A few weeks flew by very quickly.
May officially joined the family. Her heavy mountain of debt was wiped out in a single day.
She never had to worry about unpaid bills, double shifts, or surviving ever again.
For the first time in her life, she was completely free. She was happier than she had ever been.
Sam also started teaching her how to cultivate.
The ancient energy cleaned her body from the inside out. It washed away years of stress.
It made her skin glow beautifully, and she looked even more mature, sexy, and stunning than before.
One bright morning, Sam sat next to her on the couch and handed her a shiny set of keys and a thick legal folder.
"What is this, Sam?"
May asked, looking at the papers with a confused smile.
"This is the deed to a beautiful building right in the middle of the city,"
Sam told her smoothly.
"It is the perfect place for you to finally open your dream coffee shop."
May covered her mouth. Tears of pure joy instantly filled her eyes.
"Sam... this is too much. You didn't have to do this for me,"
May whispered, her voice shaking with emotion.
"I wanted to,"
Sam said gently, wiping a happy tear from her cheek.
"I also made a phone call to Tony Stark this morning. He has a lot of lawyers and money. He is going to help us set up a massive charity foundation for young children. You will be the head director, May. Your dream is finally real."
May couldn't even speak.
She just threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as tight as she could, crying happy tears against his strong chest.
He had given her an entirely new life.
Later that afternoon, Peter, MJ, and Ned walked up the long driveway of the mansion.
They were ready for their daily cultivation training.
Just as they reached the training ground, the heavy front doors of the main house opened.
Peter stopped in his tracks and completely froze.
Aunt May walked out. She was wearing a beautiful, elegant dress.
Her hair was perfectly styled, and she was glowing with pure, undeniable happiness.
"Aunt May?"
Peter gasped, dropping his heavy backpack on the grass.
"What are you doing coming out of the main house?"
May walked over to the three teenagers.
She gave Peter a warm, tight hug and looked at him with a bright, confident smile.
"I live here now, Peter,"
May told him gently, holding his shoulders.
"Sam and I are together. From now on, I want you to treat him exactly like he is your uncle."
Peter's jaw hit the floor. Ned let out a tiny, shocked squeak.
MJ just smirked and crossed her arms; she had already figured it out weeks ago.
"Uncle... Uncle Sam?"
Peter stammered. His brain was doing massive backflips.
He knew Sam liked her, and he always thought his aunt might end up dating Sam eventually.
But he never expected it to happen this fast! It had only been a few weeks!
But then, Peter stopped panicking and looked closely at his aunt's face.
He saw the pure, peaceful joy shining in her eyes.
He saw how relaxed her shoulders were.
She wasn't tired, stressed, or worried about money anymore.
She had finally found someone incredibly strong who could take perfect care of her.
She really needed this. And Sam was exactly the person she needed.
"Wow,"
Peter breathed out, a huge, genuine smile slowly growing on his face.
"Okay. If you are happy, Aunt May, then I am really happy, too. He is a great guy."
"He really is,"
May smiled warmly, kissing Peter's cheek.
"Now, go train hard. Uncle Sam is waiting for you."
Peter grabbed his bag and ran to the training room with his best friends.
For the first time in his life, everything felt perfect.
He was getting stronger every single day, his aunt was safe and loved, and he didn't have to carry the heavy weight of the world alone anymore.
His life had finally become easy.
Inside the massive training room, the sound of fast punches echoed loudly.
Peter was moving incredibly fast.
He was precise, sharp, and strong.
But Sam was on a completely different level.
Every time Peter threw a heavy punch or a fast kick, Sam was already standing somewhere else.
He moved so smoothly and effortlessly, it looked like he could actually see the future.
Even with his amazing spider-powers, Peter could not touch Sam at all.
"How are you doing that?"
Peter panted, stopping for a second to catch his breath.
"My spider-sense tells me exactly where to hit, but you are never there!"
"Your sense warns you of danger, Peter,"
Sam explained calmly, keeping his hands relaxed behind his back.
"But my Qi connects me to the space around us. I don't just react to your movements. I feel your intention before your muscle even twitches."
Suddenly, a sharp arrow made of glowing blue energy shot across the room, aimed right at Sam's shoulder.
Sam simply tilted his head a fraction of an inch. The arrow completely missed him.
MJ stood on a high platform across the room.
She was holding a sleek, silver, high-tech bow.
At the exact same time, a loud yell echoed through the room.
Ned charged forward, holding a massive, glowing metal shield.
"We attack together!"
Ned shouted, pushing his heavy shield forward to crush Sam.
Peter instantly jumped back into the fight to support him.
They formed a perfect, balanced team.
Peter was the fast, close-combat fighter.
MJ was the sharp, ranged damage dealer.
And Ned was the heavy, unbreakable tank.
They were all wearing brand new, beautiful armor.
Sam had personally asked Tony to create these special suits for them.
Tony had used strong, lightweight Asgardian metal mixed with Stark technology.
The suits were perfectly designed to channel and enhance their newly awakened Qi energy.
They attacked with everything they had.
But even with three of them fighting perfectly together, the battle was over in a flash.
Sam smiled.
He gently tapped the center of Ned's heavy shield, using Ned's own momentum to send him spinning safely onto his back.
Sam smoothly dodged three of MJ's arrows at once, and with a soft, gentle push, he sent Peter tumbling softly onto the training mat.
In less than ten seconds, all three teenagers were defeated.
"We are definitely getting better,"
MJ smiled, putting her bow down and jumping off the high platform.
"But you didn't even try, Uncle Sam,"
Peter pointed out, sitting up on the mat and rubbing his head.
"You beat us with just your bare hands. You didn't even use your famous flying sword."
"If I used my swords, Peter, the training would be over before you even blinked,"
Sam chuckled softly, helping Ned stand up.
"How many swords can you control now?"
Ned asked, his eyes wide with pure curiosity.
"In the New York invasion video, there were hundreds of them!"
Sam smiled peacefully, brushing some dust off his shirt.
"I have grown much stronger,"
Sam answered honestly.
"Right now... I can easily control one hundred thousand swords at the exact same time."
Peter's jaw dropped open. MJ's eyes widened in pure shock.
"O—One hundred thousand?"
Peter stammered, completely mind-blown.
"Is that even possible? Uncle Sam... Can we see it? Please?"
Sam looked at their excited faces.
He couldn't say no.
"Follow me outside,"
Sam nodded.
He led the three teenagers out of the building and into the wide, open green field behind the mansion.
Sam stood perfectly still in the grass.
He closed his eyes.
A massive, blinding pink light suddenly exploded from the center of his chest.
*Whoosh!*
In an instant, the bright afternoon sky completely changed.
Thousands upon thousands of glowing pink swords shot up from Sam's body, multiplying endlessly in the air.
They spread out like a massive ocean of blades, completely blocking out the sun.
The sheer number of them was impossible to count.
They hummed with a deep, ancient, and heavy power that made the air itself vibrate.
Peter, MJ, and Ned stared up at the sky. They couldn't speak. They couldn't even breathe.
The glowing pink ocean of weapons was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.
But at the exact same time, standing underneath the crushing, absolute power of a hundred thousand floating swords... it was absolutely terrifying.
The glowing pink swords slowly faded away into thin air, leaving the bright afternoon sky empty once again.
Peter finally let out a long breath.
He looked at Ned and MJ, shaking his head in pure disbelief.
"If Uncle Sam is here,"
Peter whispered, feeling completely safe.
"No alien army is ever going to take Earth again. He could wipe them all out before they even landed."
Before Sam could reply, a strange, crackling sound filled the air.
*Fizz. Sparks.*
A bright circle of glowing orange magic suddenly spun open right in the middle of the green grass. It was a portal.
Two people stepped out of the orange circle.
One was a calm, bald woman wearing simple yellow robes.
She radiated a deep, ancient peace. It was the Ancient One.
Walking right behind her was a tall man with a messy beard.
He looked completely lost, tired, and deeply broken.
His hands were wrapped in thick medical bandages, and they were shaking violently.
It was Stephen Strange.
He was not the Sorcerer Supreme yet.
He didn't even have a magic sling ring on his finger.
Sam raised an eyebrow. He crossed his arms and looked at the ancient woman.
"Hello, Ancient One,"
Sam greeted her politely.
"It is good to see you. But why did you bring this doctor to my house?"
The Ancient One offered a small, respectful bow.
"Hello, Sam,"
She said softly.
"I brought Stephen here because I have a favor to ask. I want you to teach him for me alongside these children."
Stephen Strange looked up, his shaking hands held close to his chest.
He looked completely confused.
He had come to Kamar-Taj to heal his hands, and now this magical woman was handing him over to a man standing in a backyard.
Sam blinked, looking genuinely surprised.
He remembered Stephen's original story perfectly.
"Teach him?"
Sam asked, letting out a short, amused laugh.
"Why don't you just throw him on top of a freezing snowy mountain, give him a magic ring, and tell him to figure it out? That is usually your teaching style."
Stephen's eyes widened in horror.
"A freezing mountain? What?"
The Ancient One did not laugh.
She looked at Sam with very deep, serious eyes. She nodded slowly.
"I did think about doing exactly that,"
The Ancient One admitted honestly.
"The mountain teaches survival and focus. But things are different now. Because you are here, Sam, the entire path of the future has completely changed. The old way is no longer the best choice."
The Ancient One looked at Stephen's shaking hands, and then back to Sam.
"A terrible war is coming to Earth,"
She explained, her voice heavy with warning.
"Stephen is meant to be the Sorcerer Supreme. But if I train him the old way, he will only be just strong enough. Just strong enough is going to get him killed. He needs all the strength and power he can possibly get to survive what is coming."
Sam looked at Stephen.
The proud, arrogant doctor was gone.
Right now, he was just a broken man desperate for a cure.
"You want me to teach him how to cultivate,"
Sam realized, his voice turning serious.
"Yes,"
The Ancient One nodded firmly.
"Magic will teach him the rules of the universe. But your cultivation will give him the raw, absolute power he needs to break those rules when the time comes."
Sam looked at the broken doctor, then back to the Ancient One.
He didn't see any reason to refuse.
The world was going to need a very strong Sorcerer Supreme, and Peter, MJ, and Ned could use a new training partner.
"Alright,"
Sam nodded slowly.
"I will teach him. But I promise you, Stephen, my training is going to be much harder than sitting on a snowy mountain."
Stephen swallowed hard, looking down at his trembling hands.
"If it fixes my hands,"
Stephen whispered, his voice full of desperate hope.
"I will do whatever it takes."
The Ancient One smiled warmly.
She bowed her head to Sam.
"Thank you, Sam,"
She said gently.
"And because you are doing me this great favor, I have brought something for you in return."
She reached inside her simple yellow robes.
She pulled out a heavy, incredibly old book.
The cover was made of dark, rough leather, and it pulsed with a very strange, heavy energy.
She held it out to him.
Sam took the old tome. The moment his fingers touched the cover, his eyes went wide in pure shock.
His heart started to beat faster.
The energy inside this book felt exactly like the magical jade slip that had given him his powers and sent him to this universe in the first place.
"This is..."
Sam breathed out, staring at the book.
"It is a record of Cultivators,"
The Ancient One explained, keeping her voice very quiet so only he could hear the true weight of her words.
"I know your secrets, Sam. I have looked through the timelines. I know that the magical knowledge in your mind has a limit. Your memories and your current path stop at the Nascent Soul Stage."
Sam looked up at her, completely stunned.
She was right.
The jade slip had only given him the knowledge to reach the Nascent Soul Stage.
He had no idea how to grow stronger after that.
"How did you get this?"
Sam asked, holding the heavy book carefully.
"I traveled to a very dark, outer dimension,"
The Ancient One answered smoothly.
"I found it hidden away. When you finally break through your mortal shell and reach the Nascent Soul Stage, your old knowledge will run out. You will need a new guide to show you what comes next."
Sam tried to send a tiny bit of his pink Qi into the book to read it.
But the book completely rejected his energy.
It stayed tightly shut.
Sam let out a soft chuckle, understanding the magic immediately.
"I cannot read it yet,"
Sam said, looking at the lock on the ancient tome.
"No, you cannot,"
The Ancient One smiled, her eyes twinkling with deep wisdom.
"You must reach the Nascent Soul Stage first. Only then will the tome accept you and reveal the next steps of your journey."
Sam nodded deeply, feeling a massive wave of respect for the bald woman.
She was making sure Earth's greatest protector would never stop growing stronger.
"Thank you, Ancient One,"
Sam said, carefully putting the heavy book inside his spatial ring.
"It is a fair trade. I will take good care of your doctor."
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