The Portal of Wonderland

“What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen a bird speak before? What do you want? I don’t like being disturbed so early in the morning. That old fellow doesn’t want me to guard the entrance. So, he locked me up here. It’s so suffocating! I’ll swallow that old fellow someday!” The giant parrot lifted its wings and started to comb them with its beak. Then, it spoke these words. Shi Mu was left thunderstruck.

“What’s wrong dear Cai? You don’t like being shackled in the cage? Then I shall wash you and put you in a pot. I’ll stew you and make a large bowl of bird soup. Do you like this idea?” Suddenly, a person’s silhouette appeared behind the table. The person seemed to be as huge and flabby as a mountain.

A shiver ran down Shi Mu’s spine as he saw this. He cautiously gazed at the huge figure. He noticed that this individual was a large and obese man. The man had a greasy luster on his face. There were multiple layers of fat stacked-up across his waist. The fat layers bounced as he moved his body.

“Master, please don’t put me in the pot. I wouldn’t dare to repeat those words. I take my words back,” The giant parrot lay down at the bottom of the cage and covered its eyes with its wings as it heard its master’s words. Then, it screamed and spoke these words while its body started to tremble.

“Senior, this is…” Shi Mu was awestruck; he stared at them blankly.

“There’s no need to create a fuss about it; it’s nothing. This is my pet. I’ve summoned it from another world. When I saw it speaking for the first time… I thought that I had found a great treasure. But, I later discovered that it was totally worthless. It has no skills. I wasted a huge amount of spirit power to obtain it. I would’ve put it into the pot and cooked it if it hadn’t consumed all my money…” the obese man said as he cursed his parrot.

Shi Mu noticed the parrot as it secretly removed its wings from its eyes. Then, it stole a glimpse of the fat man — just like a human would. This sight shocked Shi Mu even further.

“Senior, I am a new disciple. I’ve come here to choose my cultivation art.”

“I know that you’re a new disciple. I wanted to relax for a while in the next room. But, young people like you keep on popping-up one after another. I’m afraid that more people would show-up in some time. Well, you must’ve heard what my parrot said. If you want to read any ancient book… then turn around and help yourself. But you’ll have to pay six Flaming Demon Tokens in return for a book… regardless of whether the book is about martial arts or magic arts. You must’ve received twelve Flaming Demon Tokens like the other new disciples. So you can receive two books in exchange for them — a cultivation art book and a martial art book. But these books are restricted for open access. You’re only allowed to browse through their introduction. You can choose one book after proper consideration. Then, you can come to me with it. I’ll copy the contents of that book onto a jade slip for you. My surname is Ju. I’m the Young Master of this place,” the fat man said and looked away.

Shi Mu finally understood Bai Shi’s remarks.

Xiao Ming could only choose a single cultivation art since he had lost one of his Flaming Demon Tokens. He would have to wait for another year if he wanted to choose additional Hou Tian martial arts. This would’ve obviously made him regret his decision.

He had lost the chance to strengthen himself faster in comparison to the other new disciples. Therefore, the difference between his strength and that of the other new disciples would grow considerably with the passage of time.

“Young Master Ju, thank you so much for your guidance,” Shi Mu respectfully replied to the obese man.

Then, he walked past the table and went straight towards the first row of the bookshelf. The shelf was packed with books on Cultivation arts.

“The Book of Rock Art”, “The Book of Blood Waves Art”, “The Triple-Yang Secret Art”, “The Heaven-Stirring Real Qi Art”, “The Book of Primal Youth”…

Shi Mu became excited as he saw the books on the dazzling Hou Tian level Cultivation arts. He started to go through these books one-by-one.

The Book of Rock Art — this art focused on stability. The difficulty-level to practice this art was low. It didn’t include any external objects. It was divided into five layers. Its growth rate wasn’t affected by one’s Real Qi. The user’s cultivation would advance once they were able to master the five layers of this art. Then, the practitioner could step into the Xian Tian level. It was suitable for practitioners with average intelligence.

The Triple-Yang Secret Art — this was a positive attribution Cultivation art. The difficulty-level to practice this art was average. Its practice required a massive quantity of positive attribution pills. It was divided into three layers. The Real Qi could supplement the strength of positive fire. This art could rely on one’s Real Qi to injure one’s enemy from inside their body. The user’s cultivation would advance once they were able to master the five layers of this art. Then, one could eventually break-through the Xian Tian level. It was suitable for practitioners with average intelligence, and practitioners who had requisite practice resources.

The Heaven-Stirring Real Qi Art ¬ — this Cultivation art was characterized by vigorous power. The difficulty-level to practice this art was average. Its practice didn’t include any external objects. It was divided into seven layers. Its growth rate wasn’t affected by one’s Real Qi. One’s Real Qi became exceptionally profound once the entirety of its layers had been attained. Then, one could step into the Xian Tian level. It was suitable for any practitioner; even the ones with poor intelligence.

Shi Mu thumbed through these ancient records of various Cultivation arts. He discovered that the introduction of these books was extraordinarily detailed. It contained the characteristics and difficulty-levels to practice these arts. In addition, it included advice and suggestions to choose the book carefully.

Shi Mu knew what kind of a book he would choose. He had decided it at an earlier time.

He knew that the practice of Real Qi would be detrimental to him since he possessed the ‘Stone Monkey’ bloodline. Therefore, he didn’t wish to choose any difficult Cultivation art. However, his bodily strength had already reached an extent where he could withstand an entry level Hou Tian Warrior. So, he might as well choose an art that could increase his physical strength even further. He could also choose an extremely formidable and vigorous Cultivation art. But he would need to gain more resources in the annual competition. That would conversely accelerate his cultivation speed.

Shi Mu browsed through the books arranged on the tall bookshelf. Finally, he stopped in front of a bunch of thick bamboo slips. He held them in his hands to examine them more carefully.

The Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephants — this Cultivation art was known for the greatness of its strength. The difficulty-level to practice this art was low. But its practice required an external object – the Bone-Tempering Pill. It was divided into eleven layers. It rendered immense physical strength to its practitioner with each advancing stage; equal to that of an elephant’s. However, one would have to devote a long time to complete the entirety of its stages. It also required the consumption of large quantities of expensive pills. It was suggested that a disciple with poor financial background shouldn’t opt for it…”

The nature of Real Qi and the difficulty-level to practice this art were suitable for Shi Mu. However, he was faced with the limitation of the consumption of a substantial amount of pills.

He intended to take advantage of the competitions to obtain resources in order to accelerate his practice speed. But, he couldn’t get pills in the beginning phase of his practice. Moreover, the Bone-Tempering Pill seemed to be quite expensive. He wouldn’t be able to do anything significant in the competition if this Cultivation art didn’t turn out as powerful as he expected; that would be like picking up a stone and pounding it on one’s own foot.

Shi Mu stood hesitantly for a while. Suddenly, something dawned upon him. He put down the bamboo slips and turned around. Then, he walked over to the obese man.

“Have you chosen your Cultivation art?” The fat man was poking his parrot with a wooden stick; he seemed to be toying with it. The parrot was issuing strange screams. Then, the obese man spoke without turning his head as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Young Master Ju, I once heard that there is a Blood Chamber in our sect, and it caters to arts for Blood Warriors. But, this disciple couldn’t see any such mark on the map. I hope that Young Master Ju would give me some advice,” Shi Mu stood behind him and asked respectfully.

“Oh! Are you a Blood Warrior? No wonder… the time of the Blood warriors has arrived. In fact, plenty of Blood Warriors will emerge this time,” the fat man turned around and murmured.

“This disciple is indeed a Blood Warrior,” Shi Mu replied without any hesitation. He added that he possessed the ‘wasted blood of the Stone Monkey’; but silently in his heart… regardless, he was still a Blood Warrior.