Chapter 12 - "Aw HELL no!!"

Yu Yin was too dazed by Layla's actions to even notice the runic formation starting up. Pulling him into her arms like that out of nowhere, there was no way he'd not be surprised! He looked across at her pretty face, which seemed like it had been sculpted by the most heavenly angels and gulped. A girl looking this perfect.... hugging him like this... Yu Yin felt a bit light-headed. Layla, on the other hand, didn't seem to care at all about their close proximity. She had a nonchalant expression on her face as if nothing strange was happening at all. When she noticed his nervous reaction she smirked in amusement. She whispered in his ear, her gentle breath making his heart almost stop.

"Get ready for showtime Darling!"

Yu Yin widened his eyes in shock.

'This woman.... is just simply too much!!'

He didn't have much time to think about her though because at this point, the runic formation had fully activated and teleported them away. When they reappeared, they were right next to the rim of light Yu Yin had seen before. This rim of light was actually the outline of the coffin's lid! Layla's eyes narrowed and became like sharp daggers as she pointed her palm at the coffin lid. A hint of ferocity could be seen in the very depths of her sky-blue irises, darkening them a little.

Her fingertips began to emit slivers of light which converged into a glowing sphere of energy in her palm. These slivers of light were surprisingly her soul power, which was a light grey colour with a few unique patterns on it, like a polished piece of Damascus steel! Yu Yin secretly compared her metallic soul power with his own radiant emerald soul power. A frightful expression flashed across her face when the sphere of her soul energy became half a meter in diameter.

"[Aura Burst]!!"

Her soul power sphere flew towards the coffin lid at a shocking speed, like a shooting star flashing across the sky!

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Outside the dark prison, the dome area was as silent as snow is when it falls on the earth. A ghostly spectre was resting on top of the dark purple coffin, its eyes closed at it sat in a quarter lotus position. The spectre was the discarnate soul of the expert which slept here, a [Shattered Soul] being. It was sleeping peacefully when it suddenly awoke! This spectre had been dead for hundreds of thousands of years, and although its strength and intelligence had been reduced to a shadow of what it once was, it still used to be a [Solid Soul] expert, a figure that was once respected wherever they went. No matter how decrepit it was now, it still had some common-sense and was much more sensitive than a normal soul cultivator. It was awoken just now by a bizarre feeling, like something wasn't quite right about the scenery around him. At first, it thought that some unfortunate souls had entered its lair again, waiting to be its next victims. But after scanning around the hidden plane, it found itself alone. A perplexed expression crossed its face, as it simply couldn't figure out what woke it up.

It was at this point that Layla's soul power sphere hit the lid of the coffin. The coffin lid was sent flying into the air, spinning around as it went, startling the spectre silly! Layla flew out of the coffin in a grandiose manner, carrying Yu Yin in one her arm with her iron shield strapped to the other. She waved her hand, causing three black scimitars to appear from nowhere and shoot towards the coffin lid, successfully pinning it to its main body!

The spectre had an expression of absolute incredulity! Its transparent jaw hanging wide open, so much that it almost reached the floor! Never in a thousand years would it have thought that some mere [Rousing Soul] stage ants could escape its prized coffin. That casket was its most valued possession, a spatial artefact capable of controlling both the laws of gravity and dimensions! It inherited it from its master when he died, otherwise even it, a once [Solid Soul] Cultivator would struggle to find something so powerful. It calmed down and coldly glared at the pathetic nuisances in front of it. How dare they touch its most precious treasure. These ants… They're simply seeking death! It slowly pointed at the coffin below, a sinister gleam in its eye.

Of course, Yu Yin and Layla couldn't see the ghostly spectre and were completely oblivious to its existence. She landed on the ground next to the coffin and released Yu Yin from her arms. He gave her a sharp look before pushing thoughts of her bizarre actions out of his head and looking towards the coffin. At this moment, the spectre had just finished its movement, inducing the silver eye on the coffin to open. Once again, rumbling sounds resounded across the hidden plane as the coffin started to shake!

Yu Yin glared at the silver eyes and darted next to it, an evil glint in his eyes as he snapped his fingers. He could feel his blood boiling as every last ounce of his bloodforce converged at his right hand, making him feel lightheaded. He would never pass out though, not at a crucial junction like this! He gritted his teeth and punched the coffin with all the strength he had!

"[DECELERATION]!!!"

....

The spectre was currently laughing to itself in glee, sneering at the two stupid monkeys in front of it! If either Layla or Yu Yin could see it, they would surely be frightened by its mortifying appearance.

"Stupid apes, you think you can just walk away from me? A former [Solid Soul] adept? Such ignorant fools!"

The spectre seemed to have forgotten that, it too, once used to be one of those "apes" many years ago. It was it this moment that Yu Yin's punch landed. The spectre's face immediately fell. The coffin had suddenly stopped responding to its commands! It looked down to find that its priceless coffin was glowing with a strange murky white light. The rumbling sounds that were once echoing across the room now sounded creepily distorted and slowed down. The spectre's jaw dropped upon seeing this scene.

"What the hell?!"

An impatient expression crossed its face as it waved its phantasmal arm around, repeatedly pointing at the coffin. Frustration could be seen crawling all over its face. If it had a body, it would surely stomp the ground many times in annoyance. It even flew down to slap the coffin a few times!

"Come on! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

The coffin still didn't respond to it. Instead, a bit of the murky white light transmitted from the casket to the spectre! It suddenly felt a fraction of its already diminished strength weakening, which frightened it immensely! It backed up at a shocking speed, all the way to the top of the dome!

"What kind of sorcery is this?! In all the years I've lived, I haven't heard of any soul technique that resembles this in the slightest! Especially not one that can be utilised by those ants! Could it be... A bloodline magic?"

It scowled at Yu Yin at this realisation, as if trying to slaughter him with its glare alone!

....

Yu Yin lost conscience completely as soon as he unleashed his blood skill, collapsing towards the ground. Layla dashed forwards anxiously and caught him in her arms, before looking down at him in worry! His skin was unusually pale, and a pained complexion could be seen on his face. She quickly calmed down after swiftly checking his vitals, as he was still breathing and still had a pulse. A bitter smile stretched across her angelic face.

"Stubborn fool! You actually went and did it!"

She peeled her gaze off him and glanced at the dark purple coffin. Although it had almost been slowed down to a freezing halt, it was still slowly but surely opening at a steady rate. She narrowed her eyes and waved her hand, causing her scimitars which were slightly embedded within the coffin lid to dissipate. She held Yu Yin and their possessions in one of her arms and used her free hand to make a grasping gesture, causing the two bronze lockets resting on the altars to fly off of them and into her grip. She caught them by their chains and turned around to flee at her top speed, her eyes focused on the destination in front of her.

....

At this moment, the spectre was contemplating what to do with its two escapees. The spectre only had a limited amount of soul power at its disposal, and as a [Shattered Soul] being, it couldn't recuperate any of this soul power which it used. Using its coffin was fine, as they had a special link which allowed the spectre to control it directly, meaning that utilising the coffin expended little to none of its soul energy. But now the coffin was crippled, it didn't have that all many options to work with.

"I should just let them leave, two puny ants are hardly worth me using my precious soul energy!"

At this thought, it was about to close its eyes and forget about this matter, when Layla suddenly waved her hand, causing the lockets to fly into it. The spectres eyes flew wide open, embers of fury dancing all over its pitch black eyes!

"Aw HELL no!!"

Conserving soul energy was now no longer a concern! Those bronze lockets were two precious items it had found along its many travels when it was still alive. Not even it knew what their functions were! Even with its unyielding cultivation base, it couldn't open them by force no matter how much it tried, and couldn't find any alternative method to discover their secrets either! In the end, it concluded that they must be treasures left behind by the celestials, the type of beings that could cover the sky with one hand! This black-haired woman could absolutely NOT be allowed to take them away. It let out a shrill scream imbued with soul power which sounded like an enraged banshee on a hunting spree!

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!"

The shock-wave formed by the sound crashed into Layla, causing internal injuries and making her cough up 5 consecutive mouthfuls of blood! Pain coursed through her body and even breathing felt excruciatingly agonising, but her crystal blue eyes were still clear without a trace of cloudiness to be seen, her focus still on the task at hand. She gritted her teeth and ignored her injuries, pressing forward at an even quicker speed! The spectre flew down and gave chase as fast as it could, but to its complete and utter shock, it found that there was still a shred of that murky white aura, grasping onto it and ceasing to leave. No matter how much it tried, it could only move at 20% its normal speed. It still would catch up to that wretch eventually, but she would end up leaving the hidden plane first. Such a thing was completely unacceptable!

The spectre, disregarding its own life, stretched its palm out with a crazed look on its face! It emitted soul power from its fingertips which converged into a shocking ghostly spear which measured at least to 2 meters long! Glowing purple flames could be seen engulfing its giant body, giving it a daunting atmosphere! The spectre hurled the spear in a unique but tyrannical manner with all its strength, its target being Layla who was about 70 meters away from it.

"[HADES' WRATH]!"

Although Layla couldn't see the spectre, she could see the flaming spear as clear as day. She turned around to face her fiery adversary, fear apparent in her eyes...