Chapter 225: Exchanging Flowers

Suddenly, the soul flame brightened in Yan Luo's eyes. It then raised its head, and looked towards Shi Mu. The black smoke around its body had also somewhat thickened. In addition, a whirlwind had also begun to originate around its body. Then, Yan Luo's hand moved, and slowly raise the bone spear.

"Don't be impatient! I can give you this flower. But, you will have to exchange your green flower for this one," Shi Mu said. Then, he waved his hand and the red lotus appeared in his hand again. He then pointed at the green flower that was inserted in Yan Luo's head.

Yan Luo's soul flame twinkled twice; it seemed like it was somewhat hesitant. But, its hesitation subsided as its eyes fell on the flower that was in Shi Mu's hand. It took down the green flower from its head, and tossed it towards Shi Mu. And, it clamped its hands to catch the red lotus at the same time.

Shi Mu hurriedly caught the green flower. He felt an ice-cold sensation in the petals of this flower. This feeling was similar to the one he had experienced before.

His heart brimmed with exhilaration. He then sized up the green flower in a careful manner.

He then raised his head. But, he noticed that Yan Luo had already returned to the Dead Spirit World. Only a few wisps of black smoke were floating in the air. But, they also disappeared quickly.

His corners of the mouth moved, and he let out a sigh. He felt a little ashamed in the depth of his heart.

He then shook his head, and tossed this thought out of his mind.

The Lu Shan Kingdom was close at hand. So, he would have to experience many hardships from now on. Therefore, he'd need to enhance his strength as soon as possible.

"Shi Tou, what is this flower?" Cai came over, and landed on Shi Mu's shoulder.

"It's a good thing."

Shi Mu didn't explain anything further to Cai. He then received his black blade and short stick. After that, he walked to one side, and sat down beside a boulder.

"There's something important that I need to do. So, I'm handing over the security part to you," Shi Mu threw a glance at Cai as he said.

"This is such a troublesome thing," Cai complained. But, it still spread its wings and flew up.

Shi Mu looked up towards the sky, and his lips creased into a smile.

The layers of clouds that had been in the middle of the sky had dissipated. And, this had gradually revealed the bright moon in the sky.

The moonlight was sprinkling its silver radiance on the ground in the vicinity. And, it seemed as if it was bathing the earth below. There was a straight mountain peak not far from him. It looked like a gigantic stone pillar that was piercing the sky.

The mountain peak appeared very vigorous and majestic even though it wasn't that lofty.

This small mountain peak had been named 'Small Heavenly Peak' by the local people. And, the fact was that this name seemed quite befitting.

Shi Mu gazed at the mountain peak for some time. Then, he retracted his vision. And, his eyes again fell on the green flower in his hand.

A beam of green light was flowing on the surface of that flower.

Shi Mu's eyes flashed as he cautiously plucked out a petal with his fingers.

"Pop" The flower petal crumbled into pieces as soon as it was separated from the flower. Then, those fragments transformed into a tiny wisp of green airflow.

After that, a spurt of bright light flashed on Shi Mu's palm. Then, his magic power seeped out through his body, and wrapped around the green air current.

The green air current issued a "whiz' sound as it came in contact with his magic power. Then, it integrated with the magic power.

Shi Mu closed his eyes, and stimulated his soul to guide this magic power. He then absorbed the magic power into his body. Suddenly, a stream of Yin-attribute cold Qi flowed through his meridians, and wandered throughout his body. And, it eventually integrated into his lower abdomen.

Shi Mu opened his eyes after a moment. And, a hint of happiness flashed through his eyes.

He sensed that his magic power had increased exponentially, and this was just like he had expected. He had now reached the middle of the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power's seventh stage!

Shi Mu sucked in a deep breath, and suppressed his excitement. Then, he pulled out another green petal.

...

In the Dead Spirit World...

The sky was covered with a curtain of eternal gloominess.

There was a basin in the vicinity of a black and lofty mountain peak; the peak was hundreds of feet in height. Suddenly, a plume of black smoke emerged in the centre of this basin out of thin air. It was followed by Yan Luo's silhouette that floated out from within. The red lotus could be seen sticking out on top of its head.

There was a pool near the basin. Some faint-red substances could be indistinctly seen in that pool. It seemed as if it was a deep-water pool.

Fifty or more skeleton soldiers stood near the pool. Their bodies were covered with a suit of bone armor. They seemed to be guarding something. Suddenly, they saw that Yan Luo had appeared. So, they walked over and stood behind Yan Luo.

Yan Luo beckoned with its hand, and those skeletons went to one side.

There was an open area near the pool. But, the ground was piled-up with large quantities of bones and skeletons. In fact, they seemed to be almost one-hundred in number.

Yan Luo remained standing in the same place for a moment. Then, it shifted its vision towards that black mountain.

The top of the mountain peak was shrouded in a layer of dark-gray fog. The dense fog made it difficult to see the appearance of the summit from the distance. However, a trace of heavy pressure could be faintly felt there.

Yan Luo then withdrew his vision, and walked over to the side of those skeletons' corpses.

The soul flame flickered in its eyes in a severe manner. Then, a wisp of soul flame flew out from its mouth, and submerged into a skeleton's head that lay on the ground.

Suddenly, a little green light gleamed in that skeleton's eyes. Then, that green radiance changed into two green soul flames. After that, the skeleton on the ground showed a little movement. And, it soon started to assemble its body parts by itself. It had soon taken the form of a complete human skeleton.

The skeleton then moved its hands and feet a few times. After that, it walked to the side, and stood beside those fifty skeleton warriors.

Afterwards, Yan Luo took a step, and stood by the side of another pile of skeletal bones...

The number of the skeleton warriors who stood upright on their feet had reached seventy after a long time. However, the brightness of Yan Luo's soul flame had dimmed by a margin.

Yan Luo finally came to a stop. It then arrived at the side of the deep-water pool. It was about to jump into it. But, its body suddenly stiffened.

Yan Luo had seen its reflection in the water. And, it had noticed that the red lotus that was inserted in its head had already withered. In fact, it had turned into a withered branch-like gray thing.

Yan Luo was left dumbfounded for a moment. Then, it removed that withered thing from its head.

After that, it issued a long and soundless shout, and stamped its foot in a fierce manner. Its soul flame also showed a burst of fluctuations.

Yan Luo returned to its normal state after some time. It threw the withered flower that it held in his hand, and plunged into the pool.

...

The last piece of green petal had also turned into a stream of cold air half-an-hour later. Then, it integrated into Shi Mu's body under the guidance of his magic power.

Shi Mu opened his eyes, and the two faint rays of light were emanated from his eyes. His face beamed with happiness.

He had absorbed the entire green flower. And, his magic power had surprisingly reached the peak of the ninth stage. He was only a step away from stepping into the Star-Grade magician's realm now.

However, his magic power had basically depended on some external objects. So, it was somewhat unstable and difficult to control. In fact, it was far inferior to the stable magic power Shi Mu had previously accumulated from the Moon-Swallowing Art.

However, this wasn't a big issue. Shi Mu was confident that he could control this newly accumulated magic power if he got some time.

He took a long and deep breath, and suppressed his overwhelming excitement. Then, he raised his head and looked towards the bright moon in the sky. An idea crossed his mind. And, he immediately exhibited the posture of the Moon-Swallowing Art.

He entered the dreamland after some time, and found himself incarnated into the white ape.

The silver radiance of the moonlight began to fall and integrate into the white ape's body.

Meanwhile, Shi Mu sized up the surrounding area. He found that this place was different from the previous one.

The white ape sat cross-legged on the top of a horizontal mountain peak at this moment. The surface of the mountain was dark-green in color. It looked like a gigantic stone pillar that soared high into the sky.

"This mountain peak..."

Shi Mu felt a little surprised. The appearance of this skyscraping mountain peak looked somewhat similar to that small mountain peak.

There was a presence of an extremely rich spiritual energy in the vicinity of this towering mountain peak. In addition, the mountain was laden with numerous luxuriant trees that were unusually tall. Their gigantic height reminded Shi Mu of the trees he had seen in the Barbarian Wasteland.

The white ape sat on a boulder. Many beasts could be seen in the vicinity.

Wolves, bears, tigers, lions, and so on...

These beasts were intently gazing towards the white ape who was fully absorbed in absorbing the moonlight. However, their faces were revealing a hint of veneration.

A few of them were quick-witted. So, they had imitated the white ape, and had assumed the Moon-Swallow Art's posture. But, it was only natural that they couldn't absorb the moonlight...

There were rolling mountain ranges near this lofty peak. But, they weren't as high as this towering peak. The forest on these mountains looked scarce and desolate. In fact, it gave off the ambience of the barbarians Wasteland.

Moreover, a few volcanoes could be seen not far from this lofty mountain peaks. And, they seemed connected to each other. They would often puff out a plume of black smoke toward the sky. In addition, they would also spout bright-red magma from time-to-time with a loud thundering sound.

There were hundreds of beasts in the vicinity. But, they seemed accustomed to these volcanoes... so much so that they didn't even pour a glance towards them.

A little time passed. More and more moonlight radiance was converging into the white ape's body now.

It gradually started to seem as if the white ape's body was shrouded in a layer of faint-silver smoke.

The white ape's body suddenly exuded a dazzling white light at this moment. Then, it raised its head skywards, and issued a whistle.

The ape's whistle was similar to the sound of a billowing wave, and it immediately proliferated in all directions. In fact, the sound wave even set off faint ripples in the air...

The surrounding beasts also heard this sound. And, they felt as if a steel awl was drilling into their mind.

The surrounding beasts issued howls of anguish as a result. Then, they put their hands behind their head, and lay prone on the ground.

The white ape's long and loud whistle suddenly stopped. The layer of light shrouding its body also faded away. The moonlight that was converging into its body suddenly took the shape of a huge ape behind its back. Its entire body was white. It was dozens of feet tall, and it looked extremely powerful.

After that, a pair of white wings impressively grew on the ape-like shape. It then stretched to unfold its wings. But, it seemed as if the wings still had room for growth.

The white ape opened its eyes, and a pair of golden pupil fired two beams of golden light.

After that, the white ape stood up and issued a low roar. The magic shadow behind its body flashed. Then, it submerged into the ape's body, and disappeared without a trace.

Bang!

A pair of white wings sprouted on the back of the white ape. It looked as if they were the real thing.

Then, the wings flapped, and the white ape took off into the sky. It then started to hover in the sky freely... just like a bird.

The surrounding beasts issued roar out of excitement when they witnessed this scene. Then, they fell on the knees, and faced skywards towards the white ape.

The white ape revealed a contented facial expression as it saw the actions of the hundreds of beasts below. Then, it began to issue roars, and it seemed as if it was showing-off its strength. It then hovered back-and-forth the lofty mountain peak, and took a few laps.

Some time passed, and it seemed like the white ape had shown-off to its heart content. It no longer paid attention to those beasts. Instead, its vision drifted towards the nearby volcanoes.

A thoughtful expression flashed through the ape's eyes. Then, it spread its wings and flew toward the nearest crater. Then, it flew into the crater.

Shi Mu was within the white ape's body. He suddenly felt the hot and rich fire-attribute spiritual aura around his body.

A huge lake of magma appeared in front of the white ape. However, this brought a trace of excitement in its eyes. It retracted its wings, and jumped into the magma.

There was nothing but darkness in front of Shi Mu's eyes. But, he woke up from the dream the next moment. He had returned to his own body...

The sky had already regained its brightness by now. The moon had also slid down the western horizon. Only a faint shadow of it could be seen...

Shi Mu was blankly gazing into the distance as he tried to recall the situation he had just seen in the dream.

This wasn't the first time he had experienced a different dreamland while practicing the Moon-Swallowing Art. It seemed that he sometimes entered the dreamland based on his own thoughts and feelings. However, these dreams didn't seem to have any special significance. In fact, these dreams were only useful for the Moon-Swallowing Art and Sun-Swallowing Art.

Shi Mu pondered for a moment. Then, he shook his head and tossed away this senseless thought from his mind. He then stood up and gazed into the western horizon. The hint of a complicated look flashed through his eyes.

This was the direction of Heavenly Yu City.