The Portal of Wonderland

“Brother Shi, what do you think?” Princess Huo Wu noticed Shi Mu’s hesitation. She then asked slowly; she seemed to be tempted.

“Your Royal Highness, you can make any decision. I won’t have any objection to it,” Shi Mu nodded and replied.

He wanted to refuse. But then, he had a second thought. The ice-cave and the multi-headed python’s hideout were in the same direction according to the map. So, he could follow them. Then, he wouldn’t have to take a long route.

After all, these two men of the consummate-level of Hou Tian realm were leading the way. Moreover, they were already familiar with the environment of the Central Region. So, it was safer to be dependent on them than to be on his own.

Moreover, it would be extremely beneficial for him if he would conveniently get a Green Frost Fruit.

“Well… let’s go and have a look,” Princess Huo Wu said in a calm tone.

“Well… the matter should not be delayed. We should set-off right away,” Mo Lang and the other man said in exultation.

The four people did some preparations for the next few hours. Then, they headed towards the direction of the snowy peak as per the animal skin map in Jin Huang’s hand.

Contrary to Shi Mu’s expectations, the landform of the Central Region was fickle and spacious. They didn’t encounter any Xian Tian ominous beasts in the entire journey; apart from a few migrant Hou Tian beasts.

Mo Lang explained the reason. The Xian Tian ominous beasts that lived in the peak of the Central Region weren’t many in number. In addition, most of them had their own habitats. So, they wouldn’t come out as long as they weren’t provoked.

The four people didn’t have any fear of the Hou Tian ominous beasts; they could deal with them easily even if they weren’t able to avoid them.

Around twelve hours later… under a mountain peak…

Shi Mu concentrated at the cave’s mouth in front of him; it was ten feet wide. His expressions were normal. But, his eyes flickered and penetrated through the heavy atmosphere.

It was dark. So, it couldn’t be estimated how deep the cave was. The atmosphere outside the cave was warm. But, thick cold air could be sensed from the cave’s mouth.

“Here it is… Let’s go inside,” Mo Lang said. Then, he entered the cave without any hesitation. Jin Huang remained silent, and followed closely behind him.

Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu looked at each other with hope. Then, they also stepped inside the cave.

Shi Mu’s complexion changed as soon as he entered the cave.

He had sensed dense and cold air blowing outside the cave. But now, it felt like they had entered into an ice-house. Gloomy and bone-chilling cold air drilled into their bodies.

Shi Mu was shivering in the quivering cold. He thought of activating the Real Qi within his body in order to resist the bitter cold.

Then, a wisp of Real Qi suddenly emerged from his lower abdomen, and spread in his entire body. The cold was repelled from the outer surface of his body as a result. He no longer felt the cold as a result of this.

However, Shi Mu was startled by this since it had happened on its own. He then realized that it must’ve been the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape that had gathered his real Qi, and had resisted the powerful cold.

He felt relaxed in his heart. He then swept his vision all over the place. He found that the walls of the cave were covered in thick layers of ice. Several torches had been illuminated; they reflected a sparkling and translucent pure light against the icy walls.

They continued to move forward, and took seven or eight turns in the cave under the guidance of Mo Lang and Jin Huang. They finally arrived in a huge and spacious crystal palace after a quarter-of-an-hour.

The space was several hundred meters in dimension, and was made-up of thick layers of ice. Ice-cubes of every form and shape were scattered everywhere.

Several huge ice-chunks were bundled inside the central space. There was a tall silver fruit-tree; it looked extremely eye-catching. There was a cold and deep pond in front of the tree; it was two or three hundred feet in perimeter. It was covered in a thick layer of ice.

There were no leaves on the silver tree; just bare branches. Five green fruits were hanging from those branches; they were as big as a fist. They were emitting a mighty light, and didn’t seem to be ordinary.

Shi Mu’s heart thumped as he looked at the dark-green fruits.

But, he narrowed his eyes as he saw the cold and tranquil pond in front of the tree.

Princess Huo Wu and the others stopped in their tracks as they saw the pond.

Mo Lang and Jin Huang exposed fiery look in their eyes as they saw the tree. Princess Huo Wu still remained aloof. But, she didn’t try to conceal her desire for the fruit.

“I’ll go over… and take a look,” Mo Lang withdrew his gaze, and whispered. He then took out a big green axe from his back, and started to move forward with an alert look on his face.

Mo Lang was extremely tall and strong. However, he took each and every step very gracefully. He then stopped and looked around. He started to move again once he was sure that there was nothing unusual.

The entire place was silent. Shi Mu wouldn’t have anticipated the presence of a Hou Tian consummate-level ice-crystal scorpion guarding the tree if Mo Lang hadn’t mentioned it.

Mo Lang arrived at a distance of around a hundred meters from the cold pond after a while.

He hid behind a huge ice-block, and started to look in every direction. He finally looked at the cold pond. He muttered something to himself, and then raised a hand with a serious expression on his face. He remained behind the ice-block as he made a strange gesture with his hands.

Shi Mu and the other two people started to walk quietly towards Mo Lang’s direction as they saw this.

They finally arrived behind the ice-block. Then, all of them took out black triangular flags made- up of animal skin from their bosoms. A vivid and life-like spider was drawn in the center of each of the flags. It seemed to be extremely fierce.

“The ice-crystal scorpion must be inside this cold pond. I’ll draw this scorpion out. Then… you guys must trap him. After that, I’ll take the Green Frost Fruit… and we’ll immediately recede from the way that we’ve come from,” Mo Lang spoke in a soft tone.

Shi Mu and the other two people walked over to the cold pond, and hid behind an ice-block. After that, they surrounded the cold pond, and formed a horn-like shape.

The three people then bit their tongues, and sprayed their blood on the bestial flags in their hands. The white spider and the witch characters on the flag changed into blood-red in a flash. It seemed to have come alive as it wriggled slowly.

Then, they poured their Real Qi into the flag. Suddenly, the red spider on the flag sprayed out countless thin and transparent threads. They started to flow and twist together on the surface of the pond. After that, they took the shape of a huge and transparent web. The threads flashed, and disappeared after a short while.

Mo Lang nodded as he saw this. A green light welled-up from his body as his figure flashed. He then rushed towards the silver fruit tree. He reached under the tree in a few breaths’ time.

After that, he bounced and rose towards the silver fruit tree – like a monkey.

He landed on a thick and old branch after several attempts.

A mighty light flashed from the Green Frost Fruit that was hanging from a nearby branch.

Mo Lang swept a glance at the cold pond, and took a deep breath. He then moved a few steps forward on the branch. After that, he carefully grasped the Green Frost Fruit. He then gently pulled it down.

Shi Mu and the other two people started to breathe faster as they saw this. Then, they stared at the cold pond.

Suddenly, something happened.

A splashing sound was heard.

Suddenly, an ordinary-looking but big ice-chunk exploded and split open. This chunk of ice was located behind the silver fruit tree. Then, a crystallized white light flashed from the crushed ice, and targeted Mo Lang.

The crystal-white light swayed past Mo Lang’s body with a great speed. Shi Mu could see it clearly. The sparkling light had turned out to be a huge tail-hook.

Mo Lang’s pupils shrank. There wasn’t enough time to dodge it. Suddenly, a layer of green light resonated from the big axe in his hand, and rolled out green axe-shadows. It then forged ahead towards the huge tail-hook.

‘Bang!’

A loud sound was heard. The axe-shadows scattered and dispersed. The huge green axe in Mo Lang’s hand was sent flying. His body then met with a powerful jolt. And, he too was sent flying upside down. His face was filled with colors of shock.

Suddenly, a white fog appeared on the surface of the biggest block among the huge ice-chunks. A glittering light flashed from within the fog. Then, a fifty or sixty feet long gigantic scorpion came out of it.

Its entire body was translucent and sparkly. It looked like an ice-sculpture of a scorpion.

It was the ice-crystal scorpion!

The figure of this ice-crystal scorpion jumped out. It then opened its mouth, and a big current of white cold air rolled out from it.

“Xian Tian…”

Mo Lang’s body got shrouded in the cold air before he could complete his sentence. Then, the speed of his raised arm slowed down, and the green skin of his body became dark. A layer of white frost appeared in front of his eyes.

The dense and cold air had turned him into an ice-man. Then, he fell down.

The ice-crystal scorpion whistled, and shook its tail hook. White and translucent sparkling light came out of it.

‘Bang!’ A crisp sound echoed.

Mo Lang’s body hadn’t only fallen to the ground; it had also been split into pieces.

He had died before he had been able to consume the Green Frost Fruit. But, the fruit was still clenched in the palm of his destroyed arm. Fortunately, it had fallen near the ice-chuck where Jin Huang was hiding.

All this had happened at the speed of lightning. Mo Lang – the consummate-level Hou Tian totem warrior of the Green Tooth Tribe – had died in the blink of an eye.

Shi Mu and the other two people couldn’t understand when this ice-crystal scorpion hidden in the ice-chunk had advanced to the Xian Tian level.

Its strength had probably reached the Xian Tian level owing to the environment.

Suddenly, the ice-crystal scorpion jumped-up while spinning in the air. A mass of cold air came out at the same time.

‘Chi! Chi!’ A sneering sound erupted.

Then, several fist-sized ice balls were shot out in all directions.

A series of slamming sounds echoed loudly. The ice-balls were spread in all directions. Then, they started to explode one after another.

Suddenly, the figures of three jumped out of three ice-chunks almost at the same time. These three individuals had been hiding until now. However, they had been forced to come out because of these explosions.

Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu started to crush the ice fragments by striking them with the edges of their blades in a continuous manner. They then turned towards the cave’s mouth to flee from there.

However, Jin Huang’s eyes flashed with colors of hesitation. He held the round edged-blade in front of his body to protect himself. Countless blade awns fluttered in front of him. They broke down the ice fragments, and scattered them everywhere.

However, he didn’t move back. Instead, he moved forward in a deceiving manner. He then came near Mo Lang’s body, and stooped to grab the Green Frost Fruit.

Suddenly, a loud sound was heart. And, a mix of ice-balls and cold fog started to shade above Jin Huang’s head. He didn’t have any way to hide anymore. So, he was only left with a tough path to walk on.

Jin Huang’s face flushed. He clenched his teeth. He then put a finger on the golden feather crest on his head, and started to recite an incantation.

A ‘pop’ sound was heard.

The golden feather crest was split open.

Small golden stars emerged from the feathers, and shrouded around his body. Soon, the shape of a virtual shadow of a golden monster bird was formed, and wrapped itself around his body. He then transformed into shadows of golden light, and rushed towards the exit to flee.

The golden light soon took over, and swayed past Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu’s head.

“It’s not good.” Princess Huo Wu became frightened and angry as she saw this.

It seemed that Jin Huang had seized the fruit by using this secret technique. He now intended to leave Shi Mu and the Princess as sacrificial victims.

Shi Mu and Princess Huo Wu were running side-by-side. Both of them were less than five-hundred feet away from the cave’s mouth. Their complexions changed as they saw the golden light sweeping over their heads.

Suddenly, Shi Mu grabbed Princess Huo Wu by her waist.

Princess Huo Wu became frightened, and was about to say something. But, Shi Mu activated the black animal skin charm paper in his hand before she could say anything. A pair of black and misty ‘wing-shadows’ started to unfold behind him. Then, both of them started to fly in the air.

Suddenly, a sneering sound echoed. A large volley of ice-thorns flashed past the two of them. This volley of ice-thorns had nearly struck them.

A series of crashing sounds resounded everywhere.

A radius of 100 feet around their previous location on the ground was now densely covered with ice-thorns. In fact, the two of them wouldn’t have survived if they had been on the ground.