The Portal of Wonderland

When Shi Mu came out of the ice cave, he found that the snow outside had stopped. The white clouds in the sky rolled over and sprinkled a smeared and smoky sunshine.

He stood back in the sun and felt his body warm up a little.

Just as he was preparing to call upon the Green-winged Flying Carriage to depart, there was a loud bang from the side.

Shi Mu looked toward the sound. From afar, the surface of a snow-covered mountain surface slipped down like a tidal wave. Halfway up the mountain, a hole was blown open and two people flew out like rays of light.

One of them was wearing a large green gown with half of his face covered by a green cloth. Only a pair of sacred eyes were revealed. It was none other than Lu Jing.

There was another person standing beside him. He had a black robe over his body and the left half of his face was dark. However, the right half of his face was white. It was highly unpleasant to look at.

Both men had ice on their robes, giving them an untidy and disheveled appearance.

The two of them took notice of Shi Mu, and flew towards him.

Seeing this, Shi Mu muttered “Enemies everywhere I go” silently to himself as he stopped in his tracks.

Due to the close distance between them, Lu Jing and the man only took a few flashes to reach in front of Shi Mu.

“Shi Mu! What are you doing here?” Lu Jing’s eyes were cold as he asked.

“What I am doing and where I go have nothing to do with you,” Shi Mu whispered back. He was not willing to deal with this person.

Lu Jing saw this and his face turned cold. Before he could say anything, the ugly man beside him spoke instead.

“Brother Lu, do you know this person?”

“Brother Liao, this is Shi Mu who is also part of the new disciples who was introduced into the Holy Land. We had some encounters during the trails…”

“Oh, from the same batch of disciples. What a coincidence,” the ugly man said as he looked up at Shi Mu with a nasty expression.

“I still have some things to attend to. I shall take my leave now.”

Shi Mu’s brows were slightly wrinkled. With a flash of his hand, the Green-winged Flying Carriage appeared at his side.

He had just fought the frost spider and used up a good amount of qi and physical strength. He really did not want to be caught in another battle.

“Slow down!” the ugly man suddenly said.

“What is the matter brother?” Shi Mu’s brows wrinkled in slight worry as he questioned.

“Hehe, it seems that brother Shi Mu is really good at hiding. I’ve searched throughout the ice cave for more than half a month and found nothing. Funnily, you’ve found them before me,” the ugly man said smilingly, though there was something sinister hiding behind his smile.

“What?” Lu Jing screamed and looked incredulously at Shi Mu.

“What are you talking about brother? I don’t seem to understand.” Shi Mu’s heart was tight and he sensed that something was about to go downhill.

“My treasure possesses no strength but it is most sensitive when it comes to detecting yin aura, like the extreme yin aura. Even if it is hidden in a storage ring, the closer the distance, the stronger the reaction,” the ugly man said leisurely and raised his left arm.

A jade ring was on the thumb of his left hand. At the moment, it was shining bright green.

“So what?” Shi Mu glanced and said coldly.

Lu Jing was silent as his gaze fixed on Shi Mu, looking more gloomy as time went by.

“Nothing at all, my brother. I just wanted to discuss if a transaction between us could be made. Don’t be too nervous.” the ugly man said.

“Oh, what kind of trade?” Shi Mu’s thoughts turned and he asked quietly.

“Hehe. Brother Shi Mu, you came here to collect extreme yin aura, and the market price for it has skyrocketed. Why don’t you take the opportunity to sell it in exchange for cultivation resources?”

Shi Mu heard the words and did not speak.

“To tell the truth, brother Shi Mu, you are lucky enough to possess the extreme yin aura at this time. Even if you sell it, the resources you exchange it for will only support you for a while before running out. You might not be so lucky next time. It’s better to sell the extreme yin aura to me. I, as a brother, would never treat you as anything less than you deserved. If you encounter anything in the Holy Land in the future, you can come to me without a doubt.”

“Shi Mu, the person in front of you is Brother Liao Yong, rank 33rd, of the Huang Dynasty area. For someone to put his title down and offer you such a chance, it’s better than what others can offer,” Lu Jing said before Shi Mu could even say a word.

As he spoke, he deliberately emphasized the word “fairness” to get his point across.

The smile on the ugly man Liao Yong’s face was bigger now. He was obviously flattered by the words used by Liu Jing. No matter, his smile was unpleasant for one to look at.

Shi Mu’s face was blank and he remained silent.

“So what now? If brother Shi Mu is willing, I can now hand you one hundred top-quality spirit stones on the spot. For the rest of the spirit stones, I’ll hand them to you once we return to the Holy Land. There will not be any loss occurred on your behalf,” he quickly added while Shi Mu was deep in thought.

As soon as the statement was made, Lu Jing could not help but brood a little.

“I’m not selling it!” Shi Mu said.

He naturally heard the intention behind Liao Yong’s words. If he refused to resell the extreme yin aura, he might not be able to live a good peaceful life in Qinglan. The other man possessed a treasure that detects extreme yin aura. He would not be satisfied if he was handed low-quality yin aura.

However, such top-grade extreme yin aura was the key to his second cultivation of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. He had tried so hard just to locate it. Would giving it up really be worthwhile?

The price of the lowest quality extreme yin aura before the upsurge was almost a thousand elite stones, let alone the current market value.

Looking at it from a step back, their assurance that they would pay the remaining spirit stones upon their return was hard to believe.

Sure enough, after his last statement, Liao Yong’s originally ugly face suddenly became a violent color. His eyes became cold.

“Shi Mu, if you don’t know a good deal when you see one, then keep it to yourself. Might as well stay dead here too!” Lu Jing said before Liao Yong had a chance to speak.

As soon as his voice fell, Lu Jing’s body glowed green. A layer of green mist quickly emerged from his feet, like a stream, rushing at Shi Mu.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Mu was surrounded by the green mist.

“Hula!”

At the moment before the green mist touched his body, Shi Mu seemed to have been ready. His two large flame wings stretched out from his back in red light.

Seeing the flame wings flapped in great force, the sand on the ground began to roll out. Even the green fog previously circulating around Shi Mu was blown into the sky.

“Brother Liao, stop him. He is extremely quick on his feet. Don’t let him run or he’ll escape!” Lu Jing yelled.

However, Liao Yong stood in place without a single movement, as if he had not heard a single word Lu Jing had said.

Shi Mu was already in the air. He could feel a sudden dark space above his head. As he looked up, he saw that there was a large black and white fog in the air.

A split emerged between the black and white fog. As Shi Mu’s eyes focused, he saw that a huge face within the split.

As he took a closer look at it, it was exactly the same as Liao Yong’s face!

Shi Mu cursed silently. Though he urged his flame wings to avoid the mist, it was too late already.

In the black and white face was a huge mouth, and thunder roared from within!

The sky momentarily turned bright as black and white lightning flashed from the huge mouth right at Shi Mu.

Half of the lightning bolts were half white and black. Each was the size of a small arm, exuding a strange and powerful atmosphere!

Shi Mu was caught off guard but he did not panic. The golden light in his eyes turned and his wings continued to move. He jumped back and forth on a black and white lightning bolt, avoiding the attack as golden scales began to appear, covering his body.

However, there was too much lightning to avoid. Although Shi Mu tried to dodge them, it did not take long before he was hit by several black and white bolts.

One strike from the white lightning on the body felt like a heavy punch. It burst the surface of his golden scales, exposing his skin as blood began to flow from his body. The black lightning attack had a little chilly energy to it which could directly penetrate into the body, causing shock to the spirit sense.

On the other hand, Lu Jing took this opportunity to mutter charms while holding his hands and fingers close to each other.

Seeing this, the dense green fog that had been attached to the ground suddenly swayed into the sky like it had a life of its own. It began to form a cylindrical fog wall outside of the black and white lightning.

The lightning chased around and the toxic fog blocked all directions. Shi Mu was between a rock and a hard place!

As things were going south for him, he immediately spat out a small black stick the size of a toothpick from his mouth. It expanded in size as he held it.

After avoiding two lightning bolts, Shi Mu clasped the black stick with both hands and turned around.

The sound of whistling was great!

The black longstaff intertwined with a crisscrossed shadow in his body and numerous white air streams visible to the naked eye gathered around him as it continued to rotate, forming a tornado. There was a faint dragon’s roar in the tornado’s center.

Shi Mu suddenly stopped turning. He pulled his arm back as one hand pointed the wishful steel staff straight into the sky.

“Hidden Dragon Tornado!”

It was one of the techniques of the Eighteen Staves Through Heaven!

Boom!

With the roaring sound and Shi Mu as the center, a violent vibration of a circle spread to the surrounding area.

Seeing the numerous white air currents that had just surrounded Shi Mu, it immediately became an infinite number of mad white dragons that violently rushed in all directions.

The black and white lightning around them was stirred up by the mad dragon. Suddenly, the electric light burst and disappeared.

The black and white face above the sky was flashing and the big mouth expanded. More black and white lightning struck wilder than before!

When it seemed that it was too late, just after the second round of black and white lightning fell, the flame wings behind Shi Mu slammed and his entire body clasped onto the long black staff. It abruptly changed direction and swooped toward the lower body of Liao Yong.