The Portal of Wonderland

“Yu Yi’s here,” Cai announced.

Shi Mu was a little shocked. Their lava pool was underground, yet Cai could not only see all the way to the entrance of the cave but even determined who that visitor was. This meant that after its deep slumber, Cai’s visual prowess had undergone some kind of mutation once more, allowing it to see even through the earth.

A few moments later…

Upon entering their cave, Yu Yi produced a Storage Ring in his hand. “Brother Shi, the number of Spirit Stones accumulated over these three months was about five million and six thousand. As you requested, I exchanged about eighty percent of them for Fire Attribute Spirit Stones.”

Standing close to the entrance discreetly, he was now wearing a blue robe with silk embroidery—not a sign of the destitution that had plagued him three years ago in sight. It was quite plain to see that he too had come to enjoy some degree of comfortable living.

“Why thank you, Brother Yu!” Shi Mu replied, taking the ring.

“Oh, it was nothing. Brother Shi has been a great benefactor to me, so it was this lowly one’s pleasure to be able to run some errands for you,” Yu Yi replied grinning.

Due to the Incendiary Formation as well as the general maintenance of the lava pool, Shi Mu’s demand for Fire Attribute Spirit Stones had spiked steeply throughout these three years, to the point that he needed to continuously barter for them. Coupled with his reliance on Absolute Yang Alchemical Pills, Shi Mu began requesting Yu Yi to help run these errands for him with a fixed amount of Spirit Stones as his reward.

This happened a few times before eventually, Yu Yi volunteered to be Shi Mu’s faithful subject.

Shi Mu himself was reluctant at first, yet the man persisted, taking the very same action Hou Sai Lei had done in the past—he split a part of his own primordial spirit and sealed it inside a Spirit Imprisoning Bead before handing it over to Shi Mu. He stated his reason to be his own frustration at the constant bullying he had endured at the hands of the barbarians in Red Flame City. Plus, staying with Shi Mu had improved his life compared to when he was an active member of the Dark Moon Cult.

Of course, Shi Mu knew what he himself needed—to ensure the continuous operation of his Fire Spirit Reservoir, he would need to spend some time making charms to exchange for Spirit Stones. Yet going out of his cave would be a hindrance to his cultivation process. Yu Yi, as he had observed, was a streetwise and capable person, but the man’s best trait was probably his reservation in social manners, such as respecting others’ privacy.

Hence, after a brief consideration, Shi Mu agreed to Yu Yi’s proposal.

Just as expected, Yu Yi was very competent in handling the tasks delegated to him, while also being a great source of news and happenings from the outside.

“Brother Shi? Did you just… advance into the Earth-rank?” Yu Yi’s eyes widened in shock.

“Yes,” He replied candidly with a faint smile.

“C-congratulations!” Yu Yi exclaimed.

“Hee hee, well! You played a big supporting role in it too, Brother Yu. Oh, right! Any interesting news on the Demon Race gang who had taken humanoid forms?” Shi Mu smiled, before steering the topic in an entirely different direction.

Yu Yi took out a white jade token from his bosom and handed it to him.

Shi Mu placed it on his forehead for a while, then took out a Storage Ring and handed it to Yu Yi saying, “Alright, I see what happened. Now take these charms, and make sure you never lose sight of that Demon Race gang. If I need anything, I’ll be sure to contact you.”

Yu Yi bowed after receiving his task and left.

A few days later, in Celestial Fire Armory…

Business in the armory was still bustling as usual, pretty much the same as three years ago.

Shi Mu raised his head and examined the sign over the armory entrance before strutting into the building. Seeing a customer, an attendant wearing green hurried over to serve.

“Brother Shi, what a rare occasion to see you here!” A middle-aged man in a red robe dismissed the attendant with a wave as he personally approached Shi Mu. It was Deacon Wan from before—although now he had taken the appearance befitting a shopkeeper.

Shi Mu saluted him with cupped hands. “Hello, Deacon Wan.”

“I’m sure that Sect Fellow Shi has some important matters to discuss, as always. Please, let us continue our conversation in the private chamber,” The middle-aged man replied quickly after recovering from his mild shock at seeing this particular visitor.

Shi Mu nodded, and the two went to the private chamber situated on the second floor.

“My sincere congratulations on your giant leap in progress after these three years of intensive cultivation, Sect Fellow Shi!” The middle-aged man in red started.

“No, it’s really just a minor improvement. I came today to see Master Gong Xi. Is he available?” Shi Mu sat straight and asked.

“Yes, he’s here in the armory today. A moment please.” The middle-aged man nodded before taking his leave.

Fifteen minutes passed when the door of the private chamber was shoved open, revealing Master Gong Xi in his black attire walking toward Shi Mu.

On seeing Shi Mu, the man’s eyes lit up. “Sect Fellow Shi, long time no see! Whoa, look at that progress—much congratulations!”

“You flatter me, Master Gong Xi,” Shi Mu replied with a humble smile.

“Now, you know what they say: ‘Some people visit you only when there’s a reason’. So, my Sect Fellow Shi, what’s your reason today?” Master Gong Xi sat down and went straight to the point.

“This lowly one would like to request a master like yourself to forge a glove capable of sealing Fire Attribute Spirit Energy.”

“A power-sealing glove?” Master Gong Xi raised his eyebrow.

“Yes. Frankly, due to the… unique property of my cultivation process, the spiritual energy in my left hand would sometimes run amok. I need a glove that can contain the discharge of power,” Shi Mu explained, eyeing his left hand which was covered by a brown leather glove.

Ever since attaining his first success in practicing the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, Shi My had been elated at his new, tremendous power—until time had revealed a new caveat to it: the power within his left hand was prone to going haywire, and Shi Mu was still woefully inexperienced in controlling it, resulting in a few occasions when he accidentally destroyed while inadvertently expending his Real Qi.

Helpless, he finally resorted to the idea of sealing the power in his left hand until he needed it.

Master Gong Xi espied Shi Mu’s left hand and pondered a little before nodding, “I see, I see.”

“Have you come up with a solution already, Master Gong Xi?” Shi Mu asked.

“Forging the glove is well within my skills, yes, but due to the potency of your cultivation technique, I’m afraid that only the glove made from the hide of the Human-headed Flame Salamander would be adequate for the task. The predicament here is that this particular hide hasn’t been available for a long, long time,” the man explained.

“Where can I find this Human-headed Flame Salamander?”

“It’s a beast that can only be found in the underground below a volcano, though it was known to be elusive. Despite being a somewhat low-ranking beast, it’s still rather hard to hunt.”

“If that’s the case, this lowly one will head towards the Hundred-Thousand Volcanoes to try his luck,” Shi Mu decided.

He stayed a little longer to obtain more information on the territory where his target was known to be sighted before leaving, this time heading straight out of the city.

As he stood on the Green-Winged Flying Carriage, Shi Mu turned to Cai. “Our target this time is said to be quite shifty. Do you think your new visual prowess is up for the task?”

“Pssh, you can count on me!” Cai replied confidently.

Shi Mu nodded and with his right hand, the Green-Winged Flying Carriage zipped through the horizon in a trail of green light, heading toward the deepest region of the volcanoes.

Half an hour later…

A flash of green shone brightly before revealing Shi Mu, stopping above a small hill among the volcanoes. Before him would be the area known for its Human-headed Flame Salamander sightings.

“Shi Tou, be careful! The geothermal movement around this area is pretty extreme, so we best prepare for sudden volcanic eruptions,” Cai reported, peering forward.

Shi Mu’s eyebrows furrowed a little. He could see quite a lot of black solids littered all over the ground before him. It could be volcanic lava that had just recently cooled down from an eruption.

Boom boom boom!

Cai had barely finished its sentence when the earth below them emitted a loud booming not unlike a muffled thunderclap while the ground quaked violently. A large pillar of magma shot out from a vent nearby, which rained back down as lava spray.

Fortunately, their distance from the eruption was enough to keep them safe.

This particular eruption was very short-lived, as it stopped after just a few seconds.

However, before every single drop of the lava rain fell back to the ground, another vent erupted as well.

And so it continued among this group of smaller volcanoes, eruption after eruption without any sort of calculable pattern. It went on for about half an hour before showing signs of subsiding, though one or two vents still spurted out lava pillars.

“This is such a dangerous place, Shi Tou! No wonder that old geezer Gong Xi said that it’s not easy to catch a Human-headed Flame Salamander!” Cai exclaimed, visibly frightened.

“Don’t you fret. We just need to be extra vigilant, and everything will be fine,” Shi Mu replied as he withdrew his Green-Winged Flying Carriage. There was a flash of red behind him, two gigantic wings of flames surfaced out of his back.

With a mighty flap, Shi Mu flew forward.

“W-w-wait, Shi Tou! I-I’m not even ready yet!” Cai screeched in terror, its talons hooked onto Shi Mu’s garment tightly.

Shi Mu seemed to be ignoring its cries as he continued to flap his flame wings, navigating through the passes between volcanoes with exceptional dexterity. At the same time, he started spreading out his Spiritual Sense to cover every area below him.

“Gah! Left volcano’s dangerous, Shi Tou—ahh! The right one! That one too—” Cai, perched on Shi Mu’s shoulder, was screaming non-stop the whole time.

The pillars of molten lava were like daggers that sprung unpredictably from the earth, aimed at impaling anything above. Yet with the help of Cai’s vision as well as the agility of his flame wings, Shi Mu easily circumvented each and every eruption without fail as he steadily hurled towards the deepest part of the volcanic regions.

Cai too had gradually calmed down from its initial skittishness, predicting the timing of each eruption while simultaneously scanning for the Human-headed Flame Salamander with its eyes shining out two rays of white light.

“Shi Tou! Target spotted, the underground about seven or eight yards deep!” Cai cried out suddenly.

Shi Mu’s face brightened, his body stopped in mid-flight. As he stared in the direction pointed out by Cai, he activated their shared vision.

The earth below him was suddenly transparent, belying a single lizard-like creature—about two or three yards wide—flitting through the earth dandily as if it were a fish swimming in the water.

The salamander was completely scarlet in color, with black patterns etched on the crown of its head such that they formed the face of a human.

Shi Mu flipped his hand and a bolt of red light shone out of it, before fading away to reveal a scarlet longbow as tall as half an adult. The bowstring itself, thick as a person’s little finger, was completely red in color. On the bow limbs, lines and lines of runes were carved, emitting great energy pulses.

It was his Sky Splitting Bow, now a Spiritual Tool that had advanced to a new rank. Due to the material it was made of, the spiritual energy pulses radiated from it were so formidable, it had reached the level of Mid-rank Spiritual Tool.

Shi Mu did not produce any arrow but proceeded to pull the bowstring tautly as he gripped on the bow limb.

Rays of red lights started to appear on the bow until they formed a flaming arrow as thick as an adult’s arm docking on the bow’s notch as Shi Mu aimed at the Human-headed Flame Salamander hiding below the surface.

Deep underground, the Human-headed Flame Salamander seemed to have instinctually sensed something as it started to drill itself even deeper into the earth.

Shi Mu sneered and released his bowstring. His flaming arrow shot out from the bow and dove straight into the earth, leaving only a scorched hole.

At the next millisecond, a bloodcurdling shriek echoed from underground.

…

Ten days later, in one of the Celestial Fire Armory’s chambers, Shi Mu sat quietly with his eyes closed. Cai, meanwhile, was lying on his shoulder quietly, its furry head cocking from left to right as it watched the room intently.

The door to the chamber was suddenly pushed open with a loud creak as Master Gong Xi walked in.

Shi Mu’s eyes fluttered open and looked to the source of the sound, his eyes lighting up in joy.