The Portal of Wonderland

“You can train here without limits, as the stone room is impregnable. Even one’s spirit sense can’t penetrate the ground and walls. No one will be able to bother you. When the time is up, you’ll be automatically transmitted out of the room.”

After the middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows finished talking, he turned and walked out.

Shi Mu heard his words and was intrigued. A closed-off area free from distractions was just what he needed.

With a crackling sound, the stone wall began to slowly close behind him.

His eyes swept across the stone room as he slowly walked to the center and sat on the futon.

Merely by sitting down, the whole room suddenly turned dark. Nothing could be seen in the pitch-black darkness.

Shi Mu felt like he was surrounded by a galaxy of stars. Every inch of his body was surrounded by starlight. Some were far away, while others were near and dense as well.

As he gestured in relief and sighed, he took out the green gourd that contained the Clear-Boned Purifying Pill. He also took the medicinal herbs and materials that would help him achieve a breakthrough in his cultivation.

He quickly placed them right in front of him and composed himself. After that, he immediately closed his eyes and began the Art Of Breeding A Strong Evil Ape.

The force separated the tiny white sparks of starlight from each other. They became an endless stream of stars, rushing towards Shi Mu.

This was the power of starlight. According to what Ling Feng had told them back when he was still new to the Holy Land of Qinglan, the power contained in the starlight was one of the greatest sources of chaos in the world. Its strength was far purer than any other power.

The little white lights looked like fireflies in the night as they fused with Shi Mu’s body. For a moment, Shi Mu was wrapped in a sky filled with shining rays of white light. The light was so bright that it cast the darkness from the sky.

Shi Mu felt a strong shock as the intense energy entered every part of him, filling every vein in his body.

He felt a sudden chill radiating through him. The feeling was sharp and numbing, and it gave a kind of comfort that was hard to put into words.

Gradually, the power of the starlight and the qi within Shi Mu merged together. It rushed into his veins and finally gathered in the heart of his qi.

With the influx of the starlight, his Real Qi slowly began to condense and refine, becoming more viscous by the minute.

Shi Mu looked into himself with his spirit sense and rejoiced at what he saw.

With the power of his Real Qi, his enriched qi slowly emptied out.

However, the abundance of the qi of Heaven and Earth was also coming together, gradually enriching.

Three months passed by.

Shi Mu slowly opened his eyes and a sparkling light appeared on his face.

He was smiling proudly. After three months of hard work, his body had greatly refined and the amount of Real Qi was almost twice what it was before. His Real Qi had become as thick and heavy as mercury.

With just a turn, a mighty force burst out from him and formed a sharp wave in the stone chamber.

The Real Qi within Shi Mu’s body tumbled slightly and rushed towards the late stage. It had become a little worse.

He did not hesitate to pick up the green gourd in front of him and pour out the Clear-Boned Purifying Pills that were stored in it. He quickly swallowed them down and all the other medicinal herbs that might help him in his cultivation.

Several different auras began to burst out of Shi Mu, drowning his body inside.

Within the light, the aura of his body gradually strengthened.

In a blink of an eye, another three months had passed by.

There was a sudden ear-piercing groan from Shi Mu’s stone chambers.

A group of glaring red lights appeared in the room and the silhouette of a figure was barely visible within it. A strong wave of Real Qi emanated from the figure as if the tide was surging and flowing inside the stone room.

The aura and spirit qi of Heaven and Earth also tumbled tumultuously, forming numerous whirlpools of energy outside the stone chamber.

Outside the Heavenly Shrine in another room, the middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows was sitting on his bed. His body was covered with a bumpy and sturdy green mang, wrapping him into a cocoon, as if he was deep in cultivating.

Suddenly, the man’s brows twitched and he immediately opened his eyes widely.

The middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows stood up and muttered to himself in disbelief, “What a strong fluctuation of spirit qi. Is it possible that this disciple was able to rush into Heaven rank?

“Wait, no… It’s coming from the 83rd stone room which belongs to the hundred-year-old disciple! That man is only in his mid-level of cultivation. Could this have started when he broke through to the last stage?” He questioned himself once again as he shook his head, unwilling to believe.

This peculiar incident only lasted briefly and gradually stopped before vanishing altogether.

The middle-aged man frowned slightly. He shook his head and ignored it, continuing to meditate and practice.

The six-month deadline for Shi Mu’s rent had arrived quickly. With a flash of white light in the Heavenly Shrine, a white circle was formed and Shi Mu appeared within it.

His body brimmed with fluorescent light and his qi was as deep as the sea. He had succeeded in breaking through the eleventh layer of the Art Of Breeding A Strong Evil Ape and had advanced to the late stage of his cultivation.

To be frank, he had already successfully broken through a few days ago. However, since the deadline for the rent had yet to arrive, he simply consolidated it.

The Heavenly Shrine was extremely rich in spirit qi and the power of the starlight could be used to refine one’s Real Qi. In just seven or eight days, Shi Mu’s progression had completely stabilized. It had saved him a lot of time and effort.

Shi Mu smiled, feeling very good about himself. With a wave of his sleeves, he walked out the hall and soon arrived at the entrance of the Heavenly Shrine.

The middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows stood near the entrance. As soon as he saw Shi Mu, he quickly looked over and stared at him.

Shi Mu nodded in greeting as his body began to shine. He turned into a red glow and flew into the distance.

The middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows looked at Shi Mu soaring away and muttered to himself, “Interesting. This disciple is in his last stage of Earth Rank, but he seems to be equal to some of the millennial disciples!”

…

In front of Shi Mu’s cave residence, Cai flew to the shoulder of a fat middle-aged man with a small round cap on top of his head.

Before Cai had even landed properly on Qi Feng’s shoulder, he quickly asked. “Hey fatty, I heard that Shi Mu finished his cultivation. Is this true?”

“Well, Cai, you sure are very well-informed. The young master arrived early in the morning, but he immediately left for the mountains without saying a word. He isn’t back yet,” Qi Feng said.

“Ugh, this Shi Mu is too much to handle. I can’t believe he wouldn’t come and see me as soon as he was out of his retreat!” Cai was somewhat dissatisfied with Shi Mu’s actions.

As their conversation went on, there was a red glow in the sky. In a blink of an eye, the ray of red fell in front of Qi Feng.

“Greetings, young master!” Qi Feng quickly thrust out his hand in a respectful greeting.

Shi Mu nodded and shook his hand.

“Shi Mu, how could you just…” Before Cai could even finish his words, he was interrupted by Shi Mu.

“Cai, come with me!”

With those words, Shi Mu immediately rolled up his sleeves and an invisible force sucked Cai into them as he walked toward his residence.

As soon as he entered the cave, Shi Mu said, “Cai, I am going for a retreat for a while.”

“Wait, what?! Didn’t you just come back from a retreat? I thought you were going to take me out on a shopping spree in the town,” Cai said.

“I’m afraid that there are already many disciples secretly learning the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. As far as I know, Zhao Ji, who was accepted as a disciple by the Qinglan Holy Lord, was one of the disciples who is honing this mysterious technique. I don’t know how much time I have left, but I need to start developing the third phase as soon as possible,” Shi Mu stated.

“That white azure ape had high hopes for you. That’s why he passed the second phase of the cultivation of Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art to you. However, there are so many bizarre requirements for the third phase. Why go through the trouble when you can just head over to the Convention Pavilion and redeem it directly?!” Cai asked.

“I didn’t think about that, but it would take a long time to influence the cultivation. A thousand Xuanling points isn’t a small amount. After all, the fourth phase will inevitably require even more points than the previous one. If I want to reach Heaven Rank, I will need to look for new techniques to practice as well. The cost of purchasing such techniques won’t be insignificant either,” Shi Mu said.

Cai patted his chest and said, “Ugh, this Holy Land is a pain in the butt for relying solely on Xuanling points. How annoying! Don’t worry, Shi Mu. Go do what you must. Qi Feng and I will take care of everything here on your behalf.”

…

After Cai left, Shi Mu went back to the secret chamber in the mountains and knelt on the ground.

After he had closed his eyes, his spirit sense began to sink into the knowledge ocean.

As the knowledge ocean flashed gold, he closed his eyes tightly as he sat cross-legged and his spirit sense condensed.

Soon, the figure of a tiny skeleton appeared. Shi Mu immediately stood up with his eyes wide open. He walked to the center of the knowledge ocean, facing the skeleton man.

After a slight greeting, the tiny golden skeleton lifted both his hands with their palms facing upward. A rune was released on his palms and wrapped around the surface of the staff.

The golden rune on the surface of the golden staff lit up and trembled slightly, but nothing happened.

The tiny golden skeleton man saw this but did not stop. He continued compelling the runes on his hands as they widened on the surface of the golden staff.

The golden light on the surface of the staff flashed. A glowing circle of gold swayed from the surface of the stave.

The golden tiny skeleton man was pleased by the sight.

However, it had been only a moment before it disappeared entirely. Not only that, but the golden light runes on the surface of the staff also faded as well as it gently shook.

The brows of the golden tiny skeleton man arched a little at the sudden letdown.

After the completion of his cultivation, this step to trigger the limits of the staff was a success. From what he could tell, he had passed the second phase and improved step by step as well, which should be in accordance with the trigger requirements.

He seemed to be unwilling to come into terms with the golden staff and began to take different approaches from alternate directions. Nevertheless, he did not receive any other response except for an occasional swirl.

After studying and analyzing for two or three hours, no progress had been made. The golden skeleton seemed to be at a loss and on the brink of admitting defeat.

He sat next to the golden staff and looked down for a while. Suddenly, he thought of something that might be able to help him and quickly stood up.

Light began to radiate from both his hands. With one hand was emitting black light and the other white, he pressed them down onto the golden staff.

A change suddenly occurred!

The staff jerked a little and there was a beeping sound.

Immediately, the golden staff began to emit a ray of bright golden light as a light-gray vortex began to emerge slowly as several gray smog spilled from it. After one rotation, the tiny golden skeleton man was sucked into the vortex.