The Portal of Wonderland

The Heavenly Pavilion seemed small but everything within was elegantly arranged.

“Oh, I almost forgot. May I know which type of yin-attribute technique you’re practising?” the fat manager of the shop asked Shi Mu after ushering him to take a seat. He hurriedly called out to the attendant to pour two cups of spirit tea for the both of them as they discussed the deal.

“Why? Is there a difference in training method between each kind of yin-type materials?” Shi Mu asked.

“Oh, that’s not it. It’s just that according to the sacred martial arts of the holy places, in addition to the extreme yin, you would also require other medicinal materials. They’re available for sale in the Heavenly Pavilion as well.”

“We will talk about those later on. I’m here mainly for spirit materials that help in the cultivation of extreme yin aura. Do you have any of those?”

“You’re funny! Yang qi doesn’t work any differently from yin qi. It’s not something you can get from just anyone. Lucky for you, we have something in the Heavenly Pavilion. There’s only one and it’s a drop of blood from the Rime Phoenix. It contains extreme yin qi and of a very high purity. This can be described as a top grade treasure.”

“May I take a look at it?”

“Well… Alright. Please come with me.”

The fat manager was hesitant at first but eventually agreed to Shi Mu’s request.

He got up and walked toward a stone wall. After groping the wall for a while, he gently pressed against a hidden wall between the stone walls.

Grr!

The machine whirred as it turned on, and the wall behind the fat manager descended into a big hole. In the center of the hole was an oval crystal.

“As you can see, this is the blood of the Rime Phoenix,” the manager turned around and said to Shi Mu.

Shi Mu did not get up to look at it. Instead, he focused his vision and looked from a distance. Within the oval crystal was a dark thumb-sized ball containing a black drop of blood.

The drop of blood looked like a black pearl, and the surface gave off a kind of agile glow that flowed slowly as if it had a life of its own.

His eyes flashed slightly and in an instant, the surface of the black blood had a cold transparent glow to it that was faintly silky. After touching the inner wall of the dark green ball, the glow was absorbed and disappeared.

Although Shi Mu had not officially begun training the second phase of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, he was very interested in the blood essence of the Rime Phoenix. To be frank, he was only interested due to its extreme yin aura.

That kind of induction was more like a strong desire.

Upon admiring it, the fat manager placed the oval crystal housing the blood essence of the Rime Phoenix back in its holder. He turned and looked at Shi Mu once again.

“May I know the price for the blood essence of the Rime Phoenix?” Shi Mu asked.

“Two thousand,” the manager said while extending his hands, drawing a “two” gesture with his fingers.

“With top-grade spirit stone?” Shi Mu heard his demands and asked further.

“HAHA! You sure are one funny guy. Of course it’s with top-graded spirit stones. What else would it be?” the fat manager laughed.

“That’s outrageous! Hey fatty, don’t even think of making up unreasonable prices out of nowhere!” Cai could not help but say on his behalf.

“It’s actually not expensive. After all, this is only available in the Holy Land of Qinglan. You will never be able to find something like this in other places in the Magnum Solis,” The fat manager was not angry at Cai’s remarks. All he did was glanced at Cai and explained.

“Sorry to disappoint but I do not possess that many top-grade spirit stones at the moment. I’ll have to come back for it later in the future.”

Although Shi Mu had already expected a situation somewhat similar to this, yet as soon as he heard the price, he could not help but secretly swear.

One must know that a single top-grade spirit stone was equivalent to a hundred spirit stones.

“It is no problem. This drop of blood essence of the Rime Phoenix is actually the Heavenly Pavilion’s most prized treasure and It has been stored in our store for some years now. In fact, the technique you wish to cultivate does not possess as much yin aura. You can consider the Fruit of Netherness or the Convergence Stone. They are slightly cheaper than the blood essence of the Rime Phoenix. There are several shops selling it so it won’t be hard to find,” the fat manager suggested.

“Thanks for your advice. This is embarrassing.”

After Shi Mu thanked the fat manager, he walked out of the store with Cai on his shoulder.

“Humble guest, hold on,” Shi Mu turned around as the fat manager once again called out to him.

“Is there something else?”

“Based on your clothing and the way you speak, you must be one of the new disciples of the Holy Land of Qinglan. There is something I should let you know as well.”

“Do tell me.” Shi Mu said.

“Presumably, you might have your own affiliated spiritual land. In fairness, the spirits and other materials produced by the spiritual land in the future can also be bought as a means of exchange with other commodities or you can even sell them to us here in the Heavenly Pavilion. You might be able to accumulate an amount of wealth by doing so. The stalls in the main street you see along the way are opened up by disciples who had been here for some hundred years. You might be able to strike up a bargain,” the fat manager said.

“Ah, I see. Thank you for letting me know.”

“There is no need to be so polite. It’s a rare occasion to meet someone of the same race. If you need any assistance, do not hesitate to drop by here at the Heavenly Pavilion. I’d be sure to strike up a reasonable price for you.”

After leaving the Heavenly Pavilion, Shi Mu breathed a sigh of relief and continued visiting dozens of other shops.

As a result, he had located several shops that sold Convergence Stones and the Fruits of Netherness but their prices were as high as a thousand top-graded spirit stones.

It was well seen that the fat manager of the Heavenly Pavillion really stayed true with his feelings of the same race and did not decieve him with the price of the spiritual materials.

After more than half an hour, Shi Mu was still empty-handed. However, it was still productive in a way.

While in the midst of conversing with one of the shop managers of a dusk armory, he had inadvertently inquired about the whereabouts of the refining master who had previously made an appointment with Cui Huan’s ancestors.

It was said that the master of refining had opened up a shop known as the “Hall of Hundred Refining”, which specialized in selling all kinds of spirit weapons. It was one of the three major refining halls and located at the crossroad in the main road of Bluestone Street.

Shi Mu inquired and soon found its exact location.

Upon arriving at the Hall of Hundred Refining, an independent octagonal tower could be seen. It had three floors and all of them were made of brick and wood, giving it an antique feeling.

Along with Cai’s company, both of them walked in together. In the hall, a spiral staircase at the center of the building could be seen linking to the second floor. On the wall around the stairs was a circle of mahogany booths, presenting different kinds of spirit weapons.

Around those booths, two or three people were gathering around it and whispering. It seemed that they were hesitating which weapon to purchase.

As Shi Mu’s sight swept across the hall, he noticed that the spirit weapons in the shop were of different types, but of uniform grade.

Although these spirit weapons were of a lower grade, they were still costly. One looked like a strange rune sword and it cost thousands of spirit stones, which was equivalent to ten top-grade spirit stones.

Shi Mu secretly rejoiced as he only had to exchange the token for the elite top-quality spirit weapon instead of paying for it. He would be ashamed if he had to pay so much just to get a lower-grade weapon.

As Shi Mu browsed, a green-skinned attendant came over and handed him a gift.

“Our humble guest, this is a gift for you. May I know what you need so I can assist you?” the attendant said respectfully.

“I would like to see the master of refining. Would you mind arranging a meeting with him on my behalf?”

“What is the purpose of meeting the master of refining? If it’s within my power, I’ll do my best to assist you. However, it’s better not to disturb the master.”

“It’s regarding this…” Shi Mu said as he took out something from under his sleeve.

The attendant looked in shock at the casting hammer in Shi Mu’s hand. He immediately picked it up and carefully examined it.

“This is indeed a special token made by the master of refining,” the green-skinned attendant looked at the casting hammer and muttered to himself while nodding his head in agreement with his own words.

“In this case, can you bring us to see the master of refining now?” Cai, who had been standing on Shi Mu’s shoulder, said impatiently.

“Stop being so rude,” Shi Mu said quickly.

“This is the truth… The master of refining is obsessed with his job, so he’s hardly in the Hall of Hundred Refining. I would have to notify him before sending you to see him,” the attendant glared at Cai and said.

“That would be highly appreciated.”

The green-skinned attendant nodded and hurriedly went up to the second floor.

After half a mile, he went back downstairs and greeted Shi Mu once again, “It’s done now. The master has agreed to see you so please come with me.”

Shi Mu initially thought he would follow the attendant to the secret chambers of the Hall of Hundred Refining and the room would be dark. However, he brought him to the Xuanling Tower.

After a while, the two of them passed through the transmission array and arrived at a mountain.

As soon as he stepped in, a hot scent blasted at his face. Shi Mu could immediately smell a unique burning sensation in the volcano.

As soon as it swept away, a tall black volcano stood dozens of miles away. On top of the black volcano, Shi Mu saw dozens of artificially constructed trenches. It was introducing rolling lava from the crater into a low stone house halfway up the mountain.

“This place is really hot! Hey Shi Mu, do you think there would be fire essence here in the volcano? Why don’t you catch some for me so I can have a taste,” Cai said with a grin on his face.

“This is a private area of the master of refining. No one can enter without the master’s permission,” the attendant once again reminded Cai.

“Cai, I’ll be seeing the master of refining in a while. Why don’t you retreat into the spirit beast bag for now,” Shi Mu said and waved his hand as Cai was absorbed into the spirit beast bag.

“My spiritual pet has been talking gibberish these days. I hope there are no hard feelings. If there is, I apologize.”

“It’s totally fine. Please, this way,” The green-skinned attendant said as he ushered Shi Mu.

After reaching the scent of incense, Shi Mu and the attendant arrived at the middle part of the volcano. From afar, a small unremarkable stone house could be seen.

The green-skinned attendant rushed forward and knocked a few times on the door.

Knock knock knock…

“Dear master, the guest has been escorted here.”