Chapter 11 - Bloodforce!

'So my Dao Heart is of value and idolatry huh?'

Yu Yin felt that such a Dao Heart suited him perfectly, for such things were what he truly desired. He looked to Layla who was sat on the ground, drawing doodles on it in boredom. He grinned at her.

"It's about damn time we got out of this place don't you think?" Yu Yin said.

She blinked at him a few times before grinning back at him.

"So you did find an exit after all! And here I thought I'd have the misfortune to be here stuck with you forever!" Layla exclaimed.

"Tch! It's an honour for you to stand near me even for a second! One day, you'll have to pay an insurmountable tribute to even lay your eyes on me! Count your damn blessings woman!!"

Layla rolled her eyes at Yu Yin's inflated ego, not bothering to retort.

"So what did you discover then? Is our escape feasible?"

Yu Yin put his arrogance away and replaced it with a solemn aura.

"It seems we weren't transported to another pocket dimension when we were swallowed by the coffin. We're actually physically inside that hunk of wood! The damned thing literally ate us!!"

"...."

Layla sat there in silence, the veins on her forehead bulging so much they looked like they might explode. Yu Yin's eyes widened, startled by the sudden ferocity he found in her eyes! It was nothing like the glare she had given him in the dome area before, which was kind of like an angry schoolgirl. Her expression now was more like a vengeful soul which craved bloodshed!

"That coffin..... will not die a good death...."

After she said those words, she returned to her elegant, graceful appearance, as if nothing ever happened. She turned towards Yu Yin with a wry smile on her face.

"Sorry about that, I prefer to not let that side of me show..."

Yu Yin shook his head, signifying that he didn't mind.

"Oh good..... I don't usually anger easily at all, it's just that this [Solid Soul] expert has truly gone too far... or rather to be more specific, this [Shattered Soul] expert!"

‘[Shattered Soul]?’ Yu Yin thought. He hadn’t heard this term before, but now wasn’t the time to ask about it.

Layla let out a sigh and closed her eyes. When she opened them, determination flickered across her eyes like shooting stars on a clear night sky.

"Your discovery doesn't interfere with my proposal, I still activate my teleportation rune spell, we still get out of here. The problem is that as this isn't some kind of pocket dimension, there probably isn't a specific weakness we can break through to get out of here."

Yu Yin smiled mischievously at her and pointed to a certain area in the pitch-black sky of the dark prison.

"There's no need to find a weakness as the coffin's lid is just over there. We just need to go over and kick it open!"

Layla looked towards where he was pointing at and narrowed her eyes.

"How far away is it?"

"About 200 miles"

"Much too far for me to fly there then…"

She sat there pondering for a few seconds before speaking again.

"We'll teleport there and do as you said, kick its lid off! But after we free ourselves from this place, we would most likely find ourselves in the dome area of the hidden plane. We would have to escape from there as fast as possible as another teleportation spell simply won't work, not inside that the [Shattered Soul] expert’s domain anyway as I learned last time. There's no guarantee that the coffin still won't just swallow us back up, but it's the best idea I've..."

"I disagree! There's no way we can just leave like that without making that coffin feel a little pain." Yu Yin interrupted.

Layla looked up at him in surprise.

"And how do you suggest doing that?"

Yu Yin grinned mischievously, his eyes glowing with an unprecedented brightness. He looked like a Demon King plotting how to achieve domination over the masses.

"The piece of junk seemed very possessive over those bronze lockets... and they looked rather nice too... I say we take them for a walk!"

Layla widened her eyes at his suggestion, looking at him in sheer disbelief.

"Did your mother drop you as a child?!! Why would you even consider such a stupid idea?! That oversized casket crushed us completely when we last tried to resist it! What makes you think anything will change this time?!"

Yu Yin didn't retort or even resist her words in the slightest. His facial expression didn't even change in the slightest. He still looked like an evil lord scheming his nefarious plans.

"Hmph, I'll just hit it full blast with my bloodline magic. We'll see if it can eat us up then!"

Layla stood up in shock!

"Bloodline magic!"

A flash of light flew across her eyes as she recalled something.

"So that was the skill you used earlier! I do recall that male Yu Family members have bloodline magic, but I thought it only had support and miscellaneous uses."

Yu Yin smirked at her.

"How much do you know about bloodline magic?"

"There's a clan in the Iron Turtle Dynasty that uses a blood skill so I know a thing or two, but other than that, I don't know a lot about them."

"Then let me educate you."

He picked up one of his Qilin horns and drew a few pictures on the ground.

"Like how all soul cultivators have soul power, users of bloodline magic, known as "carriers", have something called "bloodforce". When we use our blood skills, we expend our bloodforce to activate them! Let me give you an example."

He looked up at her.

"That clan you mentioned, what's their bloodline magic like?"

"Its a transformation of sorts, their skin changes into some kind of impenetrable armour, forming an unparalleled defence!"

Yu Yin nodded at her words.

"A transformation-type carrier hey? Using them as an example, for each second they have their armoured skin out, a certain amount of their bloodforce is used up which they would have to recover at a later time. The higher the level of their blood skill, the more bloodforce they store in their bodies."

He then let out an evil looking grin as he continued with his words.

"As for me, I'm an ability-type carrier! That means that I can input as much bloodforce as I like into my bloodline magic, and its effect will match the amount I put in! Meaning..."

His grin widened until it was almost up to his eyes!

"I can just use up all my bloodforce in one burst!! A full power hit from [Deceleration] should slow that thing enough to be useless for at least 2 minutes."

She sighed in exasperation at his bold idea before glaring at him and speaking sternly.

"Don't be so arrogant! This is a [Shattered Soul] cultivator, a former [Solid Soul] genius we're talking about here! When I suggest to quickly escape while we have the chance, you want to provoke it by stealing its treasure?! Do you really think your power will have any effect on that thing? I think not!"

Yu Yin shook his head and let out a mocking laugh.

"Don't speak about what you don't know woman! You wouldn't know the truth about bloodline magic if it hit you on the side of the head!"

The corner of Layla's mouth twitched when she heard this and she looked at him in annoyance.

"If you want to say something just say it."

Yu Yin smiled and spread his arms out to make a grand gesture.

"Soul cultivation and bloodline magic are completely independent of one another! If I use my [Deceleration] Ability on a [Solid Soul] cultivator and a mortal to reduce their strength by 50%, they'll both receive the same effects!"

Layla still didn't seem impressed by his words.

"You're still overestimating yourself, a [Solid Soul] expert weakened by 50% could still kill you with a...."

Yu Yin put his finger over her mouth, stopping her from speaking. Layla blinked a few times and then smirked a little, amused by his sudden actions.

"Who said I'm going to only diminish its strength by 50%? A full throttle blood skill cast by me, a [Level 2] [Carrier], will leave that coffin crippled for at least a minute! And besides, let’s just say I have a little more bloodforce than your average [Carrier]."

She giggled at his words, and start speaking regardless of Yu Yin's forefinger covering her lips.

"Hm? There must be a catch to this miraculous ability of yours, else you would have used it to escape last time. Why don't you share?"

He glared at her before removing his hand from her and holding out two fingers.

"There are two major disadvantages to using my ability in this way. The first is that I must physically touch the target of my bloodline magic for it to activate. I couldn't do this to the coffin before because by the time I realised it was a threat, it was already too dangerous to approach. This time, I'll be able to catch it by surprise, so this won't be a problem."

Yu Yin turned around to look towards the exit to the dark prison.

"The second is to do with the nature of a [Carrier]'s bloodforce. Bloodforce and an individual's vitality are deeply interconnected. Even when a person's bloodforce is only half used up, they start visibly showing signs of exhaustion! If I just blow out all my bloodforce like that, I'll most likely be out cold for a few days..."

At this point, he spun around to point at Layla.

"This is where you come in!"

She startled at his abrupt movement, before pouting a little at his verdict.

"You want me to drag your body out of there?"

Yu Yin nodded at her, verifying her query. She put on a questioning expression, looking at him in a perplexed manner.

"Why do you trust me?"

"Do you plan to harm me?"

"No"

"Then why shouldn't I trust you?"

Yu Yin trusted his own judgement, especially when it came to people's character. He knew that Layla was not what she seemed and was hiding a vast amount of things from him. He could tell that from his interactions with her so far. But not once, did he feel any malicious intentions from her since they had entered this dark prison. No matter what, Yu Yin would never doubt his own judgement as in his eyes, it would be the same as doubting his very being.

Layla giggled at his strange logic, smiling at him like an angel.

"Fine, let's do as you said then.” Layla agreed. “But you know that you won't be taking both the lockets right?"

Yu Yin's faced twisted as his expression turned into one of indecision, as if he were making one of the hardest choices in his life.

"I, Yu Yin, just this once, will allow you to take one of my treasures. But JUST this once!"

Layla rolled her eyes as she stood up and started gathering her belongings. She took the iron shield and strapped it on her arm before offering the rest to Yu Yin.

“You can take his stuff as insurance for now. Trust goes two ways after all. Don’t even thing of trying to pocket it afterwards though.”

Yu Yin smiled happily as she stored Layla’s possessions inside his interspatial ring.

“Glad we’re on the same page!” Yu Yin exclaimed. ‘Although we’ll see about returning this insurance later’ he added in his head.

"Then it's decided then!"

Suddenly, Layla dived towards Yu Yin, holding him in a gentle embrace and crushing one of her jade slips in the process! Yu Yin looked at her in complete bewilderment as runic circles started to form around them! He could feel her warm body pressing against his and her breath brushing past the side of his neck, giving him shivers up his spine. She whispered into his ear.

"Get ready for showtime Darling!"

And just like that, the teleportation formation activated... taking them out of sight!