The Portal of Wonderland

On an isolated island… the scorching sun was high up in the clear and boundless sky. The shadows of the trees were swaying in the breeze. The mountains and rivers looked quiet and beautiful.

There was a huge banana tree in the vicinity of the seacoast; it was over a hundred feet in height. The trunk and branches of this tree were thick and sturdy. It had palm-leaf-fan-like green leaves; they were fluttering and dancing in the wind. The tree blocked the scorching light of the blazing sun, and formed a cool and shady place underneath.

A large oval-shaped stone could be seen in this shade. And, a white ape sat cross-legged with its back against this rock. It held a golden book in its hand, and was reading it with rapt attention.

The front cover of this ancient book was engraved with a few silver characters — “Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art”.

The pages of this book were exuding a mass of gentle and pale-golden rays of light. These rays of light had enveloped the entire body of the white ape, and had dyed the white hair of its body in a shade of golden.

The scorching sun gradually climbed towards the centre as the time passed. In addition, it seemed as if the clouds in the sky had been burned down since they had long disappeared without a trace.

The ground on the isolated island looked roasted and dried-up due to lack of shade. Gusts of sea breeze were sweeping across whilst blowing up bursts of heat wave from the ground. Simultaneously, they made the already suffocating air all the more viscous.

There were myriads of small beasts on the island. And, they were unable to endure such a high temperature. So, they began to look around for a place that could provide them shade and resist this heat. They often cast their impatient eyes over the shady place that was under the banana tree near the seashore. But, none of them dared to get too close to that place.

The white ape sat in the shady place. So, it wasn’t much affected by the excessive heat of this place. It turned its body and assumed an even comfortable posture at this moment. After that, it continued to flip the pages of the golden book with great relish.

The white ape sometimes twitched its ears and scratched its cheeks out of excitement. It showed the signs of thorough consideration. Sometimes, it would often stretch out its furry palm and display some strange postures.

It couldn’t be said how long after the white ape suddenly closed the book and let out a long sigh of contentment…

Then, it received the golden book and took a few somersaults in the same place. Simultaneously, it issued a burst of strange squeals… as if it was filled with excitement.

Then, the white ape swept its gaze around for a while. After that, it dashed in a certain direction on the island while jumping and hopping along the way. Its fast moving feet set off wind in its wake. And, these gusts of wind changed into a long white shadow.

The scope of this island wasn’t very large. The white ape kept running for almost a quarter of an hour without the slightest break. And, it soon arrived at the foot of the seemingly highest mountain peak. Then, it started to climb up the mountain without demur.

The mountain peak was steep, and there were many grotesquely-shaped jagged rocks along the way. But, the white ape continued to sway upward as easily as if walking upon a level road with the help of its feet and hands. And, it reached the summit of the peak in a matter of seconds.

The summit was uneven, and only a thousand or more feet in size. It was already midday — a period when the sun used to be most vigorous. The fire-like blazing sun in the dark blue sky was emitting thousands of glaring and scalding rays of light. So, the temperature here was much higher than the temperature below the mountain peak.

However, such high temperature still couldn’t cause the slightest effect on the white ape. On the contrary, the white ape raised its head, and stared at the scorching sun in the sky in an excited manner. Then, it started to sit down cross-legged and stand up in various places on the summit… it seemed as if it was looking for some suitable location.

It eventually sat down on a smooth protruding place that was almost the size of a lower millstone.

After that, it closed its eyes, and took a long and deep breath. Then, it leaned forward in the same place. It had taken the posture of the Sun-Swallowing Art.

However, this posture looked somewhat different from the Sun-Swallowing Art’s postures the ape had displayed in days of the past. Its head was raised skyward and its mouth was slightly open at the moment. Also, its right arm lay prostrate on the ground, and his left arm was held high… as if it was greeting the blazing sun in midair.

A golden light was flowing in its pupils when a tiny silk of golden flame also appeared in its eyes. It vaguely seemed like it was adding radiance and beauty to the scorching sun in the air.

Then, scalding rays of sun started to sprinkle down from the sky in a continuous manner. Simultaneously, they continued to turn into a silk of golden light, and converged in the left hand of the white ape that it kept skyward; it looked like a golden light beam.

This process had hardly started a moment ago, but it looked as if the white ape’s left hand had been set on fire. A cloud of flames flared up on the surface of its hand, and started sending out a droning sound.

The white ape’s face contorted as a spasm of excruciating pain rushed over its body. And, it started issuing squeaking sounds. However, the ape still didn’t budge an inch to change its posture, and kept its movement as motionless as before.

It couldn’t be said how long this process continued. But, a considerable amount of golden light had gathered in its hand by now. Also, the blazing flames in the white ape’s left hand had grown even more vigorous. In fact, it had transformed into a golden fireball that was as big as a washbasin. And, it was also shining magnificently.

Its left hand had darkened and scorched under the blaze of the fireball.

The white ape’s entire body appeared as if had been dredged out of the water. Even the tiniest pores of its body were sweating profusely. As for its left hand… it was shaking unceasingly due to excessive pain. However, the white ape still persisted as before. Neither did it reveal the slightest sign of flinching back; nor of giving up…

It looked from afar as if the white ape lay prostrate on the ground. And, its scorched-black left hand appeared as if holding a huge mass of fireball. And, that fireball was throbbing rhythmically.

…

At the same time, in the centre of the Clay Street’s warehouse… in the Rising Sun City…

Shi Mu’s scorched-black body moved a little in the golden flames that were billowing unceasingly. Then, a silver ray of light burst forth on his left hand.

Bang!

It seemed as if the golden flames on the surface of Shi Mu’s body received some kind of summon since they suddenly started to roll up and gather in Shi Mu’s left hand. Simultaneously, they began to turn into a mass of pale-golden fireball.

A wisp of golden light was faintly visible in that fireball. It was continually seeping into Shi Mu’s palm… as if it possessed some kind of spiritual energy. But, the golden fireball also continued to get smaller as the golden light continued to seep into his palm.

Consequently, the golden flames disappeared in a matter of few breaths.

After that, Shi Mu’s body started to recover even though it had turned black in the flames. In fact, the speed was such that it was even visible to the naked eye.

There were some cracks in his body that were caused by flame burns. But, even they started to heal at an astonishing speed. In addition, some blackened dead skin began to shed from his scorched body. And, a layer of new and delicate skin was also sprouting side-by-side.

Shi Mu’s body regained its original state after a while.

His body suddenly moved with a jerk. He then opened his eyes and sat up.

He stared at his body in a somewhat flabbergasted manner. Then, he looked around, and realized that the warehouse was in a complete mess. Also, the entire ground had turned black due to fire, and the air still felt as scalding as it was before.

A large pit could also be seen in the ground around him; his body was at its center…

He noticed that the prohibition magic spell — that was arranged around the warehouse — was still active. But, Zhong Xiu’s silhouette had long disappeared without a trace.

Shi Mu’s facial expression profoundly changed as he noticed this. Then, something crossed his mind, and he quickly contacted Cai.

His clothes had already been reduced to ashes by the fire. Only a few storage rings and the black blade were still in his hands.

Therefore, Shi Mu took out some clothes from the Vast Earth Ring, and put them on his body. Then, he brandished his hand and shot out a few rays of light. The surrounding prohibition spell flashed in response. They then dissipated.

A “Whoosh” sound was heard!

Cai flew into the warehouse through a certain window. But, he was gobsmacked as he saw the surrounding situation.

However, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing as his eyes fell on Shi Mu. And then, he said, “Haha… Shi Tou… Shi Tou, your hair and eyebrows? This new look of yours is really… the same as your name. You looked like a stone now…”

Shi Mu’s brows and hair had been burnt away. Therefore, his present appearance genuinely looked a bit funny.

“Cai, tell me… have you been on guard outside this entire time? Have you seen Miss Xiu leaving this place?” Shi Mu asked.

Cai instantly noticed an exceptionally solemn expression in Shi Mu’s eyes. Hence, he restrained his playful expression and replied, “No, I didn’t see anyone leaving this place. Oh, that’s right… did Sister Zhong Xiu depart?”

“A few accidents happened here just now… you were guarding outside this warehouse the entire time. Did you sense anything weird during this period?” Shi Mu nodded and gave him a brief recount of everything that just happened here. Then, he asked again.

“You laid out a prohibition spell here. So, I couldn’t see what specifically happened in the warehouse. However, I did feel something strange for a split second. I clearly felt that a very dreadful aura suddenly broke out in the warehouse. But, it stayed for a short while moment before vanishing,” Cai replied after a momentary thought.

Shi Mu’s face got clouded with a look of uncertainty when he heard these words.

He tried to recall the memory before his unconsciousness. But, the raging flames that Zhong Xiu’s body had exuded at that time had also attacked his mind. Therefore, his consciousness was in a somewhat confused state at that time. The only thing he remembered was some scattered fragments of his memory.

However, he seemed to have heard a very pleasant voice of a woman when his mind was in such turmoil. He didn’t remember the specific content since he was in a spell of dizziness. But, he still remembered that woman’s words “Heavenly Phoenix’s counter-attack”, and something related to that.

Shi Mu was certain about one thing — that woman wasn’t Zhong Xiu.

He spared no effort to ponder over this matter. But, his facial expression suddenly changed.

He suddenly realized that there was a golden grain in his mind, and it was only the size of a wheat grain. Also, this grain was similar to that of the crystal grain in his mind that was formed by the Moon-Swallowing Art and the Sun-Swallowing Art

“What is this thing?”

Shi Mu was surprised. He was also feeling somewhat hesitant. But then, an idea dawned upon him. So, he branched out a wisp of his spirit sense from his body. Then, he made it touch the golden grain in his mind in a gentle manner.

“Boom”

The golden grain ruptured as soon as it was touched. And then, it turned into a golden page of a book. Numerous small and densely-packed characters were written all over the page. It was apparently an ancient book of a Cultivation art.

Shi Mu was dumbfounded. But then, he focused his spirit sense on that golden page. He looked at a few lines of the page, and his facial expression changed. Simultaneously, his face got smeared with an ecstatic look.

According to the small characters on the book’s page… this was actually the specific practice of the very first revolution of the Cultivation art — Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.

Shi Mu didn’t know the specific ways to practice this Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art even though he had obtained this golden book long ago. But, he had finally got the concrete details of this cultivation art now.

It seemed that this Cultivation art was extraordinary. And, he could say that based on the response the white ape had shown towards the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art in the dream.

Shi Mu took a deep breath, and quelled the feeling of excitement that was swirling in his heart. In fact, he tried to toss this thought out of his mind for the time being.

He wanted to stand up. But, this was when he realized that his left hand felt very heavy. In fact, it seemed like he carried a very large thing in his hand. Moreover, the weight of this non-existent entity seemed almost ten thousand pounds in weight. Resultantly, his body staggered and he was almost about to fall down.

Shi Mu’s shifted his gaze to his left hand, and his face got filled with an incredible look in response.

He saw that his entire left palm was scorched-black. He was earlier under this impression that the mysterious energy that had just healed his body might not be enough. Therefore, his left hand remained black even after healing. But now, it seemed that this wasn’t the case.

Moreover, Shi Mu didn’t feel the slightest hint of pain although his left hand was black like coal. Also, there was no problem in opening and closing his palm, or making a fist. The only problem was it was excessively heavy… as if the palm was filled with something that was ten thousand times heavier than mercury.

Shi Mu felt that his left hand was very heavy even with his current strength of more than 10,000 pounds.

Shi Mu looked at it for a moment. After that, he poured his spirit sense into his left hand, but didn’t find any other abnormalities.

But then, it seemed as if he had thought of something.

The dream of the white ape flashed across his mind, and allowed him to guess that the art it was practicing at the mountain peak should be the content of the ‘Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art’. And, his left hand seemed to have become so burnt black after the absorption of solar energy.

Shi Mu made a conjecture after a momentary consideration. According to his conjecture… the blackening of his left hand should be somehow related with the practice of None Revolutions Mysterious Art. And, he should be able to find the answer in the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.

However, Zhong Xiu’s sudden disappearance made him disinclined to worry about other matters at the moment.

Shi Mu staggered to his feet with the support of his right hand. He then sucked in a deep breath, and suppressed the feeling of amazement that was bubbling in his heart. After that, his vision started to shuttle back and forth in every corner of the warehouse.