"I am Sorcerer Mordo, welcome Mr. Adam to Kamar-Taj. Sorcerer Ancient One is already waiting for you in the main hall."
Mordo scrutinized Adam, a hint of curiosity in his eyes, but he politely opened the door.
It was the first time that Sorcerer Supreme Gu Yi had specifically asked him to personally greet someone and sternly instructed him not to neglect the guest.
"Alright, I appreciate it."
Hearing Mordo's words, Adam raised an eyebrow, not asking Mordo why Ancient One knew of his arrival. He merely gestured to Kaguya and stepped through the wooden door.
The moment his body passed through the wooden door, he knew he had experienced a spatial teleportation.
However, compared to the significant commotion caused by a Sling Ring, Kamar-Taj's teleportation magic was much more stable and quiet.
If his perception hadn't been sharp, an ordinary person wouldn't even realize they had been teleported by space magic, thinking they had just stepped over a threshold.
"Perhaps, I can find time to study this later."
His first experience with Kamar-Taj's magic sparked a desire in Adam to learn more.
Most magic in the Marvel Universe is borrowed. For example, Loki's magic uses the power of the World Tree, and Kamar-Taj's sorcerers mostly use the power of the Vishanti.
Many famous spells even belong to Dimensional Demon Godss, and one must borrow the power of the corresponding Dimensional Demon Gods to cast them.
Since it's borrowed, it naturally has to be repaid.
He didn't know the exact method of repayment, but he could guess roughly, probably similar to a nine-out-thirteen-back operation.
After using the magic and spells of the corresponding Dimensional Demon Gods, one would then meditate to collect energy and slowly repay it.
However, this isn't absolute. As long as one is strong enough, borrowing and not repaying is fine, as long as you can withstand the wrath of those Dimensional Demon Godss.
For example, Ancient One can't really be said to borrow; it should be called outright seizing, and those Dimensional Demon Godss have no way to deal with her.
Adam naturally wasn't thinking of forcibly seizing the magic of those Dimensional Demon Godss.
He wanted the opportunity to research the fundamental magical principles behind these Dimensional Demon Godss' signature spells and then release them with his own magic.
No matter what magic it is, there must be corresponding magical principles.
Just like the runes Witch Agatha showed Wanda, normal sorcerers must learn the corresponding magical principles to cast spells. Even magic developed by Dimensional Demon Godss doesn't appear out of thin air.
Wanda is a special case; her power is Chaos Magic, which can bypass those magical principles.
"Our location has changed."
After crossing the wooden door and being teleported to Kamar-Taj, located in a nearby mountain range, Kaguya, who is sensitive to space, immediately noticed the spatial shift.
"Don't worry, it's nothing."
Adam replied softly.
Space magic was set on that wooden door. An ordinary person opening the door would see a normal room, but anyone permitted to enter Kamar-Taj, upon opening the wooden door, could be directly teleported to Kamar-Taj via space magic.
As for Ancient One knowing he was coming, it wasn't really an incredible thing.
Ancient One possesses the Time Stone and can predict the future.
Just as Doctor Strange used the Time Stone to predict the future 14,000,605 times, Ancient One could naturally use the Time Stone to predict his arrival.
However, the future predicted by the Time Stone is not necessarily the true future, but rather multiple possibilities of the future.
In the Marvel Universe, the past cannot be changed. Once the past is altered, it will only extend a new timeline and will not truly change what has already happened in the past.
And the future likewise cannot be accurately predicted; only various possibilities can be seen.
Of course, even so, it's already like having a cheat code, allowing one to deal with many troubles that would otherwise be unmanageable.
Doctor Strange saw the only successful future out of those 14,000,605 possibilities, then operated according to the development of that future, and finally saved the other half of the people in the vanished Universe.
However, what is disheartening is that the only successful future required Iron Man's sacrifice.
Even with the ability to predict so many futures, some things remain unchangeable and unstoppable.
Ultimately, in Adam's view, these are not the right path. The right path is one's own strength; only when one's own strength is sufficient can the best future be created.
If Doctor Strange had the power to completely crush Thanos, then even without predicting so many futures, a direct confrontation could easily resolve the crisis brought by Thanos.
Ancient One must have discovered something, which is why she predicted his arrival.
He actually knew that Ancient One could predict his arrival, and perhaps even predict the purpose of his visit.
That's why he brought all his Superheroes.
He wanted Ancient One to understand how much trouble there would be in the future if she fully prevented him from acquiring the darkhold.
Led by Mordo, Adam and Kaguya passed through a corridor and arrived at a circular hall with a strong Tibetan temple style.
Bronze incense burners were placed around the hall, and several sorcerers wearing Kamar-Taj's distinctive sorcerer robes hurried back and forth.
In the center, a bald woman in a white monk robe was meticulously brewing hot tea.
"Good morning, Sorcerer Ancient One, I apologize for my unannounced visit, and I hope you don't mind."
Adam walked up to the bald woman in white robes and greeted her with a smile.
He recognized her at a glance as Ancient One, who had lived for five hundred years, not only because of her appearance but also because of the vast and complex magic within her body.
There was power filled with righteous light, and also power filled with some evil darkness.
The power of righteous light naturally came from Vishanti, the source of White magic, while the evil dark power came from the Dark Lord Dormammu.
In order to protect Earth, Ancient One constantly seized Dormammu's dark power to maintain her body's lifespan.
"Mr. Adam, you are too kind. Please sit. This is the tea I just brewed. Let's chat over tea."
Ancient One smiled and poured two cups of tea for Adam and Kaguya.
Adam, seeing this, was not in a hurry. He sat down and picked up the cup to savor the tea.
"Excellent tea!"
Anyway, he had already made the worst-case plan of forcibly taking it if Ancient One didn't lend it to him, so there was no need to rush.
He would respond to all changes with no change. Since Ancient One had predicted his arrival, he would see what Ancient One's plan was and adapt accordingly.
If he couldn't adapt, he would just flip the table and fight.
"I know the purpose of Mr. Adam's visit, but before making a decision, I have a question I'd like to ask you first, Mr. Adam. Would you be willing to answer me?"
Seeing Adam put down his teacup, Ancient One asked with a smile.
[Adam didn't hesitate:]
[Sorcerer Ancient One, please ask any question you have. If I can answer, I will certainly do so.]
If Ancient One could voluntarily hand over the darkhold, that would be even better.
Ancient One nodded:
"Mr. Adam, what is your purpose in wanting the darkhold?"