The Portal of Wonderland

"Hehe, you're overpraising me, Lady Zi Ling. I only hope that I don't get pushed out of the top 50," Shi Mu said.

Zi Ling heard the words and smiled a little without saying anything more.

Just then, there was a sudden rumble in the sky. A dozen bright lights flew from a distance and landed on the cyan stone platform.

As the light converged, three guardians appeared on the stage. This time, there were an additional two people standing right beside the three guardians.

The red-browed youth came up to the stage again and glanced around the ring.

"The third round is about to begin. To all disciples, please go up on the stage now!"

As he made the announcement, a blue light illuminated the left side of the ring, leaving an open area.

"Please take care of Cai for me once more. I apologize again for being such a burden," Shi Mu said to Ma Long.

"Don't worry about it, brother Shi Mu. Just focus on the competition and leave the rest to me," Ma Long whispered and nodded.

Cai did not hesitate this time and immediately flew from Shi Mu to Ma Long's shoulder.

Shi Mu and Zi Ling both looked at each other and went onto the stage together, following the other disciples to the side.

Beside them, a number of figures had also fallen and lined up in order according to their current ranking.

Shi Mu stood in the thirty-seventh spot. On his left was a strong-looking demon warrior with a crocodile tail. On his right was a voluptuous red-haired woman.

"I will not repeat the rules this time. There's only one opportunity for everyone so please decide it yourself! A final reminder that the same person can only accept up to three challenges. Is everyone clear?" the red-browed youth asked.

"Yes!" everyone replied in unison.

"Well, I now announce the qualifying challenge has officially begun!"

Just as his voice just fell, there was chaos on the right side of the ring where the upper disciples had lined up. 𝘧𝗿ee𝚠𝙚𝙗𝑛o𝚟𝐞l.𝐜૦𝗺

In contrast to the silence at the beginning of the second round of trials, several rushed out of the queue to challenge at the same time.

"My name is Chen Zuomu who ranked sixty-ninth. I would like to challenge disciple Shi Mu who ranked thirty-seventh," said a young man with a long thin body and skin as rough as wood grains.

As soon as his word came out, the faces of the other disciples who initially wanted to challenge were annoyed and sighed a few times as they returned to their spot.

"It's starting! It's starting!"

At the back of the stage, someone screamed in excitement. At the gambling table not far from the stage, as soon as the light opened up, it was quickly filled with people.

Shi Mu walked to the center of the stage under the watchful eyes of the crowd as he came face to face with the elder disciple named Chen Zuomu.

Shi Mu's eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked at him from head to toe with a slight smile.

Before the gambling table, Ma Long turned back to look at the stage and back to the gambling table.

"Hurry up and place your bet! Chen Zuomu versus Shi Mu. Chen Zuomu three to one, Shi My one to four. Buy now before it's too late!" Duan Muguang shouted.

"My money's on Chen Zuomu for the win…"

"I'm going for Chen Zuomu as well…"

"I'm betting on Chen Zuomu too…"

Almost everyone at the gambling table placed their bets on Chen Zuomu to win.

Everyone witnessed the battle three days ago and thought that Shi Mu only won due to Liao Yong obviously underestimating his foe. Though Shi Mu did his best, he sustained a great deal of injury as well. He was currently not in the best state as he had not completely recovered, and his strength was greatly reduced.

Of course, there were a few people who wanted to use this opportunity to earn more top-quality spirit stones. Almost none of them believed that Shi Mu could win this round of battle, and did not view him as a good fighter.

"I'm putting my money on Shi Mu!" Ma Long's voice called out from among the noisy crowd.

After making her statement, she immediately placed a large bag of top-quality spirit stones on the table.

Though her voice was not loud and it sounded somewhat awkward, many around the gambling table were surprised.

A wretched middle-aged disciple saw the beautiful Ma Long and thought that she did not quite understand the loss one might incur if they lost the gamble.

"Young lady, don't place such high bets on Shi Mu. Although he beat Liao Yong a few days ago, he's still a nee disciple. It's better to put your money on the older disciples since they've been training in the Holy Land for far longer. Frankly, he doesn't stand much of a chance."

As Ma Long listened to the middle-aged disciple's reminder, she frowned slightly as she was in deep thought. Suddenly, she reached out and threw another small bag of top-quality spirit stones onto the table.

"For this, I'm also betting on Shi Mu winning," Ma Long said, this time with a much louder and clearer voice, full of courage and resolve.

The bigger pouch containing about three hundred and sixty spirit stones was from Shi Mu. The smaller pouch containing two hundred and sixty spirit stones was Ma Long's own. She bet all of them at once.

"Okay, the betting is now closed. The battle will begin soon. No more bets!" Duan Muguang smiled as he glanced at Ma Long then removed his gaze.

The middle-aged disciple looked at Ma Long like a fool but she did not care about him at all. Her eyes were fixated on the ring.

"My name is Shi Mu from the Cerulean Sea Star and of the human race," Shi Mu said.

"My name is Chen Zuomu from the Woodland Star and of the Qingmu demon clan," Chen Zuomu replied.

Shi Mu stretched out one hand and made a gesture insisting his opponent to make the first move.

Chen Zuomu did not dare to underestimate his enemy's strength.

He placed his hands together as his body began to brightly shine with a green light. A ten-foot-high cyan tree rose from his back.

With a wave of his hand, dozens of cyan vines that were hanging down from the giant tree were raised up high in the blue light. Like rows of javelins, they quickly shot toward Shi Mu with amazing speed!

They were so fast it was like they broke through the air!

Shi Mu saw this and jumped lightly off his toes.

Dum dum!

The spot where he was standing a moment ago raised in a burst of smoke and tumbling noises as dozens of vines plunged into the floor of the ring.

Shi Mu turned over and landed on his toes. He now had the Wishful Steel Staff in his hand.

Chen Zuomu saw this and was annoyed. He raised both his hands and slammed them down hard at the same time.

The energy construct of the giant tree shined brightly and its trunk had hundreds of vines around it. It was as thick as an arm and messy like a bird's nest of hair as it rushed toward Shi Mu bursting at the same time.

Shi Mu's pace was constantly changing as he tried to avoid the vines one after another. However, the vines chased after him at every chance they had.

Dum dum dum…

There was a series of sharp piercing sounds as the vines chasing Shi Mu were nailed into the stone platform. A vine cage was formed on the platform, restricting movement to within an area of fewer than three feet.

"Brother Shi Mu, don't waste your effort. There is no way you can escape my wood rattan cage!" Chen Zuomu blinked and said confidently.

"I'm sorry. All I have is brute force and strength to fight you," Shi Mu said.

As he spoke, the Wishful Steel Staff in his hand slammed into the vines with great force.

Boom!

The long staff straightened up and Shi Mu could feel numbness in his arm. There was only a small crack on the vine and it did not break completely.

"Since I can't make you give up then I shall force you to give up!" Chen Zuomu shouted.

It seemed that the blue light in his body was more abundant and the wood grain on his skin became clearer. On the giant tree were dozens of vines intertwined with each other, turning into a sturdy vine rifle. The light flowed, giving off a very bold feeling.

Chen Zuomu held one hand on his chest and the thick vine lance came to life like a dragon. He came to the top of the cage in a moment and hung his head down to take aim at Shi Mu's head.

This was not even near enough to scare Shi Mu into admitting defeat. He took the Wishful Steel Staff in front of him and turned it from left to right.

"Brother Shi Mu, this lance of mine possesses the power to break even a mountain. I will ask you once again. Are you sure you will not admit defeat?"

At this point, Chen Zuomu was sure he had won the battle and appeared generous in asking Shi Mu once again.

Shi Mu did not answer and continued gazing at the long staff in his hands.

Huff… huff… huff…

Suddenly, a whistling sound echoed in the air like a beast growling in a depressed low-pitched tone.

With Shi Mu's staff speeding up, the white airflow beside him began to condense, making it visible to the naked eye.

The shape of the airflow looked like a low-lying beast.

Chen Zuomu sensed something was wrong with Shi Mu and immediately clenched his fist down to the ground.

Along with his movements, the thick vine spear hovered above Shi Mu. It had created a violently rotating cyan airflow, squatting toward Sh Mu.

At this time, Shi Mu's eyes flashed and he did not bother about the vine spear coming at his head. He held onto the staff and slammed hard in Chen Zuomu's direction.

"Art Of The Tiger Paw!"

With a loud boom, Shi Mu's Wishful Steel Staff smashed into the ground and broke it. Countless dust and gravel emerged.

The white airflow that was originally suppressed by Shi Mu broke away from the bondage in an instant. It had turned into a white tiger and rhinoceros, rushing toward Chen Zuomu.

Due to the incredible speed of the white tiger and rhinoceros, they were able to pass through the gap between the vine cages. In front of everyone's eyes, the white tiger and rhinoceros ran straight into Chen Zuomu.

Chen Zuomu was shocked and only managed to push the giant tree in front to block the attack.

Boom!

It seemed that the cyan giant tree crashed and Chen Zuomu's lanky figure was thrown out of it like a broken kite onto the stone platform.

At the same time, the strong vine spear had fallen under the momentum of the rainbow. It fell not less than three feet from Shi Mu.

In midair, the red-browed referee fell to Chen Zuomu's side. After a probe, he found that he had just fainted and the injury was not serious.

Shi Mu turned the black longstaff in his hand back to the size of a toothpick and swallowed it for safekeeping. After that, he bent down on his knees and coughed a few times before sighing as if he was physically exhausted. He slowly walked back to the queue of the disciple's initial spot.

If Cai had been there at that moment, he would undoubtedly have a hard time suppressing his laugh while looking at Shi Mu trying to keep his emotions hidden.

However, to an outsider, it seemed that Shi Mu had tried his absolute best just to unleash his staff technique and was now bone-tired. In their minds, Shi Mu was barely able to beat his opponent. Some in the crowd even snorted at him.