Chapter 1216: A Little Bit About Xiao An—The Painting Tomb (Two)

What a buddha nemesis!

Grand preceptor Dong was filled with both surprise and anger. He experienced the sensation of death he had not encountered in many years. The sky-blue robes on him suddenly swelled, becoming the colour of ice and forcefully blocking the Buddha Slaying sword.

As it turned out, his robes were also a painting, depicting ice and permafrost that had remained frozen for thousands of years.

Xiao An twisted her sword. The ice shattered, and the robes ripped apart!

Grand preceptor Dong retreated in sorry shape. He was extremely shocked. His Painted Robes of Ice was a supreme defensive treasure, yet it could not even block a stroke from her! However, it had bought him some time at the very least. He spread his arms and called out, "The Hundred Paintings of All!"

Swish!

A hundred painting scrolls unfurled together, depicting landscapes, figures, and critters, as well as hellish fiends and heavenly paradises. Each painting had its own special effect, either turning into a powerful existence of the third heavenly layer or conjuring powerful techniques of ice, fire, and lightning. They changed and weaved together into thousands of different colours.

With the hundred paintings as one, it could form a domain of its own, enveloping and embracing everything.

Alone, he could fend off the combined efforts of several dozen great cultivators. The grand preceptor was the leader of the three ducal ministers. He had definitely lived up to his reputation!

As soon as the Hundred Scrolls of Wonders unfurled, they all vanished with a flash of blood-red light, ending up inside a blood-red banner.

"A spatial arcane treasure!" Grand preceptor Dong's expression changed.

Xiao An wielded her sword in her right hand and the banner in her left. Her expression remained as emotionless as before like she had anticipated all of this.

The string of prayer beads around her wrist scattered and flew out, turning into skeletons that bit down on grand preceptor Dong. Their sharp teeth rapidly tore apart his protective true qi, biting into his flesh.

But strangely enough, no matter how the Skeleton Demons bit away at him, grand preceptor Dong's wounds would rapidly heal. They could not even draw a single droplet of blood, so the Samādhi Flames of White Bone had nothing to ignite as if he was only a fleshless puppet or a painting.

Grand preceptor allowed the Skeleton Demons to bite away at him as he stared coldly at Xiao An.

At this moment, in the distant Dragon province, a portrait of grand preceptor Dong hung in the depths of the grand preceptor's estate, standing in the exact same posture with the exact same expression. The portrait would be destroyed slightly wherever the Skeleton Demons bit down.

This was a supreme art of the school of Painting, the Painted Soul Substitution!

As long as the painted soul remained and the substitution did not perish, he would not suffer any wounds. At the same time, it would leave him immune to many strange or special attacks, whether it was the preceptual decrees or the Samādhi Flames of White Bone.

The weakest link when it came to painters was their body. Despite all the powerful paintings they could control, it would all be useless if they themselves were defeated, which was why they came up with such a wondrous technique. When the enemy tried to triumph over them through assassination, they would only end up running into a brick wall, becoming heavily surrounded instead.

"Do you think you can trap my Hundred Scrolls of Wonders with a measly arcane treasure? Buddha nemesis, I'll have you die here today!"

Grand preceptor Dong powered the Hundred Scrolls of Wonders, and the Blood Sea Banner produced colourful ripples. They were about to break free.

Xiao An abandoned the Blood Sea Banner. She gripped her sword with both hands. She gently stepped across the yellow sand with her bare feet that were so pale that they were almost transparent, but she did not leave behind any tracks. She swung her sword again.

The swing was like a miracle of nature, completely devoid of any traces. It seemed to be part of the world, without any sharpness to be seen.

Grand preceptor Dong frowned heavily. The buddha nemesis' swordsmanship was inconceivably powerful, and her various other methods were simply bizarre. It was no wonder why she had managed to commit such a heinous deed in Pearl city. If it were not for the Painted Soul Substitution, he probably would have died from carelessness today.

However, when he met her hollow eyes, he suddenly experienced an indescribable sense of horror. Something was definitely wrong! He wanted to retreat, but the Skeleton Demons had bitten down on him, so it was already too late.

The sword slid past his throat, and a streak of blood splashed into the air, igniting into the Samādhi Flames of White Bone in the air.

Suddenly, a great gash appeared on the portrait in the grand preceptor's estate. As it turned out, no matter how the Skeleton Demons bit away at him previously, only the painting broke. However, the gash had pierced the very canvas, located right across his neck.

How is this possible!?

Grand preceptor Dong widened his eyes that were filled with disbelief. Death devoured his entire body. He could not help but clutch his neck with both hands, kneeling down like a mortal. He desperately tried to escape with his soul nascence, but a similar wound had appeared on the neck of his soul nascence.

Blood trickled between his fingers, landing on the sand and bursting into white flames. He tried his best to raise his head. Her beautiful face was emotionless as always as the night wind lifted up her white clothes and black hair. It was like she was the embodiment of death.

With a boom, the pale-white flames spread, enveloping the entire portrait and reducing it to ashes instantly.

Everything happened in a split second. Before the others could even understand what was going on, they already saw grand preceptor Dong go up in flames. Pale-white fire poured out all of his openings. They all cried out in fright inside.

Master!

Grand preceptor!

Chu Danqing flew over the sand dune, gasping for air. He cried out, "Don't!"

Half a month ago, he went to find Li Qingshan to protect him in order to enter the Painting Tomb. Only then did he learn that Li Qingshan was no longer in this world anymore, which left him greatly disappointed. Originally, he planned on coming to the Scarlet province to try his luck anyway, but Xiao An had proactively accepted this task because it was a promise that he had made.

Along the way, they said nothing at all. She was more foreign than she had ever been in his memories. Her absolute beauty did not bring him attraction but fear instead. As a matter of fact, he could not even come up with an outline of a portrait of her mentally. It was all just blank, as if it could suck away all colours.

A while earlier, she had suddenly accelerated, which filled him with an ominous feeling. He managed to catch up to her after so much difficulty, only to see this.

Grand preceptor Dong held an extremely great status in the hearts of disciples from the school of Painting. Chu Danqing had once copied from many of his works too. Unless he had no other choice, he definitely did not want him as an enemy, but he never thought she had killed already him.

Xiao An grabbed the Blood Sea Banner again, which spewed out the Hundred Scrolls of Wonders. Without a master anymore, they collapsed on the ground feebly.

Afterwards, with a casual swing, she sucked all the cultivators present into the blood sea. At the same time, she raised her hand. The Skull Prayer Beads rose into the air, scattering in all directions.

The surging sea of blood swallowed all of the cultivators, only spitting out their arcane treasures and arcane artifacts.

The Skull Prayer Beads had pierced and killed all of the cultivators that the grand preceptor Dong had dismissed, causing them to burst into Samādhi Flames of White Bone. It was an extremely dazzling sight in the desert at night.

As a result, no one was left alive.

The desert recovered its silence again. Only the wind continued to whisper.

A waning moon had risen into the sky before they had realised it, confronting the setting sun silently.

Chu Danqing watched all of that happen in a daze. He questioned furiously, "What did you do? Why did you kill them? They weren't even your opponent..."

Xiao An suddenly looked back. Her hollow eyes silenced all of his words.

Chu Danqing shivered inside. Abruptly, he realised that she really could kill him, just like how she had killed these people. The only thing connecting them was a single promise from Li Qingshan!

At this moment, as the sunlight and moonglow merged together, the mirage in the sky erupted with gorgeous colour, surging magnificently like a kaleidoscope.

As the sun and moon shone together, the Painting Tomb opened!

However, even the magnificent sight could not enter her eyes. She gazed into the depths of the night sky and finally said something, "It's time for you to go in."