"May I ask, Great Archmage Ancient One, why have you suddenly come to my place? Could it be that my worldly experience is finally over?"
Watching the Ancient One gulp down a large glass of his rich cola in one go, Xia Yu felt a slight pang of heartache. There was only so much of this cola; every sip meant there was less left.
If he wanted to get more cola from the Salamander Sphinx, he would have to wait another year. After all, rich cola required a year of brewing to mature.
It was heart-wrenching.
"You seem quite pained?" After finishing the rich cola in one gulp, the Ancient One squinted and glanced at Xia Yu.
"..."
Nonsense, how could he not be pained? This old geezer... "Cough, cough!"
Xia Yu: "..."
"How could that be?" A stiff smile tugged at the corners of Xia Yu's mouth. "This is a tribute to you, elder. I'm so happy I can't even describe it. How could I possibly be pained?"
"Not bad, not bad. At least you're sensible, kid." The Ancient One put down the glass and waved at Xia Yu. "Come here, I've got something good for you to see."
"?"
Seeing the Ancient One's mysterious look, Xia Yu didn't really want to go over. This old man definitely had some bad intentions; he didn't believe him at all.
But seeing the smile on the Ancient One's face gradually fade, Xia Yu weighed the power gap between them in his mind and then followed his heart, walking over.
He wasn't being a coward; he was respecting his elders. Heavens, how could there be such an upright, diligent, kind, and magnanimous youth of positive energy like him? He was almost moved by himself.
"Blegh..."
The Ancient One suddenly covered his mouth and gagged. Seeing Xia Yu's Strange look, the Ancient One waved his hand.
"It's nothing. I just heard someone's shameless self-praise and felt a bit nauseous."
Xia Yu: "..."
Fuck!
He couldn't stay with this dead old man anymore. If this continued, he'd have no privacy left. Damn it, how is this old man still alive?
"Although I also want to die immediately, I have to say this in advance: if I die, the position of Sorcerer Supreme will be yours," the Ancient One suddenly reminded him.
"Ah, this..."
At the thought of the Sorcerer Supreme's responsibilities, Xia Yu felt a massive headache. He wasn't ready to face those Dimensional Evil Gods yet.
So the Ancient One really couldn't die yet, because no one had appeared who could take over his duties. If the Ancient One suddenly died, no one would be able to resist the invasion of the Dimensional Evil Gods.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu said sincerely, "No, no, no, Archmage Ancient One, you are the Sorcerer Supreme. You will surely live for another ten million years."
"You dare curse me!!"
The Ancient One suddenly grabbed Xia Yu by the collar and said fiercely.
Xia Yu: "..."
How should he put it? For the Ancient One, who really wanted to die in the next moment, this did indeed seem like a curse.
After all, no matter which world's Ancient One it was, they all wanted to just drop their burdens and quit, but their responsibilities forced them to persist until they found a successor.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu suddenly felt that the Ancient One being a bit neurotic seemed quite normal. After all, the position of Sorcerer Supreme really wasn't a good one.
Although it held the power to lead all sorcerers, it also carried the responsibility of resisting evil gods.
When one's duties completely take over their entire life, wanting death as a form of liberation is understandable.
Hiss... doesn't that mean he'll be like that in the future too?!
Xia Yu gasped. At the thought that he might become like this in the future, he immediately made up his mind: as soon as the Ancient One died, he would go and break Strange's hands.
Then he'd find a way to trick him into becoming the new Sorcerer Supreme. It was a perfect, seamless Sorcerer Supreme succession plan.
"Alright, alright. Young people are just prone to overthinking." The Ancient One suddenly let go of Xia Yu's collar kindly and straightened the clothes he had just messed up.
Seeing the Ancient One suddenly turn kind again, Xia Yu became even more determined. Whoever wants to be the Sorcerer Supreme can have it; he's definitely not taking this bait.
"Actually, your worldly experience ended long ago. You can return to Kamar-Taj whenever you want. Of course, not going back is fine too; it's all up to you."
After straightening Xia Yu's collar, the Ancient One patted his shoulder and said with a smile.
Xia Yu: (￣□￣)
Old man, be normal, I'm scared.
"And this time, there really is something good to see. I'm not lying to you."
As he spoke, the Ancient One reached out with his right hand and drew a portal. Behind the portal was an ordinary ice field, nothing Strange.
Looking at the ice field behind the door, Xia Yu was about to ask what was so good to see there, but the Ancient One suddenly moved behind him and kicked him into the portal.
"Holy shit! You old geezer, you blindsided me!"
Accompanied by Xia Yu's shocked shout, the portal behind him gradually shrank. The last thing he saw was the Ancient One's mischievous old face.
Kicked onto the Strange ice field, Xia Yu pushed himself up from the ground and patted the footprint on his butt.
That old geezer has no martial ethics, coming to trick and ambush a young man in his twenties. Is that okay? It's not okay!
Sooner or later you'll die... No, he still couldn't curse the Ancient One to die. After all, as soon as he dies, there'll be trouble. Tsk.
After beating up the Ancient One in his mind using the "spiritual victory" method, Xia Yu finally looked around at this unfamiliar ice field. It looked familiar—after all, all ice fields look the same. Every ice field he saw looked familiar.
"Something good to see? Could it be Superman's spaceship?"
Xia Yu muttered to himself. As far as he knew, the most famous ice field was Superman's Fortress of Solitude. But this was marvel, unless DC and marvel were having a crossover.
Hiss... it's not impossible.
While Xia Yu was lost in thought, a light suddenly appeared in the sky, trailing a tail of fire as it hurtled toward Earth.
Looking up and catching sight of the light, Xia Yu was a bit puzzled. Did the Ancient One want him to come here to watch a meteor?
Wait, that meteor is getting bigger and bigger!
"Holy shit!!"
"Boom—!"
With a thunderous explosion, the meteor crashed onto the ice field. After Xia Yu waved his hand to clear the ice chips and smoke, the meteor revealed its true form.
It was a purple spaceship with a streamlined shape. One look and you could tell it was designed for space travel, with very high technological content.
So the "good thing" the Ancient One mentioned was this spaceship?
Before Xia Yu could figure it out, the spaceship's hatch slowly opened, and a set of stairs extended down to the ice. A figure emerged.
Seeing this, Xia Yu immediately drew his weapon and assumed a combat stance. A spaceship landing silently on Earth meant there was definitely an alien inside.
Since the Ancient One had kicked him here, perhaps he wanted him to deal with this alien.
As the figure stepped out of the ship, her appearance gradually became clear. It was a petite young girl dressed in a simple white robe.
Her ink-black hair draped down her back, and her fair skin seemed to glow under the sunlight of the ice field. Her graceful figure, which didn't match her age, couldn't be hidden even by the long robe.
Especially her watery violet eyes, which seemed as if they could speak, were curiously sizing up Xia Yu.
To be honest, Xia Yu was momentarily dazed. But soon, he shifted his gaze away from this high-charm girl. He hadn't forgotten that this was an alien.
Clearing his throat, Xia Yu put away his weapon, looked at the girl, and said, "This is the Earth Office. Young lady, please pay the entry fee for coming to Earth!"