"It's strategy—do you even know what that means?"
Fang Yuan hurried to explain.
"I'll be redeemed!"
The Ancient One merely sipped her tea, a faint smile on her face.
No one in the entire Marvel universe knew Fang Yuan's character better than she did.
"By the way, when can I take a look at the book of cagliostro?" Fang Yuan asked.
Besides brewing potions, he hadn't slacked on magic; in two months he'd finished every spell an ordinary mage needed to learn.
Next came the esoteric stage.
But the Ancient One shook her head. "magic doesn't advance by counting how many spells you know. You must understand its essence—that's real progress."
She opened a portal and pulled out a stack of weighty tomes. Fang Yuan leaned in: Esoteric Principles of magic, Core Runes, The Mysteries of Sorcery—nothing but theory.
"Your task now is to read these until you know them inside-out. Come to me the moment anything confuses you," the Ancient One said.
Fang Yuan's face fell. He resigned himself, hugged the pile of books half his height, and left.
Magical theory is far tougher than incantations.
He'd barely stepped out of the Ancient One's meditation chamber when he met two sorcerers heading her way.
"Mage Fang Yuan."
The Black sorcerer greeted him with a frown; the white sorcerer didn't bother.
"Mordo. Kaecilius."
Fang Yuan, of course, didn't stoop to Kaecilius's level—he was the Black King and possessed extraordinary magnanimity.
Turning, he used Telepathy on both of them.
The first Black King had his style; a good big brother could stomach anything. If the second Black King, Fang Yuan, was a bit petty, it balanced things out.
Perfect complement.
Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"If you're planning to complain to the Sorcerer Supreme, don't bother," he said, turning back. "Talk to me instead."
A quick mind-read told him they were on their way to tattle about him.
Mordo and Kaecilius stopped; Mordo spoke first.
"We're not complaining," Mordo clarified. "We only want the Sorcerer Supreme to resolve our doubts."
"Why does she turn a blind eye while you keep breaking nature's balance?"
Kaecilius added, "Resurrection? I want to ask the Sorcerer Supreme why only you deserve such an honor."
Fang Yuan understood their confusion.
Mordo was stubborn; he revered natural law and felt mages shouldn't meddle too much in how things naturally unfold.
Even if the outcome was bad.
Later he'd fall and become a villain, convinced Earth's woes came from magic's abuse, and he'd hunt down anyone who'd ever used it to help themselves.
From Fang Yuan's viewpoint, it was hard to judge.
He even sensed a whiff of the extreme eco-activists from his past life; he had no intention of talking Mordo around.
Fanatics take too much effort, and Mordo offered little value.
He also understood why Kaecilius opposed him.
Kaecilius had joined Kamar-Taj after his wife and son died in an accident. Lamenting life's fragility, he sought magic to change himself—and maybe bring them back.
No wonder he'd later become Dormammu's follower; if even the Sorcerer Supreme had drawn on the Dark Dimension for centuries, how could he refuse its Master's promise of eternal life?
"Oh, so you two do have grievances." Fang Yuan equipped the Ancient One Template, ready to teach these unworthy students a lesson.
"Ahem!"
Suddenly he heard the Ancient One cough from inside; realizing she was pleading for her disciples, he decided to let them off.
A beating could be avoided, but a lecture was still in order.
In a blink, the stack of books vanished from Fang Yuan's arms; both sorcerers narrowed their eyes, sensing his power.
"It's not personal—we acknowledge your feats against the Frost Giants," Mordo sighed. "But you died and were brought back; what was the price?"
Here it came—the classic "what's the cost" question.
Fang Yuan refused to follow the script.
"First, what makes you so sure I actually died?"
With a casual wave he transported them from Kamar-Taj to New York; the half-built Avengers Base stood nearby.
Mordo and Kaecilius were horrified—they hadn't sensed a thing before being moved.
His casting far outstripped theirs.
Fang Yuan pointed. "See that crowd gathering over there?"
Mordo and Kaecilius looked: Avengers supporters had come to help.
Kept out of the construction zone by secrecy, they'd stacked food, water, and other supplies along the perimeter for the workers.
That was one way they showed their support.
"The resurrection was a show the Ancient One and I put on to boost public attention."
"This World needs heroes, but I don't promote unsung ones." Fang Yuan turned to the two and said, "Look at the Avengers, then look at the old Kamar-Taj."
"Kamar-Taj guarded Earth for over a thousand years and no one knew, while the Avengers have existed only three months and are already adored by countless people."
"We protect Earth to be celebrities!" Mordo shot back. "If the resurrection was fake, it's even more pointless!"
But Fang Yuan quickly replied, "Yet heroic deeds everyone knows about can inspire countless souls!"
"When Earth faces crisis, those inspired people can unite and pull through together!"
"That's the power of role models. You think we're grandstanding; in truth, you just don't know how to adapt."
Seeing the two lost in thought, Fang Yuan snapped his fingers and shifted location again.
This time, Mordo and Kaecilius still couldn't react in time.
They exchanged a glance; with Fang Yuan so formidable, they now believed he really hadn't died.
They'd studied magic ten-plus or twenty years and couldn't find the slightest trace of his casting; dodging Loki's sneak attack was entirely plausible.
Mainly, Kamar-Taj had announced the Ancient One was drained and needed rest, yet they knew she was perfectly fine.
This time Fang Yuan arrived in a tropical rainforest.
"You want to follow natural law? But humans are part of nature." Fang Yuan flicked a finger at them twice. "Earth's situation is like the creatures in this rainforest—only by doing everything possible can they survive."
He flashed a wicked smile: "To let you feel that firsthand, I've sealed your magic. Your task now—walk out of this rainforest alive."
"!"
"!"
Mordo and Kaecilius hurriedly checked themselves; sure enough, they couldn't use even a shred of magic.
The two stared at each other in horror; this was the first time they'd experienced such a thing—even the Sorcerer Supreme had never left them unable to cast.
Little did they know, they were now facing none other than the Sorcerer Supreme—budget edition.
The Ancient One had lived six or seven centuries; her casting skill had long surpassed ordinary imagination.
Yet she wasn't one to show off, so even Mordo and the rest had no idea how mighty the Sorcerer Supreme truly was.
After speaking, Fang Yuan left directly, leaving Mordo and Kaecilius staring blankly at each other.
At this moment Kaecilius badly wanted to say, "Wait, I never said don't mess with natural law!"
"I want to bring my wife and kid back to life; natural law can go to hell!"
"Why do I have to survive in the wilderness too?"
Unfortunately, sticking with Mordo was Kaecilius's biggest mistake.
Toward these two awkward disciples of the Ancient One, Fang Yuan only planned this one lecture—given out of respect for her.
If they tried to make trouble later, Fang Yuan wouldn't indulge them; he'd send them straight to "big-sister-in-law" treatment.
Still… "Sorcerer Supreme-level casting feels absolutely amazing!" Fang Yuan chuckled to himself.
A simple portal had let him toy with two elite mages; the Sorcerer Supreme title was truly a treasure trove.
Mordo and Kaecilius spent a full eight days before they walked out of the rainforest.
Athena, who was monitoring them in real time, immediately notified Fang Yuan, and he quietly lifted their magic seal.
The two, none the wiser, sensed their powers return the instant they stepped out of the jungle, assuming it had been part of Fang Yuan's original spell, and their awe of him deepened.
After that experience, Mordo behaved much more meekly before Fang Yuan; he now understood Fang Yuan wasn't as easy-going as the Ancient One—offend him and you really would get punished.
Whatever Mordo thought, Fang Yuan no longer cared.
Whenever Kaecilius ran into him, his attitude toward Fang Yuan was inexplicably good.
Unlike the steadfast Mordo, Kaecilius admired the strong—especially unpredictable powerhouses like Fang Yuan.
After staying so long, if anyone in Kamar-Taj might agree to help him recover his wife and child, it would probably be the unorthodox mage Fang Yuan.
Four more months passed this way, and it was now 2011.
Fang Yuan had perfected his healing potion, naming it Life Holy Water; its production line was almost complete.
"Soon the thirty thousand Outer Disciple of Kamar-Taj will be in for a treat," Fang Yuan said with a grin.
That's right—Kamar-Taj's Outer Disciple now exceeded thirty thousand; without Fang Yuan's strict screening, the number would be even higher.
This also extended Kamar-Taj's influence further.
"Beep-beep-beep."
At that moment Fang Yuan suddenly received a report from Alexander Pierce—
"Nick Fury has restarted Project Pegasus; he took its core component."
"The Tesseract."
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