The Portal of Wonderland

In the face of the thunderous attacks launched by Shangguan Xin, Zhao Ji’s expression remained unchanged. With a wave of his hand, a purple ax appeared in his grasp. It was the same weapon he had used during the trials.

He silently chanted a spell as he threw the ax.

The ax suddenly enlarged and turned into a burning flame, rushing into the sky like a purple sun.

Zhao Ji waved his hands and a magical rune appeared.

The purple sun flashed, turning into a purple phantom dragon which was twenty or thirty feet wide. It immediately rushed towards the two black hurricanes that came face to face with it.

Upon seeing the dragon, Shangguan Xin’s brows wrinkled slightly. He waved his hand and the two black hurricanes merged into one, as big as the other two combined.

A clash of thunder rumbled through the air!

The phantom dragon rammed into the black hurricane, and both of them seemed to get entangled. In the fierce collision of the purple and black light, the entire platform and the glowing blue barrier trembled.

Shangguan Xin was furious when he saw this. He quickly placed his hands together to increase the rotating speed of the black hurricane. It seemed that he intended to shatter the phantom dragon as metallic grinding sounds could be heard.

Nevertheless, in the next moment, the purple dragon grew and continued rushing forward.

It roared again and again!

With the purple dragon and the black hurricane at a stalemate, they suddenly dissipated and turned back into their original forms, the ax, and the twin sledgehammers. All of them flew back into Zhao Ji and Shangguan Xin’s hands.

Shangguan Xin’s face was motionless. He could not believe that a newcomer disciple like Zhao Ji possessed power equal to his own.

He immediately brought the black glow on his body to its peak. He unleashed the full power of his Xiantian-level strength. His momentum was strong and he was undoubtedly close to reaching the next level.

People near the platform had their eyes locked on Shangguan Xin and were quite amazed.

“The ninth disciple is only one step away from the middle stage of Xiantian level!” Shi Mu was shocked as he turned and looked toward Long Zhanye.

Above the ring, Zhao Ji held his purple ax and looked at Shangguan Xin, wrapped in black light. His facial expression remained unbothered and his eyes were as calm as ever.

Shangguan Xin looked at Zhao’s gaze and spat blood essences from his mouth onto his hammer while chanting a spell. The two hammers he held began to radiate red and black light. With a single flash, they merged into one.

The red and black glare from the sledgehammer and the pressure doubled in intensity.

“Charge!” Shangguan Xin roared and the red-black hammer went toward Zhao Ji.

The sound of the thunder bursting out of the sledgehammer was astonishing, causing the space to tremble.

Zhao Ji was taken aback and quickly cast a spell as his sleeves shook slightly.

Once again, the purple ax glowed with violet light, floated out of his hand, and turned into the phantom dragon. The two giant claws of the purple dragon unleashed in time to block the blow of the sledgehammer.

Suddenly, a loud echo shook the sky!

When the purple phantom dragon came into contact with the red-black sledgehammer, it was struck by an invisible force and turned away. It rolled and flew downward as its light faded. It was clearly unable to withstand it.

The red-black sledgehammer jerked slightly but continued towards Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji’s face looked like he had sunk into a deep blue ocean. His eyes had filled with a glaring blue light as he looked at Shangguan Xin.

Two dazzling blue lights suddenly flew out of his eyes and there was a flash around Shangguan Xin. It seemed like space itself was rippling.

Shi Mu’s eyes flashed as he caught on to the technique. Zhao Ji had used this particular method back in the trials. He almost got caught in it back then!

“Art Of Time Entrapment!”

Shangguan Xin was stunned. Before he could react or escape, a circle of invisible ripples had enveloped the space around him.

Shangguan Xin felt an invisible pressure suddenly coming from all directions. His body was stiff, and he could not move at all, like a bug trapped in a corner.

The giant hammer seemed to be caught by the same effect as well. It had been flying toward Zhao Ji, only to be stopped in midair.

There was a smirk in the corner of Zhao Ji’s mouth. With a wave of both hands, the sky flashed and countless white strings emerged, wrapping themselves around Shangguan Xin.

The black light on Shangguan Xin’s body spread rapidly. The light on the hammer flashed and the invisible fluctuations around it were shattered.

“That’s good but unfortunately it’s too late!”

Zhao Ji snorted and his hands trembled. The white silk around him made Shangguan Xin into a human cocoon, encasing the red-black hammer as well.

Though Shangguan Xin roared in anger as he tried to struggle out of the cocoon, it was no use.

Suddenly, a figure flashed and Zhao appeared behind Shangguan Xin. His entire left hand suddenly gave off a glaring ray of white light.

At the left end of the ring, Shi Mu’s eyes were fixed on Zhao Ji’s left arm. Though his face seemed calm, his heart was anxious like a storm brewing.

This was the first time he witnessed someone other than him using the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. Seeing it up close, Shi Mu was certain that this was the first phase of the art, the power of the sun!

As he pondered, Zhao Ji landed a fist on Shangguan Xin.

The white cocoon ruptured as Shangguan Xin’s figure flew out of it and fell roughly on the lower platform. Blood spurted from his mouth, and his arms were bent at a strange angle.

At the last moment, he used his remaining strength to block the attack with his arms.

The giant red-black hammer also fell to the ground, changing back into the two black sledgehammers with a flash. Its blood-red light had faded.

Shangguan Xin tried to resist the pain as he struggled to stand on his two feet.

Zhao Ji’s eyes were cold and his left hand was still flashing white. It seemed that he had the urge to go again.

Suddenly, the red-browed youth appeared in midair in front of Zhao Ji.

“The outcome has been decided. Stop now!”

Zhao Ji’s eyes flashed and the white light on his arms dissipated.

“Zhao Ji won this round against Shangguan Xin and will now replace him as the ninth-placed disciple,” the red-browed youth announced to the audience.

Under the ring, there was a burst of cheers, and those on the challenger side also showed their excitement.

Finally, someone had won the challenge and reached the top ten!

Zhao Ji immediately turned around and jumped down from the ring, taking Shangguan Xin’s place. Shangguan Xin could only watch with anger from a distance.

The other disciples did not share the crowd’s sentiments, especially those who initially wanted to follow Shangguan Xin’s lead and face the new disciples. Their expressions had turned awkward.

The remaining top ten disciples all focused their eyes on Zhao Ji.

In his recent battles, Zhao Ji had obviously not given it all he had, but this was less certain.

Standing on the far left, Long Zhanye looked at Zhao Ji as his eyes flashed with golden light. After a while, he looked away.

After Long Zhanye won his battle, he had given others the confidence they needed. Before the red-browed youth could even speak, another person instantly jumped into the ring. It was a century-old disciple who wished to challenge a lower-ranked disciple.

This man had some skill, but unfortunately, the other disciples were much stronger. In the end, the century-old disciple was defeated.

Although he was defeated, he was not on the same level as someone like Qing Zhangtian. As soon as the battle ended, another new challenger appeared on stage.

Little by little, half a day passed by.

Seven to eight challengers came and went from the stage. Aside from Zhao Ji, all of the other challengers were defeated.

Those who lost did not go back to the platform but went under the ring instead.

Shi Mu silently stood in the crowd and he had no intention of going up to the stage.

“Brother Shi, are you not going to challenge anyone?” asked a voice from the side.

Shi Mu turned around to look at who was speaking and realized the people that had been at his sides were all gone. There was only the figure of a pale girl on his left. It was none other than Jiang Shuishui. Shi Mu had focused all of his attention on the battle, so he had not noticed her presence.

“What about you? Aren’t you challenging anyone either? With the power you possess, you might stand a chance,” Shi Mu asked.

Jiang Shuishui chuckled.”Oh, you sure have a lot of confidence in me. With my strength, I don’t think I can even compete with brother Shi Mu.”

“There is no need to be modest. You showed great skill during the trials. Even those who are at Xiantian level wouldn’t be able to take you on easily,” Shi Mu said as he recalled another disciple with the same surname.

Since they shared the same surname, did it mean that the techniques they were using were the same? They could have been of the same race. Maybe there was a connection between both of them?

As Shi Mu was still deep in his thoughts, a wave of invisible fluctuations suddenly struck him.

Shi Mu’s body was stiff and his eyes were blurry.

The Holy Land of Qinglan was filled with a green light. A white palace was suspended in mid-air.

“Eh?!”

A loud sound came from the palace and the whole space shook.

A figure shrouded in blue light appeared in the sky above the palace. He could not see who it was clearly.

His fingers were gesturing as if he was calculating something. After a while, he shook his head in disappointment.

“Hey, brother Shi Mu…”

Shii Mu’s jerked awake.

“Brother Shi Mu, what happened to you?” asked Jiang Shuishui. She had a puzzled look as she stared at Shi Mu.

Shi Mu’s eyes focused as he took a deep breath to calm his mind. He shook his head to say that he was alright and that there was nothing to worry about.

His heart was racing, and he was unsure of the vision he just saw.

He did not know what had just happened. It seemed like he was in a dream, but as soon as he woke up, he did not seem to remember anything.

He calmed himself and delved into his spirit sense to take a closer look at the Heaven Rouser.

The staff was still quietly lying there, unchanged.

Jiang Shuishui looked at Shi Mu for a while longer and nodded.

“That’s good. While you were in a daze, you missed out on a wonderful battle.”

“What?” Shi Mu asked in disbelief.