The Portal of Wonderland

Shi Mu picked up the light-red jade slip and placed it on his forehead. Then, he closed his eyes. This was the same slip on which the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape was recorded.

Shi Mu opened his eyes after he had studied the slip for half-an-hour. His complexion looked unsightly and his brows were tightly knitted.

He had read the introduction of this Art back in the Blood Chamber. But now, he had browsed through the entire nine stages of this art. He realized that the practice-process of this art wasn’t complex. In fact, it was easy to understand. But, he couldn’t begin to practice it immediately.

One needed to possess a monkey or ape class blood to practice the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape. Then, one could begin to practice the art by drawing the support from the Demon Qi.

According to the jade slip, the Demon Qi was a special vitality which could be found in some dark and evil places. This Demon Qi was different from spiritual energy. In addition, it was harmful for the human body.

The Demon Qi was required to temper one’s body and strengthen one’s nerves and bones for the practice of this art. That’s why the practice-process of this art was extremely painful.

It was almost impossible for a martial arts practitioner like Shi Mu to withstand the tempering of his body. This was because he had never practiced a Hou Tian level technique before. In addition, he lacked the Real Qi which was essential to protect one’s vital parts and meridians. Even a slight carelessness in the practice-process could destroy his meridians; he could be left disabled for life. He might even end up dead if his Real Qi exploded during the process.

There was no mention of Real Qi in the introduction of the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape. However, there must be certain extent of Real Qi required in vivo before the start of the practice of this art. Otherwise, the practice of this art would turn into a suicide attempt.

A trace of hesitation crossed Shi Mu’s face.

Shi Mu couldn’t practice the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape at his current level. However, he didn’t need to practice two arts simultaneously. Therefore, he might as well start to practice the Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephants with single-hearted devotion. He could start the practice of the Art of Breeding a Strong Evil Ape once he had cultivated some Real Qi.

Shi Mu kept the light-red jade slip aside as he reached this conclusion. Then, he picked up the white slip.

He placed the white slip on his forehead and sat down cross-legged.

He opened his eyes after an hour.

Then, he put down the slip. His eyes were slightly narrowed. There was a look of excitement on his face.

He had memorized the entire eleven stages of the Art of Breeding Heavenly Elephants. This art was easy to comprehend; as stated in its introduction.

Shi Mu took a deep breath and got up. He stretched his body to relax his muscles. Then, he again sat down cross-legged on the bed. He meditated the mnemonic rhymes of this art for a while. After that, he kept his arms flat on his knees and assumed a meditative posture.

Shi Mu had practiced Body Tempering Arts of martial disciple level till now. However, Hou Tian arts were quite different. A practitioner had to sense the presence of spiritual power in the surrounding environment in Hou Tian arts. Then, he had to absorb this spiritual power into his body to transform it into Real Qi.

The intelligence of the cultivator, the art that was being practiced and the practice environment – all these factors were closely related to this process.

The strength of the Qi-sensing was directly related to the talent of the practitioner. However, it was easier to absorb the spiritual power into one’s body if the art was exquisite. The amount of spiritual power present in the environment was also very important.

Shi Mu sat down quietly and tried to calm his mind down. Then, he exerted all his efforts to start the practice of the first layer of the art.

The corners of his mouth curled into a bitter smile after a while.

He had already comprehended the process of Qi-sensing. But, the flow of blood in his meridians was sluggish even though he could feel the spiritual power in his environment. This was making it difficult for him to absorb the spiritual power into his body even though he had spent a long time attempting it.

However, Shi Mu maintained his calm and kept trying. He was clearer about sensing the spiritual power now. However, his blood vessels produced a light blocking-repulsion force every time he tried to absorb the spiritual power in his meridians. And this light blocking-repulsion kept repelling the spiritual power every time.

Suddenly, Shi Mu recalled Li Cang Hai’s words. According to him… his Stone Monkey blood would create a strong force to block his blood vessels. So, his speed of condensing Real Qi would be much inferior to other people. His words had turned out to be true.

Shi Mu sighed in his heart as this thought crossed his mind. However, even this couldn’t discourage him. On the contrary, his eyes lit-up with a firm and resolute look.

The Stone Monkey blood hadn’t blocked his practice in a thorough manner. It was true that his practice speed would be a lot slower than others. But, he could make up for his poor natural talent by hard work. Fighting for more practicing resources in a sect like the Black Demon Sect would be no big deal for him as long as he had enough strength. Therefore, his future accomplishments wouldn’t fall behind other people.

It was night now. Shi Mu had been defeated numerous times by now. Eventually, he held the miraculous glow – a tiny wisp of the spiritual power, and carefully introduced it into his body. It slowly started to circulate in his meridians.

Shi Mu didn’t dare slack-off for even a second. However, he couldn’t control himself and his eyes lit up with happiness.

He realized that he had finally set out on the path to pursue martial arts.

Time rolled on. The dark night was taken over by the bright daylight; and then the night arrived again. But, Shi Mu continued to sit in the same posture with his legs crossed. He was motionless.

Suddenly, his body quivered slightly. This made him open his eyes.

He took the support of his bed and stood up. Then, he abruptly jumped to the ground.

He had tortured himself for an entire day and night. However, there wasn’t a single trace of exhaustion on his face. In fact, he was brimming with high spirits and inexhaustible strength.

Bang! Bang!

Shi Mu shook his arms and pounded his fists twice. His fists cut through the air and exuded a strange howling sound. It seemed as if he had set off two big firecrackers.

He looked at his hands.

Shi Mu hadn’t obtained much physical strength, but the strength of his fists had increased magnificently.

He could feel a slight fluctuation of a strange airflow streaming slowly in his meridians. The airflow started to flow faster as he concentrated. Then, it condensed and advanced towards his lower abdomen. After that, it changed into a wisp of extremely thin Real Qi.

Shi Mu had achieved this with a day and night of self-torture – he had finally condensed his first wisp of Real Qi. His Qi was as slim as a piece of silk, but it proved that Shi Mu could become a true Hou Tian Warrior. Moreover, the might of his fist had been magnified because of that strand of Real Qi.

Shi Mu’s face revealed a trace of delight. However, he again started to condense a wisp of Real Qi on his left palm after a little hesitation.

Suddenly, his palm turned hot and expanded a bit. Then, the edge of his palm started to exude a faint white light; it seemed similar to the Blood Palm of the Fifth Master of the Jin family.

Suddenly, his stature flashed a few times as he arrived in a small courtyard. He looked around and noticed a millstone-sized blue stone in a corner.

Shi Mu shouted and pounced forward like a cheetah. He threw his Real Qi-condensed hand forward and hit the stone with great force.

“Arghh!”

“Puff” a muffled sound burst out.

Shi Mu’s stature flashed and he almost flew back to his original place as he pounded the stone with his palm. This entire process happened in just a couple of breaths’ time.

Shi Mu’s movement and hit had been extremely fast; so much so that people with poor eyesight wouldn’t even see his movement.

Snap!

A clear print of the palm appeared on the stone. Multiple cracks appeared around that print. These cracks quickly spread in all directions.

The millstone-sized blue stone turned into a pile of broken stones, and scattered all-over the place.