The Portal of Wonderland

"This mission is to explore a secluded iron mine and retrieve something deep within. The current situation in the mine has been outlined in the mission description. This mine is filled with a natural magnetic field which greatly limits the true nature of the qi. My clan is helpless, so we asked for assistance from the Holy Land," Fang Bozheng said.

"I know that much, but what is this particular item you would like to retrieve?" Shi Mu nodded and asked.

Fang Bozheng and the two Fang brothers were the only ones left in the hall.

Both of them looked at each other with eagerness. Fang Bozheng mouthed "It's a sword."

He waved and a jade slip appeared which he handed to Shi Mu.

Shi Mu released his spirit sense into it and an image emerged on the jade slip. The picture was a painting of a broken black sword. The style of the weapon was quite strange.

After a long silence, Shi Mu withdrew his spirit sense and asked "This sword seems unusual. You looked nervous talking about it. Let me guess, it must be a treasure of your clan. So why is it deep in the mine?"

"This is our internal matter. You may be a disciple of the Holy Land, but you have no right to barge into our family's affairs," a middle-aged man whispered coldly.

"I have no interest in spying on the secrets of your clan, but I believe that such information could help me complete this task. It is my intention to retrieve the sword for you," Shi Mu said faintly.

The middle-aged man heard his words and remained silent as a coldness flashed across his eyes.

"Hmph! That's only if you even have the ability to retrieve the sword deep within the mine," Fang Jinghai said coldly.

"Jinghai, hold your tongue!" Fang Bozheng reprimanded immediately.

"This guy here, Fang Jinghai, seems dissatisfied with me ever since I set foot in this fortress," Shi Mu said as he glanced at Jinghai.

"I only believe in strength after witnessing it for myself. Those who came before said the same, but their words were nothing," Fang Jinghai said with anger in his tone. 𝒇𝗿𝙚ℯ𝑤ℯ𝑏𝒏𝑜ѵe𝙡.c𝐨ｍ

"Oh really…?"

Shi Mu spit out the words in a mocking demeanor as his eyes swept across those standing in the midst.

His right hand flashed with black light and a chill suddenly swept through the entire hall. Thin ice appeared in the hall, chilling everyone present deep within their bones.

Ka ka!

Not only did ice appear in the hall, Fang Jinghai, Fang Bozheng, and the others present were covered with a layer of ice as well.

Their expressions changed greatly as they were helplessly trying to release a glow of light to break free from the layer of white ice. Aside from Fang Bozheng who was able to free himself, the others were not so lucky.

Shi Mu waved again. With the black light flowing through his hands, the ice shrank and melted away.

The chill in the hall disappeared and not a single crack on the floors of the table and chairs could be seen. It was as if the layer of ice was never there in the first place.

Fang Bozheng and others looked at Shi Mu in horror. Not only were they fearing over the ice attack, but the power Shi Mu held to even control ice in the first place.

In fact, Shi Mu had only used the sense of the water element in the air. Through the power of the Nine Revolution Mysterious Art, he was able to instantly solidify the water vapor in order to achieve the shocking effect of turning it into ice.

With the slight mobilization of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art and the power of the yang energy, he worried that others would recognize the fact that he was cultivating one of the three strongest techniques in the Holy Land of Qinglan.

"Well, are you satisfied with my strength now? Or would you rather have me go a few more rounds?" Shi Mu did not look at Fang Jinghai but smiled faintly at both Fang Bozheng and the two other middle-aged men standing at the back.

Fang Bozheng blushed slightly as he showed a sly smile across his face.

Although he seemed gracious, it would not be a surprise if he had instructed Fang Jinghai to test out his strength.

"Sect fellow Shi Mu, you are indeed strong. I admire that," Fang Bozheng said with satisfaction.

"How polite of you. So, let's talk about the details of the task now, shall we?"

Fang Bozheng remained silent for a moment before waving in agreement.

Fang Jinghai and Fand Jingde both headed out, leaving only four clansmen remaining in the hall.

"The sword is known as the Ancient Imperial Sword. Although it is but a remnant, it's still the heirloom of my clan."

"It's clear that all of you are practicing sword-type magic," Shi Mu nodded and said.

"Not bad." Fang Bozheng nodded but the positive expression on his face soon faded.

"It's also unfortunate to say, a few years ago, there was a traitor in our clan who stole the sword. He was chased out by our family. Without nowhere to go, he was forced to retreat to the nearby cave. Seeing how the other clansmen were right on his tail, he had resorted to entering the mine along with the sword. For the past decade, we have been desperately trying to retrieve the sword, but it was a sorry failure. In the end, we had to seek help from the Holy Land of Qinglan."

The other two middle-aged people were stunned as well as they never wanted such an embarrassing matter to be known to outsiders.

After listening, Shi Mu nodded slowly.

"Since the Fang clan tried so many times, it would be fair to say that you have knowledge on the current situation in the mine, am I right?"

"There is a strong magnetic field in the mine but it's nothing serious. The real issue arose when strange monsters began to appear deep within. I was unable to hold them off so I sealed the mine to keep anyone from entering," Fang Bozheng said as he took out a jade slip and handed it to Shi Mu.

"This is some of the information we gained from exploring the interior of the mine for the past few years. Take it. It might come in handy."

As soon as Shi Mu reached out and came into contact with it, his spirit sense was released and his eyebrows rose slightly as the knowledge seeped deep into his mind.

There were several kinds of strange monsters listed in the jade slip, including the map of the mine that the Fang clan explored.

After a while, Shi Mu withdrew his spirit sense.

After a moment of silence, he asked "These monsters… Have you found any possible way to defeat them?"

Fang Bozheng shook his head in frustration.

"These monsters seem to sustain themselves on the secluded iron ore in the mine. Their bodies became extremely hard as a result. We tried our absolute best. Our only solution was to imprison them with a barrier spell to avoid them from harming us in any way."

Shi Mu's eyes flashed as he began to come up with countless strategies in his mind.

"But those monsters seem to hate the smell produced by a type of medicinal herb known as the Semblance Shen Vine. This type of herb is used to create a special kind of illusion that has the ability to temporarily drive away those worms," said Fang Bozheng.

Shi Mu nodded.

The two of them talked about the mine for a moment longer before leaving each other's company.

Night fell and it was too late now for Shi Mu to travel back to Qinglan. Since Shi Mu would be the one potentially helping them resolve their issue, Fang Bozheng invited him to stay over for the night and head to the mine the next morning. Shi Mu did not turn down the offer at all.

Late at night in Shi Mu's room, he portrayed the symbol charm on his desk as his right hand lit up white light, infusing it with the blue symbol charm.

The blue symbol charm was extremely complicated and emitted a strong chilly wave. It was undoubtedly a top-grade symbol charm.

Once the symbol charm was drawn, Shi Mu put it aside. There were already a dozen sheets stacked on top of each other.

He looked at the blue symbol on the charm spell in his hand and sighed quietly.

For the past few years since he arrived in the Holy Land of Qinglan, he had been busy with the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. It had been long since he last studied the charm spell. He would only occasionally draw up a few charm spells during his free time.

In the Holy Spirit Pavilion, there were quite a few classical books. Unfortunately, he was unable to find the time to indulge in some special research, otherwise his trip to the mine tomorrow would have been more secure.

Shi Mu had secretly made up his mind that once this task was completed, he would definitely make time to catch up on all the charm spells.

...

In one of the rooms of the Fang clan, Fang Bozheng and the two middle-aged men were present. Both Fang Jinghai and Jingde had gathered around as well.

"Lord clansman, do you really think that Shi Mu is capable of completing the task tomorrow?" one of the middle-aged men asked Fang Bozheng with stern eyes.

"Though he was only in his late stages of Earth rank, his strength was not at all weak. You all saw it yourselves with your own naked eyes. If you fear that danger is upon us, you can seal the mine up. I presume you know what you should do now," the other middle-aged man with green hair spoke up while Bozheng remained silent.

"The man's ice power is indeed extremely impressive but once a person enters the mine, their qi would be useless as well," the middle-aged man snapped back.

As soon as such a statement was made, the middle-aged man with green hair remained silent.

"This person was not a mere disciple. Since he entered the gates to our fortress, I've been watching over him carefully. His aura and qi are extraordinary, and his technique is not over-reliant on the physical body. Even in the mine, it wouldn't be much of a problem to him. In addition, I had researched his background. He was the disciple who broke through the Enchanted Road a few years ago, getting promoted to an Earth-grade millennium disciple in his late stages," Fang Jingde said.

Everyone present had a peculiar expression at those words. Fang Jinghai was in disbelief.

"Jingde, you've done a great job. So, it seems this person is worth a try," Bozheng said as he nodded in satisfaction.

Seeing as the head of the clansmen had now spoken up, the others did not say anything more, but glanced at each other a few more times.

...

In the early morning of the second day, several clansmen of the Fang Clan left toward the northwest along with Shi Mu.

After a little over half a day, they arrived at a deep mountain where the desolate mine was located.

Shi Mu looked around, noting that he was surrounded by mines that had been abandoned for a long time.

As soon as he landed, he could feel a strange power in the ground. The inner Real Qi in his body was slightly affected and it seemed to be due to the strange magnetic field underground.

"Sect fellow Shi Mu, the Serene Moon Mine is right below," Fang Bozheng walked deep into the mine and pointed.

Shi Mu heard his words and stepped forward as well. ƒ𝘳𝗲𝑒𝒘𝐞𝚋𝚗𝐨v𝘦l.𝒄o𝐦

He walked for about a quarter of an hour until he arrived at the peak of the mountain and stood at the entrance of the black mine. The surrounding rocks seemed to be shining with strange bull lights due to being mixed together with some small metal blocks.

As soon as he had gotten here, the strange coldness applied itself onto Shi Mu more. The Real Qi within his body had been delayed.

"This is the Serene Moon Mine," Fang Bozheng said.