The Portal of Wonderland

At the back side of the third mountain peak…

Shi Mu sized-up the rock-cave in front of him. There was nothing outside the cave; apart from a small stone-house. Only black bare rocks could be seen everywhere; there wasn’t even a trace of any plant.

His figure moved up and down the rocky surface, and reached the entrance to the cave. Consequently, a heat wave came rushing out of the cave, and warmed-up Shi Mu’s body.

Then, a man wearing a black robe came out from the stone-house.

“Oh! It’s Senior Brother. Have you come to rent the Fire Room to concoct pills or refine some tools?” The black robed man came forward, and cupped his hands. He then asked with a smile.

Shi Mu turned his head, and looked towards him. He found that the person in front of him was one of the twenty newly appointed third-grade disciples. He nodded and replied, “I want to rent a fire room to concoct pills. I may refine some tools as well.”

“Senior Brother, you’d have to give flaming demon tokens in order to rent a fire room. The second-grade disciples can use the fire room for three days, and the first-grade disciples can use it for seven days at the cost of one flaming demon token.” The young disciple of the third-grade was astounded. He then explained.

Shi Mu blinked his eyes, and thought for a while. He then took out three flaming demon tokens, and handed them over to the third-grade disciple.

The third grade disciple received the flaming demon tokens. Then, he took out a red order token and a thick black pen from his bosom.

He held the red order token, and stroked the black pen on it a few times. Then, rays of light started to flicker from the red order token. After that, number ‘21’ was displayed on its surface.

“Senior Brother, this is the prohibition token for the fourth room. This is a fire room to perform alchemy. The gate to the room will automatically shut down after twenty days from the day you enter the room,” the third grade disciple explained.

Shi Mu took the red order token. He then flipped it over, and looked at its back side; he saw a large T-shape.

He smiled. He then nodded towards the third grade disciple. Suddenly, his figure transformed into a shadow, and disappeared from the entrance of the cave.

A ten feet wide passageway appeared in front of him as soon as he entered into the cave. Several butter troches had been put up on the walls; each butter torch had been put at a distance of several meters from the other torch. They were illuminating every corner of the passage.

Shi Mu started to move forward along the passage.

He arrived at a semi-circular space after a quarter-of-an-hour. Ten doors of ten rooms could be seen on the walls of that circular space. There were signs on all the doors.

The temperature of this place was much higher than that of the entrance of the cave. Shi Mu’s body was already dripping with sweat. He walked to the door of the fourth room, and activated the prohibition token in his hand.

A red light was emitted out of the order token; it hit the door of the room. The prohibition charm characters on the door of the room flickered. Then, the door opened with a loud rumble.

His figure flashed, and entered into the room. The door got closed behind him.

Seats for three people were placed in the center of the room. An alchemy stove of simple and unadorned style was also placed there; it was empty. The ceiling of the room was a hundred feet high from the ground; there was an open hatchway in the ceiling. A ray of sunlight was pouring down from it. It was the only light source in the room.

A red light faintly shone-up from under the alchemy stove after some time. Then, a pattern of several magic spells started to revolve. After that, fire spirit power was emitted out of the magic spells, and the heat-waves surged on.

Shi Mu raised his eyebrows. Then, he slowly walked beside the stove. He sized it up by strolling by its sides. He sensed that there were fire-attribute elements in the atmosphere.

Shi Mu stopped walking, and waited for the temperature to rise to a certain degree. He then took off his upper clothes, and sat down cross-legged beside the stove. He took a few deep breaths. After that, he started to recall the first three cultivation layers of the ‘Book of the Flaming Red Ape’.

An image of a small scarlet-red monkey was soon born out of the flames. It appeared to be realistic in Shi Mu’s mind.

He took out his storage ring from the clothes lying beside him after a short while. Then, he took out an All Yang pill from inside it. After that, he started to practice his cultivation as per the ‘Book of the Flaming Red Ape’.

A little time passed. Shi Mu’s mind was immersed in a mysterious realm; everything outside of his body became hollow.

Countless minute dots of red lights started to appear in the hollow surroundings. Then, a mysterious force started to act and come towards Shi Mu. The red dots converged and transformed into a red heat that flew and gathered around Shi Mu’s body in a circular shape. It made the temperature of Shi Mu’s body rise; it reached to an unimaginable degree. His skin gradually became extremely red, and started to drip with sweat.

These red dots of flowing heat touched Shi Mu’s skin. Then, they turned into burning hot energies, and drilled into his body. They went along his meridians, and started to circulate in his body.

More and more dots of red light gathered around Shi Mu’s body with the passage of time. They gradually combined together, and became pieces of red flowing heat. Now, his entire body seemed to be wrapped in these red lights.

Suddenly, the heat on his body disappeared. Then, a cool and cozy feeling penetrated through his body.

The burning-hot energy that had gathered in his meridians had formed a tiny wisp of fiery-red real Qi. It flew along a route in his meridians, and revolved with fast speed. It then merged into his lower abdomen.

*** ***

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

A voice sounding like that of an ape echoed in the space under the ground of the fourth fire room. But, it wasn’t exactly the sound of an ape. The atmosphere of the underground space vibrated. A tiny crack appeared on the stone-roof. Then, dust started to fall from the tiny crack.

Inside the fourth fire room…

Shi Mu stood beside the stove with colors of excitement on his face. He hadn’t anticipated that he would complete the cultivation of the six layers of the ‘Book of the Flaming Red Ape’ without a hitch.

He then thought about it, and didn’t find anything strange in this.

His cultivation had reached the consummate-level of the Hou Tian realm. The real Qi in his body had also reached a set standard a long time ago. Therefore, the extent of his present cultivation had saved the long time it would’ve generally taken to save-up his Real Qi for this practice.

Moreover, his innate Fire-Element Induction Force had always been at the second level. In addition, the Demon Witch of Tian Yin had healed his body by using that extraordinary thing – the Black Blood and Soul pill. That pill contained a great amount of fire attribute strength; his imperceptible influence was absorbed into it. Therefore, it had made his Fire-Element Induction Force to reach the third level. Therefore, the practice of the first few layers of his cultivation had gone very smoothly.

Shi Mu stood beside the stove; heat-waves were surging-up from it. Everything looked normal on the surface of his body; there wasn’t the least bit of sizzling hot feeling. Moreover, the induction force of the fire attribute in the atmosphere around him had become even more sensitive; it had risen to about two-third more than what it was before.

“It seems that this cultivation technique can upgrade the intrinsic quality of the fire element induction force,” Shi Mu mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, a radiance flashed in his eyes. Then, real Qi started to bubble-up from his lower abdomen, and started to circulate into the bones of his limbs.

He put his right foot forward. Then, he hit his right hand forward. After that, his fist got wrapped in bursts of red light.

‘Bang!’

His fist lashed in the air, and issued a heavy stuffy sound. A heat-wave rushed along with his fist-wind.

Shi Mu’s eyes exposed colors of satisfaction. Even a common attack could draw power from the induction force of the fire element present in the air when done with the help of this technique. Therefore, the might of this attack was far more powerful than the Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephant.

The Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephant was wondrous for the cultivation of the body. It had been very helpful in increasing his strength. But, both of them had their own benefits.

Shi Mu closed his eyes. He could sense the thick fire element energy in his surroundings. His lower abdomen seemed to be throbbing because of the abundance of the real Qi. A peculiar feeling bubbled-up inside him.

“Can it be that… ”

He opened his eyes. Suddenly, a cheerful look flashed in his eyes as he recalled something. He then sat down cross-legged on his original place.

The storage ring in his right hand flashed a ray of light. Then, a white jade porcelain bottle and a green fruit appeared in his hand with a glowing light.

They were the Qian Yuan pill and the Green Frost Fruit.

He looked at the surface of the porcelain bottle of the Qian Yuan pill. A trace of hesitation flashed through his eyes. Then, the image of a beautiful woman flashed through his mind.

Shi Mu concentrated, and made his mind steady. He then opened the white jade porcelain bottle, and took out a white pill with spiritual influence. After that, he opened his mouth and swallowed the pill.

A portion of dim and vast stream of air soon rose-up from his abdomen. It covered all of meridians of his body in the blink of an eye. It made all of his meridians and lower abdomen feel numb; it made him extremely comfortable.

After that, he ate the Green Frost Fruit.

An ice-cold aura bubbled-up, and entered his lower abdomen. It then wrapped up the real Qi that he had cultivated after hardships of several years. After that, no sound of any activity was heard.

Shi Mu looked at the remaining All Yang pills. Then, he closed his eyes, and began to comprehend the records in the ‘Book of the Flaming Red Ape’. After that, he tried to coagulate his Qi in his lower abdomen.

However, his complexion changed after more than ten breaths’ time.

He felt an intense and sharp pain in his abdomen. The real Qi that was gathered in his lower abdomen rushed rolling over. The meridians in his entire body restrained at the same time; they couldn’t open-up, and it seemed as if countless ants were biting him.

This sudden pain was far more vigorous than the pain he felt while practicing the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape.

Shi Mu hadn’t activated the Soul Comforting Spell yet. So, his eyes had become black. And, he lost consciousness because of the pain.

*** ***

The splendid sun was shining brightly. It was pouring out and sprinkling the sunshine; it was giving out a warm and cozy feeling.

There were two apes – a white and a grey – inside a vibrant mountain-forest. They were as quick as gales going through the mountain-forest.

The two apes didn’t seem to be very old. However, they seemed very familiar with the topography of this territory.

Both the apes were jumping from one tree to another at a lightning speed. It seemed that a white and a grey shadow were passing through the forest.

Both the apes arrived in front of the mountain in a few breaths’ time. Then, they started to climb to the top of a peak of the mountain.

The steep mountain-road was perfectly straight. But, both the apes were moving from left and right while using their arms and feet as if they were treading on a leveled ground.

Then, abundant mist began to appear in the vicinity halfway up the mountain. The mist appeared like pieces of thin cotton wadding .The horizon became hazy as a result. And, the sense of the directions became unclear.

The grey ape climbed slowly. It looked in the surroundings from time-to-time. It seemed that it was identifying the directions. Its face gradually exposed an anxious expression. It then tweaked its ears, and scratched its cheeks.

The white ape’s figure paused in a nearby place. Suddenly, its eyes turned golden. Then, a long golden ray started to emit out of them. The white ape swept its eyes all around. After that, it turned around, and waved its arm towards the grey ape. Its figure flashed, and went rushing in a certain direction.

The grey ape saw this, and followed after it without any hesitation.

The two apes arrived at a smooth platform near the hilltop a short while later. The clouds and the mist were extremely thick at that place.

The figures of both the apes flashed. They then entered into the forest in order to hide themselves. The platform seemed shadowy and spacious from that place. The land seemed to be covered with fruits.

Several thick and solid fruit trees were growing all over the place. The trees were bearing various kind of big fruits. They all had different shapes and colors. They seemed to be exceptionally alluring.