The Portal of Wonderland

If one has to name the single greatest achievement Shi Mu was able to accomplish through three years of his retreat, it would undoubtedly be his progress in the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven.

For this set of Eighteen Staves Through Heaven, he had almost fully grasped its knowledge.

Shi Mu sighed as the longstaff began to glare with black light, emitting a horrible aura.

The next moment, his figure swayed and the Wishful Steel Staff in his hand suddenly turned into a heavy shadow, like a black dragon dancing on its own.

“Spirit Snake Trench!”

“Art Of The Hawking Fowl!”

“Art Of The Tiger Paw!”

…

“Hidden Dragon Tornado!”

Shi Mu’s moves were like clouds and water while generating the technique of the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven. Over time, shadows of beasts appeared through his staff technique. Compared to the past, his strength had advanced greatly.

His arm moved and the staff in his hand glowed in bright black light. With just a sweep from left to right, a black staff shadow cut through the void with a shocking scream.

The staff shadow was not only extremely powerful but the trajectory fluctuated up and down as well. It was dazzling and impossible to determine the direction of the shadow.

“Total Annihilation!”

This was the ninth style of the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven. It seemed to be just a simple long sweep of the staff but the subtle variations were endless.

Shi Mu’s arm moved and the staff shadow suddenly went from bottom to top.

On the staff, an airflow violently rolled over a radius of several ten feet, forming a huge black whirlwind. Countless stones were rolled up and flew away in a distance.

“Strife Of The Mountains!”

Heavy shadows of the staff emerged, forming a mountain of shadows, hitting in all directions.

“Sweeping Wind Of The Leaves!”

…

“Straight Into The Void!”

“Weight Of Jungle Mountain!”

“Art Of The Mountain Ascent!”

“Weight Of The Sky!”

“Sweeping Winds Of The Leaves!”

“Shockwave In Eight!”

“Art Of The Overwhelming Ground!”

“Meteoric Moon Technique!”

After performing the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven, he was able to use all ten techniques with a slight delay.

Shi Mu held the Wishful Steel Staff and slammed it forward. His movements seemed unpleasant but there was a residual image around the body. There were also several ghostly shadows around the staff.

The next moment, the residual images around Shi Mu combined into one.

Black waves flew from the top of the staff. When it pointed out, a hill with a height of several tens of feet shook slightly. With a bang, it burst into small pieces of gravel.

A huge mountain disappeared in just a blink of an eye!

Shi Mu breathed a sigh of relief and his eyes showed a hint of surprise. The power of the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven was beyond his expectations.

A figure flew out of the spirit beast bag and landed on Shi Mu’s. It was none other than Cai.

For the past three years, there seemed not to be much change in Cai. However, the feathers on his body were now more vivid and the red light in his eyes flowed as if there was substance in it.

Ever since Cai took a bite of the spirit beast pill and went into a deep sleep three years ago, his strength improved a lot as soon as he regained consciousness.

Shi Mu saw this and continued feeding the spirit pill to Cai over time. The spirit pill had helped in raising Cai’s power. He still was not very effective in combat but his eyesight improved a lot.

“Shi Mu, you finally completed the staff method. With a glance of the last technique, you look like an undefeatable Heaven-ranked warrior,” Cai praised.

“There’s still a gap in the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven. Otherwise, it would’ve been really invisible.” Shi Mu shook his head and said.

After he spoke, he went silent.

In the past three years, for him to reach the level this level in the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven was satisfying. If he were to improve more, he would need to hone it through real combat.

At the moment, the biggest confusion could be seen on his face.

“Let’s go back home,” Shi Mu waved his green-winged flying carriage and flew to the cave residence.

All the attendants had gathered in front of the main gate.

“Congratulations, young master, for the customs clearance and the progress in your training!” Qi Feng said while standing in front, following the voices of the other attendants.

“It’s alright. There’s no need to make a fuss,” Shi Mu said helplessly as he shook his head.

“Along you go now. Qi Feng, come in with me.” Shi Mu said as he turned and walked inside.

The other attendants dispersed and Qi Feng followed Shi Mu right away.

“Has everything been going smoothly during my retreat?” Shi Mu asked as soon as he set foot in the hallway.

“With the young masters’ blessing, everything went extremely well! This is the income and expenditure bill from the spirit lands for the past three years. Please take a look at it.”

Qi Feng took out a jade slip with both hands with a respectful expression across his face.

Shi Mu took it and examined it casually.

“Tell me, have there been any issues among the disciples for the past few years?”

“Nothing big. However, some time ago, there was news regarding the promoted disciple named Zhao Ji.”

“Oh, what was it about?” Shi Mu’s brows furrowed as he asked.

“It was said that Zhao Ji was a descendant of the famous Azure Ape. He possessed the blood essence of the white-azure ape within him. Now, he’s been accepted by the Holy Land of Qinglan to be a pro disciple.”

Shi Mu was shocked but he knew he should have expected it.

At the beginning of the grand championship, this person was able to transform into a white-azure ape. He had some premonitions about it since then. However, who would have thought that this person would actually be accepted as a pro disciple by the Holy Land of Qinglan. It was not a surprise that he was taken away by the followers of the sect.

Shi Mu’s fingers squeezed the arm of the chair as he fell deep into his thoughts.

Zhao Ji was undoubtedly a human being with the blood essence of the white-azure ape. Just like himself, could it be a coincidence that he had obtained the blood essence of the white-azure ape king somewhere else?

However, from the information currently available, such a situation was unlikely.

In any case, Zhao Ji and the white-azure ape king must be related somehow.

“Alright then. Since you’ve told me everything, you may be dismissed.”

Shi Mu thought about this and waved his hand, signaling Qi Feng to take his leave.

Qi Feng bowed to Shi Mu one last time then turned away and retired.

Shi Mu silently sat in the chair. His face looked cloudy and uncertain.

“Shi Mu, what’s wrong with you?” Cai asked.

“It’s nothing much. I just think that something is out of its ordinary, almost as if the Holy Land of Qinglan had deliberately spread this news,” Shi Mu shook his head and replied.

Although he was unsure what these people in Qinglan had in mind, he was even more afraid to expose his relationship with the white-azure ape ancestors.

Cai looked at Shi Mu with some doubt, then shook his head to stop himself from thinking about it. He squatted on Shi Mu’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

Well, it had always been normal for Shi Mu to handle everything. There was no need for him to worry and bother about it.

Shi Mu sat in the house for a moment before he walked out to the courtyard.

It was already dark and there were a few stars in the night sky, emitting faint starlight.

Shi Mu looked at the stars in the sky and his eyes flickered.

Increasing his physical strength was the most important task at hand.

One day later, outside the Heavenly Shrine, a ray of light flew from a distance and fell outside the hall. Within the ray of light, it was none other than Shi Mu.

He looked at the huge temple door emotionally.

Aside from being brought here by Ling Feng when he first entered the Holy Land of Qinglan, this was the second time he was here.

Even though he was standing outside the main hall, the atmosphere and qi of Heaven and Earth here were far more superior than back in the cave residence.

“This is the Heavenly Shrine. Who is this and what is your purpose being here?” A middle-aged man with sword-shaped eyebrows came over. He seemed to be a guard here.

Shi Mu looked at the person and was shocked. The qi this particular person emitted was extremely strong and Heaven-ranked.

“My name is Shi Mu and I want to enter the Heavenly Shrine for cultivation,” Shi Mubsaid and took out his Xuanling wall.

“Oh, you’re the upper disciple of the yellow region. Training here costs two points per day.”

“I’ll need six months.”

The middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows had a surprised expression on his face. For the average disciple, two points a day would be considered a luxury. However, the person in front of him was just a yellow region disciple and wanted to train for six months.

“As long as you have enough points, you can stay here for six years if you like. Now come with me.”

The man glanced at Shi Mu as he waved his hand to retrieve a white token-like item to sweep across Shi Mu’s Xuanling Wall.

In a wink, the points on Shi Mu’s Xuanling Wall had reduced by three hundred and sixty.

After the middle-aged man put away the token, he turned and walked through the gate, leading Shi Mu into the shrine.

Shi Mu followed right behind as he passed through the starry hall to a black circular space.

The space was wide and large, and the body of it was black. The diameter was approximately twenty or thirty feet and the height was more than ten feet. The wall was engraved with runes, forming a mysterious array.

There were several passages in the space leading to the depths. Each passage had a number of gates like a stone chamber.

Each and every stone gate had a number carved into it. There were almost a hundred of them.

“These stone gates and the symbols on it are sorted according to the power of the stars. The more the stone chambers are, the stronger the power of the stars. However, the disciples renting the stone chambers here are also regulated. A yellow region disciple like you can only rent a stone room of 70 to 100. Seeing that you are renting it for a long time, I arranged a better position for you. Your room will be the 83rd,” The middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows said.

Shi Mu listened and nodded in agreement.

The man came to the front of the 83rd stone room and took out a white token from his sleeves. A ray of light flew out from the inside and hit the stone door.

The stone door slowly opened and the two went in.

Shi Mu’s face changed slightly. The stone room was like a starlight hall that was full of stars that emitted a strong starry aura to it, making one feel like they were deep beneath the galaxy of stars.

The aura of heaven and earth was also terrible, almost condensing into a mist that was visible to the naked eye.

In addition, the arrangement in the stone room was very simple. Only a cyan futon was placed on the ground in the middle of the stone room and nothing else.