The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu arrived at his cave-dwelling with Cai half-an-hour later. The cave-dwelling was situated on the summit of the fifth mountain peak.

“Shi, the environment of this place is pretty good. In fact, it’s far better than the obese man Ju’s rotten stone house.” Cai’s eyes brightened-up as soon as he entered the cave. It spread its wings, and started to fly in a circle inside the spacious hall. Its excited flight was accompanied with loud and energetic shouts.

“Well, I think I’m going to like staying here.” Cai continued to fly for a while. It then flew down, and arrived beside Shi Mu. It tilted its head, and said while gazing at Shi Mu.

“I don’t have a birdcage. So, you do as you please,” Shi Mu knitted his brows and said.

Shi Mu was regretting a little in his heart for giving shelter to this boisterous and unpleasant parrot. They had walked to this place. But, this parrot had hardly stopped talking for a moment. And, its constant blabbering had given him a severe headache.

Moreover, this parrot always called Shi Mu by the wrong name; it was hard to guess whether it was intentional or unintentional. It was corrected a few times, but it was continued to do it. It seemed as if it wasn’t interested in addressing Shi Mu properly.

Shi Mu didn’t wait for the parrot to reply. He took a step forward, and walked inside his private room.

“This place is bigger than the birdcage. But, it would be too boring and senseless to fly here all the time. This honorable bird must go out every day to stroll around and breathe freely…” the parrot’s voice resounded once again. ‘Bang!’ A loud sound of a closing door was heard before it could finish its sentence. Then, its voice was blocked outside the door.

Shi Mu finally exhaled a long sigh of relief. A trace of a bitter smile crawled across his face as he entered into his private room.

He went straight to the bed, and sat down cross-legged. After that, he started to practice the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power in order to calm his mind down.

He then opened his eyes. A faint trace of a golden gleam flickered in his eyes a couple of times.

The magic power in his lower abdomen had tremendously increased since he had stepped into the rank of the Spirit Grade Magician. Moreover, a wisp of his Real Qi had melted into his lower abdomen along with his magic power. This had made his lower abdomen experience cold and warm feelings at the same time.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Shi Mu’s mind. He waved his hand and took out a small jade box. He then opened it. The venom-pouch of the golden lizard was placed inside it.

Shi Mu placed it on the ground carefully. After that, he waved his hand. Then, several white porcelain bottles appeared on the ground.

He picked-up the venom-pouch, and punctured a tiny hole with a needle in it. A pale-yellow liquid started to flow out of the hole. It was accompanied by a pungent stench.

Shi Mu used a porcelain bottle to collect the liquid…

All the venom had drained away from the venom-pouch after a short while. The venom-pouch looked shriveled now. Moreover, three or more porcelain bottles could be seen in front of Shi Mu; they all were filled with the venom. The quantity of the venom inside them was sufficient to record a charm spell.

Shi Mu received the porcelain bottles into his storage ring. Then, he waved his hand, and a piece of blue jade slip appeared before him. He had exchanged this slip from the Hall of Magic. It was the ‘Secret Art of Charm Magic’.

Shi Mu placed the slip against his forehead. Then, he tried to comprehend its contents by infusing his spirit power into it.

*** ***

Two months later…

Shi Mu left his cave-dwelling at the crack of dawn.

He had thoroughly memorized the middle-grade charm spells and charm characters of the ‘Secret Art of Charm Magic’ by now. He had also mastered the drawing of five or six middle-grade charm spells after several attempts.

The middle-grade charm spells generally comprised of twelve or more charm characters. So, the difficulty of drawing it was far beyond the preliminary-level charm spells. However, it wasn’t a big deal for Shi Mu.

He had also refined a number of middle-grade magic charms through various ways during this period. He had sold them in batches to the markets inside and outside the Sect. He had exchanged them for two middle-grade spirit stones and over eight-hundred-thousand silvers.

Shi Mu arrived outside the blacksmith’s shop half-an-hour later. Zhao Ping ran out of the shop to greet him as soon as he saw him coming.

“Brother Shi, I’ve completed the weapons that you wanted me to refine. I completed them three days before the designated date by working around the clock.” A blissful smile was spread across Zhao Ping’s face. He stepped forward and said with a smile in hope to win appreciation for his splendid attainment.

“Brother Zhao, you’re indeed extremely laborious. Let’s go inside. I want to appreciate your craftsmanship,” Shi Mu eyes flashed as he said with a smile.

“Please come inside quickly.” Zhao Ping chuckled and led Shi Mu inside.

The blacksmith’s shop hadn’t yet opened for the business. But, five or six robust men could still be seen inside the shop. They seemed occupied with arranging goods that could be used for igniting iron stoves. Various kinds of semi-finished and finished weapons were piled-up in the shop. They seemed a lot more in number than two months ago.

Shi Mu followed after Zhao Ping, and arrived at his special forging room.

A burst of scorching airwave hit him in his face as soon as he entered the room. The blazing white flame of the stove inside the room seemed to be rolling like waves. Even the air above the flame seemed to be smeared with faint ripples.

Shi Mu swept his vision all around, and found a long-hilted blade and a three feet long stick placed on the nearby casting platform. Both the things were dark-black in color.

“Brother Shi, the edge of this long blade is nearly three feet and six inches long. Its hilt is one foot and two inches long. The weight of this blade is nine hundred or more pounds. This short stick is three feet and four inches long. It’s quite heavy; it’s more than a thousand pounds in weight. There’s a spiral tooth on one of its ends; so that you can connect it with this long blade. Both of them together are eight feet long.” Zhao Ping stood next to the casting platform’s edge. He gave a detailed explanation while pointing his finger towards the long blade and the short stick.

Shi Mu stuck his gaze at the short stick, and realized that it was as thick as a child’s arm. Its entire body was perfectly round in shape. Moreover, a steady flow of black radiance could be seen on the surface of its pitch-black body. The precise location of the spiral tooth had also been handled very proficiently. It was enough to exhibit the exquisite standard of Zhao Ping’s craftsmanship.

The surface of the short stick was entirely black; so much so that it could make any person think that it was considerably heavy.

Shi Mu stretched out his hand, and grasped the short stick. He then wielded it conveniently in the air.

‘Hu!’ A heavy air-splitting sound rang out inside the room.

A shadow fled downwards at the same time while producing a strong gust of wind around it. Zhao Ping started to feel a little problem in breathing due of the impact of the wind.

Shi Mu had lifted such a heavy weapon as if it was extremely light. He had even unleashed an attack with an extreme might. A gleam of amazement flashed through Zhao Ping’s eyes as he witnessed this incredible scene.

But, Shi Mu didn’t pay attention to Zhao Ping’s expressions. He looked satisfied as he checked the weight of the short stick with his hands. After that, he picked-up the long hilted blade, and pressed his hand against it in order to feel it.

This black meteoric blade was a lot longer and wider than the previous one. Its shape also looked slightly different. The blade was perfectly straight – like a cutting blade. It looked plain and simple – without any adornments. It was emanating a murderous and imposing aura in a continuous manner.

But, the blade’s hilt was round. Moreover, there was an arm-thick hole at its end so that the short stick could be attached to it.

“It’s a good blade!” A trace of gladness flashed through Shi Mu’s eyes. He then spoke in appreciation.

“Brother Shi is flattering me.” Zhao Ping’s face lit-up with delight as he looked at his own work.

Shi Mu grasped the short stick and the hilted blade with each of his hands. Then, he moved his hands. An eight feet long broad sword with an imposing aura appeared in front of him.

It was approximately two thousand pounds in weight. However, it looked quite handy in Shi Mu’s hand.

A ray of light flashed across Shi Mu’s eyes. He drew a few steps backwards, and raised the blade with his hands. His Real Qi travelled through his arm, and streamed into the blade’s tip. After that, he moved his blade downwards.

‘Boom!’ A Qi explosion sound resounded in the air.

The blade shadow fell down while carrying a formidable force as mighty as Mount Tai. The strong gust of wind issued a dull thumping sound.

The sharp tip of the blade was barely one foot away from the ground. Suddenly, Shi Mu’s muscular arms twisted, and the momentum of the blade stopped halfway. The blade didn’t hit the ground. However, a white trace appeared on the solid black stone floor.

“Amazing! It’s an extremely heavy weapon. Only Brother Shi can use it so conveniently.” Zhao Ping was left stupefied for a moment as he saw that.

The might of the last strike wasn’t something that an ordinary person could attain; especially when this weapon was two-thousand pounds in weight.

“Brother Zhao, your craftsmanship is really commendable. This blade is quite handy. I would like to seize this opportunity, and carve a few formulas on it. Can I borrow this special forging room for some time?” Shi Mu said.

“Of course, there’s no issue,” Zhao Ping shot a jealous glance towards the storage ring in Shi Mu’s hand as he said. After that, he turned towards Shi Mu, and explained the ways to use the All Positivity Formula. He also highlighted the matters that needed attention for refining a magic tool.

The All Positivity Formula on the stove was used for adjusting the temperature of the stove’s flame. This charm spell was extremely simple. Therefore, Shi Mu mastered it quickly. After that, Zhao Ping took his leave.

Shi Mu was alone in the special forging room now. He fished out one of the porcelain bottles – filled with the venomous lizard’s venom – from his bosom. He then turned around towards the stove. He followed Zhao Ping’s instructions, and embedded a spirit stone into the stove. After that, his fingers started to move in an irregular fashion while facing the stove, and shot a set of charm spells towards the All Positivity Formula.

The flame in the furnace gradually grew larger under Shi Mu’s control. The temperature also started to increase with each passing second.

The flame finally turned faint-blue in color. Then, Shi Mu grasped the short stick with a ten-feet-long fire tongs, and inserted it into the stove.

*** ***

The temperature of the short stick gradually declined half-an-hour later. The radiance of the blue light grew brighter at the same time. Suddenly, a burst of intense fluctuation ensued in the air. Then, a formula consisting of nearly twenty complicated blue magic characters emerged on the surface of the stick.

This formula was called Wind Shadow Formula. It was a middle-grade wind attribute charm spell. Shi Mu superimposed six layers of this formula one after the other. He also inlaid a misty-green colored spirit stone at the center of this stick; it was also a middle-level spirit stone.

He looked at the short stick in his hand; it had now been upgraded to a middle-ranked magic tool. Shi Mu nodded with satisfaction. Then, he put down the short stick, and grasped the meteoric iron blade with the tongs. He then shoved it into the stove.

*** ***

Bursts of intense fire-attribute flames burst out in the room after half-an-hour. A row of fiery-red mysterious magic characters had been inscribed on the surface of the black meteoric blade.

Shi Mu carved a middle-grade charm spell on the black blade. It was called the Burning Cloud Charm Spell. He then superimposed six layers of this formula on the blade, and embedded a fire attribute, middle-grade Spirit Stone in the blade’s hilt.

Shi Mu’s eyes gleamed. He hit a charm spell. Then, the temperature of the stove dropped down.

Shi Mu took out two black bags made-up of cloth from the Storage Ring. He wrapped-up the short stick and the black meteoric blade into the cloth. He then hung both of the weapons on his back; they were intersecting each other on his back. After that, he pushed open the door of the room and walked out.

Zhao Ping didn’t rush over to see Shi Mu off as he saw him coming out of the room. He was dying to see the recently upgraded weapons hanging on Shi Mu’s back. But, he didn’t dare to ask anything.

Shi Mu left after forcefully handing around six-hundred-thousand worth of money to Zhao Ping.

On the fifth mountain peak…

Shi Mu stood under a big tree with a tranquil expression on his face. The tree was as thick as a man’s waist. Several scattered boulders could be seen everywhere in the surroundings. The biggest one of them was nearly seventy to eighty feet high.

Shi Mu held a three feet long meteoric iron stick in his left hand. A long hilted black blade was inserted into the ground nearby.

Shi Mu stimulated his Real Qi within his lower abdomen. The Real Qi surged, and rushed towards the short stick that he held in his hand. The blue magic characters carved on the surface of the short stick lit-up. Then, a layer of blue radiance wrapped the entire stick.

Shi Mu focused his gaze on the tree trunk. He leant forward, and held the short stick in the center. The body of the stick turned fuzzy, and a blurred blue shadow hacked towards the tree to chop it down.

‘Boom!’ A loud rumbling sound was heard.

A loud explosion was heard as the tree trunk was hit. A dozen or more feet high tree crashed down with a burst of crackling sounds.

Shi Mu’s eyes beamed with happiness. The speed of the short stick had increased to a great extent due to the six layers of the wind-attribute charm spell. Not even a Xian Tian primary stage warrior could dodge its attack now. Its might seemed to have far surpassed a Xian Tian primary stage warrior’s force owing to its weight coupled with Shi Mu’s inhuman strength.