The Portal of Wonderland

“Thank you so much for your guidance, Young Master Ju.”

Shi Mu cupped his hands in obeisance and expressed his gratitude.

“Shi Mu, do you know what conditions are required for a Soul Magician to communicate with the other world?” The obese man sized him up a few times. Then, he changed the topic of the conversation.

Shi Mu shook his head in a puzzled manner.

“Remember – a Soul Magician needs to fulfill three major conditions in order to establish communication with other dimensions. First – one must have the remains of a strong living creature from a different dimension. Second – one should know the exact position of that dimension. Third – one must have a strong space sensing ability,” Young Master Ju raised three fingers as he explained.

Shi Mu became absorbed in thoughts as he heard this.

“We’ve to communicate with the Dead Spirit World. And, the first two conditions have been met. But, my space sensing ability isn’t powerful enough. So, I can’t rely on it. Maybe that why I’ve failed thrice… So, I asked you to help me,” Young Master Ju explained the true reason for asking for Shi Mu’s help.

Shi Mu gazed at the circular array as he heard this. Suddenly, his heart was struck by a realization. He understood what Young Master Ju wanted him to do.

The obese man noticed that Shi Mu had grasped his point. So, he nodded in satisfaction. Then, he explained some matters and theories related to this communication ceremony that a soul magician must know in order to cope with any contingency.

Shi Mu listened in a careful manner. Soon, everything became clear to him. A Soul Magician could plant his spirit mark into the body of any feeble creature living in the other dimension… if his spirit succeeded in reaching there in a smooth manner. Then, he could summon this creature through a corresponding means once he returned to his own world. The creature would become his permanent slave once he had established a contract with it.

Shi Mu thought of the Golden lizard as he heard this. That lizard was Young Master Ju’s spirit pet. Shi Mu couldn’t stop his heart from beating faster as he recalled the conspicuous and astonishing ability that lizard possessed.

“Young Master Ju, can I look for a spirit pet for myself in the Dead Spirit World?” Shi Mu asked hesitantly.

“Cough… To be honest, there aren’t any issues in that. But, you aren’t an official Soul Magician. So, it would be almost impossible for you to grasp the technique of planting a spirit mark… that too in such a short period of time. But, I can make an exception. I can impart the simplest way of ‘Capturing Spirit Technique’ to you. But, this technique can only be executed if the practitioner possesses enough spirit power. But, the technique would be very simple to grasp.” The obese man’s eyebrows creased as he heard Shi Mu’s question. But then, he replied.

“Thanks a lot, Young Master Ju!”

Shi Mu’s face beamed with happiness as he heard that he could learn a magic art for free. He bowed to Young Master Ju with respect.

“Don’t thank me in advance. First listen to what this old man has to say… then decide later whether you can comprehend it or not. This technique is quite simple to comprehend. But, it doesn’t come without downsides. This technique is excessively shallow. You can capture a creature… but it must be tenfold weaker than your current spirit power. In addition, since you’ll be stepping across the world… the effect of this art wouldn’t be small. So, considering your spirit power as a magician-practitioner… this old man reckons that you only look for the smallest and weakest creatures – like worms or insects. There’s no way that you can plant your mark on a stronger creature.” The obese man Ju mused for a moment. Then, he blurted out everything related to this matter.

“I can capture only insects as my spirit pet?”

Shi Mu’s brows furrowed.

“Besides, the spirit of a Soul Magician can stay in a different dimension for only a limited period of time. As per my experience… my soul can stay in a different world for a time a person takes to finish a small cup of tea. Considering your spirit power as a magician-practitioner… you can probably stay there for a dozen or more breaths’ time. It would be extremely difficult to find an appropriate living creature in this short period of time – let alone plant the spirit mark,” the obese man shook his head as he explained further.

Shi Mu’s complexion turned unsightly as he heard these words. Then, he became silent.

“Even if you gain access to the Dead Spirit World without a hitch… the summoning ceremony wouldn’t be that easy afterwards. It costs a considerable amount of resources to carry out this process. Moreover, luck plays an important role. I sacrificed almost every penny I had to summon this rotten parrot. And… the outcome is so pathetic! This lousy parrot bawls all day long; it’s absolutely worthless. This shatters me from inside. Well… now I’ve explained everything to you. Do you still want to attempt it?” the man groaned a few times as he thought about the lousy parrot that had cost him his every penny; his complexion had become gloomy.

“This disciple still wants to try his luck. I hope Young Master Ju would help me.” Shi Mu mulled over it several times. Finally, he decided to give it a shot.

“You’re extremely determined… So, I’ll give you half-an-hour to practice this ‘Capturing Spirit Technique’. You can come to me in case you get stuck somewhere.” Young Master Ju didn’t argue further. A grey slip appeared in his right hand as he flipped it. He then placed it against his forehead, and started to record the ‘Art of Capturing Spirits’.

He flicked his right hand after a while. The grey slip fell into Shi Mu’s hand. Then, Young Master Ju sat down cross-legged in front of the huge circular formula. He closed his eyes and sank into a deep meditation.

Shi Mu didn’t disturb him. Instead, he found a corner and sat down cross-legged. He pasted the grey jade slip on his forehead, and started to memorize its contents.

The formula of the magic art was small and simple. Therefore, Shi Mu memorized it quickly.

This art was indeed easy to comprehend – as Young Master Ju had said. Shi Mu had already started to practice it with closed eyes.

The charm characters started to swirl within his mind in a continuous manner. His lips would occasionally move. Simultaneously, his finger would gesticulate something in the air. He took the help of Young Master Ju only once throughout the entire process.

The obese man readily gave him directions to clear his doubts.

Shi Mu opened his eyes after half-an-hour. A strange glint flashed across his pupils. Suddenly, his lips moved as his right hand pulled-out a strange magic art. Then, a pale white charm character floated out of his palm into the air. After that, it vanished into thin air.

“Your perception ability is pretty good… you grasped this art in no time.”

A faint voice was heard.

Shi Mu hadn’t noticed that Young Master Ju had stood-up; he was standing motionless.

“I was lucky to have Young Master Ju by my side to guide me in the best possible way.” Shi Mu sprang-up by pressing his palms on the floor. He smiled as he expressed his gratitude to Young Master Ju.

The obese man waved his hand towards him. Then, he rummaged in his shirt and fished-out some stuff.

These were several sparkling silver charm papers, a palm-sized piece of a black bone and five spirit stones that were twice the size of a low-grade spirit stone. All five stones were different in colors – red, yellow, green, blue, and gold. In addition, there was also a round earthen silver bowl with a pair of birds imprinted on its surface. These birds had just one leg.

Shi Mu was startled to see the five spirit stones.

They seemed similar to the rumored middle-level spirit stone – considering their size and the rich spiritual power emitted by them.

The dark piece of bone seemed to be some kind of animal’s skull on the basis of its structure. However, it was badly damaged, and there were multiple cracks over its surface. So, it was extremely hard to tell which living creature it had belonged to.

Then, Shi Mu’s eyes moved and got stuck on the earthen silver bowl.

Innumerable tiny charm characters were engraved on its surface. They looked like stars. They were linked by some sort of rules. However, that design of those one-legged birds’ pair seemed a little inharmonious from these swarm of characters.