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Chapter 157: Ch.156 Sorcerer Supreme

After all the running around, a drink to soothe his throat was welcome. And if things were like they were in the movies, wasn\'t this drink supposed to be endless?

Su Ming downed the drink in one go, the ice clinking against the glass as he did so.

The Ancient One sat cross-legged nearby, her hands resting on her knees in a meditative pose, silently watching him drink, a slight smile on her face.

Su Ming realized he had been overly optimistic; the Ancient One was not Doctor Strange. She wouldn\'t use the Eye of Agamotto to reverse time for an infinite drink refill, so the half glass of whisky was just that—a half glass.

He sighed inwardly. It seemed he\'d have to wait until Strange took over if he wanted that endless drink.

He placed the empty glass on the small table in front of him. Despite finding it somewhat odd that the Ancient One, with her ethereal demeanor, was sitting on a leather sofa, he nodded to indicate she could ask her questions.

"Stranger from another world, what is your name?" she asked calmly, starting with a simple and familiar question. Though she already knew the answer, it was always good to start with this.

"Slade Wilson."

The Ancient One nodded, then continued.

"And what is the reason and purpose for your coming to our universe?"

"It was an accident," Su Ming wanted to say he was here for a vacation, but after thinking it over, he opted for a more serious response. "I have no purpose, just trying to survive."

"Actually, I sensed you when you crossed the barrier between worlds, but you\'re not a magic user. The blue energy protecting you doesn\'t belong to you, so I had no reason to appear before you... However, you lingered near the New York Sanctum, and I suppose that is what we call fate."

The Ancient One formed a hand seal, conjuring a small red disk that hovered in her palm, displaying images of Su Ming\'s arrival. It replayed the scene of his sudden appearance in the universe, wrapped in blue light as he passed through the atmosphere, eventually crashing into the ocean.

Su Ming maintained a gentle smile, though inwardly, he was cursing. The New York Sanctum was far away from where he had been; this was just an excuse. She was definitely still curious about Doctor Manhattan\'s power.

"I am a warrior; magic is not for me," Su Ming quickly clarified that the blue energy was an accidental byproduct, and he knew nothing about it.

The Ancient One accepted his explanation. Her assessment was the same. The universe was vast, and somewhere, there might be artifacts capable of sending people to other dimensions or worlds. People had entered this universe before, and others had left it. Many had disappeared for various reasons, and the Ancient One had seen her fair share of such occurrences.

She lit a nearby incense burner, watching the smoke rise and coil around the ceiling.

"Do you enjoy killing?"

"It\'s just business. Work is about getting paid, and in reality, everyone is a different kind of mercenary," Su Ming answered nonchalantly. "Some people are hired to deal with trees, others to deal with fish. I\'m simply hired to deal with other people."

"An interesting perspective. The concept of hired work has indeed been around for a long time. Tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors would fight for others in exchange for food or hormones," the Ancient One tilted her head slightly, giving Su Ming an approving smile, indicating she had no prejudice against mercenaries. "So, what do you think of this world?"

Su Ming immediately tensed. This was a trap question. Whether he spoke positively or negatively of the world, it would imply that he had already "observed" it. But on the surface, he had only been in this world for just over a month, either on an island or at sea—how could he have seen anything?

If he admitted to having seen anything, it would suggest a premeditated intent, and the Ancient One might delve deeper.

"I don\'t know. I haven\'t seen much of it yet. I\'ve mostly been on a small island where there aren\'t many people."

The atmosphere instantly relaxed. The Ancient One waved her hand, refilling his glass with whisky, and smiled as she nodded.

"You are human, so I imagine our Earth and your Earth are quite similar. I have met several visitors from other worlds, and they have all managed to live happy lives here."

Su Ming raised the glass without hesitation and downed it in one gulp, even chewing the ice cubes. The alcohol and cold sensation sharpened his mind.

He responded vaguely, "Let\'s hope so."

It could only be a hope. If this was indeed the MCU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then a hundred years from now, Thanos\' invasion was an inevitable hurdle.

As a modified human, Su Ming\'s lifespan was already exceptionally long. Now, with the X-metal, he was virtually immortal. He would undoubtedly live to see the day Thanos arrived, but the Ancient One, barring any surprises, would die before then.

By rights, she had already lived far beyond a normal lifespan, surviving for seven or eight centuries. She was now only prolonging her life by drawing on Dormammu\'s dark energy while waiting for a successor.

This was akin to drinking poison to quench thirst. Once the dark energy accumulated too much in her body, she would be corrupted, becoming an evil henchman and the very enemy she had fought against.

So after training Stephen Strange, she willingly sought death, fulfilling her mission.

Her combat abilities earned her the title of Sorcerer Supreme, bolstered by Dormammu\'s dark power, the magic of the Vishanti, and the Time Stone.

If not for her own desire to die, there likely wouldn\'t be anyone on Earth capable of killing her.

Could Kaecilius, with his eerie eye makeup, really defeat her? It\'s important to note that his master, Dormammu, had been personally driven back by the Ancient One centuries ago, and she had been siphoning his power for years to extend her life.

The title of Sorcerer Supreme was well-deserved; she was a true sorcerer.

The Ancient One operated in such secrecy that even Thor and Loki were unaware of the existence of sorcerers on Midgard.

But when it came to Doctor Strange, he was more business-oriented, much like Kang the Conqueror, offering magical consultations. As a result, organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra became aware of the magical world\'s existence.

Someone with a death wish like hers wasn\'t someone Su Ming could save, even if he were paid to do so. When sorcerers die, if they haven\'t aligned themselves with a dimensional lord or a hellish demon, their ultimate destination is to return to the Vishanti, becoming a source of power for future sorcerers.

The Ancient One was a special case. In the comics, after her death, she remained as a soul accompanying the creator deity \'Eternity,\' occasionally returning to chat with Doctor Strange, though it was unclear how that would translate in the movies.

If Su Ming\'s guess was correct, the Ancient One might soon send him back to where he came from, using magic to erase his memories of this encounter, much like she had hidden Kamar-Taj with magic. She would once again retreat to the shadows.

But erasing Su Ming\'s memory wasn\'t going to happen. The X-metal protected his brain, and Marvel\'s magic wasn\'t powerful enough to influence a being of DC\'s cosmic level. It would take all the Infinity Stones to pit one world\'s origin against another.

It was still too early for familiar sorcerers—only the Ancient One and Mordo were around, and playing with them wasn\'t much fun. So, even though he could ensure his memories wouldn\'t be altered or read, Su Ming planned to play dumb, letting her believe she had succeeded.

The Ancient One wasn\'t aware of Su Ming\'s thoughts. To her, this was just another ordinary day. After this, she had to check on the London Sanctum and then return to Kamar-Taj to train her new disciple.

Her new student, Mordo, harbored darkness within, but his magical talent was immense, so she had to train him to be a good person.

But he could not become the Sorcerer Supreme; he was too extreme and didn\'t understand the balance between compromise and power.

She might have less than 100 years left, and whether she could find a successor in that time remained unknown.

These thoughts floated through her mind, but she still maintained her calm demeanor, smiling at Su Ming.

"Well then, I apologize for the interruption. I will send you back, and you may live freely in this world."

"Oh?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow. Was it that easy?

"As a gift, I will send you a small barrel of your favorite drink. I wish you a pleasant life."

Su Ming understood. The Ancient One was planning to use a two-part move: teleportation followed by a memory wipe. But he continued to play dumb.

"What do you mean? I can stay here?"

"The mountain does not mind its height, nor the sea its depth."

The Ancient One smiled as she spoke, drawing another circle with her finger. Su Ming suddenly found himself falling. In the blink of an eye, he realized he was back in the sewer, with a small oak barrel tucked under his arm, containing about two liters of alcohol.

Su Ming knew the Ancient One was probably still watching, so he feigned confusion, scratching his head as if trying to remember something. But soon enough, he hugged the barrel close and continued on his way.

It was clear her style was entirely different from Doctor Manhattan\'s. As an equally mysterious being, Doctor Manhattan saw anomalies as bugs in the system, flaws in the program, and they had to be eliminated.

The Ancient One, on the other hand, was far more accepting. She believed the world was vast and that different forms of stones could coexist on this mountain, that different colors of water could merge into this sea. She didn\'t mind mystery and the unknown; if it was human, it would eventually blend into society.

The Ancient One watched from the Mirror Dimension as Su Ming walked away, disappearing into the darkness. She didn\'t sense anything amiss, so she opened a portal and headed directly to London.

Yet she had a premonition that this would not be the last time she saw him. It was likely their paths would cross again in the future.