The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu reached his stone house in a few minutes. He sat down cross-legged on his stone bed, and started to gaze at the long black blade that hung on one of the walls. His brows furrowed as the trace of an irresolute expression flashed across his face.

He kept thinking about Young Master Ju’s proposal throughout the day.

He had spent a huge sum of money to purchase the black meteoric iron blade. It would be a complete waste of the natural resources if he couldn’t turn it into a magic weapon.

Shi Mu didn’t trust Young Master Ju’s words in an absolute manner. However, he was intrigued by the mystery of interacting with a different dimension. Moreover, he was interested in the strange creatures of the other dimensions… such as the golden lizard.

In addition, he could get an opportunity to find a couple of animals from another realm if he were to extend his support to Young Master Ju.

Young Master Ju seemed to be proficient in this field as both the golden lizard and the giant parrot were summoned by him from different dimensions. Therefore, Shi Mu didn’t need to worry about his safety under this veteran’s watch.

Moreover, Shi Mu was familiar with the obese man’s disposition. He knew that Young Master Ju was a discreet person. So, he wouldn’t risk his life if he wasn’t sure.

Shi Mu continued to think about the matter for a few days. Then, he finally made a firm decision.

He visited the General Library a few days later. Young Master Ju’s face started to beam with happiness as he heard that Shi Mu had agreed to assist him in establishing communication with a different dimension.

They decided to hold the ceremony three days later. The ceremony would be conducted at noon at Young Master Ju’s residence.

Young Master Ju pulled out a white jade slip, and carved his address on it. Then, he tossed it towards Shi Mu.

Shi Mu seized the opportunity to inquire more about communicating with a different dimension. Then, he departed from the General Library.

*** ***

Three days later… at noontime…

Shi Mu advanced towards the foot of a black mountain under the scorching sun.

He noticed that the hill didn’t have any trees. It only had some small shrubs, and disordered flowers and plants. The ranges of the hill seemed to be made-up of a strange phosphorus rock. Only a few stone houses could be seen. They looked like mushrooms as they were clustered at different places throughout the mountain ranges.

This barren and desolate mountain peak was the thirteenth mountain peak of the Black Demon Sect.

Shi Mu had never visited this place even though he had been living nearby.

There was only one path which was made of bluestone; it was around ten feet wide. It meandered from the foot of the mountain to the top. This road branched out another long narrow road. This narrow road was connected to a twenty-or-thirty feet high, simple yet crude, stone house. A few independent two or three-storied houses could be seen scattered around.

According to Young Master Ju’s jade slip, his residence was situated in a remote place – very close to the top of the peak. It couldn’t be found by those who weren’t told the address.

Shi Mu arrived at the top of the peak after he had taken seven-to-eight turns. Finally, he located Young Master Ju’s stone house. He was about to knock when the door opened on its own.

“Hurry up, come inside! I’ve been waiting for you for so long,” an impatient voice was heard from inside the house. It was the obese man’s voice.

“Young Master Ju, please accept my apologies. I had an insight as I was deeply submerged in my practice. So, I couldn’t keep track of time… and got late.” Shi Mu spotted the mountain-like shadow as soon as he entered the house. Young Master Ju was waiting for him in the hall with an expressionless face. Shi Mu advanced towards him and apologized.

“Well… a practitioner can have a sudden enlightenment… and that’s your chance… Anyways, the preparatory work has already been completed. I was waiting for you to begin.” The obese man’s facial expression became relaxed.

Practitioners often experienced the bliss of sudden enlightenment. So, it was normal for a practitioner to forget about things during that period.

Suddenly, Shi Mu noticed a shadow in the left corner of the hall. The huge shadow was lying on the floor. It was a ten feet long monstrous lizard.

There was a horn on the beast’s head, and it had three pairs of bestial feet. Its entire body was covered in green-colored thin shells. Suddenly, its long and narrow eyes stared at Shi Mu; they were pale-green in color. The lizard seemed to be under a command that had restrained its movement. So, it lay motionless.

“Is this beast the legendary golden lizard?” Shi Mu’s eyes brightened-up as he pointed at the lizard.

“Yes… This Golden lizard’s saliva is extremely poisonous. But, it has a wondrous use as well. It has the power to melt gold… and transform it into a weapon,” Young Master Ju nodded and explained. Then, he became silent and started to walk towards a wall.

After that, he stretched out his plump hand and pressed somewhere on the wall.

“Boom” a loud sound was heard.

Suddenly, a stone door emerged on the smooth wall with a thunderous sound. It revealed a dark passageway.

“The ceremony will be carried-out in this secret room. Follow me!” the obese man turned around and said. Then, he entered the passageway.

Shi Mu followed him hastily.

They walked down the spiral passage for some time. Then, they finally entered the secret room. The room was forty feet long and ten feet wide.

The walls of the entire room had been illuminated with butter torches.

This room was made-up of a stone similar to that of the house. A huge circular pattern was spread over the entire floor. There was no decoration in the room; it was empty.

Shi Mu noticed that this gigantic circular pattern had a little resemblance with the pattern that he had seen in the General Library. The biggest difference was that there were more than six indentations in this pattern. Five egg-sized indentations were evenly distributed throughout the circle. But, the sixth and last one was as big as a human head; it was situated in the center of the pattern. The center was the intersection where the heavenly patterns and charm characters crowded intensively.

Shi Mu’s expressions changed as he saw this.

He recalled that according to the book ‘Comprehensive Introduction to Formula Arts’, considerable consumption of spirit power was needed once a huge and complex circular formulas pattern like this was activated. Therefore, one must keep spirit stones for the supply of a steady flow of energy. The bigger formulas needed the specialist to constantly replace the spirit stones.

These five smaller indentations would be the place where the spirit stones were supposed to be placed; the bigger one would be placed at the center of this arrangement.

A trace of excitement flashed through Shi Mu’s eyes.

He realized that the slip of ‘Comprehensive Introduction to Formula Arts’ was about the elementary knowledge of the formula art. There were only a few complete formulas in it. And now, he had gotten the chance to see one of these formulas with his own eyes. He wished to carve it in his memory – so that he could study it in detail after he had returned to his own place.

Shi Mu noticed that Young Master Ju was inspecting the formula. He seemed to have no time to pay attention to Shi Mu.

Suddenly, Shi Mu’s pupils got enlarged by one fold. Each charm character was magnified ten times in his golden pupils. Every character became extremely clear to him.

He noticed that some complex charm characters in the circle were the combination of a few simple characters of the five elements. Also, every complex character was vaguely connected by some heavenly patterns.

Suddenly, Young Master Ju stood-up. He seemed to have finished inspecting the circular formula.

The golden color disappeared from Shi Mu’s eyes as he saw this. His eyes resumed to their normal state in an instant.

“This circular formula is called ‘The Mysterious Array of the Soaring Star’. It’s one of the space-attribute circular arrays. We’ll have to rely on it to perform the ceremony… I think it’s extremely difficult for you to grasp this. It would be good if you don’t aim too high since it’s beyond your perception.” The obese man sensed that Shi Mu was interested in the complex pattern that was drawn on the floor. So, he chuckled and cautioned.