The Portal of Wonderland

“I can’t understand one thing; I’m thinking of asking Master Sun for his advice.” Shi Mu hesitated for a moment. Then, he clasped his hands across his chest and spoke.

“If you have a question… then ask quickly,” the old man rolled his eyes as he said.

“I saw a number of magic arts in the General Library. In fact, the number of magic arts stored in the General Library was far higher than what we have here. I wonder what might be the difference between them,” Shi Mu asked; he didn’t seem to care about the strange disposition of the old man Sun An.

The old man glanced at Shi Mu and snorted, “There’s nothing strange about it. The number of magic arts stored in the General Library is huge. But, they are ordinary arts that can be found in almost very big Sect. Even the disciples who don’t possess any element induction-force can get those arts in exchange for Flaming Demon Tokens. However, the magic arts that you can see in the Hall of Magic are quite different. These arts are fewer in quantity… but they are the essence of our Black Demon Sect. Moreover, these arts can be accessed by only those disciples whose names have been imprinted on the stones as magician practitioners.”

Shi Mu nodded as he heard these words.

“Well… enough of the superfluous words. Now, I’ll relieve the ‘ban’ on this place for a while. Hurry up… and choose the art that fits you,” the grey-robed man spoke in an impatient tone. Then, he read an incantation and wielded one of his hands.

Suddenly, a ray of light flashed in the stone chamber; the light-shield wrapped around the jade slips twinkled at the same time. Then, the radiance started to dissipate.

The old man retired to a corner in the room, and crossed his hands behind his back. Then, he looked-up at the ceiling; it seemed as if he had entered a deep state of thought.

Shi Mu’s started to breathe quickly as he looked at the pieces of the jade slips.

It was beneficial for a disciple to be able to learn an art for free before the martial arts competition.

The ordinary arts stored in the General Library could be obtained in exchange of not-less-than six Flaming Demon Tokens. But, according to old man Sun An – the value of these arts was far inferior to the magic arts stored in the Hall of Magic.[1]

Shi Mu sucked in a deep breath to regain his composure. Then, he walked to the nearest wooden shelf.

He browsed through more than two hundred magic arts in half-an-hour. He wrinkled his brows once he had finished examining all the arts.

It turned out that most of these arts were auxiliary arts that were used by the magicians to support their strength.

He held a jade slip in his hand; it bore the name – “The Art of True Fire and Magic”. The name of this art sounded quite good. However, it only boosted the effect of the pills and medicines used to refine the fire element; it could enhance the effectiveness of the medicines by several-folds.

A few slips contained the methods to simplify alchemy i.e. methods to make rare pills and cultivate several kinds of spirit-plants; a few slips comprised of the details of making a paper charm or a magic formula. Shi Mu also came across a few jade slips that described ways to make various kinds of magic tools.

There were limited arts for the magicians. He went through all these arts carefully; he found ten arts that were worth paying attention to. However, most of these arts were related to five elemental magicians. Only two arts had something to do with the training of the wind, thunder and ice magicians.

One of these arts was designed for charm and formula ‘Adept’; it was called “The Art of Accumulating Spirit Power”. This art didn’t need any special kind of element. Therefore, any magician could choose to practice it.

Shi Mu was dumbfounded; he couldn’t hide the dejected look in his eyes.

“Master Sun, the collection of magic arts stored in this hall can’t be considered as small. But, why are there only a few practicing arts? The rest of the arts are auxiliary arts; they can only be used for power enhancement.” Shi Mu rummaged through the shelves for a while. Then, he couldn’t help but ask Sun An.

“This isn’t a big deal. The magic arts are rarer than warriors’ cultivation arts or any other pill- refining art. These arts can lead you to the Star Grade level. The practice-arts in the General Library are fragmentary and low-level; they are meant for practitioner level magicians…” the grey-robed man glanced at Shi Mu as he replied in an expressionless tone.

“If that’s the case… then this disciple will choose the art named ‘Art of Accumulating Spirit Power’,” Shi Mu picked up a grey jade slip from the shelf and said reluctantly.

“Hehe… don’t underestimate this art. It’s true that its strength and practice-speed are inferior to other practice-arts. But, it’s one of the three big magic arts in our Sect. You can reach the Moon Grade level by practicing this art. Every magician who couldn’t find any other appropriate art… mostly chose this one; no one has ever regretted it,” the old man looked at Shi Mu and said with a smiling face.

Shi Mu’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he heard this. But, he was swayed by his personal gains and losses when he thought of its slow practice-speed.

“This art has an advantage over other arts even though its practice-speed is slow. It’s far superior to other practice-arts since it commands purer and more stable magic power. I’ve rarely heard of any magician who met with an accident or suffered serious side-effect while practicing this art. Therefore, it’s suitable for Charm and Spirit grade magicians… as these magicians require the stability of magic force. By the way, you have a special condition – your spatial induction force is quite strong. So, you might be unable to practice any other art. As per your ability… this is the most suitable art for you.” The old man narrowed his eyes; as if he had seen through Shi Mu’s worries. Then, he explained with a smile.

Shi Mu was speechless; Sun An was right. However, wasn’t it true that Shi Mu would be left with only water and fire element arts – with two degrees or less of induction-force – if he didn’t choose this art?

Shi Mu let out a deep sigh. Then, he handed-over the grey slip of the ‘Art of Accumulating Spirit Power’ to Sun An.

“Master Sun is right; I’ll choose this art.”

The old man received the grey slip with one hand; he took out a white jade slip from his bosom with his other hand. Then, he stuck both slips against his forehead, and started to mumble something.

The old man passed the slip to Shi Mu once he had finished recording its contents. Then, he said in an expressionless tone, “Here are the details of the first five layers of this art. They are sufficient to take you to the Spirit Grade ‘Adept’. You’ll have to go to the Holy Spirit Pavilion after you’ve left this place. There… you can claim the resources of a magician practitioner on the basis of the status of your jade ornament.”

Shi Mu couldn’t help but gawk as he heard this; he started to think – why are there just five layers in this art?

However, after thinking for a while… he thought that it was fine. After all, he was just a magician practitioner. So, how could he be able to practice all the layers up till the Moon Grade?

“It seems that I’ll have to spend numerous Flaming Demon Tokens to obtain the latter-half of this art.”

Shi Mu received the copy of the five layers while being engaged in these thoughts.

The grey-robed man gave some advice to Shi Mu; in a way similar to that of Meng Gu from the Blood Pavilion. Then, he asked Shi Mu to leave without any hesitation.

Shi Mu bowed and left the Hall of Magic with a heavy heart.

Notes:

Hall of Magic can be alternately translated as Hall of ‘Spirit’. We’re intentionally using ‘Hall of Magic’ since it will easier to relate-to the hall as a place that caters to Magicians.