After a Metaphysics Master Transmigrates into a Scummy Alpha, She Ends Up with the Best Actress - Chapter 20

Diwu Ju’s spirit had already been destroyed.

Looking at the thick, black malice swirling within the formation, Ye Lin arrived at this grim conclusion.

“Master!” Dijiu Li’s voice trembled. She had waited so many years for this day, yet as the person who started all of this, she could do nothing but pray.

Ye Lin gripped Gu Li’s hand and pulled her firmly behind her back. Despite the protective charms, she was still worried about the girl being struck by the surging malice. Ye Lin raised her other hand to touch the wall of the formation; the moment her fingers brushed the Soul-Locking Array, she recoiled in surprise. The array was already battered and crumbling; had it not been for the ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Stone supporting it from within the tomb, it likely would have shattered long ago.

The reason Dijiu Li couldn’t enter was simply that her cultivation was too damaged to withstand the spiritual pressure of that stone.

However, such a fragile array shouldn’t have been able to imprison a ghost cultivator as powerful as Diwu Ju. Why hasn’t she come out?

Ye Lin pondered for a moment, then asked, “Have you ever tried calling to Diwu Ju from outside the array to tell her to come out?”

Dijiu Li shook her head. She was the one responsible for this catastrophe, and she had fled the array while Diwu Ju was being refined into a malice-wraith. How could she have the face to call to her now? When they were both in the tomb, she had tried to scream for Diwu Ju to break out with her, but Diwu Ju, enveloped in malice, couldn’t hear a thing. Desperate, Dijiu Li had sacrificed her own cultivation to force her way out alone.

“Master, can this array be broken?” Dijiu Li was frantic. ” Diwu Ju, is she alright?”

“Her spiritual signature is very weak; her consciousness might be severely damaged.” So damaged, in fact, that she could no longer perceive the outside world. Ye Lin had sent several probes, and the other party hadn’t responded once. “It could also be a ‘fixed-set’ effect. Diwu Ju has been imprisoned and tortured by the Sha-Refining Array for so long that she’s become habituated to being trapped. She may have lost the will or the awareness to react to anything outside.”

“Then what do we do?” Dijiu Li bowed deeply to Ye Lin, pleading, “Please, Master, break the array and rescue Ju’s spirit.”

Seeing the ghost’s pained expression, it was clear she knew the weight of her sins. Ye Lin didn’t press her further; she had a theory she wanted to test.

A ten-thousand-year Spirit Stone was a once-in-a-lifetime find. Attacking the array with brute force would inevitably damage the stone. It was better to, Ye Lin suddenly swung her hand and unleashed a palm strike. This strike was filled with intense killing intent and surging spiritual energy—it was so powerful that even at her peak, Dijiu Li wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.

Dijiu Li gasped, confused as to why Ye Lin was suddenly attacking her. In her current state, a direct hit would mean total soul-dissipation. Just as she prepared to dodge, her body froze. She understood. The spirit hung in the air, resolutely waiting to take the blow.

Spiritual attacks are invisible, and since Gu Li was hidden behind Ye Lin, she couldn’t see a thing. However, she could sense the atmosphere turning eerie. She squeezed Ye Lin’s hand tightly, seeking any shred of security.

The moment the attack was launched, a violent gale erupted within the array. Massive amounts of black mist surged from the ground, swallowing all light and plunging the world into an eternal night. In an instant, the forest fell silent, save for the frantic rustling of leaves. The creatures of the mountain seemed to sense the danger and went into hiding; even a bamboo rat digging a hole froze mid-motion, terrified. The black mist was suffocating, its malice piercing the heavens with a world-destroying intent.

Ye Lin, accustomed to such spectacles, remained calm. Anyone else would have been scared to death on the spot. Fortunately, she had set up a boundary outside the array beforehand, ensuring the malice wouldn’t spill out and affect the residents at the foot of the mountain.

The malice carried a foul, rotting stench. Gu Li, well-protected by Ye Lin’s charms, smelled nothing, but the pitch-black darkness was disorienting. Still, with her hand held firmly, she didn’t panic. Ye Lin, on the other hand, wrinkled her nose. Ugh, it reeks.

In the blink of an eye, the Soul-Locking Array was shattered by the malice. A figure, dark red to the point of being nearly black, shot out from underground. In the darkness, two ghostly glimmers shone from where the figure’s head should be, locking onto Ye Lin. The dark shadow waved an arm, and a cold flash of light streaked toward Dijiu Li.

Clang!

Two spiritual forces—one bright, one dark—collided in front of Dijiu Li. A sword-qi parried Ye Lin’s attack. Ye Lin’s strike, while seemingly murderous, had been fading in intensity; it was never meant to harm Dijiu Li, only to provoke the spirit in the tomb. As she expected, the trick worked.

“Ju!” Dijiu Li looked up excitedly at the black spirit floating in the air. The once-radiant Diwu Ju was now dim and shadowed, surrounded by swirling malice that obscured her handsome features.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m late.” Please forgive me—no, please never forgive me. That way, perhaps you will still remember me. Dijiu Li gazed up at her hero and lover.

“Ju, it’s me, Ying.” The spirit of Dijiu Li simply hovered in mid-air, facing Ye Lin, seemingly regarding her as an enemy.

Ye Lin could feel Diwu Ju’s killing intent, though the spirit was so damaged that the intent was weak and brittle. Still, that aura of a veteran who had spent a lifetime on the battlefield was every bit as imposing as Ye Lin’s own. She truly was a general who had earned her place in history.

“Is General Diwu Ju out?” Although Gu Li was a bit scared, curiosity got the better of her. She was about the same height as Ye Lin, and as she poked her head out to see, her breath brushed against Ye Lin’s ear and neck. It tickled.

It was a good thing it was dark, or Gu Li would have seen Ye Lin turning a bright shade of crimson.

With a wave of her hand, Ye Lin granted Gu Li “Heavenly Vision.” Now, Gu Li could clearly see the black spirit in the air.

Diwu Ju wore a tattered red war-robe over ink-black armor. In her right hand, she gripped a longsword entwined with black mist—she looked magnificently formidable. Her long hair was tied up messily, with stray strands fluttering at the edges, and her face was hidden behind a silver mask. Those two ghostly eyes stared at them, brimming with killing intent. Every wisp of black air around her exuded a sense of tragic, domineering beauty.

As expected of my idol, she’s so cool and badass! Gu Li was both terrified and exhilarated. She pressed herself against Ye Lin’s back, her chin resting on Ye Lin’s shoulder as she admired her idol. Ye Lin, acting as a human tripod, found this quite agreeable and quietly nudged Gu Li even closer to herself.

“Master, why won’t Ju respond to me? She just saved me, didn’t she? Her, her spirit is so badly damaged.” Dijiu Li floated toward Diwu Ju, but every inch she advanced, the other retreated an inch. She couldn’t get close.

She could sense Diwu Ju’s state. She was afraid—afraid that if she even touched her, the General would shatter.

“Master, please, please save her! Whatever the price!” Dijiu Li sobbed. She was wrong; she knew she was wrong. Please don’t punish her like this. I would rather be the one to dissipate into nothingness.