The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu had a strange feeling as the spirit power reached his head. Suddenly, the crystal capsule vibrated and exuded an attractive force; Shi Mu had condensed this crystal capsule while practicing the Moon-Swallowing Art. That force peeled-off a wisp of spirit power from its stream. Then, it reached his mind and got integrated with the crystal capsule.

“Bang!” a loud explosion resounded.

The crystal capsule vibrated again, and broke into pieces. Then, it took the shape of a tiny and exquisite white crescent-moon.

The silver light glowing on the surface of the crescent moon began to expand. Suddenly, a portion of the crescent moon dissipated with a loud rumbling sound, and transformed into a wisp of refined spirit power. This refined spirit power converged with the thick stream of spirit power, and started to flow in Shi Mu’s meridians.

Shi Mu’s face became pale due to this sensation. He felt as if his meridians were swelling… as if they had been filled with a great force. This left him with a sense of extreme discomfort.

The wisp of spirit power – which was flowing with the crescent moon – continued to dissipate into the refined spirit power. Soon, the intensity of the circulating stream increased, and it formed a mighty current of spirit power.

Shi Mu was alarmed. He hurriedly operated the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power; he repressed his body’s discomfort in an attempt to direct this current into the right channel.

Fortunately, the mighty current of spirit power was turbulent; not wild. Therefore, it got corrected under the effect of the art, and started to flow into his dantian – where the energy should ideally be stored.

There was a light sound in Shi Mu’s mind after a while; it seemed that the last part of the crescent moon had finally turned into the refined spirit power. It was guided to converge in his dantian; the previously-occupied location of the crystal capsule had become empty.

Shi Mu opened his eyes after twelve hours. He let out a sigh; his face was beaming with excitement and joy.

He didn’t know anything about the strange change had taken place in his mind. However, he was ecstatic as he realized that he had reached the first stage of the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. Moreover, a huge amount of spirit power had got stored in his dantian; it was surprising.

He discovered that his eyesight and ability to concentrate had also been enhanced along with his spirit power. Moreover, there was an inexpressible feeling of clarity and comfort in his mind.

“What’s the matter? Why did the white crystal capsule disappear?” Initially, he was very excited. However, he knitted his eyebrows and started to ponder as he remembered something. Then, he started to practice the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power once again.

A forced smile stretched across his face after a while.

He realized that his mind didn’t have the crystal capsule anymore; it had been transformed into the white crescent-moon. So now, he could absorb the spiritual energy from the surroundings. But, it could be done only through the fixed process described by the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. Moreover, the accumulation speed of spirit power had become extremely slow.

“So… the crystal capsule… is from the Moon-Swallowing Art…” Shi Mu’s eyes flickered as he realized this.

As per his understanding, this Moon-Swallowing Art was an auxiliary method to practice magic arts.

However, he couldn’t resolve this matter completely.

A moonlit night arrived after a few days; Shi Mu had been waiting for it.

Shi Mu followed his familiar path to the open area in the valley. Then, he examined his surroundings carefully. After that, he took his usual posture, and entered into his dreamland.

He was again incarnated as a white ape on the silver boulder atop the towering cliff.

The white ape started to look at the bright moon in the sky. Suddenly, numerous white light-dots gathered in the sky, and streamed towards the ape’s golden pupils; it seemed as if they were drawn by a mysterious gravitational force.

An inexplicable sense of cool and comfort surged up, and enlivened Shi Mu’s spirits. It was followed by the milky white vortex of energy swirling inside his mind…

Shi Mu had anticipated this phenomenon since he had witnessed it several times. However, he was concerned about was the wondrous use of the Moon Swallowing Art; this art could lead him to his success.

Suddenly, his complexion changed; he discovered that the white vortex seemed to be larger in size, and was in the shape of a full circle.

How could it be so big?

He discovered that the speed of moonlight essence – flowing into his eyes as a stream of energy – had also increased. He hadn’t noticed it as it wasn’t too obvious.

He woke-up and realized that the sky was as dark as it was when he had entered the dreamland. However, dawn seemed to be approaching.

Shi Mu focused his mind, and checked the spirit power stored within his body; he was rendered speechless.

The spirit power that he had accumulated through the practice of the art was no longer there. Surprisingly, he hadn’t noticed his spirit power getting consumed-up.

Shi Mu was still sitting cross-legged on the grass in the open area. He couldn’t help, and got submerged in deep thought.

*** ***

Shi Mu visited the Hall of Wealth twice in the following month. He undertook some tasks to earn money to buy more pills. He usually spent his daytime in practicing the Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephants and the Gale-Force Blade Art. Moreover, he entered his dreamland to practice the Moon-Swallowing Art on moonlit nights. His painstaking training and iron-coated will-power had surpassed that of an ordinary person’s.

Shi Mu succeeded in accumulating a crystal capsule in his mind after a month of assiduous training and perseverance. Surprisingly, this crystal capsule was bigger than the previous one.

The capsule once again transformed into the increased spirit power as Shi Mu practiced the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. Therefore, the spirit power in Shi Mu’s dantian increased sharply. Now, he wasn’t far from breaking through the second stage of the art.

The practice-speed of the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power had increased since he had been gifted with an auxiliary art like the Moon-Swallowing Art. This made him feel ecstatic and restless at the same time.

This practice-speed was alarming; so, there may be something dangerous lurking around.

Shi Mu spent the entire day being stuck to his bed; he continued to practice the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. However, he couldn’t find any loophole in the art; this agitated him even more.

He stood up from his bed, and grabbed the blade lying beside his bed. Then, he started to practice the Thirteen Series of Gale Force Blade Art from the first stage.

His mind began to calm down as he indulged himself in the world of the blade. He could see a succession of light rolling from the blade; it looked like a lotus flower in full bloom. The sword light filled the entire room. However, it didn’t bump into anything even though the room was small.

The movements of his blade became fast with the passage of time; their accuracy increased at the same time. Shi Mu was surprised. Now, he could perform every minor detail of the art with great accuracy due to his increased sensing ability; he hadn’t been able to achieve this before. This achievement triggered the speed of his blade.

“Ha!” he sucked in a mouthful of air.

Then, he flicked his wrist, and shot a dazzling blade-light up into the air. The blade-light produced a glaring shield of blade shadows; it was similar to a layer of light-shield which spread and covered the entire space. It was like a fish trap that had blocked every escape route.

Now, he had achieved twelve cuts in one breath.

Shi Mu felt ecstatic as he realized that he had ascended a layer of his Thirteen Series of Gale Force Blade Art. Now, he was just one level behind from achieving the consummate stage of this technique.

Shi Mu felt that he was sweating profusely. So, he put his blade down. However, he didn’t feel even a trace of fatigue. He stretched his body to relax his muscles. He went to bed once his Real Qi and blood had returned to their normal state. Then, he got occupied with his thoughts.

Shi Mu wanted to practice the Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephants. However, his Blood-Strengthening pills and Bone-Tempering pills had been used-up once again. Therefore, he couldn’t proceed any further. Moreover, he didn’t have any money left with him. So, he considered going to the Hall of Wealth to take-up a task in order to earn some money.

However, the tasks meant for ordinary warrior were too time-consuming and laborious in nature. On top of that, the reward that they offered wasn’t high. Therefore, Shi Mu was reluctant to go to the Hall of Wealth and take-up any task.

However, he was a genuine magician practitioner; he had practiced till the second stage of the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. So, he could enhance his skill-set by picking-up an art of a Formula ‘Adept’. He could obtain it from the General Library in exchange for the Flaming Demon Tokens.

Shi Mu hoped that the Flaming Demon Tokens in his possession to be sufficient to obtain a suitable formula adept book.

He had planned to pick-up a Hou Tian martial art from the General Library with the six Flaming Demon Tokens that would remain with him after he had selected his Formula Adept technique. This was because a Hou Tian martial art would enhance his strength; this would be beneficial for him in the future.

He analyzed the situation, and made-up his mind. Then, he set-out towards the General Library with his Flaming Demon Tokens.