Chapter 225: Ghost Painting Frame

Bei Erna Dai walked through the double gray‑white stone doors, and everything inside went mad at that moment, as if witnessing a great being and being struck by an unstoppable contamination.

After about fifteen seconds, Bei Erna Dai's breathing grew heavier; she ended the mysterious spell called "Ugly Duckling" and withdrew the incomplete mythic creature form she had revealed.

She then raised her right hand forward, gathering a dark, ancient horn imbued with a weighty, powerful aura.

It was the Horn of Destruction; she gently pressed the horn to her lips, and a low, ominous hum resonated, echoing through the tomb.

With the sound waves overlapping, every living creature that had gone mad from directly seeing Bei Erna Dai's incomplete mythic form inexorably marched toward destruction.

Outside the double gray‑white stone doors, Lei Ke Dun was cloaked in a misty golden aura forming armor, shielding him from the horn's destructive sound.

A moment later, no extra life signs remained inside the doors; only then did he retract his golden armor and step through.

He continued inward for a distance, arriving at a place resembling a great hall.

Lei Ke Dun turned his head to his left, where, at an unknown time, a person identical to him had appeared.

"Who are you?" the other asked, eyes filled with terror, shouting at Lei Ke Dun.

Beside them, Bei Erna Dai watched the scene quietly, as if watching a play.

With a slight sigh, Lei Ke Dun's somewhat heavy hand rose faintly, gathering brilliance to form a spear of utmost purity and blinding white, seemingly composed of pure sunlight.

The identical figure opposite Lei Ke Dun instantly became transparent and twisted, turning into a semi‑transparent human skin and darted away.

Lei Ke Dun's gaze and spirit locked onto the target.

In the next instant, the pure white spear in his hand was hurled at the target, leaving a blazing white trail in the air.

With virtually no pause, the pure white spear pierced the semi‑transparent human skin specter; immediately, the spear expanded into a miniature sun of blinding white bright enough to illuminate a city.

This was one of the strongest attacks Lei Ke Dun could simulate, the Darkless Spear of the Sun Path's Darkless practitioners.

Although the simulated Darkless Spear was far weaker than the original, it still far surpassed the extraordinary abilities of a fifth‑tier sequence.

The scorching, pure white miniature sun struck all monsters hidden in the darkness with a heavy blow; they either turned to ash or fled in panic.

Bei Erna Dai's gaze locked onto a slightly odd specter, and she instantly crossed several meters to its vicinity.

She was covered by an invisible layer, as if she had become something that did not exist; the miniature sun from the Darkless Spear and the specter's attack caused her no damage at all.

In the next moment, rays of light rippled outward from beside Bei Erna Dai.

Everything around her disintegrated silently, turning into fragments that fell to the ground, even the colors were washed away by the rippling starlight.

"Mystic scholar?" Lei Ke Dun mused. This ability to silently cause objects to disintegrate, even evaporating color, resembled the Mystic Scholars of the Perfecter Path.

Indeed, she has an angel brother on the Perfecter Path; Luo Sai Er was once an angel of that path, so her ability to analyze the mythic creature blood of a Knowledge Mentor is unsurprising.

During Lei Ke Dun's brief contemplation, the surrounding extraordinary beings were almost completely cleared.

Only that odd specter struggled to flee the starlight‑waving area, sprinting toward the depths of the tomb.

An ancient‑style spear, ignited with clumps of blood‑red darkness, suddenly pierced its semi‑transparent body.

It was torn apart, turning into countless fragments that fell, with specks of flickering light gradually appearing and beginning to gather.

Surrounded by Lei Ke Dun's gaze tinged with pale violet light, he scanned the area and could find no living beings inside the tomb besides himself and Bei Erna Dai.

"The extraordinary beings here aren't strong; only that specter earlier was odd, but it's already dealt with,"

Bei Erna Dai said in a cool, calm voice.

Lei Ke Dun slowly nodded, approaching the now colorless area where the starlight no longer rippled; the ground there had become fragile, and each step produced a sizzling sound beneath his feet.

"Let's go." Bei Erna Dai led the way toward the Main Burial Chamber.

In the passage to the Main Burial Chamber, human‑skin specters and ancient vengeful spirits were entrenched.

The Eye of Secret Gazing allowed Lei Ke Dun and Bei Erna Dai, even from far away, to already see everything here.

"I'll go."

Lei Ke Dun stepped forward two paces, raised his right hand holding the Bone Staff, and said, "Seal!"

The entire passage was instantly sealed by an invisible force.

The two ancient vengeful spirits and the human‑skin specter sensed danger, frantically striking at the surrounding invisible seal.

"No vengeful spirits allowed here!"

"No flying allowed here!"

The two ancient vengeful spirits became momentarily transparent, fell to the ground, and grew extremely weak.

Lei Ke Dun extended the Bone Staff, pointed at the fallen human‑skin specter, and whispered a verdict:

"Death!"

The tip of the Bone Staff emitted a dim light, pulling out a pitch‑black afterimage that slammed into the human‑skin specter, striking it in an inescapable, unstoppable manner with precise impact; its body instantly exploded, turning into countless fragments and ash.

"Release!" Lei Ke Dun then lifted the seal on the passage.

He flicked his fingers, creating a series of illusory golden flames around him, each imbued with intense solar aura.

The spirits of the two ancient vengeful entities burned like candles, turning into droplets of liquid, leaving only specks of light gradually coalescing.

"You are good at simulating Solar Domain spells?"

Bei Erna Dai's gaze fell on the far end of the passage, and she said in an even tone.

Lei Ke Dun looked at Bei Erna Dai with puzzlement, not understanding why she raised the question, but still replied:

"I have parsed the most Solar Domain spells; likely the Knowledge Church holds high‑tier items of this path, or perhaps the Church has saints of this path."

Bei Erna Dai gave a slight nod without responding, as if the previous exchange was just idle chatter.

She then pointed at a brownish‑yellow, clearly wooden‑framed painting frame hanging about seven or eight meters ahead, showing only its side, and said:

"This is a very dangerous item, the kind that needs sealing."

"If my records are correct, it is the A Meng family's Ghost Painting Frame; anyone who steps into its range and is reflected within will have their spirit separate from the flesh, becoming a portrait, eternally sealed inside the painting."

"Even if the portrait inside changes, there is no method to rescue it."

As soon as she finished speaking, Bei Erna Dai stepped forward inch by inch.

As she approached, her silhouette was reflected inside the Ghost Painting Frame, yet no portrait of Bei Erna Dai appeared within.

It seems the rules of this seal have no effect on her at all.

She reached out and grasped the air, and the sparkling starlight flickered and surged, quickly covering the picture frame.

It instantly contracted and solidified into a completely opaque layer of Gray-white Amber; the frame covered by the Gray-white Amber trembled slightly a few times, then fell silent.

Seeing that the danger in the passage had been dealt with, Lei Kedun quickened his pace, followed behind Beiernadai, and walked toward the entrance of the Main Burial Chamber at the end of the passage.

In front of the Main Burial Chamber stood a black stone door etched with patterns like knife cuts and axe blows, with a gray-white stone slab set in its center.

The surface of the slab was divided into twelve sections, some large, some small, arranged in a highly discordant manner, with a black pointer.

"This is the A Meng family's crest."

Beiernadai explained softly.

Lei Kedun gave a slight nod and added:

"It has been altered into the asymmetric style characteristic of the Black Emperor."

"Black Emperor? Are you very familiar with the Black Emperor?"

Beiernadai turned her head toward Lei Kedun; she seemed more interested in the Black Emperor than in this tomb.

"I know a little," Lei Kedun said immediately:

"This path represents the shadow of order and the dark side of rules. Its trait is to employ rules until they eventually evolve into the shadow of order."

"That is why the squares on the A Meng family's crest are unevenly distributed and why half of them are shaded."

"If these superfluous symbols are removed, could it then point directly to A Meng?"

Beiernadai mused with interest.

"Most likely, yes."

Lei Kedun originally wanted to add, "Better not to try," but considering the other was a mysterious queen who had been adventuring in the Extraordinary World for many years and needed no reminder, he rationally swallowed the latter half of his sentence.

Beiernadai gave no reply; her eyes in that instant became profoundly deep, resembling the sea before a storm.

The condition did not last long; after only a few breaths she recovered, though her complexion turned somewhat pale.

After a brief two-second silence, Beiernadai fixed her gaze on Lei Kedun and said:

"There is danger inside, involving a very high tier."

After a slight pause, Lei Kedun said in a speculative tone:

"The thief's path sequence is called the Time Worm; at this stage the theft can briefly steal time, anchors, and authority."

"The danger inside is most likely that the time on us will be stolen."

Beiernadai nodded lightly, then pushed open the black stone door before them; once opened, inside was an extremely spacious tomb chamber.

Inside the tomb chamber lay bodies in various attires, some dressed as ordinary workers, others in black woolen coats with half‑high silk hats, clearly people who had entered here only in recent years.

Without exception, they all had aged faces and sparse white hair, as if they had died of old age here, and had only just died, not yet decayed.

On a high platform at the center of the tomb chamber rested a deep black coffin, and the surrounding walls bore iron‑black lamp stands holding white candles that still burned quietly.

The candle flames did not flicker; everything resembled a frozen picture.

"Time here has been affected," Beiernadai said softly, frowning slightly.

Lei Kedun tilted his head slightly, pressing his left hand to his ear, as if listening to something.

"There is a passage inside that connects to the abyss; after entering, remember to destroy it."

"Holding that Bone Staff, I can imbue my own stature onto you, reducing the chance of your time being stolen."

Taking a deep breath, Lei Kedun turned to Beiernadai and said:

"Do you have a way to avoid having your own time stolen?"

If not, then we'll have to go in ourselves.

(End of Chapter)