin and arms had always been above the ice surface, and her huge body under the water was wantonly stirring the bottom of the water.

Xia De also had this special material called "crystal of desire," and he had already decided to sell this thing as soon as possible after returning home.

"What did they ask you to do?"

Xia De asked, and Desire really answered him:

"Offered some souls as sacrifices, letting me block those who tried to land on the island by the lake. But I knew you were coming, so I just came directly to find you."

Biting her lip lightly again, this appearance somehow made Xia De immediately associate it with Miss Chloe.

The black night was so profound that even the drifting snow couldn't perceive how cold Xia De's heart was. Compared to the Chosen, he even thought 【Desire】 was more difficult to deal with, but fortunately, the other party really didn't seem to have any malice this time:

"You don't have to worry, I can guarantee that there is nothing more dangerous than me when it comes to the so-called 'test' of blocking people from landing on the island."

Xia De couldn't imagine anything more dangerous than her either.

"Then, have you read the book I gave you?"

Seeing that Xia De didn't speak anymore, but was trying to find an opportunity to leave, that beautiful woman's head asked with a smile.

"Yes, I read it completely several times, and also learned some practical miracles."

The soft laughter was as pleasant as silver bells. Even though it wasn't the first time dealing with Desire, Xia De still felt the desire in his heart rising. No mortal could be completely immune to the influence of 【Desire】, even if Xia De had the 【Blessing of the Wise】.

"That's very good, however, I can't let you leave easily. Just like last time, interesting soul, help me do some things."

Xia De nodded. The seventeen-year-old girl behind him gradually recovered her reason, but still didn't want to let go of the hand grabbing Xia De's hem:

"What do you need me to do? Oh, on the island in the middle of the lake opposite, there are many souls full of desire."

"Yes, this is a very interesting place."

A fair hand wiped across her lipstick-smeared lips. While Xia De's eyes were somehow keenly observing the lip lines in the dark night, that hand on the ice surface retracted under the water, leaving only the head still on the water surface:

"The soul with the strongest desire among them even attempts to peek at the crown of God's knowledge and wisdom—kill the Chosen for me, get his soul—you wouldn't think I would make such a request, would you?"

Another soft laugh, still so charming and elegant. But to be honest, in the snowy black night, a girl swimming in the lake without clothes would probably have extraordinary charm.

【Desire】's light purple eyes looked at Xia De, her voice exceptionally gentle:

"Even without peeking at your desire, I can see such thoughts on your face. But it's a pity, I won't interfere in the epic of the Sixth Era."

"Then what do you want me to do?"