The Portal of Wonderland 461 Holy Tree Summon

"For real?" Shi Mu's mind started racing.
Back inside Heavenrouser where the last shred of White Ape's spirit had passed Shi Mu the Invitation Token, the former had mentioned that with it, Shi Mu would never need any guarantor. He had never asked the spirit why—so maybe this would be the way to test its veracity.
"Well, please, come here and take a seat over here while this lowly one gets someone for you." Huang Zhen, true to his words, brought Shi Mu to a small hall inside the shop and had him seated there before striding out of the hall hurriedly.
About fifteen minutes later, he returned with a respectful face, followed by a new figure—it was a human male in a white robe. The man did not look significantly older than Shi Mu apparently, with his power level eluding Shi Mu's Spiritual Senses even when the latter tried to scan him.
"Sect Fellow Shi, this is one of the benefactors of the Haoran Corp within Qing Lan City itself, Venerable Gu Meng. Respected Venerable, this is Sect Fellow Shi," Huang Zhen started.
Shi Mu stood quickly, cupping his hands before his chest. "Well met, Senior Gu Meng."
"Oh, so you're the candidate planning to join the Entrance Tournament of the Qing Shan Holy Sect looking for a guarantor, yes?" Venerable Gu Meng began as his eyes studied Shi Mu.
"Yes."
Gu Meng's eyes ran through Shi Mu from head to toe a few times before continuing, "You're only an Early Earth-rank martial artist, I see. Despite that, your blood and Qi are incredibly formidable, which means you've dabbled in quite a few cultivation techniques specifically aimed to fortify one's body."
"You're perceptive, Senior," Shi Mu replied as calmly as possible, but he was still quite shaken from being read through like that.
"Business with Haoran Corp is dependable and goal-oriented; We ensure that you will meet every single requirement to enter the Entrance Tournament as long as you manage to meet our price. There is something I would need to remind you, though: you're formidable among your peers of the same rank, but this Entrance Tournament would be bursting with geniuses from every wake of the Star Field. Some of them may even be able to topple Heaven-rank opponents with only Earth-rank powers, too," Gu Meng said, watching Shi Mu intently. "You need to prepare for the fact that your own chance at success may be quite slim."
"Thank you for your concern, Senior," Shi Mu replied, his voice filled with determination. "But I have an additional personal conviction that compels me to join the Entrance Tournament."
"Oh, a personal reason, I see! Well, that makes things much less simple now. Alright, please tell me about yourself and show me your Invitation Token for inspection," Gu Meng replied as he took a seat opposite Shi Mu.
"This lowly one is borne and raised in the Cerulean Sea Star, currently unaffiliated with any Master or Sect," Shi Mu began as he produced the Invitation Token Green Ape had given him.
Gu Meng froze a little the moment his eyes landed on the head of the token. He flipped it to the back, and his expression changed.

He wasn't the only one. The shopkeeper, Huang Zhen, looked just as gobsmacked as well.
Shi Mu noticed their blatant change of expressions quite easily. He hurriedly probed, "Is there… a problem with this token, Senior?"
Gu Meng's gaze shifted from the token and back to Shi Mu, still baffled. He returned the token to Shi Mu and said, "Sect Fellow Shi, what is the impetus of you wasting our times if you've already possessed the Holy Tree Summon?"
"This lowly one does not mean to disrespect Senior Gu Meng in any way," Shi Mu said quickly. Then, he asked, puzzled, "What, er, is a Holy Tree Summon?"
"Venerable Gu Meng, Sect Fellow Shi is new to Qing Lan City with very limited knowledge on the details of the Entrance Tournament," Huang Zhen added helpfully, "I'm certain he truly did not know the worth of this single token, and so did not mean to disrespect you."
"Oh, okay. That's… reasonable," Gu Meng nodded, although his face hasn't completely returned from his previous baffled expression.
"I'm truly sorry for rousing you for nothing particular, Lord Gu Meng," Huang Zhen lowered his head and apologized. "This is entirely my fault."
Gu Meng waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine. Now that I'm not needed, I'll be leaving everything back to you."
He turned without giving as much as a passing glance at Shi Mu and left. Shi Mu, meanwhile, watched Gu Meng's back with his eyebrows furrowed, but he said nothing either.
Once Gu Meng left, Huang Zhen took a seat nearby. "Aww, Sect Fellow Shi, you should have told me that you have the Holy Tree Summon with you!" He complained, a bit dismally. "I looked like a fool there, you know."
"I appreciate it if you could just tell me what's the deal behind this token, Sir Huang," Shi Mu replied.
Huang Zhen flashed him a faint grin. He rummaged through his pocket and fished out a single piece of a green token. He handed it to Shi Mu.
Shi Mu froze almost instantly at the sight. This green token looked exactly the same as his, except that his bore a picture of a tree at the back, but Huang Zhen's bore only a single tree leaf.
Holding Huang Zhen's version in his hand, Shi Mu started, "This token can't be…"
"Oh, yes. This is the Invitation Token everyone usually gets," Huang Zhen answered. "What you got here, though, is a Holy Tree Summon."
"Hmm. What's their actual difference?"
"Not much, really. The Holy Tree Summon is opportune for being an even rarer Invitation Token, really—the Holy Sect only gifts these to individuals and groups with special ties to the Holy Sect. Those who possess a single piece of Holy Tree Summon is predisposed to a few premium perks, such as being completely excused from needing a guarantor," Huang Zhen replied. "Guarantors are very integral to the Entrance Tournament, you see. Just the inability to meet this single requirement alone had caused millions to be disqualified because the Holy Sect knows that Invitation Token may be traded freely among people, so they filter the candidates through a very strict list of acknowledged guarantors."
Shi Mu stared at the green token in his hand as his heart gradually swelled in joy.
Huang Zhen hesitated a little before asking carefully, "Sect Fellow Shi, may I ask? What is your connection with the Holy Sect?"
"No personal connection, really. This lowly one trains on his own by taking up all kinds of techniques he was fortunate enough to come across without the guidance of any formal masters," Shi Mu answered. "This token, however, was given to this lowly one from a Heaven-rank senior. Perhaps it was him who shared a bit of history with Qing Lan Holy Sect."
Huang Zhen nodded. "I see."
Now that Shi Mu had confirmed that he no longer needed a guarantor, he took his leave soon enough. He had just exited Haoran Corp's shop when Cai flew towards him almost immediately.
"Took you some sweet time, Shi Tou," Cai said. "You got all of the information you needed?"
Shi Mu nodded and summoned a Green-winged Flying Carriage. He stepped into it and started cruising to the inner city.
Qing Lan City proved to be a very, very large city—even reaching the Western part of it from the East would take at least half a day if done by walking. Hence, the city did not forbid any form of flight.
There, in the center of the city lies a palace formed by joining five enormous trees together. This was, indeed, where the registration for the Entrance Tournament took place. Around the palace was a sprawling square that was now packed with people, which was only getting even more crowded as more poured into the crowd from the sky.
One of the lights that had zipped down to join the crowd was Shi Mu, who appeared when the green light ceded from his body.
"Whoa! It's crowded like no tomorrow!" Cai exclaimed in bewilderment as soon as it caught sight of the scene.
Shi Mu scanned his surroundings. Everywhere he looked, his eyes were met with heads of different kinds of species while his own feet could barely stand firmly on any part of the square.
Most of the heads belonged to either Demon races or some alien races with a plethora of quirky appearances. There weren't a lot of humans participating, apparently; And even those who did come were squeezed out or hidden among the crowd because of how small they were compared to the other species.
Shi Mu also noticed that everyone present had achieved quite a high level of power ranking too; Most of them were Mid Earth-rank, while Early and Late Earth-rank were fewer.
The Demon races around him were quick to notice a human among them. They were even quicker to launch into some put-downs, too:
"Hey guys, check this out! A puny human has joined the fight!"
"Wait, he's only Early Earth-rank? That's some balls you've got, man, coming here."
"I think you're showing a bit too much admiration for someone who's here on a suicide mission, mate."
Very soon, Shi Mu found himself surrounded by all kinds of insults, scorns, and occasionally, some finger-wagging.
Cai was rightfully furious at their attitude. It was about to open its mouth and fired back at each and every one of them when Shi Mu yanked it down.
"It's alright. If they themselves can't their own mouths, then others like us don't stand a chance at all. Let them be," he said as he strutted towards the palace.
The hall greeting him was large and expansive, but it was still filled with people. Long queues made out of hundreds of people had already formed before a row of stone tables, where a group of people donning a green robe embroidered with an image of a giant tree.
Shi Mu skimmed through the queues and made his way to one of the relatively shorter ones. As he did, he noticed that there were a few individuals who had woven in and out of the crowd, whispering things into ears while some others joined their chat on their own accord as well.
It took him a while to figure it out: these individuals were people looking for anyone in the crowd who would sell them their Invitation Token; Meanwhile, those who came to them were those who wanted to barge into the trade by offering their own sum of money so that they may possess an Invitation Token instead.
"Much apologies. Your guarantor is not qualified as a respectable source of confidence, so you're automatically not eligible for the Entrance Tournament." While Shi Mu was waiting, a middle-aged man donning the uniform of the Qing Lan Holy Sect had returned a token back to a Demon race youth in a yellow robe on the next queue.
The youth reacted quite indignantly, "My guarantor is none other than the Elder Mu Zhe of the famed Secret Cabal of the planet Novembore! He has already achieved Early Heaven-rank! What do you mean he is 'not qualified', huh?"
"Unfortunately, Elder Mu Zhe had committed a grave and unforgivable sin earlier, resulting in his ejection from the Secret Cabal. In other words, Mu Zhe's reputation had slumped to the lowest of low ranks, which also instantly voids any sort of confidence," The middle-aged man replied flatly.
The youth in the yellow robe was stunned for a brief moment, but he opened his mouth just as soon, as if he was about to say something—
"You must be tired, so I would suggest taking a break at the side so as to not obstruct the flow of the registration process," the middle-aged man snapped impatiently with a few appropriate emphases before the youth could say anything. "Next!"
Almost instantaneously, two guards in green armor approached the youth from close by, each of them emanating an aura of a Peak Earth-rank martial artist. They sandwiched the youth in between, with one of them booming, "Excuse us, sir."
The Demon-raced youth turned and shot one last stink-eye at the middle-aged man behind the table, He left without causing a scene, though.
Shi Mu's eyebrow raised at the spectacle. He shook his head and returned his attention back to himself.
As time passed, the people standing before him in the queue left in droves. Most of them were disqualified purely on the basis that their guarantors themselves were deemed unqualified, but still many more had joined the queues, hence lengthening the lines instead.
It took about more than half an hour before Shi Mu finally got closer to the Registration Counter, with only a dozen people between himself and the table.
Cai had been scanning the crowd of people out of pure ennui this whole time, and suddenly, it cried loudly, "Shi Tou, look!"
Shi Mu followed its gaze and froze a little. A group of five red-haired Demon race individuals had entered the hall, with one of them being the red-haired youth Shi Mu had met at the city gate earlier.
Most of those people around him were seen from before, but there was someone new—a girl in the red robe had joined them.
The girl had eyebrows so delicate and arched to perfection that it was as if they were drawn. Her disheveled, smooth red hair settled down placidly on her back, while the red glowing iris in her eyes was dimmer than others'. On her forehead, a blue, tear-shaped crystal rested.
She was wearing a loose, baggy red robe, but it still did not do a good job concealing her voluptuous, curvy body.
Shi Mu's eyes twinkled. Among the red-haired Demon race, this girl alone had achieved the highest rank of power. She was already at Late Earth-rank, and it seemed that she was going to reach Peak Earth-rank very soon.

Chapter end