The Portal of Wonderland

Filled with black and white light between the heavens and the earth, it passed away in an instant. The dazzling white thunder and black flame ocean disappeared immediately, leaving nothing behind.

Between heaven and earth, everything had now returned to its peace.

Shi Mu remained in midair, tightly clutching the staff in his hands as he pointed toward the position of the sky as the energy construct and his golden scales gradually disappeared.

His face was pale but he had a vain feeling as his body shook slightly in midair.

“Sure enough!” Shi Mu pounded on his chest as he whispered to himself.

As soon as he spoke, he suddenly turned black. The flaming wings at his back were extinguished, and his body immediately fell from the sky.

In the air, a silver light passed and Yan Luo suddenly appeared, catching Shi Mu’s fallen body from the sky.

She looked down at Shi Mu and a hint of joy or pity could not be seen on her beautifully elegant face. After a short pause, she once again became a streak of silver light and flew away into the distance.

…

A few days later…

In the secret chamber at Shi Mu’s residence, the air in the room fluctuated as a large black light emerged.

After a while, the black light flashed into a swirling vortex.

A figure flew out from the inside and landed on the ground.

It was none other than Shi Mu.

“It feels great to be home!”

His eyes glanced around and sighed as he whispered under his breath.

The environment in the Dead Spirit Word was gloomy, and Shi Mu never liked it.

However, thanks to Yan Luo’s guidance, he was able to experience neverending battles for the past three years in the Dead Spirit World, and gain a great deal more combat experience.

After all, it was difficult to find another place with opponents that had achieved Heaven rank, what more having the opportunity to fight them.

Although he was still in his late stage of cultivation, his momentum and strength had greatly increased compared to two years ago.

Shi Mu stood still in the secret chamber for a while to calm his mood before taking a deep breath as he walked out of the chamber.

“Shi Mu!”

As soon as Shi Mu walked out of the chamber, a small figure flew from a distance toward him. It was none other than Cai.

“How’ve things been during these years? Did anyone look for trouble?” Shi Mu asked casually.

“With me and Qi Feng around, nothing can happen! Anyway, how was your training in the Dead Spirit World?” Cai perched on Shi Mu’s shoulder as he asked.

Shi Mu nodded.

“Then, where are you going next? Are you planning to challenge yourself in the enchanted road now?” Cai asked once more.

“Not bad.” Shi Mu looked up at the sky and said.

“However, it’s almost the time of the championship. Do you really plan to take on the challenge at this time?”

Shi Mu froze a little. He had been busy practicing for the past few years to the point of forgetting that time had passed by so fast. In just a wink, he had gone through almost nine years.

“Shi Mu, you have been busy with your retreats for the past few years and have not completed any tasks or missions. Why don’t you wait till the end of the game to challenge yourself. With your current strength, you can definitely be in the limelight during the championship. Let’s go get some rewards before we go into more details then.”

“Those are just small profits so don’t worry about it.” Shi Mu slightly sank and shook his head.

Seeing this, Cai did not say anything more.

“Let’s go then!”

Shi Mu waved for the green-winged flying carriage as it turned into a blue light and flew toward the Xuanling Tower.

After a while, Shi Mu arrived at the hall outside the tower.

There was a black plaque hanging above the main hall with the words “Enchanted Temple” on it.

“We’re here now!” Shi Mu muttered to himself as he walked in.

The arrangement in the main hall was extremely simple. There was only one bar-shaped stone table and the rest was nothing but emptiness.

Behind the stone table, an old man in a gray robe was dozing off. He woke up as soon as he noticed Shi Mu coming in.

Shi Mu’s gazed through the hall multiple times before walking toward the stone table.

“My name is Shi Mu and I’m here to see the deacon,” Shi Mu said aloud.

The gray-clothed elder appeared to be in his early stage of cultivation, based on his clothes. It seemed that he had been assigned by the higher-ups for this position.

As soon as the old man woke up and looked at Shi Mu with a sleepy eye, he immediately stood up.

“Who are you? What are you doing in the Enchanted Temple?”

“My name is Shi Mu and I want to challenge the Enchanted Road,” Shi Mu said with confidence.

“What?!”

The gray-coated old man thought he heard wrong. He blinked his eyes and looked up at Shi Mu.

“My name is Shi Mu and I want to challenge the Enchanted Road!” Shi Mu repeated once more in frustration.

“You… challenging the Enchanted Road. Are you serious?”

The gray-haired old man looked strangely at Shi Mu in disbelief.

“Of course! Please report this matter to the deacon,” Shi Mu took out his Xuanling Wall and handed it over with an awkward expression.

The old man in the gray coat saw the look on Shi Mu’s face. Seeing how determined Shi Mu was, he hurriedly reached for it.

He waved out a black token and shook it on Shi Mu’s Xuanling Wall.

A blue light flew out of the Xuanling Wall into the black token. In an instant, the black token added Shi Mu’s name onto it.

“Alright. I’ve made a record. You’re required to head back first. The challenge will begin three days later. Someone will explain the specifics to you then.”

Shi Mu nodded, took up Xuanling, and walked outside.

“Hehe, I didn’t expect to have something like this happen in a hundred years. How rare!” the old man looked at the back of Shi Mu as he muttered to himself.

It was no wonder that this gray-clothed old man would say so. It was said that although the Holy Land of Qinglan had set up the Enchanted Road for the centuries-old disciples, there were less than ten people would be brave enough to take on the challenge.

The hall of the Enchanted Temple here was in an idle state all year round and was known as one of the most sparsely populated spaces in the Xuanling Tower. Even many centuries-old disciples never knew that there were still thousands of years in the first layer.

This gray-clothed veteran used to be a century-old disciple as well. Unfortunately, he had violated one of the rules and was detained as a deacon for more than a hundred years now. This was the first time he ever encountered someone who willingly challenged the Enchanted Road.

He snorted a few times but he did not forget about the tasks he had in hand as he turned back and walked into the inner hall.

It was empty here and only a black stone monument stood in the depths. The black light lingered, showing a glimpse of countless small runes that were hidden from sight.

The old man took out the black token and muttered as the token gradually lit up.

After a while, a black light flew out of it and fell into the black stone.

As the black stone monument shined brightly, Shi Mu’s name appeared on it.

At the same time, in a random part of Qinglan, it looked similar to the Enchanted Temple. In the inner hall, there was a black stone monument which was shining brightly.

A purple clock hung near the stone tablet. While it was still illuminating, a loud bang was heard, echoing in a distance.

“What happened? The magic clock of the Enchanted Road rang! Is there a century-old disciple who wants to apply for a challenge?”

“Oh, what a surprise! What type of disciple could it be this time?”

When the bell rang, those in the higher ranks of the Holy Land began to discuss among themselves.

The news of Shi Mu challenging the Enchanted Road spread around quickly. In less than a day, it had reached the entire Holy Land of Qinglan and set off an uproar.

Many who initially knew nothing of the Enchanted Road were able to learn about this particular place in the Xuanling Tower.

After all, this move was too ridiculous. To challenge the top three disciples was more than discouraging for one, not to mention the Enchanted Road.

Everyone’s attention and expectations for this matter eventually surpassed the anticipation of the disciple championship.

After all, this championship happened every ten years whereas this challenge of the Enchanted Road barely happened once in a hundred years.

Somewhere on the first floor, a youth in a white robe sat on a piece of cyan stone with his legs crossed. Under the big stone, an attendant in a green robe kneeled on the ground as he muttered something to the youth.

“Shi Mu? I’ve heard his name. He was one of the new disciples. What?! He’s challenging the Enchanted Road? This is impossible! Is he seeking an early death?!” the white-robed youth sneered.

This person was none other than the disciple who ranked third named Yun Xiao. His eyebrows were fine and there was a hint of faint black light in his eyes. It was extremely bright and seemed to have cultivated some kind of mystery.

Yun Xiao’s attendant remained on the ground and did not dare to look up. Fine sweat on his forehead could be seen clearly from nervousness.

After a long time, Yun Xiao finally waved his hand and said “Alright! You can go on now!”

“I shall take my leave now!”

The attendant in green robe hurriedly stood up and took his leave.

“This newcomer doesn’t know his place. I’ll make sure he’ll never be able to step onto the Enchanted Road, and die here instead!” Yun Xiao muttered to himself as he once again shut his eyes.

…

Among the bamboo forest lofts, Ling Feng played with a communication token between his fingers and a small line of words suddenly appeared on it. It was the news about Shi Mu challenging the Enchanted Road.

“I thought the fact that he hadn’t moved for three years would mean that he had gradually given up. Who knew he could be this persistent,” Ling Feng shook his head and sighed.

He was silent for a moment before he stood up and slowly walked out.

…

The huge mountain peaks above the clouds looked as if they rushed into each other like tornado tides.

Above the peak, a youth in a golden robe sat on his knees. It was none other than Long Zhanye.

He exuded an amazing aura which was much stronger than the year before. The surrounding cloud was separated from him by an invisible force.

He suddenly lit up a white light. As he opened his eyes, he took out a white jade from his arms as a small line of words emerged on it.

“Eh?! Someone wants to challenge the Enchanted Road?! This is interesting…”

A golden light flashed in Long Zhanye’s eyes as a smile appeared in the corner of his mouth.

He had been a century-old disciple for almost five hundred years now and wanted to promote his millennium disciples to the second floor of Qinglan. Unfortunately, time was not on his side.

.

The existence of the Enchanted Road was not known by others. However, as a hundred-year disciple himself, it was not a surprise that he knew about it but none ever tried to challenge it.

After all, the Enchanted Road was not purely based on one’s strength but the human heart as well. If one did not pay much attention, they would likely fall into the illusion and be stuck in eternal illusion forever. The risk was much greater than one could ever comprehend.

“Shi Mu… This person seems to be one of the new disciples. I’ve seen him twice in the trials and his strength isn’t so bad. Who knew if there’ll be another battle between us once again…” Long Zhanye muttered to himself.

After a moment, he stood up and turned into a golden light as he flew away.