The Portal of Wonderland

“This thing should have a background. It’s a pity that it’s in a damaged state at present. Anyway, I’ll think about it later,” Shi Mu muttered to himself in a soft yet regretful voice. He then folded the green cloak in a gentle and cautious manner, and collected it in his Vast Earth Ring. After that, he directed his gaze at the corpse once again.

And, his facial expression somewhat changed.

He hadn’t examined the corpse in a proper manner before since the cloak had blocked his vision. But, he could clearly see a baby’s-fist-sized crystal stone in the corpse’s hand when he examined the corpse again. The entire body of the crystal stone was deep-red and transparent.

Shi Mu beckoned, and the crystal stone flew into his hand.

The crystal stone was conical in shape, and a few quirky patterns were engraved on its surface. In addition, a few quivering red lines could clearly be seen in the center of this crystal stone. These lines were moving up and down the stone like a few red lightning bolts. This crystal stone was evidently not an ordinary thing.

However, it was neither emitting any spiritual aura nor any magic power waves. This made it look no different than an ordinary red crystal stone.

Shi Mu flipped the crystal stone, and examined it minutely for a long while. His eyes somewhat congealed as he did so.

An ancient symbol “Three” was engraved on the surface of the cone’s peak… as if this stone had been numbered.

His brows creased, and he examined it several times in a row. He even attempted to infuse his magic power or Real Qi into it. However, he couldn’t find any special features of this conical crystal no matter how hard he tried.

However, the corpse had held this thing tightly in its hand till its death. And, this left Shi Mu to assume that it ought to be an important thing.

Shi Mu shook his head, and decided to not think about it at this time. He received the conical crystal, and decided to examine it in his leisure time.

There was no other noticeable stuff on the corpse apart from the green cloak and the conical crystal.

He looked at the corpse, and let out a soft sigh. He then thought to give it a proper burial in the same place where it had embraced its death. It could be regarded as a compensation for taking away two things from its body.

Shi Mu flicked his sleeve, and a streak of red light flew out. It wrapped around the corpse, and tried to hold it up.

However, the light couldn’t pick it up. In fact, it was barely able to budge it.

A hint of amazement flashed through Shi Mu’s face. The outward appearance of the corpse didn’t make it seem special. But, it seemed that it was almost four-or-five hundred pounds heavy.

Shi Mu added a little more force in order to lift the corpse.

But then, his brows wrinkled, and the thought of re-examining the corpse flashed across his mind. Then, a dignified look gradually appeared on his face after some time.

The fact was that the green cloak and the deep-red crystal stone had drawn most of his attention. So, he had overlooked the anomaly in this corpse.

Every bone of this corpse was white in color. However, Shi Mu noticed that the texture of these bones was very exquisite when he carried out a proper examination of the corpse once again. Moreover, there was a hint of metallic luster on the bones.

He tapped his finger on the skeleton, and a “thud thud” sound spread from the bones… as if he was hitting a steel plate.

Shi Mu’s eyes flickered once. He flicked his fingers, and a streak of red light darted out of them. Then, that streak of light changed into a light-blade, and pounded on the thigh-bone of the skeleton.

A stuffy “Clang” sound was heard, and the red light-blade collapsed and dispersed. However, the surface of the thigh-bone didn’t sustain any damage. In fact, the light-blade couldn’t even leave a trace on the bone.

Shi Mu’s complexion changed again. He knew that he had used only a little part of his strength to hit the skeleton. But, his light-blade was still formidable enough to chop down an ordinary steel bar. However, it had failed to leave even a tiny scratch on this skeleton.

He hesitated for a moment. Then, he received the skeleton in his storage ring.

This corpse was definitely an extraordinary thing. So, he thought that he might find something about it during his next examination.

Shi Mu walked around in the underground cave for some time, and his eyes gradually brightened.

He noticed that the space in the depths of the underground cave was moderate in size. So, it was suitable for making a fire room.

Shi Mu then cleared up the severed parts of the rattan monster which were scattered everywhere in the underground cavern. After that, he returned to the surface.

“Shi Tou, why did you take so long? I thought something unpleasant had happened to you below. In fact, I was about to go down to look for you,” Cai fluttered his wings, and flew over as soon as Shi Mu got out of the room.

“Oh, weren’t you scared of the ghost?” the corners of Shi Mu’s mouth slightly curled as he said.

“Well, this… I thought that I couldn’t defeat this ghost if it was fierce. And, running away would be out of the question… After all, I have wings to fly. By the way… can the ghost fly?” Cai’s facial expression looked somewhat flustered as he heard the word ‘ghost’. And, he started to talk in an incoherent manner.

Shi Mu smiled. But, he didn’t try to poke fun at the parrot again. He instead recounted the entire matter in the basement in a simple manner.

“So, this ghost turned out to be a flower demon, and its hideout was the basement. I thought it was truly a ghost. I was scared out of my wits,” Cai heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he patted his chest with one of his wings and said.

“This is a remote place. So, powerful identities are unlikely to come here. This had provided the flower demon with a suitable situation to harm a lot of people in order to strengthen its power very rapidly. It’s estimated that this fierce demon would’ve advanced to the Earth-rank in another three or five decades if nobody had gone below to deal with it,” Shi Mu said.

“Quack; it doesn’t matter what made this monster this way. The important point here is that this monster’s play finally came to an end after he provoked Shi Tou,” Cai said.

“The environment here isn’t bad. And, there’s an underground cavern that can be converted into a fire room. Moreover, we don’t have to be worried about being noticed by people here,” Shi Mu said.

Cai nodded repeatedly.

“I have set my mind on this place. So, I now need to go and purchase the required number of Star Fire Stones. In addition, I have to exchange my spirit stones for fire-attribute spirit stones,” Shi Mu said while gazing into the distance across the courtyard.

… …

Shi Mu walked around in the Peaceful Sun City for the next half-month, and bought many Star Fire Stones. In addition, he exchanged his other spirit stones for the fire-attribute spirit stones.

The fire-attribute spirit stone was a valuable stone. After all, it was classified as one of the five elements of spirit stones. Shi Mu had conveniently obtained plenty of these spirit stones in exchange for a little cost and some handling charges. As for the star fire stone… it wasn’t regarded as an unusually rare thing. But, the quantity required for the array wasn’t small. On top of that, the city was closed-up these days. Therefore, it had taken Shi Mu a lot of time and effort to obtain these stones.

The fact was that Shi Mu had eventually entered into a deal with Heavenly Wu Gems Pavilion. He had spent an amount of spirit stones that was thirty percent more than the market value. But, he had succeeded in collecting the required number of star fire stones in this way.

However, this deal had costed him the thousands of the spirits stones he had collected so far. And now, he was left with a very small number of spirit stones.

… …

Some demon beasts still lingered outside the city under Ao Kui’s guidance. And, their intention was to cause an all-day panic situation in the Peaceful Sun City.

Shi Mu was naturally too disinclined to pay attention to these things. After all, he was in the midst of arranging his Fire-Filled Array at the moment.

He had chosen the deepest part of the underground cavern for setting up this magic array. The ground and walls of this place were densely inlaid with deep-red stones; these stones were the star fire stones.

These star fire stones were embellishing the entire cave with a bright red hue. Also, they seemed to have formed a huge and indistinct cage. This cage enveloped the entire space on this side of the cave.

Circles of vein-like red lines were engraved on the surface of these star fire stones. And, they constituted all kinds of abstruse patterns.

There was a circular magic array in the center of the cavern. The fire-attribute spirit stones were embedded in each corner of this magic array. They appeared to be several hundred in number.

Shi Mu sat down in the center of the magic circle with his legs crossed. He then placed a fire-attribute spirit stone on the ground.

Buzz…

A dazzling red light emerged from the magic array along with a droning sound. It moved along the veined lines in the cavern at an extremely quick speed, and then immediately dissipated.

A blissful expression peeped through Shi Mu’s face when he saw that the Fire-Filled Array had been laid out successfully.

“This magic array isn’t that difficult to arrange. You could’ve arranged it all by yourself even if you weren’t an expert Formula Magician. It’s just that this magic array is obviously a bit rough in design. In addition, it demands myriads of spirit stones… which could’ve sufficed me for a long time otherwise,” Cai said; he stood beside him on a big stone.

“Cai, you come and design this magic array in a manner that can save us a lot of spirit stones. Then, I’ll turn over the spirit stones that you’d save to you. How is this plan?” Shi Mu said.

“Haha, I was just saying. You don’t have to take it seriously, Shi Tou,” Cai’s voice was filled with resentment.

Shi Mu was annoyed, and he shot a glaring look at Cai. He then took a long and deep breath. Then, he flicked his hand, and cast a magic spell.

A burst of “Buzz” sound was heard. And, the Fire-Filled Array was set in motion.

The fire-attribute spirit stones on the ground lit up, and radiated rays of red light. They enveloped the entire underground space in a layer of red light.

Then, it seemed as if the underground space had instantly been teleported to a torrid head volcano. An intense fire-attribute spiritual energy had pervaded the air in the cavern.

The atmosphere in this underground cavern wasn’t the same as the one in that natural fire-spirit mountain ranges. But, this difference wasn’t big-enough to be of concern.

However, the spiritual energy of the fire-attribute spirit stones on the ground was weakening little by little. In fact, it seemed from this trend that these spirit stones would hold this magic array only for four or five days.

Shi Mu revealed a wry smile, and glanced at the ring on his hand. It seemed that the fire-attribute spirit stones that he had prepared could be used for replacement only for four or five times if this speed of depletion continued. So, he needed to think of a way to earn some spirit stones if he wanted to use this array.

He sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then, he started the operation of the Book of Flaming Red Ape.

Shi Mu was bathing in the rich fire-attribute spirit energy when a wisp of scalding air-current gushed into his body in a steady manner. Then, that air-current seeped into his meridians.

He sensed this, and took out an ordinary fire-attribute Peach Fruit from his clothes. The surrounding red light converged over the next moment, and gradually formed a layer of red clouds on his body.

Some time passed. In fact, ten or more days passed in this way.

Shi Mu abruptly opened his eyes as he sensed that his Real Qi had reached the peak; he was still seated in the center of the magic array.

He turned his hand, and took out the fire-attribute Peach King. He pondered for a moment. Then, he swallowed down the entire fruit in a few gulps.

He felt a sudden surge of heat wave in his lower abdomen as the Peach King reached his stomach. After that, his entire body was shrouded in a layer of red radiance and a layer of purple radiance.

Then, a wisp of his Real Qi started to rush forth in his meridians in a very swift manner. And, it became increasingly fierce with each passing second… as if furious waves were surging continuously.

Shi Mu then felt a lacerating pain in his meridians. He felt as if his meridians were being cut by an incisive knife. This rendered him bursts of excruciating pain.

He took a deep breath, and barely managed to pacify the surging Qi and blood in his body. After that, he stimulated the operation of the Qi Palace in his body in the light of the magic art of the Book of Flaming Red Ape’s ninth stage.

He felt that the Real Qi in his lower abdomen had made a sharp growth in a matter of seconds. Then, a wisp of his plentiful Real Qi gushed out of his lower abdomen, and circulated in all of his limbs and bones… like a turbulent current.

However, the red light in the Fire-Filled Array had also begun to flicker every now and then.

Shi Mu was perspiring profusely. The surface of his skin had become reddish-purple. In addition, his meridians and lower abdomen were flooded with intense Real Qi at the moment. In fact, they had almost reached a zero scope… so much so that it seemed that they were about to explode.

He opened his eyes. And, the reddish-purple radiance on his body shone, and wrapped his entire body.

A long time had passed like this. Then, Shi Mu suddenly issued a long and loud scream. His scream reverberated throughout the underground cave.

The surrounding magic array seemed to be affected by this, and exuded dazzling rays of light.

Innumerable rays of red light started to converge in Shi Mu’s body the next moment… It seemed like a hundred rivers were converging into an ocean. Simultaneously, the oppressive force in Shi Mu’s body started to become stronger.

Cai stood nearby in the cavern. This mighty coercion whistled over him, and shook him to fly. He couldn’t help but utter a strange scream as a result.

Then, a layer of black light emerged in the ceiling of the underground cavern, and blocked the waves of spirit power that Shi Mu was releasing.

… …

This process lasted for three full days and three full nights. Then, the red light in the magic array slowly faded, and revealed Shi Mu’s silhouette inside.

Shi Mu appeared to be soaked in sweat at the moment… It seemed as if he just had been picked up from the water. However, a gleam of excitement could be seen all over his face.

The fact was that he had finally broken through the eighth stage of the Book of Flaming Red Ape, and had stepped into the ninth stage.

Moreover, the Qi Palace in his body was bulging with a plentiful amount of Real Qi. And, this real Qi was in concentrated form at the moment. In fact, it seemed as if his Real Qi had almost condensed into a liquid. Also, it felt almost twice more powerful than before.

All these signs indicated that he had officially entered the advanced stage of the Xian Tian realm.