The Portal of Wonderland

“Don’t worry; your money is safe here. You can come back for the weapons in a month,” the burly man promised confidently without thinking.

“Then I’ll rely on you, Master Ma,” responded Shi Mu, a smile playing on his lips. He removed a bulging bag of silver from his waist, and threw it in front of the blacksmith without hesitation.

Master Ma was no ordinary blacksmith, and he was the only person other than Feng Li and Gao Yuan who knew the true identity of ‘Fierce Fists’. Rumour had it that he was a distant relative of Gao Yuan, and was skilled at ironworking. He was rumoured to be more skilled at making weapons than most other blacksmiths in Feng City.

He had made the silver mask that was worn by ‘Fierce Fists’ with his own professional hands.

Because he believed in the blacksmith’s talents, Shi Mu made the payment in advance without any misgivings.

However, after paying such an exorbitant fee, he found that he had run out of money.

Shi Mu’s income included a small portion of money which he earned from his well-situated restaurant, Yuan Xiang. Its business had surged after he began to bring animals that he hunted on the nearby mountain. This ensured him an income of at least a hundred silver notes each month.

The other half of his income was gained by playing the role of ‘Fierce Fists’. As for the fields under his control, Shi Mu did not expect much revenue from them. This was because the managing of the manor amounted to almost all the rent collected.

It seemed that now he had no option but to resort to the thing that he had been planning for some time. Because he had recently enhanced ‘Gale Force Knife’ Art, he could now achieve seven cuts with one movement. Though it would prove difficult, he could now manage to shift the plan to an earlier date. To accomplish seven cuts in one movement was almost impossible for average Martial Disciples, and he recently had learnt the fact that it was next to impossible for any Martial Disciple to even manage six cuts in a movement. The blood mutation had not happened to his body in the past half year, the proof of which lay in his limited progress of achieving just one more cut in a movement. Even though he had spent a few months on it, he had not been able to make any more progress.

However, his progress was still far from ordinary, as it was enough to dwarf the average Martial Disciples. After all, even the instructor Li Cang Hai could only manage nine cuts with the aid of his real Qi.

After some time, Shi Mu left the blacksmith’s place as he continued to think about his plan. He spent half a day making purchases at some other shops in the city before finally returning to his temporary residence.

The moment he walked into the room, his expression changed. He briefly glanced out of the window in a relaxed manner, and then walked to the half-open window. As he fumbled with it, he found an object which turned out to be a paper ball.

Shi Mu was quite calm as he unfolded the paper dexterously. Then he began laughing delightedly.

“It seems like someone’s begging me to take their money,” he thought out loud.

Then, he stuffed the paper ball into his shirt, climbed into his bed and fell fast asleep.

He slept soundly and woke up refreshed at dusk. He took out a big parcel from under the bed and left his residence again.

One hour later, many of the Black Fox members were lying all over the ground in the backyard of the fairly well-known Tian Wang Temple in Feng City. They had nearly covered the entire yard. There was not even one of them who was not moaning and groaning in agony, not daring to pick up a single stick or knife from the great many weapons scattered around them. Even Feng Li and Gao Yuan had been taken down and were unable to move.

One of them had a bleeding mouth, and another was rolling in the dust. Both of them were gasping with astonishment at the boy, who stood before them, with a spear in his hands.

Though both the leaders of the Black Fox gang had heard the opponent’s name and were aware of his talents, they had still not expected his actual strength to be this great.

Although both leaders were quite accomplished in their Body Tempering, he had handled them both along with ten odd guards outside the yard, within the quarter of an hour.

“Wang Tian Hao, we barely had the chance to read your challenge note before you came here to fight. That’s not fair!” Gao Yuan could not resist protesting, even though his body was paining all over.

“Humph! It seems that you complain a lot! Well, you’re good enough at shouting. I’m sorry; I was in a bad mood this afternoon. So I decided that it would be better if I met your ‘Fierce Fists’ as soon as possible. Do you have a problem with that?” the boy in white, despite his graceful looks, answered in a cold and rude manner. He instantly lifted his foot to bash Gao Yuan’s head halfway into the ground.

Gao Yuan fearfully struggled to escape from under his foot, but his strength had abandoned him. He could only swear loudly.

The swear word made the boy stomp again heavily without hesitation, torturing Gao Yuan into a quiet anguish.

Feng Li was greatly angered by this, though still terrified. He tried very hard to get up and put up a desperate fight. However, before he could stand up, a black shadow whizzed toward the white-clothed boy at lightning speed.

The boy raised his eyebrows and lazily thrust forward with his spear, a weapon made out of refined iron.

“Bang!”

The black shadow exploded at the spear’s handle with a thunderous boom, sending many splinters shooting out in all directions. The black shadow which had destroyed the refined iron was a small, bowl sized stone. The force of the blow made the boy step back, with his arms trembling.

He then tilted his head to the side and narrowly avoided getting directly hit by another stone. The stone left a scratch mark on his cheek, and blood began trickling down.

“It’s you, the ‘Fierce Fists’!”

The boy in white said, showing no concern for his wound. On the contrary, his eyes shifted to the newcomer, a black-clothed man in a silver mask. His blood was racing with excitement.

“So you are the one who sent me the challenge note?” Shi Mu asked in a slow voice, after taking a look at the yard through the holes in his mask.

“Don’t you know who I am?” the white robed boy asked, somewhat surprised at Shi Mu’s lack of awareness.

“Why? Should I know you?”

As he glanced at the challenger’s spear, Shi Mu made his way to the middle of the yard. He used his foot to kick an iron knife and then caught it with his hand.

“Careful, Second Brother! This man is Wang Tian Hao. He is said to be the top Martial Disciple in the Feng City. He is a son of the Wangs, who are known to raise blood warriors!” Feng Li shouted his warning before anything could happen.

“Top Martial Disciple in Feng City! A Wang family blood warrior!” Shi Mu’s eyes lit up with surprise at the titles.

“Ha ha, I did not claim the title of the top Martial Disciple. It just so happens that I beat everyone who objected to the title. As far as the other title is concerned, it is true that I am one of the Wangs. However, I have not awakened my blood yet to become a blood warrior,” the boy in white smiled with pride.

Shi Mu’s face grew somewhat solemn at the answer. He couldn’t help but ask, “Excuse me, but then why do you trifle with such a small gang?”

“Ha ha… I wanted to challenge the strong member, of course. Why else would I do this? Since you have arrived, I’ll let these trash warriors go so I can save my energy. Let’s see if you can take my first attack!” Wang Tian Hao challenged with a loud laugh.

He then leapt up into the air, and shook his hands while grasping the spear. He attempted a sudden stab as he rushed towards Shi Mu. Shi Mu’s sight blurred for a moment before he saw that five glaring spear tips were charging directly at him.

Shi Mu snorted at the fierce attack. With a simple shake of his arms, his iron knife transformed into five black shadows that struck forward, and several “puff” sounds came out.

The five spear tips collided with the knife shadows, only to get smashed, and then disappear. However, this was not the end. A sixth spear tip appeared out of nowhere with a glitter of cold light, and slithered towards Shi Mu’s forehead like a snake.

This attack, whether due to its speed or angle, was entirely unexpected and caught Shi Mu off guard. He had no chance to defend himself with his iron knife, which he then had to throw away. He took a step back with a loud shout, and his arms surged forward with blurring speed.

A dull sound followed, leaving Wang Tian Hao shocked.

Shi Mu’s hands, which were clothed in black gloves, had gripped the tip of the spear tightly like two giant iron anvils. He had caught the spear half an inch away from his chest.

Wang Tian Hao sneered at the sight. As far as he was concerned, ‘Fierce Fists’ was an idiot if he believed that a single pair of hands could catch his spear. Before Shi Mu could make a move, he twisted the spear tightly, and pulled it back towards himself.

A loud buzz was heard as the boy found his refined-iron spear handle shaking violently. However, the tip remained pressed between Shi Mu’s hands without moving an inch. A burning pang crept up from the handle, stinging Wang Tian Hao’s palm. He took a cold breath, well aware of the fact that his own strength was stinging his skin.

At the other end of the spear, Shi Mu extended his fingers to tighten his hold on the tip with one hand. His other hand was clenched into a fist, and was striking at the handle heavily and rapidly. A clear sound was heard as the iron spear began to bend, its length of more than three meters being cut from the middle. Another strong force rushed up the handle towards Wang Tian Hao, welling up from his wrists and gushing onto his arms.

“Oh no, this guy is unnaturally strong!”

Though he was aware of the Fierce Fists’ great strength, it had never occurred to him that he could break iron with brute force.

He swore loudly, and then stomped heavily on the ground with one foot. He then shot backward, releasing the spear handle from his hand.

Boom!

The handle smashed hard onto the ground due to the brute force, creating a mud pit the size of a basin.

The boy in white steadied himself again on his feet. However, his face grew extremely embarrassed at the sight.

Peng!

Shi Mu threw the already bent iron handle onto the ground, which now appeared like a huge bow. He then strode over to his opponent.

“I give up! Your strength is unfathomable, and I no longer have my weapon. Now I understand what my seniors meant about your ten-fold strength. It is certain that I cannot defeat a muscular guy like you even with the full power of my Blazing Spear. But, in two to three months, it will be a different story altogether,” Wang Tian Hao laughed unexpectedly, brushing aside Shi Mu’s challenge.

“You started the fight, and now you want to stop it. Do you think you can always have the final say?” Shi Mu refused in a cold and low voice. He shook his shoulders, ready to teach him a lesson using his brutal fists.

“I’ll compensate you with money for wasting your time!”

The answer obviously stunned Shi Mu, as it was amusing and unexpected. Shi Mu could not believe his ears.

“I’ll pay you. Here’s a small bag of golden beans, and it should be more than enough to cover all of their medical expenses. But let’s make one thing clear. I’m not afraid of you, Fierce Fists! I just know that I don’t have the strength to beat you at the moment, and so it’s not worthwhile to fight you with all my strength. The top warrior in Feng City should not be seen covered in sweat.”

The boy in white leaned backward, and lifted his hand to throw out a palm sized cotton bag.

It was Shi Mu’s first encounter with such a narcissist, so he could only stare in mute amazement. Just then, the boy in white turned around and ran away at full speed, stomping in the middle to create a great force. This force enabled him to fly directly over the half a meter high wall.

His faint voice floated from the other side of the wall, “Ha ha. Fierce Fists, remember that I am Wang Tian Hao, the one who is destined to defeat you in the future.”

Then there was silence.