The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu stood-up with the necklace in his hands. He then moved two steps forward to hand it over to Bi Lige.

Suddenly, there was a wave of fluctuation in the invisible force around him. Then, a twinkling white halo appeared on his limbs. He felt as if the blood and Real Qi within his body had got condensed. This had restricted his movements.

Shi Mu’s complexion turned stiff. He secretly shouted in his heart, but it was useless. He hadn’t expected that the High Priest would restrict his movements.

Bi Lige’s face looked like an ancient well. He noticed that the expression on Shi Mu’s face had abruptly changed. But, he turned a blind eye to it. Instead, he slowly got-up, rested his hands on the withered stick in his hand, and started to walk towards Shi Mu.

Shi Mu became extremely nervous as he saw this. He noticed that Bi Lige’s eyes were stuck on the necklace in his hands.

His heart fluttered. Then, he felt slightly relieved.

Bi Lige’s eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation as he arrived near Shi Mu. He finally stopped walking.

Suddenly, a bright light flickered through Bi Lige’s eyes as he stared at the necklace in order to examine it. Then, he strolled around the necklace; a strange gleam appeared in his eyes.

After that, Bi Lige slowly strolled back and sat down on his seat. His eyes turned pale yellow once again. He didn’t speak anything for a while.

It had become extremely difficult for Shi Mu to calm himself down. The halo on his limbs flickered twice and faded away. The invisible force that had shrouded around him – like a surging tide – also retreated at this time.

Shi Mu rejoiced in his heart. But, he didn’t dare to sit down. He remained standing on the spot in a respectful manner.

“Shi Mu, where did you get this foundation necklace from?” Bi Lige let out a long sigh as he asked.

“A friend of mine from my homeland had given this to me until I get back.” Suddenly, an idea flashed across Shi Mu’s mind. So, he gave an ambiguous reply.

“I understand. You can go now,” Bi Lige said while shaking his head.

Bi Lige didn’t think of questioning Shi Mu closely. So, he wagged the withered stick in his arm as an indication for him to leave.

Shi Mu took a general pardon. Then, he turned around and took a few quick steps to depart.

The High Priest opened a secret door behind the hall’s wall once Shi Mu had left. A vigorous and extremely formidable-looking middle-aged Priest walked out from inside the gap in the wall.

“High Priest, this foundation necklace belongs to the barbarians. I can sense an extremely formidable spiritual power fluctuation inside it. This necklace should be a rare treasure. How did it fall into a human’s hands?” the middle-aged Priest asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

“This necklace is undoubtedly a precious treasure. But, it’s also an inauspicious thing. From thousands of years… each and every tribe that has possessed this necklace at any point of time has eventually faded away without any particular reason. Now that it’s in the possession of a human… it might be a good thing for us barbarians…” Bi Lige let out a sigh.

Meanwhile, Shi Mu had made his way out of the Holy Snow Palace. He finally heaved a sigh of relief. But, his back was drenched in cold sweat.

He didn’t understand the purpose that the High Priest had summoned him for. But, he could tell that the High Priest had summoned him because of Feng Li’s necklace. What made him a little puzzled was the strange behavior of the High Priest. He didn’t seem to have the intention to take the necklace away. In fact, he didn’t even touch it.

Shi Mu shook his head, and cast these disrupting thoughts off his mind. Lifting the Eternally Doomed Soul curse was the most important matter for him for the time being. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed in the barbarians’ land for even a quarter-of-an-hour.

Shi Mu hurriedly returned to his room.

Then, he sat down on the bed. His face was still cloudy; a faint trace of fear was lingering on his face.

Bi Lige had demonstrated an overwhelming strength before Shi Mu. Such strength had gripped Shi Mu in fear and apprehension. He waved his hand to get hold of himself. He had recently stepped into the Hou Tian advanced-stage. So, there was no way that he could break through the Xian Tian level.

Bi Lige’s body hadn’t let out a tiny bit of an aura when he had fettered Shi Mu. His magic power had only showed usual fluctuation. This made Shi Mu more confused about the mysterious character of the quivering old man.

Fortunately, Bi Lige didn’t seem to hold any malicious feeling against him.

Shi Mu shook his head since he didn’t wish to think about this problem. Then, he took out the necklace, and held it in front of him to take a closer look.

Shi Mu had examined this thing repeatedly when he had received it. This necklace hadn’t displayed any power related to Real Qi or magic power. Feng Li had once mentioned that this thing and the totem on his body had an important relationship. So, it mustn’t be damaged. But, it seemed that this necklace couldn’t be destroyed easily.

However, this necklace had something which could draw the attention of the High Priest. So, it obviously wasn’t an ordinary thing.

Shi Mu must wait to see Feng Li in order to know the origin of the necklace.

Shi Mu looked at the necklace for a while. He then put it away. After that, he drew the blue stipule out of his bosom, and pasted it on his forehead.

Some time passed. But, Shi Mu remained motionless.

He continued to sit in the same position for more than an hour. He finally opened his eyes. Then, his eyes flickered.

He wasn’t completely ignorant about the barbarian’s secret totem technique. He had once obtained the secret totem technique of the Flying Raven Tribe from that tribe’s Priest.

However, the description in this blue spicule seemed more detailed.

The barbarians’ way of recording the secret totem technique had a little resemblance to the human’s way of writing charm spells.

The only difference was that the barbarians engraved it on a human body, while the humans recorded it on the charm paper.

The barbarians’ totem patterns had been passed down from generation-to-generation; it was a set of a practice system that been accumulated little-by-little over the time.

The beast images in the totem patterns contained an abstruse and profound sealing strength. Therefore, they could imprison an ominous beast soul, and the host could then take-over its inherent power.

Moreover, these totems couldn’t be drawn with a pen. They could only be drawn with a kind of a special needle. It was called the ‘clearance needle’. This needle was pricked in the body to acupuncture a totem. The totem would need to run in coordination with the body’s blood and Qi once it was completely acupunctured.

Therefore, an extremely high precision needle was a must. An inadvertent needle could cause a serious disorder to the Qi and blood, and could lead to a serious injury.

Shi Mu’s face beamed with a smile.

The requirement of a high precision needle?

He had an extraordinary eyesight coupled with magic power. So, this high precision requirement couldn’t stump him out. Now, the only worrisome factor was the words spoken by the High Priest.

According to him, Shi Mu could get rid of this totem curse by using the three-headed python’s soul. He could also undo the curse even if he succeeded in sealing only half of the python’s soul. In fact, it would be much easier in comparison with sealing the complete soul. But, it involved a huge risk of failure.

The seal might have an adverse effect on Shi Mu’s body if it failed. Moreover, Shi Mu wouldn’t be able to eradicate the formidable force of the Eternally Doomed Soul curse if he failed to seal it properly. In fact, it would become extremely difficult for Shi Mu to escape if it erupted after the failure.

Shi Mu’s facial expressions became firm as this thought crossed his mind.

However, he seemed fully determined once he framed a stratagem. He then opened the door and walked out.

He returned with a package in his hand after around twelve hours. He then went straight to his private room.

He unwrapped the package. There were a few black charms and blue spirit stones in that package. A six or seven inches long blue needle was also inside the package. The middle part of the needle was slightly thick, while both of its ends looked extremely sharp.

A few vaguely visible magic characters were engraved on the surface of the needle; they were as fine as a pinhole.

Shi Mu had consulted Priest Yan Ya before he had bought these things. He had spent a lot of gold to get these things. These things were needed to arrange a totem circle in order to seal a beast soul.

These things – a clearance needle, magic charms, and blue spirit stones – were needed to arrange a totem circle for sealing the beast soul into his body.

Then, Shi Mu got busy with his work.

He had never tried the totem technique earlier. But, he had consulted Priest Yan Ya beforehand. Moreover, these magic charms could assist him in arranging everything easily.

A circular totem had been prepared in his private room in less than half-an-hour. A beam of black light could also be seen there. It was in a crisscross pattern. It was slowly rotating while forming a black light beam.

Shi Mu sat down cross-legged inside the circle; his upper body was bare. The totem curse on his chest looked more dazzling than before. In fact, it seemed as if it might come to life any moment. It was a ghastly sight.

Shi Mu smiled bitterly in his heart. The current situation hadn’t allowed him to delay this process any further.

He adjusted his breathing for a while. Then, he restored his magic power and Real Qi to their peak. After that, he slowly opened his eyes.

He waved, and the beast-soul bag illuminated with a black light. After that, a watermelon-sized black light floated out of it. The miniature of the three-headed python could be seen inside the light. It was struggling in a continuous manner, but a layer of intangible barriers had imprisoned its movements.

It was the soul of the three-headed python…

Shi Mu’s eyes glinted with a glorious light. Then, he began to chant an obscure incantation.

Suddenly, a black light flew out, and hit the beast’s soul.

Then, a layer of blood light flashed, and a red net of fragile spider’s silk appeared around the beast’s soul.

This glowing red net was the beast-soul bag’s imprisonment strength; it had the ability to imprison the beast soul inside it.

However, the beast soul of a Xian Tian level also possessed a good striking power.

Shi Mu’s eyes flickered as he gazed at the red net. His started to mumble the incantation again. He slowly pointed out his finger – like a knife – at the same time.

Then, a more refined thick black light flew out. It transformed into a black knife-shadow with a spark, and chopped down the net of red light.

The red net was shattered with a faint sound.

The three-headed python’s soul grew a foot long. It now had a translucent body of a three-headed black snake. It raised its head, and gazed at Shi Mu resentfully.

Then, it swayed its tail and threw itself towards Shi Mu.

Shi Mu snorted coldly; his pointed finger flicked a ball.

A black photo-electricity fled from the surrounding black circle, and bombarded on the python’s soul. It gave a powerful jolt to the soul, and sent it flying.

The three-headed black snake’s body was rolled-up, and sent flying several feet away. It hit the edge of the black circle and bounced back… as if it had hit a cushioned wall.

An ominous glint flashed across the python’s eyes. It leapt and transformed into a shadow. Then, it threw itself towards Shi Mu once again.

But, Shi Mu was calm. His fingers continued to make some flicking movements. And, the black light continued to bombard on the python’s soul. It had hit it, and had sent it flying a number of times.

The black light around the python’s soul became dimmer after some time. This made its soul look dispirited. Then, a trace of fear flickered through its eyes as it looked towards Shi Mu.

Shi Mu’s lips cracked into a faint smile. However, his mouth continued to read the incantation aloud. Meanwhile, he waved his hand, and dozens of black lines flew out of the circle. It formed a black circular cage around the python’s soul.

The python’s soul was alarmed. It started to struggle with the entirety of its might. It moved left and right. But, it couldn’t break itself free as much of its spiritual power had been impaired by Shi Mu.

Shi Mu’s complexion loosened a bit. Then, he moved his hand again.

The black cage floated over, and stopped beside him.