The Portal of Wonderland

“Sect fellow Shi, this is the blood essence of the Xiantian baize. Please have a closer look at it,” The fat manager said as he put two jade bottles on the table.

Shi Mu immediately reached out to pick up the white jade bottle. He peeled off the seal and opened up the cork.

The room’s temperature suddenly dropped from the cold that emerged.

This level of qi rushed at Shi Mu. He released his spirit sense to take a good look at it through the bottle.

In the jade bottle was a small drop of blue liquid which looked extremely pure, without a trace of impurities. It exuded a strong chilly atmosphere far above the frost spider.

Shi Mu nodded in satisfaction. Though the qi of the blue liquid was not as great as the blood essence of the white Azure Ape, it was of purity far beyond anything he had seen before. A drop of blood essence would be more than enough.

He sealed the jade bottle shut and picked up another bottle. Upon checking it, his eyes had a look of satisfaction.

“There’s no problem at all,” Shi Mu said while waving his hand to store the bottles.

The manager laughed and shook his sleeves to store all the items that were on the table.

Both sides were happy with the deal.

After a while, Shi Mu had a casual chat with the manager before leaving the Heavenly Pavilion. As he got up to leave the Heavenly Pavilion, he then went straight to the current subdivision of the city.

As soon as he returned to his cave residence, he commanded Qi Feng to summon all his men and women to a meeting.

A moment later, at the square in front of the residence, nearly 300 attendants gathered, including Cui Huan. Everyone looked at the platform, waiting to see what was going on.

On the platform stood Shi Mu with Cai on his shoulder.

He had been here for almost a year now, and yet he spent most of that time either in retreat or out on an expedition. The affairs of the residence were basically left to Cai and Qi Feng. Shi My himself barely had the opportunity to meet everyone in the residence one by one.

In spite of this, the attendants were enthusiastic about planting spirit herbs, due to his decision to distribute a tenth of the harvest to all the attendants, which resulted in a higher income than previous years.

This was all made known to him through Qi Feng.

Qi Feng who stood at the forefront stepped forward and notified Shi Mu.

“Young master, everyone is here.”

Shi Mu nodded slightly.

“Everyone, all this time, everything in the spiritual land has been well organized. The spirit plants and herbs have increased as well, and for that, I am truly grateful and relieved. For the coming period, I will have to leave once again. All the affairs will be your responsibility, with Qi Feng taking the lead as usual.”

“Understood!” Qi Feng and several people around him quickly nodded and promised.

“In addition, I will now announce the annual income of the residence has increased by 20% compared to the previous year. With this, I shall divide the revenue equally into half. As for how this distribution has come to be, Qi Feng and Cai jointly decided after a discussion.”

As soon as this statement came out, all the attendants looked happy and sang in joy.

“Thank you, young master!”

“Shi Mu, where are you going this time? You’re planning not to bring me along again are you?” Cai asked.

“The environment in that place is extremely cold and there’s nothing to eat. If you were to follow, you’d have to stay in the spirit bag for a long time. You sure you want to join me?”

Cai quickly turned down the offer.

“Ah… In that case, it’s better that you head out on your own. Don’t worry! You can leave all the affairs to me and the fat man Qi Feng. We’ll give 200% effort into our duties!”

Shi Mu heard the words and shook his head with a smile.

…

After half a month in the northern region of Qinglan City, Shi Mu stumbled upon an ice cave with a high concentration of yin energy.

Shi Mu was wearing a cloak and stood on a small hill. His eyes scanned his surroundings.

It was still icy and snowy as ever. However, all traces of the battle he had with Lu Jing and Liao Yong have been completely covered by the snow.

After Shi Mu regained his focus, he closed his eyes and spread his spirit sense from within his body, across dozens of miles.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and showed a hint of joy on his face.

He had not sensed anyone else’s qi, meaning he was alone.

It seemed that Lu Jing and Liao Yong had already left, which gave him some relief as he entered the ice cave.

Shi Mu looked into the direction of the cave and hurriedly rushed toward the entrance. With a flash, he jumped into the ice cave and smashed a pole right into it with his left hand that was flashing in white light.

Ooh, la la!

Half of the mountain wall at the entrance collapsed and blocked the entrance from intruders.

Shi Mu nodded with satisfaction and continued to walk inwards.

With the experience he now had, he soon arrived at the spot where his last battle with the frost spider took place. Traces of the battle were still clearly visible.

He waved with both hands and a blue light flew out of his hand, landing near the ice cave. It was a flag.

After a while, the flags emitted a blue light that condensed into a blue array of light curtains.

Shi Mu nodded with satisfaction as this set of water-attribute charm arrays that he had specially purchased were coming in handy. It was a set of high-order arrays, which possessed dual functions of covering the atmosphere and served as a defense mechanism.

After his preparations were complete, he sat down in the cave and waved his hand. He took out the two bottles of baize blood essence and put them in front of him with his eyes closed and sat upright.

After half a day passed, he once again opened his eyes. Though the light in his eyes was faint, both his mind and spirit were at their peak.

He waved his hand and tore the charm on the cap of the bottle to open it.

A bitter chill blew out of the bottle, and the already low temperature of the surroundings decreased even further.

Shi Mu’s body shook slightly but he got a grip of himself and calmed down.

He took a deep breath and waved his right hand. Crystal blue liquid flew out of the bottle and formed itself into a miniature beast shaped something like a bull, falling on his right hand.

Its eyes flashed. Though it was only made of substance, it seemed to have a life of its own.

The little baize trembled and whispered toward the sky silently before melting away. A layer of blue ice crystals appeared on Shi Mu’s palm and began to spread toward his arm.

Shi Mu flinched and activated the second phase of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.

A ray of light emerged on his right hand and the blue liquid slowly blended into his palm, fading away bit by bit.

Seeing this, Shi Mu finally relaxed a little and continued to practice his cultivation.

After three full days, the blue ice crystals on the palm of his right hand completely disappeared as the blood essence of the baize had completely integrated into his palm.

His eyes fell on the jade bottle on the ground once again. After a few thoughts, he waved his hand again and another drop of blue blood flew out and landed on his right hand.

…

After half a year, the blood essence of both bottles had been integrated into Shi Mu’s body.

At the moment, Shi Mu’s right arm emitted a blue light with a vaguely visible image of a strange beast.

This beast had blue hair and it was shaped like an elk. It had a coral-like red horn on its head and a pair of wide wings on its back, making it look very hardy.

The blue light on Shi Mu’s arm dissipated. He flipped his hand and took out a white jade bottle, which was the one that held the smoldering gas obtained from the frost spider.

He took a deep breath and the smoldering gas flew out of the bottle, slowly snaking around his right hand.

Shi Mu’s right hand was frozen in a layer of white ice and his body shook violently. The pain was visible on his face.

The power of the extreme yin ice was far beyond the baize blood. If his right hand had already been integrated with the baize’s blood essence, his resistance to cold should have greatly increased. Right now, his right hand was freezing to the point of death.

Even with the combination of two baize blood essences, the pain on his arm was still unbearable.

Shi Mu clenched his teeth and silently operated a soul comforting spell to suppress his pain. After a while, the pain had subsided a little.

He closed his eyes and silently moved onto the second phase of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art once again.

A moment later, a light black brilliance emerged from his right hand and the white ice of the extreme Ying slowly began to be absorbed by the black light.

Shi Mu was slightly intrigued as he came into the realization that he was now within the second phase of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.

Time passed as day turned to night and today again.

In the blink of an eye, five years had gone by. Shi Mu was sitting cross-legged in the cave without any slight movement. A thick layer of frost had already appeared on his body, covering him like an ice sculpture.

…

In the Holy Land of Qinglan, in one of the medicine fields on Shi Mu’s land, two Xiantian warriors were taking care of the grass.

“Ah, the young master has been gone for about five years now. When is he ever coming back?” wondered a young man in a green robe as he glanced in the direction of Shi Mu’s chambers.

“How do you know that he’ll come back? Those Qinglan disciples may look grand but they’re always on the brink of death. They could perish anytime during their tasks and missions. Every year, numerous Lofty Spirit Lights are extinguished. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that their lot is worse off and less long-lived than us servants,” said an older middle-aged man.

“True, but young master Shi Mu has treated us so well. I hope nothing bad happens to him.”

The middle-aged man heard his words and nodded slightly.

“Speaking of that, the young master’s spirit animal hasn’t been seen these days. It is said that he was retreating to his chambers in order to meditate. Is that true?” the young man in green asked curiously.

“I’m not sure about that but I haven’t seen the spirit animal for a while as well.”

The young man’s eyes moved as if he was about to say something again. Just then, a column of white light rose from a distance, and a vast pressure spread through its surroundings. Several attendants in the medical field were dumbfounded and stared at the light column.

After a quarter of an hour, the column slowly dissipated.

“If I remember correctly, that is where Cui Huan had gone. If this was any indication, she must’ve reached a new level,” the middle-aged man said.

Before his voice fell, white light flew from the same direction. Within several breaths, the figure landed, revealing Cui Huan’s figure.

“Ah, lady Cui Huan!”

The two looked at each other and hurriedly greeted Cui Huan with respect.

“There’s no need for formalities. However, I need to ask you something important. Where is the young master right now?” Cui Huan asked.

“Young master left the residence several years ago saying he had something important to attend to. Sadly, he has not returned for almost five years now,” the middle-aged man quickly replied.

“What? Young master has been gone for five years now?” Cui Huan exclaimed in disbelief.