The Portal of Wonderland

Chapter 531: The First Challenge

A gust of wind whispered into Shi Mu’s ear.

“You’re just in time!”

Before he could say a word, he felt a cold wind on his head.

Dai Tuo was unaware who was behind him as he spurred the black figure with the dagger waving in its hand.

Seeing Shi Mu escaping, the black dagger changed its trajectory.

However, Shi Mu did not seem bothered by it. With his staff now wrapped in the Primordial Inferno, it slammed from obliquely below to somewhere behind him.

Boom!

Following a loud boom, Dai Tuo was directly hit in midair. His body was stunned by the blue light.

After the Wishful Steel Staff hit Dai Tuo, he took advantage of the situation and collided with the black dagger that was not far away from Shi Mu.

Boom!

The supposedly unbreakable black dagger had now melted when it came into contact with the Primordial Inferno on the surface of Shi Mu’s Wishful Steel Staff.

Immediately afterward, Shi Mu recruited himself to climb up to a higher altitude and spun his staff in a technique called Meteoric Moon. Multiple rays of lights appeared in a crisscross pattern before hitting Dai Tuo like a rain of spikes.

Peng!

The green light on Dai Tuo’s body flashed to protect himself. However, he could no longer withstand the massive bombardment and collapsed.

Shi Mu bent like a bow and clasped the Wishful Steel Staff in his hand. He jumped forward and landed a final blow on Dai Tuo’s abdomen.

This action was like a stream of water that ended in just three breaths!

“Ah!”

An agonizing scream could be heard along with the burst of bones shattering in his body. Dai Tuo curled up while holding his abdomen and fell.

Dai Tuo’s body fell heavily onto the floor with a thud. The gravel scattered and he could not stop himself from coughing blood before the pain caused him to faint.

Everyone in the audience saw this scene and there was a commotion.

In the blink of an eye, the situation had changed dramatically. Shi Mu, who was being passively beaten, had turned the tables around. He had no intention of going soft, and won against his opponent in no time at all!

Shi Mu flipped into the air and landed smoothly on the platform, not far from the raft. The golden scales on his body retracted and he looked once more at Dai Tuo who was laying on the ring, out cold.

The red-browed youth flew down and checked Dai Tuo’s situation. After a few minutes, he immediately announced the news of Shi Mu’s victory.

The sound of the audience was even louder. All eyes were now on Shi Mu.

Shi Mu shook the red-browed youth’s hand before he walked out of the ring. This time instead of keeping his Wishful Steel Staff, he directly placed it on his shoulders as he walked toward the spot for the 37th place.

Everyone around the ring saw this, and voices of discussion came one after another.

Many in the audience believed that Shi Mu deliberately hid his true strength from the get-go. Some thought that Shi Mu’s strength was actually inferior to Dai Tuo’s and he won by sheer luck.

Shi Mu stood on the stage and felt the stares from all directions. The color on his face was undiminished.

To those who glared at him with bad intentions, he would glare directly back.

The reason why was due to the battles he went through. Despite winning, both his physical strength and qi were depleted. He would need to take a period of rest to readjust himself.

Ma Long’s voice came into his ear with excitement.

“Brother Shi Mu, congratulations on winning again!”

“Oh, what are the odds this time?”

“It was not higher than the previous two battles, only one loss to two. Now there are almost five thousand four hundred top-quality spirit stones in your possession! Oh right, you should have seen the expression on Zhao Shenlei’s face when you won. Those who placed their bets for you to lose looked furious. They probably even thought of killing him.”

“I see. Let’s stop gambling for now.”

“Alright!”

In front of the gambling table, not far from the ring, Ma Rong took over the bag of spirit stones handed over by Duan Muguang with mixed feelings.

She hesitated and did not bet all her spirit stones this time. Instead, she only took out two hundred top-quality spirit stones.

She eventually won four hundred spirit stones, but at the same time, there was an indescribable bitter sense of loss in her heart.

On the left side of the ring, Shi Mu was able to see what was going on through Cai’s visions. The scene on the gambling table caught his eyes and a slight smile tilted at the corner of his mouth as if he had something in mind. After a while, his thoughts shifted, and the connection of the visions was cut off.

At the same time, on the high platform behind the three guardians, a young man with blue eyebrows caressed his white eyebrows.

“The disciple named Shi Mu was trained to practice several kinds of tempered body techniques. Otherwise, no one could be that skillful in launching attacks like the ones he used.

“Oh, maybe we can give some surprises to these elder guys later,” said another old man with red skin and white hair.

…

Shi Mu’s previous faction did play a deterrent role. In the next few games, no one proposed to challenge him so he was able to take a break.

The following battles were mostly between elder disciples who by now were likely familiar with each other’s techniques and fighting style, so the competition was not as intense compared to the previous rounds. Due to that, the business at the gambling table was slightly cold.

Just when the atmosphere became a bit dull, another person on the side of the upper disciples stood up and shook everyone.

“I am Zhao Ji, temporarily ranked ninth. I want to challenge disciple Zhanye who now ranks number one among all disciples!” Zhao Ji stood up and said.

“Someone even challenged Zhanye?!”

“Hey, this is going to be a good show!”

“Zhao Ji is no pushover, seeing as he won a few fights already. Does he really think he’s invincible, challenging someone like Zhanye?”

The appearance of Zhao Ji made the surrounding area like an egg suddenly fried up on a frying pan.

On the other side of the gambling table, Duan Muguang who presided over the gambling was also stunned and shouted excitedly.

“What an intense declaration of battle! Come place your bets now before it’s too late!”

Shi Mu’s eyes cast at Zhanye who was wearing a golden robe around his body. He strode out from the far left side of the queue and stood across from Zhao Ji.

“For more than a hundred years to this day, you are the first person who dares to challenge me,” Zhanye said coldly.

“Then, I will be the first person to defeat you in this ring after a hundred years,” Zhao Ji said faintly.

“Hmph! Watch your tone. Let me see how good is your Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art then!”

After just a word, the golden light of his body suddenly brightened and the golden scales that were the size of a thumb turned out, covering him from top to bottom.

The golden scales matched with the golden robes on his body. The murderous qi that was originally difficult to cover now clashed with the majesty of his golden armor.

The golden scales were covered and Zhanye’s previously empty right hand now held a dragon blade.

As he held the dragon blade in one hand and held it vertically in front of him. The other hand slid in a row and pinched a few charm runes as he recited a few spells in his mouth then pressed hard on the blade.

Swoosh!

A sigh-like sound rang out and the spikes on the blade were twisted, making the blade longer than before. In just a moment, it extended into a golden dragon with a length of six feet.

Its claws constantly stirring in the air, it rushed to Zhao Ji at great speed like a rolling cloud.

Zhao Ji saw this but his facial expression remained unchanged. He did not summon his giant axe, nor did he give up and dodge. All he did was stand there motionless.

On the left side of the ring, Shi Mu looked at Zhao Ji and realized his eyes had now turned a very blue color. In the void of his eyes was an invisible ripple.

The golden dragon rushed into the invisible ripples and the figure suddenly stagnated, like an instant freeze, hovering in the air.

Not only did the golden dragon freeze in its tracks but Zhanye as well. It seemed that he was now fixed in the same place without a slight movement.

A number of slender white silk strings from the void beside Zhanye and entangled his body.

He could only feel the invisible pressure of his entire body. He was desperate to move, but it was almost impossible.

Zhao Hao summoned his ax. One step out at a time, he walked directly to the side of the golden dragon and ignored the distance.

He squinted at the dragon but did not make any extra moves. Instead, he walked toward Zhanye.

He looked at Zhanye’s neck and immediately raised his giant purple ax and chopped straight at it.

Everyone in the audience was shocked at what they had witnessed. They could not help but burst into an exclamation.

However, the red-browed youth stood calmly on the sidelines and did not want to stop the battle.

Zhanye’s pair of eyes flashed and the golden light suddenly swelled. The golden dragon was shackled in the air and struggled to turn around. It opened up its mouth and breathed a golden flame toward Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji’s brows were slightly wrinkled. He quickly turned and blocked the golden flame with his ace. However, his body was shocked by the huge impact of the golden flame.

The golden dragon did not continue to pursue but its body twisted in the air as it rushed toward Zhanye.

At the same time, Zhanye’s body began to burn up and emitted a large burst of golden light.

The golden dragon screamed as its body twisted and rushed into the dazzling golden light.

Boom!

It roared above the ring.

Shi Mu saw that the golden light shook, and countless thin white lines broke into a myriad of cuts as it disappeared into the void.

“Hmph…”

In the air, the dragon’s roar shook the sky. Everyone could see the golden dragon claw struggling from within the surging golden light.

Then, a golden dragon more than ten feet long flew out from the light and hovered in midair.