The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu let out a soft sigh, and the expression in his eyes calmed.

The Hundred-Thousand Volcanoes was an extremely dangerous place. So, it was too dangerous to cross it. But, it wasn’t an impossible task either.

There was a large city to the west of the Hundred-Thousand Volcanoes. It was similar to the size of the Red Flame city. It was called Fire Prison City. It was connected with the Red Flame City by a large-scale transmission magic spell. One could be directly transmitted to the Fire Prison City through this transmission spell.

Obviously, the people of the Fire Prison City could also be directly transmitted to the Red Flame City.

The location of these two cities — Red Flame City and Fire Prison City was – was very special. They happened to be located on the boundary line between the Demon race and the Barbarian race.

It was said that the key figures of both races had negotiated this transmission array at the time of building. According to that negotiation… the use of magic power for fighting was prohibited in both cities. Also, both sides must put down racial hatred for the time being, and live together in peace.

It was true that the Demon race and the Barbarian race had always been hostile to each other. But, both sides did have a certain degree of mutual dependence as well.

The Barbarian race needed a lot of resources that were found in the territory of the Demon race in abundance. And, the Demon race also needed the products that were produced by the Barbarian race. Such requirements laid the foundation of prosperity between the Red Flame City and the Fire Prison City.

The situation in the Red Flame City happened to be very favorable for Shi Mu’s further practices. He could practice here with peace of mind. In addition, he could enhance his strength, and make his final preparations for the trip to the Rising to the Heaven Mountain Peak with ease.

“Let’s go.” Shi Mu said and waved his hand.

The blue shuttle lit up brightly, and enveloped him as well as Cai. Then, it flew towards the Red Flame City.

…

Shi Mu had already estimated the perils of the Hundred-Thousand Volcanoes to some extent. He was under the impression that this place was situated in the periphery, and thus shouldn’t be too dangerous.

However, he was wrong. He realized that he had underestimated this place shortly after he began his flight.

Firstly, the volcanoes here might explode at any time regardless of their sizes. In addition, not only the hilltops were dangerous here… Even the neighboring ground might burst open and spray out columns of lava fire every now and then. And, there was a possibility that those pillars of lava might rise to a thousand feet… so much so that they could almost touch the black clouds in midair.

Moreover, this kind of ejection might give rise to a chain effect. And thus, this would cause a serial ejection for a period of time in the vicinity.

The scene of this place looked like a cluster of bright-red stone pillars connecting the earth to the sky. It was a quite magnificent sight.

Shi Mu and Cai had hardly flown three-hundred miles when they encountered such a large-scale eruption. Shi Mu was in the peripheral zone of this eruption. Plus, his reaction timing was relative very quick. So, he quickly stimulated the movement of the blue shuttle, and successfully changed its direction the moment he noticed that the situation was far from good. This way, he got through a daunting experience without mishap.

However, some people weren’t so lucky. Shi Mu witnessed that a small group of barbarians was wiped out in the blink of an eye when they came under the impact of a molten lava pillar. Even their skeletons weren’t spared.

In addition, the black clouds in midair – that looked to be nothing special — would also sprinkle down a torrent of acid rain from time to time like an assassin lurking in the air.

The corrosion effect of this acid rain was very strong. Not to mention the flesh and blood of martial warriors or magicians… even some defensive magic tools and spirit tools might not be able to resist it. This was also one of the reasons why there were a lot of neither-too-big nor-too-small craters on the surface of the mountainous region along the entire the way. In addition, some withered bones and rotten corpses could also be seen around them every now and then.

Hence, Shi Mu tried his best to choose only those places where some barbarians could be seen. He knew that this place was already close to the Red Flame City. So, these barbarians ought to have some experience in avoiding risks.

This journey didn’t seem to be a long one in the beginning. However, Shi Mu was forced to take lots of twists and turns along the way to pass through this place. He continued to take left and right turns frequently over this cluster of volcanoes, and advanced towards the Red Flame city little by little.

Half a day later…

A blue light flew over a black and red mountain peak from the upward direction.

There was the blue jade shuttle in that mass of blue light, and Shi Mu stood on it. His left hand hung alongside his body, and was wrapped up in a brown glove. Shi Mu swept his gaze around with a cautious expression on his face.

Then, he stimulated a magic technique with his right hand, and the blue jade shuttle came to an abrupt stop as a result. He then gazed at a mountain peak that wasn’t too far from him. A faint golden light could be seen in his eyes at the moment.

“Shi Tou, what’s wrong?” Cai – who stood on Shi Mu’s shoulder — followed his gaze and asked.

That mountain peak seemed to be a volcano that had just erupted. And, it could be said so since the magma that had just solidified on the surface of that mountain was still emitting wisps of steam. In addition, four person’s silhouettes could be seen standing near the volcanic crater.

The three of them were tall barbarian men who wore a waist-length leopard skin. They had assumed a pincer-like position at the moment. And, the person who stood in their midst was a grey-robed human man. There was a tattoo on his face. Also, he seemed to be surrounded by these three barbarians.

“Shi Tou, this person seems to be…” Cai said with a little hesitation.

“Let’s go and to take a look at the situation.” Shi Mu said. Simultaneously, he directed the blue jade shuttle to fly in the direction of that volcano.

On the edge of the volcanic crater…

“Human boy, the three of us have been waiting for this volcano for more than a month. So, be sensible and hand over the fire crystal to us!” a bald barbarian man gazed at the tattooed man and said. He was approximately ten feet tall.

“What a joke! I was constantly in the vicinity of this place over the past few days, but I never saw you or others. Besides, there are many volcanoes around apart from this one that would erupt sooner or later. So, you’ll have to go there yourself to pick it up if you want to have it so desperately!” the tattooed-man replied.

“So, you are turning down our request! You are asking for death!” The bald barbarian’s voice had barely faded when the other two barbarian men pounced towards the tattooed man.

One of them was a one-eyed barbarian man. He issued a low-pitched bellow as he dashed forwards. It couldn’t be said when a pair of short hatchets had appeared in his hands. He drummed his hands to stimulate his Real Qi. And, the two short hatchets turned into two grey hatchet shadows in response, and pounced towards the tattooed-man.

The other barbarian was a thin and tall man. A blue light flashed in his chest, and his arms abruptly elongated and took the shape of a pair of gigantic pincers. Then, he brandished his both pincers straight towards the tattooed man in a threatening manner.

Meanwhile, three dots of star-like light emerged behind the tattooed man’s head as he saw this situation. Then, he started to move the fingers of his both hands very speedily to cast a spell. Simultaneously, he began to mumble something.

The next moment, a loud rumbling sound spread from the mountain in front of him. It was followed by a brown earthen wall that emerged before him. And then, it got completely shrouded in a layer of the brown light screen.

Then, two “Ping Ping” sound was heard!

The two grey hatchet shadows bombarded the wall first, but they couldn’t break it. On the contrary, a brown light flashed on the wall and flicked them off.

The thin and tall barbarian had also arrived in front of the tattooed man by now. He immediately jumped forward, and wielded his two gigantic pincers to smash the head of that tattooed man.

However, the tattooed-man was already prepared. He raised his hand and three green wind blades emerged in his hand. Then, he spun them in three different directions to chop down the opposite party.

Those three wind blades were extremely fast. On top of that, they were shot at such a close range. So, they hit the tall and thin barbarian one after another.

However, three metal-striking like “Clang” sounds rang out in the air the next moment. It couldn’t be said when the surface of the thin and tall barbarian’s body had got covered with a layer of blue carapace. Consequently, the three wind blades did bombard his body, but they could only leave three shallow white marks.

The tattooed man was startled to see this scene. But then, he seized this opportunity and drew back at lightning speed. Simultaneously, he evaded the smashing hit of the other gigantic pincers of the opposite party.

However, he hadn’t even stabilized his body when he felt a gust of cold wind rushing towards him from one side. It was the one-eyed barbarian who had again launched an attack on him. The fact was that the one-eyed barbarian had seized the opportunity to shoot his hatches once again.

The tattooed-man knew that he could only dodge one of the hatchets since they were shot at such a tricky angle. And, he indeed couldn’t avoid the other hatchet no matter what he did. And, the hatchet hit him hard in his back. Consequently, the brown light curtain on the surface of his body shattered into pieces with a loud sound. And, he was struck and sent flying by an overwhelming force. Even half of his magic power was eliminated by the impact of this shock.

“Go to hell!”

The bare-headed barbarian burst out laughing in a ferocious manner. Then, he darted towards the tattooed man like a gust of wind. It couldn’t be said when a big bronze hammer had emerged in his hands. It was even higher than a man’s height, and its surface was suffused with a layer of green light. It seemed like the bare-headed man was all prepared to kill the tattooed man.

The tattooed man had just fallen to the ground when he saw this scene and felt a cold shiver running down his spine. He fished out magic charm from his bosom arms. Then, he raised his hand and threw it out without further delay. The magic charm turned into a ten-feet-long fiery python, and galloped straight towards the bald barbarian.

However, the bald barbarian neither blocked it nor ducked out of the way. He instead placed his gigantic bronze hammer in front of him with a sudden movement. Numerous densely-packed green hammer-shadows appeared before him the next moment, and blocked the fiery python.

“Bang!”

The fiery python exploded, and turned into a vast cloud of fire as it touched the green hammer. At this moment, a green light suddenly appeared and tore open the cloud of fire. It was followed by the silhouette of the bald barbarian. He passed through the cloud of fire dashed toward the tattooed-man once again.

The tattooed man’s complexion became ghastly pale and he closed his eyes… as if he resigned himself to death.

But then, the tattooed man sensed as if a golden light had flashed in front of him the moment the bald barbarian arrived in front of him. And then, a loud “Bang” sound was heard.

The tattooed man opened his eyes only to see the vicious and bald barbarian standing in front of him. However, it seemed as if he was rooted to the spot with the bronze hammer in his hand at the moment. Then, his head got separated from the body, and tumbled to the side at this moment. Also, there was still an expression of profound shock on his face.

A grey-robed young man stood not far from him in the front. He wore a brown glove on his left hand, and a conical bamboo hat on his head. A golden sword light was circling and fluttering in front of him.

Who else could this person be other than Shi Mu?

The tall and thin barbarian and the one-eyed barbarian stood not far from them. They turned around, and broke into a run as they saw this scene.

However, Shi Mu lifted his right hand and stimulated a magic art. And, the golden sword light – that was fluttering in front of him — darted out like an electric current. After that, only two anguished screams were heard. Those two barbarian men hadn’t escaped far when they were beheaded. They tumbled to the ground and couldn’t get up afterwards.

“You are… Brother Mu Shi?” The tattooed-man had crawled up to his feet by this time. He saw Shi Mu and asked in a confused manner.

“Brother Yu, long time no see.” Shi Mu turned around and greeted.

The fact was that Shi Mu was already familiar with this tattooed man. This man was Yu Yi. Shi Mu and Yu Yi had participated in the competition for the sea-trip together when they were in the ancient Xixia country.

The two of them did have a friendly relationship, but it wasn’t very deep. But, both of them belonged to the same continent — the Eastern continent. So, this chance encounter had naturally made them feel little more intimate in this foreign land. Therefore, Shi Mu came out to rescue him without a hesitation when he saw that he was trapped in a perilous situation.

“It’s really you! I must say that I got a new life only because of Mu Shi’s remarkable power! Thank you so much for saving my life, Brother Mu!” Yu Yi was struck dumb for a moment. Then, he said.

“It’s just a trivial matter. Anyways, how come you are here? Didn’t you stay in the Western Dark Moon Cult?” Shi Mu glanced at Yu Yi’s short grey jacket and asked.

“It’s a long story…” Yu Yi flashed a wry smile in response to his words.

There were some facts that Shi Mu had been already aware of. He knew that Liu An had been appointed as the Vice President after they had joined the Western Dark Moon Cult. However, other Palace Lords and disciples – who had accompanied Liu An to this continent – were divided and sent to various sub-altars across the Western continent by the President of the Western Cult.

And, the president had taken this step so that Liu An could never think of staging a protest against the Western Cult.

Moreover, these disciples of the Eastern Cult were revered as the elite disciples of the Cult when they were in the Eastern continent. So, these disciples were full of pride and arrogance. But now, the old disciples of Western Cult’s sub-altars would deliberately make things difficult for them or would ridicule them. They would even go so far as to embezzle their resources.

As for Yu Yi… he didn’t want to be drawn into the dispute between the East and the West. Therefore, he had quietly left the sub-altar he had been assigned to more than a year ago. Later, he had a chance encounter that paved way for him to the Red Flame City. And then, he started to hunt demon beasts and dig out ores in exchange for the practicing resources.

Yu Yi was a smart person. He didn’t ask the reason behind Shi Mu’s appearance here. But, he soon found out that Shi Mu also wanted to go to the Red Flame City. So, he immediately said that he was familiar with this area, and readily agreed to lead the way.