Strange's performance didn't surprise Qingshui.
He lasted quite a while.
If he could be given a Magic Tool of high enough caliber to enhance him, it should be enough to counter the mental temptations and spiritual oppression of most Dimensional Demon Gods.
At least Qingshui felt that resisting Dormammu's temptations wouldn't be a problem for him.
Still, he had to be careful.
Strange has exceptional talent, and in the future, he will definitely be able to take on most of the Sorcerer Supreme's duties for Qingshui, but if this kid turns evil, that would also be a huge problem.
Before he becomes powerful enough, Qingshui needs to pay more attention. At least during Strange's first few encounters with the Book of Cagliostro, Qingshui needs to keep a close eye on him.
This book has deep ties to Dormammu; the Ancient One was able to steal Dormammu's dark divine power and live for hundreds of years thanks to its contents.
However, the content of this book is still very useful. With Strange's talent, he should quickly surpass Mordo and the other temple guardians in strength.
After spending two days helping Strange get started with some of the magic in the Book of Cagliostro, Qingshui returned to Watt Manor. After dealing with a backlog of affairs, he made a call and headed into one of his biological laboratories.
He needed to take advantage of these few days to strengthen himself.
Inside, Banner was sitting in front of a computer, reviewing a manuscript for a top industry journal, a cup of coffee in his hand.
Seeing Qingshui arrive, Banner immediately put down his coffee, closed his laptop, and stood up.
"Everything's ready. By the way, are you really sure you want to do this?"
"There's no risk anyway, so why not?"
Qingshui shrugged, changed clothes with Banner, completed the preliminary work, and stepped into the sterile room.
"Alright, you're the boss. According to the calculations, you can be injected with a maximum of five doses of the enhanced Extremis Virus modifier. This is the limit of your body's tolerance and also close to the Extremis Virus's limit. Injecting more wouldn't make the effect much stronger."
Banner took out five chilling orange vials from the refrigerator and looked at Qingshui.
"Mhm, then let's begin. You should be very familiar with the procedure by now."
Qingshui removed his clothes and lay down on the capsule of the lab table.
"I'm familiar with the procedure, but I've never injected five doses of Extremis Virus into someone at once. Currently, five people in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special forces have undergone Extremis Virus enhancement, but the most anyone has received is one and a half doses. Honestly, I can't even imagine how you, with a normal human body and no prior modifications or genetic mutations, possess such a strong physique."
Banner flicked the test tube, inserted the last auxiliary medicine tube into the instrument's slot, and adjusted his glasses.
"Ready? It might hurt a bit."
"Wait a moment."
Qingshui made a hand seal and created a Shadow Clone.
Although it was practically guaranteed to succeed, what if an accident happened?
It's better to have a Shadow Clone. He can hold the Time Stone, and if an accident truly occurs, he can reverse his own time, reverting his state to before the injection.
Only after ensuring everything was foolproof did Qingshui signal Banner to begin the injection.
The experiment began.
As a scorching hot current, like magma, swept through his body, Qingshui's physique began to change.
Streaks of red light emerged from within his body, accelerating his metabolism, increasing his physical strength and self-healing ability.
At the same time, enduring the intense pain in his body, Qingshui also felt a drastic change in the Qi within him.
The energy in his body was originally Chakra. After cultivating with the methods from the One Person World, it transformed into Qi. Furthermore, after the Mohist Sect Breathing Technique reached its third level, the strength of his Qi increased.
After getting started with Qimen Dunjia, he could also use Ninjutsu of other attributes by relying on the mutual generation and restraint of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams. However, his inherent attributes were still wind and lightning, and he didn't possess Nature Transformation for other attributes. Using those Ninjutsu would result in a certain drop in power, making them less effective than directly using wind and lightning.
But now, Qingshui could feel that a fire attribute had been added to his Qi, and its quality was not low.
This was an unexpected bonus!
His original intention was simply to use the enhanced Extremis Virus, perfected by Banner, to increase his physical strength, so he could better withstand the backlash when using the Infinity Stones.
The changes lasted for over three hours before Qingshui felt his body return to normal.
As his physical strength increased, Qingshui also clearly felt a significant increase in the Qi reserves of this Avatar.
It was still far less than his main body, which possessed a Perfect Demonization physique, but it had about forty to fifty percent of his main body's capacity.
This was already much stronger than most Kage-level ninjas known for their Chakra reserves in the Ninja World. In the Ninja World, he could even earn the reputation of a Tailed Beast without a tail.
"How do you feel? Want to test it out? I've developed a training regimen that can speed up adaptation. It should take about two or three days for you to adapt to the changes in your body."
Banner emerged from behind the pillar where he had been hiding, looking at the partly melted experimental chamber, and spoke to Qingshui.
"Then let's go try it."
Qingshui shrugged, watching the red light under his arm skin gradually dim.
A new entry also appeared on the panel in front of him.
[Ability: Extremis Virus Body]
[Do you want to spend thirty-five percent of your Fortune Value to synchronize this ability?]
[Insufficient Fortune. Synchronization failed.]
It required thirty-five percent of his Fortune Value to synchronize, which was significantly less than the fifty-five percent needed for the Perfect Demonization body previously.
This was understandable, though. While the Perfect Demonization body didn't have inherent attribute enhancements, its healing capabilities surpassed even the Extremis Virus.
The Extremis Virus wasn't afraid of severed limbs and could regenerate them in a relatively short time, but the brain and heart, as central organs, couldn't be completely destroyed.
In this regard, it fell far short of the Perfect Demonization body, which had already overcome its sole weakness—sunlight. Not to mention, the Perfect Demonization body also came with a Spatial Blood Demon Art comparable to Flying Thunder God.
Of course, after the new world opened, Qingshui's remaining Fortune Value was only 12.53%, which was far from enough to synchronize the Extremis Virus.
The purpose of injecting the Extremis Virus was to strengthen the physical body of this world's Avatar, allowing it to better withstand the power of the Infinity Stones and enhance its strength, thereby gaining more benefits.
Moreover, compared to the Extremis Virus, which had too much overlap with the Perfect Demonization body, Qingshui preferred to first synchronize the Demon Slayer Mark obtained from the Demon Slayer World.
The former not only cost more Fortune but, even if synchronized with his main body, would only result in slightly stronger healing abilities and a bit more fire-elemental power. It was hard to say if it would truly raise the upper limit of his main body's strength.
The Demon Slayer Mark, on the other hand, could stably increase the upper limit of his main body's strength, and perhaps he could even use it as a starting point to research Sage Art.
Furthermore, it cost less, requiring only 20% of his Fortune Value.
...
Three days later.
The night before departing for Asgard.
Qingshui returned to Kamar-Taj a day early, entered a secret room, took out the Time Stone, and spent the entire night observing various future possibilities.
It was clear that Asgard inviting him to witness Thor's ascension to the throne was more than just a simple ceremony.
Perhaps because of Hela, or for other reasons, Odin needed him as a powerful ally.
The Ancient One must have also seen the relevant future with the Time Stone, which was why he arranged for Odin to help him go to the Altos Dimension.
This meant that this was something he should be able to resolve.
After seeing countless futures deduced by the Time Stone, and having absorbed a vast amount of information, Qingshui, feeling a bit lightheaded, rubbed his temples, set an alarm, and drifted off to sleep.
He slept from early morning until eleven o'clock. Qingshui finally got out of bed, changed into a respectable-looking sorcerer's robe, and walked out the front gate of Watt Manor.
He had been to Asgard before and could directly teleport there using magic.
However, doing so might be considered impolite. An unfriendly force might even see it as an illegal intrusion or an act of provocation.
Given that Odin's end was near and Thor's ascension to the throne was a sensitive period, Qingshui decided to enter Asgard through the proper channels, as Frigga had instructed.
"Heimdall!"
A rainbow beam descended from the sky, enveloping Qingshui.
A few seconds later, Qingshui found himself inside a spherical temple in Asgard.
Heimdall, clad in golden armor, stood in the center with his sword in both hands, flanked by four Asgardian guards holding halberds.
"Sorcerer Supreme, welcome to Asgard. The All-Father awoke this morning and instructed that if you arrived, you should proceed immediately to the palace for an audience."
Heimdall gestured for Qingshui to follow.
"Alright, then I'll trouble you to lead the way."
An Asgardian guard immediately stepped forward to guide Qingshui.
Ten minutes later, Qingshui met Odin in a grand hall within the Asgardian palace.
Though his face was the same, the All-Father, who had seemed so vigorous when Qingshui saw him last year, now looked much more haggard and aged.
To suppress his increasingly turbulent divine power, Odin was clearly struggling, no longer possessing his former grandeur.
"Sorcerer Supreme, welcome to Asgard. As you can see, I've grown quite old and frail."
Odin sat on his throne, holding Gungnir, and spoke to Qingshui.
"There's no need for the All-Father to put on such a facade. It is only your body that ages, not your power."
Qingshui said, looking at Odin.
Though this old man was nearing death, this was actually his strongest moment.
Asgardians grew stronger with age, let alone their All-Father.
While the divine power within Odin was chaotic, it had also reached its peak in his lifetime.
No one would want to provoke a dying Odin.
"This is not a disguise, nor is it a test, Sorcerer Supreme."
Odin mused for two seconds, then said.
Qingshui smiled faintly, choosing not to expose the old man.
This was undoubtedly the most sensitive period in Odin's life.
Despite his vast empire, he was dying. His powerful eldest daughter, who was intent on causing trouble, was buried beneath their home. His second son was half a step behind in power, needing Mjolnir to fully unleash his strength, and his adopted youngest son was rebellious to the core.
Outside, there were certainly others coveting Asgard's immense wealth.
Even with the addition of the formidable Queen Frigga, it would be difficult to protect Asgard amidst such internal strife and external threats.
Qingshui said:
"Odin, you may speak directly. I owe you a favor, and Thor is also my friend, so you don't need to worry about me having ulterior motives for Asgard. I can assure you of this, in the name of the Vishanti."
Qingshui was not the type to take advantage of others in their weakened state.
Odin finally relaxed when he heard the words, "in the name of the Vishanti."
Many Sorcerers Supreme throughout history were quite skilled at deception, and if the Vishanti's name hadn't been invoked, Odin truly wouldn't have felt at ease.
"No matter. The reason I've invited the Sorcerer Supreme this time is to form an alliance with you at Thor's coronation ceremony. If possible, we would like to ask for your assistance once. In return, once the enemy is dealt with, Asgard is willing to offer a gift—a gift... you cannot refuse."
"Oh?"
Qingshui raised an eyebrow slightly.
Then he saw Odin retrieve a faintly blue glowing cube from behind him.
The Tesseract.
Well, indeed, it was impossible to refuse.
Odin was actually being this generous.
"This is the reward after the deed is done, and it also includes a chance to have the Dwarf King forge a Magic Tool. Sorcerer Supreme, you can use this opportunity to create a Magic Tool capable of wielding the power of multiple Infinity Stones."
Qingshui's eyes shifted, and several scenes he had divined last night with the Time Stone immediately flashed through his mind.
The future was already moving in a predetermined direction.
He needed to choose the most advantageous one.
"Alright, but I have one small request."
"Please, speak."
"I hope to learn the Dwarven art of forging Magic Tools."
"That's possible, but while the Dwarves' weapon-forging skills are indeed exceptional, they became the most renowned master smiths in the universe because of their inherent talent. They are born with the ability to perceive energy frequencies, infuse energy into weapons for assimilation, and then solidify that energy into magical enchantments using molds etched with Rune Magic.
If you wish to learn all of this, it might be quite difficult."
"No matter, as long as you agree."
Qingshui smiled.
Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements and Tongtian Lu—weren't these precisely what he could use?
These two Eight Unique Skills could perfectly substitute for the Dwarves' talents, and perhaps even surpass them.
"Mm, then I'll be direct. As the Sorcerer Supreme, you can peer into time, so you must know that before Thor was born, I had an elder daughter, Hela. She fought alongside me across the cosmos until our ideologies clashed. Hela, driven to extremes, believed she could defeat me, her father, and thus rebelled, attempting to overthrow me.
With the aid of the Valkyrie Corps, I used my own divine power as a source to seal Hela away and erase her history. However, her power is connected to Asgard, and after my death, during the interim period when Thor has yet to fully master the power of the King of Asgard, Hela will break free from her seal..."
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