The Portal of Wonderland

“Believing your words is out of question. I’ll have to check if you’ve stimulated your blood. Only then can you pass through to the Blood Chambers. But, you can relax. There’s no need to check the kind of bloodline you possess. No one in this Sect bothers about such things; especially if you don’t want to make it public,” the fat man said lightly.

“So, the Blood Chamber is inside the General Library?” Shi Mu felt exhilarated when he heard these words. He became relieved and asked once again.

“There are three General Libraries; they cater to the three categories of the Sect’s disciples — primary, junior and senior. But, there’s only one Blood Chamber; its access is restricted. This Chamber is interlinked with the three General Libraries. Now, let me examine you without any further delay,” the fat man shook his head as he said. Then, he turned his palm. Suddenly, a bronze mirror appeared in his hand. He mumbled some strange incantations and placed the mirror in front of Shi Mu.

“Puff” A thick beam of light spurted-out of the mirror and submerged into Shi Mu’s body.

Suddenly, Shi Mu’s body started to tremble. Then, his blood started to seethe with excitement; it seemed as if a group of fire-balls had started to simmer inside his body.

“Buzz” a humming sound was heard. Then, some scarlet-red rays appeared on the otherwise calm surface of the mirror.

“You’re a blood warrior! You’ve passed the test. Come with me,” The fat man put away the bronze mirror. Then, he turned around and walked towards a nearby side-door.

Shi Mu followed him closely.

Shi Mu soon arrived in a large cabin along with the fat man. The cabin’s floor was engraved with a decorative pattern of silver rings and some unknown text. The silver rings and the text were arranged to form a huge circular pattern.

The fat man took the lead and walked to the center of the circular pattern. He then pinched his finger with his thumb and raised his hand. Suddenly, a yellow paper-charm appeared in his hand. The paper-charm ignited by itself and turned into a group of blazing fire-balls. Then, it submerged into the circular pattern.

A ‘pop’ sound was heard.

Suddenly, the circular pattern exuded a bright white light, and a trace of red cloud-shaped light rolled-up from the floor. Shi Mu’s body started to get fuzzy. Then, he disappeared into the white light.

“I didn’t know that there would be so many blood disciples in our Sect… I might as well request for more transmission paper-charms,” the fat man murmured as he clasped his hands behind his back. He then turned around and left.

Shi Mu felt giddy since his head whirled. Suddenly, he found himself standing in a strange hall.

The hall was vacant. It was made up of pure-white jade stones. It was quite spacious; so much so that it could easily hold hundreds of people. A thin layer of translucent light-screen seemed to be suspended midair. More than hundred balls of light of different sizes-and-colors could be seen floating inside the light screen.

“I am Meng Gu — guard of this Blood Chamber. These floating balls of light are the various kinds of blood inheritances our Sect possesses; we’ve been saving them for several thousand years. Several martial arts and secret techniques exist inside this. But, if you wish to practice an art… then you must have the particular type of ‘blood’ required for its practice. Also, if your ‘bloodline’ turns out to be unusual and cold… then you may have to leave empty-handed. Now, toss a drop of your blood into the air. These balls of light will fall in accordance with your blood. Then, you may choose from them.”

Shi Mu felt somewhat surprised as the source of the voice wasn’t visible, and the direction it was coming from was untraceable. However, he bit his finger without any hesitation, and flung his hand up-into-the-air.

A drop of blood was flung into the air. The blood-drop seemed to have gained some sort of a strange strength as it swirled in the air.

Suddenly, there was a ripple across the surface of the silver light-screen. Then, a silver streak of light emanated out of it, and pierced the blood-drop.

The blood-drop gradually disappeared. Then, bright-red-colored text started to emerge on the silver screen. The entire surface of the silver screen was soon covered with the text.

The numerous balls of light stopped to flutter above the silver screen. Suddenly, a bright and a dark light flashed.

“Whiz” “whiz” there were two whizzing sounds. Two balls of light flashed — one of them was big and the other was small; one was black and the other was red. They broke the silver light screen as they rushed down.

Shi Mu subconsciously grabbed them. They turned out to be a piece of a black bone and the hide of an unknown animal.

“Hehe… Young guy, you’re pretty lucky. These two objects seem to suit you. You’re needed to place these objects against your forehead. Then, you’ll automatically obtain the related introductions to these two blood-arts,” Meng Gu’s voice resounded again.

Shi Mu acknowledged his directions in a loud tone. Then, he placed the smaller object against his forehead — it was the hide. Suddenly, there was a burst of ripples in his mind; vivid and life-like images started to pop in his brain.

The first image consisted of a small red monkey; it seemed to be standing inside a circle of fire-balls.

The second image was composed of a big red monkey which seemed to be bathing in the magma inside the crater of a volcano.

The third image showed a red monkey which was shooting fires from its mouth. The flames gradually transformed into a monstrous black fog, and bellowed into a sea of fire.

The fourth and the last image consisted of a red monkey. It had a pair of blazing-fire wings on its back. It stood on a high altitude. It had a look of disdain on its face as it overlooked several mysterious monsters.

These images suddenly stopped floating across his mind. Then, some text paragraphs started to appear inside his mind.

“The Book of the Flaming Red Ape – this technique belongs to the positive attributes. It is inherited from the ancient ‘Heavenly Flying Flaming Ape’. The difficulty level to practice this art is ‘average’. It draws its support from the ‘Flaming Spirit Field’. It requires a large amount of positive pills. Warriors with ape and monkey bloodlines can practice this art. This book embodies a deep breathing therapy and two supporting martial arts. It needs good practice credentials. It can be obtained in-exchange for fifty Flaming Demon Tokens.”

Shi Mu was speechless after reading this. But, he didn’t waste any time. He removed the hide from his forehead and placed the black bone in its place.

Shi Mu didn’t say anything. However, he was worried about collecting those fifty Flaming Demon Tokens.

Shi Mu felt slightly cold as the black bone touched his skin. Suddenly, the image of a gigantic black ape emerged in his mind; it was beating its chest with its hands with a ‘bang’ sound. Then, the image disappeared after a few seconds; it was replaced by a paragraph of some text.

“The Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape – this technique specializes in mortal-body strengthening. It is inherited from the ancient ‘Strong Evil-Spirit Ape’. It’s a supplementary secret technique. Therefore, it needs to be coordinated with other techniques. The difficulty level to practice this art is ‘simple’. Warriors with ape and monkey class bloodlines can practice this art. But, it can only be practiced with the aid of ape and monkey class pure-bloods. This art is divided into nine layers. Each of these layers mutates one’s bones and meridians to enhance one’s physical strength. But, this process is incomparably painful; the warrior will experience extreme pain. It will feel as if a million knives are piercing inside one’s skin and cutting it. This can be obtained in exchange for six Flaming Demon Tokens.”

Shi Mu read the introduction carefully and thought for a while. Then, he removed the bone and shouted excitedly, “Elder, this boy shall choose this art!”

“Oh! Are you really that determined? Don’t blame me for not warning you beforehand. Since this art requires a lesser number of Flaming Demon Tokens… there has to be a huge fatal defect. As far as I know… this blood-art is very good to practice. But, you’ll suffer enormous pain while practicing it. The intensity of the pain will keep on multiplying with each advancing level. Even your bones and meridians would be badly mutilated. Ever since our Sect has collected this art… there have been only three disciples who’ve picked it. Two of them could only reach the third level since they couldn’t withstand the severe pain any further. As for the third person… he had great will-power. But, his real Qi exploded at the fifth stage, and he died. This art only needs an ordinary bloodline of any ‘ape’ class at the beginning stage. But, the demand for purer blood increases as the level goes higher. To put it simply… the blood of a holy ape is needed in order to continue its practice after the fifth level. Therefore, the current price for the art is being charged for the first-three levels. In case you cross level three… the Sect may reward you for your splendid work,” Meng Gu’s voice resounded again.

“Thank you so much, Elder. This boy will do his best. …I’ll only practice till the first-three levels in the worst case scenario.” Shi Mu felt a cold shiver in his heart when he heard this warning. Then, he gave it some thought and answered persistently.

“Well, I can’t stop you in that case. Toss the bone into the air; along with six tokens. I’ll hand over a copy of the art to you,” Meng Gu replied in an expressionless tone; he gave no further warning to Shi Mu.

Shi Mu responded and tossed the bone, hide and six tokens into the air with all his might.

The hide and bone flashed as they disappeared into the light screen. The six Flaming Demon Tokens vanished into thin air as soon as they were tossed by Shi Mu.

Then, a light-red jade slip fell from the light screen. Shi Mu stretched his hand and grabbed it.

“Remember, this jade slip will destroy itself after three days; so memorize its contents. Don’t pass it on to the other disciples. If that matter reaches the Sect… then either your cultivation will be abolished… or you’ll be executed,” Meng Gu’s voice resounded once again.