Chapter 96: Drinking tea with Ancient One, casually giving away a box of life-extending blind box tea leaves
A white porcelain cup landed on the marble countertop with a muffled thud.
Ancient One sat upright in that somewhat overly soft single sofa.
Her hands hung over her knees, and her fingertips no longer trembled slightly like before due to the overdraft of magic.
Originally, due to years of extracting energy from the Dark Dimension, the corners of her eyes always carried a hint of dark gray that could never be resolved.
That was the mark of the Soul being corroded by Dormammu.
But now, that trace of smoke seemed to have been blown away by a violent wind.
Her skin was originally as dry as old tree bark.
At this moment, under the warm yellow light, it emitted a warm luster like suet jade.
That was because the withered cells were instantly filled with vitality, and every inch of bone was emitting a humming sound due to rebirth.
"This feeling..."
Ancient One murmured softly.
She opened her five fingers, looking at the faint red glow emanating from her palm prints.
That was the medicinal effect from the "Enlightenment Spiritual Tea".
It was not a simple repair, but directly replacing her original drafty old house, from the foundation to the rafters, all with diamond.
Dormammu's mark was shattering.
The whispers, curses, and cold gazes that had entangled her for hundreds of years were all crushed into powder the moment that cup of tea went down her stomach.
She now felt that her Soul was as light as a feather.
Yet it was heavy enough to directly crush the devils in Hell.
"Is this tea burning hot?"
Aaron sat on the couch, lazily leaning against the armrest.
He twirled the empty wooden box that had just been used to hold the tea leaves in his hand, looking somewhat bored.
As if what he handed out just now was not some divine medicine that could extend the Sorcerer Supreme's life by a hundred years.
But a pack of hay found everywhere at a roadside stall.
Ancient One slowly stood up.
She did not use any Sling Ring, nor did she slash open time and space.
She just tidied up that somewhat worn-out earthy-yellow monk robe, then put her feet together and folded her body at ninety degrees.
This was the oldest and most solemn etiquette in Kamar-Taj.
It would only appear when facing the deity who created all things, or the mentor guiding the lost.
"Your Excellency is an existence above the Supreme."
Ancient One lowered her head, her voice appearing exceptionally clear in the spacious living room.
"I have guarded this Planet for five hundred years, originally thinking that I had touched the apex of this World."
"Until drinking this cup of tea, I understood that I was merely sitting at the bottom of a well watching the sky."
Aaron picked his ear.
"Stop flattering, no matter how much you flatter, I won't have a second cup for you."
He pointed at Wanda beside the bar, "There is only this box left at home, any more will have to wait for the next time I open a blind box."
Strange at the side shrank his entire body into the corner of the wall.
His hands, which had just been restored by Aaron, were now pinching tightly on his thighs, pinching out red marks.
He was a top-tier surgeon.
He could see the physiological miracle happening on Ancient One — that was not rejuvenation, but a direct leap of the life dimension.
From a dying defective product into a perfect piece of art.
This completely did not conform to the theory of biological evolution he had studied for twenty years.
"Your Excellency."
Ancient One straightened her body, her eyes no longer holding the previous scrutiny, leaving only a deep pool-like reverence.
"Kamar-Taj preserves the most complete Spell classics of the ley lines, although in your view they might just be some crude little tricks."
"But if you don't mind, I would like to invite you to sit at that snowy mountain."
Ancient One paused, her tone becoming solemn.
"If you are willing to visit, Kamar-Taj will confer upon you the title of 'Eternal Mentor'."
"On this Planet, any mage practicing mystic arts, seeing you is like seeing a deity."
Aaron curled his lips.
"Mentor? Does that mean I still have to teach classes?"
"No, no." Ancient One hurriedly shook her head, "You only need to sit there, drink tea, and look at the scenery."
"Even you can treat the Scripture Pavilion there as your private study."
Aaron thought about it.
Although Manhattan's air conditioning was comfortable, living there for a long time was indeed a bit stuffy.
Going to the Himalayas to blow some cool breeze, and by the way seeing if those so-called "Supreme Mystic Arts" could be used to open blind boxes, was indeed a good choice.
"Alright, as long as meals are provided."
Aaron stood up, casually picking up the unfinished wooden box of tea leaves on the bar.
There was probably still half a tael of tea leaves left inside, the dark red leaves colliding inside, making a rustling sound.
He casually tossed it.
The wooden box traced an arc, landing directly in Ancient One's arms.
"Given to you."
Aaron's tone was as casual as throwing away a pack of napkins.
"Drink sparingly in the future, and don't go borrowing usury from that big-faced monster Dormammu at every turn."
"You can't afford that interest, and I also find it too ugly, making it easy to ruin New York's night view."
Ancient One caught the wooden box, her hands trembling.
This half tael of tea leaves, taken to the Dark Dimension, could make that monster Dormammu starve with envy alive.
This was a true miracle.
She tucked the wooden box close to her body, and gave Aaron a complex look.
She knew that starting today, Earth's order was no longer decided by the Sorcerer Supreme.
But decided by this teenager sitting on the sofa eating donuts.
"Wanda, Lorna, and Gwen."
Aaron turned back and shouted.
"Pack up, I'll take you to Nepal for a trip."
"A trip?"
Gwen poked her head out from the bedroom, still holding an unfinished apple in her hand.
"Now? I haven't finished my homework yet."
"Let Red Queen write the homework."
Aaron waved his hand magnanimously.
Wanda and Lorna moved extremely fast.
One was wrapped in red mist, instantly changing into a neat dark red combat uniform.
One vibrated her magnetic field, locking down all electronic devices completely.
They now had absolute obedience to Aaron's words.
Even if Aaron said he was going to blow up the Sun, they would first ask whether to use Chaos Magic or planetary gravity.
Ancient One turned sideways, her right hand fiercely slashing in the Void Realm.
Orange-red sparks instantly burst.
A circular portal with a diameter of three meters opened in the center of the hall.
On the other side of the door was a howling blizzard and an ancient sanctuary standing on the edge of a cliff.
That was Kamar-Taj.
Strange also wanted to follow, but seeing Lorna's cold green eyes, he chickened out and retreated.
"I... can I go?"
Aaron looked back at him.
"Want to study medicine, or want to study magic?"
"Both... both want to." Strange's throat felt a bit dry.
"Then follow along, just don't fall off the cliff."
Aaron stepped into the sparks.
Gwen wore a pink-and-white hoodie, Wanda carried an exquisite travel bag, and Lorna crossed her arms.
This group of people, guided by Ancient One, instantly vanished in Manhattan's bustling neon lights.
Nepal, Kathmandu.
On the bluestone square in front of the sanctuary, snowflakes were isolated in mid-air by a tyrannical Spellbarrier.
Mage Mordo was standing in front of the steps.
Behind him stood Wong, as well as hundreds of mages wearing gray and brown monk robes.
Everyone had a solemn expression.
Just now, Ancient One transmitted back a message through the Sorcerer Supreme's resonance that made their Souls tremble.
Kamar-Taj would welcome an "Eternal Mentor".
The status was above the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Wong, what kind of person do you think that will be?"
Mordo lowered his voice, his hand tightly grasping the staff at his waist.
"Odin? Or some True God returning from the depths of the dimension?"
Wong shook his head, his chubby face covered in sweat.
"I don't know, but I feel that the books in the Grand Library are all trembling."
Right at this moment.
The sparks in the Void Realm suddenly burst.
That was Ancient One's portal.
When Ancient One walked out first, Mordo and Wong were both stunned.
They looked at Ancient One's rejuvenated face, that jade-like luster, which even gave them a certain illusion.
"Sorcerer Supreme... You..."
Ancient One ignored the Disciple's shock.
She turned sideways, lowering her head with a solemn expression.
Following closely.
A black-haired teenager, wearing a black down jacket with a fluffy collar, walked out with one hand in his pocket.
He scanned this ancient courtyard left and right.
"The altitude is a bit high, and the air is average."
Aaron's voice was very calm.
But the moment he stepped out of the portal.
An oppressive force like an ancient giant beast awakening instantly covered the entire sanctuary.
That upper-level suppression from the life dimension instantly turned the accumulated snow on the square into powder.
The air congealed.
Mordo felt his knees refusing to obey.
Not only him.
Wong, the mages behind him, and even the apprentice responsible for sweeping the floor.
When feeling that aura like an abyss that could not be looked at directly.
Hu la—!
Like a gust of wind blowing across a wheat field.
Hundreds of mages who were enough to be worshipped as miracles by Mortals in the outside World.
At this moment.
All knelt on both knees.
Their foreheads smashed heavily against the bluestone slabs, making a muffled impact sound.
"Welcome, Eternal Mentor!"
The voices of hundreds of people were neat and uniform, reverberating among the valleys of the Himalayas.
That was submission originating from the depths of the Soul.
Aaron rubbed his nose.
He looked at the bald heads kneeling all over the ground and sighed.
"I said, isn't your welcome ceremony here a bit too hard on the knees?"
Ancient One stood beside him, bowing again without saying a word.
Inside the gates of the sanctuary.
The magic classics that had accumulated for a thousand years began to flutter without wind.
The pages turned rustlingly.
Seeming to echo this.
Arrival of the true deity who dominates reality.
Chapter 97: Kamar-Taj Treats Aaron as an Honored Guest, Swaggering Through the magic World
The flagstone roads of Kathmandu exuded a chill soaked through by the passage of time.
Mordo's hands, which had gripped the Staff of the Living Tribunal for years, were now unconsciously clenching into the wide cuffs of his monk's robes.
Due to excessive force, his knuckles protruded with a jagged whiteness beneath the cyan fabric.
He stared at the swaying figure ahead of him.
That teenager named Aaron was walking while reaching out to grab a branch of red plum blossoms extending from a roadside shrine.
"Wong, did you feel that?"
Mordo lowered his voice, his throat feeling as though it were stuffed with a piece of red-hot charcoal, dry and burning.
He didn't dare use magic sound transmission, fearing that the teenager would crush his senses like shattering glass.
Wong tilted his head, his plump face covered in fine beads of sweat.
He wiped his forehead with his sleeve; before he could dry it, fresh sweat seeped out again.
"I only feel that the magic inside my body is shivering."
Wong muttered quietly, "It's like a mouse passing by a cat's nest, that kind of physiological trembling that simply cannot be suppressed."
In Kamar-Taj, the mages believed in Vishanti, borrowing the power of dimensions.
But from the very moment Aaron stepped through the gates,
they discovered that those originally docile forces suddenly became like a frightened herd of horses, desperately trying to shrink into the deepest parts of their bodies.
Sorcerer Supreme Gu Yi lagged half a step behind Aaron.
She was no longer that decisive and arbitrary Guardian.
She lowered her head slightly, her hands folded across her abdomen, stepping extremely lightly on the bluestone pavement.
That posture was strikingly reminiscent of an old butler leading the way for the master of the house.
"Mentor, ahead is the Scripture Pavilion."
Gu Yi spoke, her voice as flat as stagnant water.
She reached out and pointed to the tower that had stood in the snow mountain storm for a thousand years.
Bronze bells hung from the eaves of the tower, yet they made not a single sound in the howling wind, because the surroundings were filled with a barrier of silence.
Aaron had a red plum stem he had casually plucked earlier clamped in his mouth, and he gave a muffled acknowledgment.
He stepped barefoot on the bluestone after the snow, his soles pressing over the accumulated snow, yet not leaving a single footprint.
He felt that the decoration of this place was too plain.
Everywhere were stones, everywhere were tattered scrolls.
Compared to that apartment in Manhattan covered with velvet carpets, this place practically looked like a nursing home from the last century.
"Aaron, the smell here is bitter."
Wanda followed closely behind Aaron.
Her dark red trench coat fluttered loudly in the wind.
A wisp of red mist overflowed from her fingertips, capturing the scent of rotting parchment in the air.
Lorna walked at the back with her arms crossed.
Her green hair stood out particularly strikingly in the snow.
She was curiously staring at the huge circular window at the top of the tower.
"There are very few metal elements here, and the magnetic field is messed up by those runes."
Aaron pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the Scripture Pavilion.
The creaking sound traveled very far in the dead tower.
It was piled densely with shelves.
Parchment, papyrus, and even Spells carved on human bones emitted a dull, moldy odor.
Dozens of mages were gathered around several long tables, scratching their ears and cheeks in frustration over some complex energy models.
"The included angle of this Shield of the Seraphim is wrong!"
An older mage slammed his quill heavily onto the table, and the paper was scorched with a charred hole by the sparks remaining at his fingertips.
His knuckles were white, and the veins on his forehead twitched wildly, "According to the wavelengths in the book, it simply cannot resist the erosion of the Dark Dimension!"
The surrounding mages also wore ashen expressions.
That was a Bottleneck they had studied for three years.
No matter how they adjusted the syllables of the Spell, that orange magic shield would always disintegrate the moment it formed.
Aaron walked over and stopped in front of the drawing covered in graffiti.
He tilted his head to take a look, bit down on the red plum stem again, and curled the corners of his mouth into an arc of disgust.
"This drawing is like a maze, no wonder you guys can't figure it out."
Aaron pointed casually.
His fingertips did not use any magic, merely lightly pointing at an intersection on the drawing.
"Here, you guys insist on using a Spell loop to forcibly close it."
Aaron spat out the flower stem in his mouth, "It's like trying to weld the positive pole and the positive pole together."
"Lower the third syllable of this Spell by a half-tone, let the energy flow along the static electricity in the air rather than through your meridians."
The elderly mage was stunned at first, then looked as though he had been struck by lightning.
He trembled and extended his finger.
His fingertips trembled, tracing a dim orange line in the air.
Following what Aaron said, he released his absolute control over the energy, instead gently guiding it along that profound rhythm.
Hum!
A physical circular shield, fully as tall as a person and with its edges flowing with a pale purple luster,
abruptly condensed in the center of the laboratory.
That heavy feeling shook the surrounding wooden shelves several times.
"It... it succeeded?"
The old mage collapsed heavily to the ground, panting heavily.
Looking at that solidified and undissolving shield, tears streamed down his old face, and his forehead knocked heavily against the floor.
"Thank you, Mentor, for your guidance! Thank you, Mentor!"
The surrounding mages exploded into an uproar.
The look they cast at Aaron transformed from initial doubt into a near-superstitious fanaticism.
Those difficult problems that had plagued them for decades seemed, in this teenager's mouth, no more complicated than buying a hamburger.
Aaron ignored the sounds of kowtowing.
He felt that these people's brains turned far too slowly.
He walked up to Wong's counter and casually grabbed a newly forged bronze sling ring.
This thing was heavy, densely engraved with magic-guiding grooves.
"Do you guys always have to wear this thing when opening portals?"
Aaron buckled the sling ring on his fingertips, spinning it twice like a turntable.
Wong rubbed his hands awkwardly, "Mentor, without the sling ring, we cannot stabilize the spatial passageway."
"And it also requires cumbersome spellcasting actions and up to three seconds of chanting..."
"Too tiring."
Aaron frowned slightly.
With this kind of efficiency, if he went to the morning market supermarket specials, he probably wouldn't even be able to grab vegetable leaves.
He casually gripped that sling ring.
Between his fingers, a trace of dark red Chaos energy seeped in like magma.
There was no explosion, no sparks.
Under everyone's gaze, the color of that unadorned copper ring rapidly deepened.
It turned from bright yellow to a deep, dark silver, and the incisions on its surface vanished, replaced by a mirror-smooth texture.
Aaron casually tossed the modified ring to the dazed Strange nearby.
"Give it a try."
Strange caught it in a fluster.
The ring felt slightly cool to the touch, yet it seemed to have its own heartbeat pulsing.
He slipped it onto his fingertip, just about to start drawing circles according to the actions in the book.
"No need to draw circles," Aaron said.
Strange was stunned for a moment, subconsciously thinking in his mind about the place of the car accident earlier.
Without even raising his hand.
Boom!
A huge portal, with silver thunder light flowing along its edges,
instantly tore open in the center of the Scripture Pavilion.
On the other side of the door, the wreckage of that Lamborghini on the highway was still smoking.
The entire scene fell into dead silence.
Mordo's staff slipped straight out of his hand, dropping onto the flagstone with a crisp sound.
Wong widened his eyes, his mouth wide enough to stuff a duck egg.
No actions needed?
No chanting needed?
Not even needing mana replenishment?
Just think about it, and the door opens?
This is no longer teaching magic.
This is rewriting the physical rules of Kamar-Taj.
"This... this is simply the creator's authority."
Gu Yi murmured softly, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing her cuffs.
She looked at Aaron, and the seed named "adoration" took root and sprouted within her Soul that had lived for five hundred years.
Aaron clapped his hands, just wanting to ask if there was afternoon tea here.
But his movements suddenly froze.
He abruptly turned his head.
His gaze crossed the heavy wooden windows of the Scripture Pavilion, looking toward that overcast Himalayan sky.
A chill, withered, and rich scent of decay
was crazily overflowing from the depths of the dimension along the cracks in space.
The originally clear and cold snow mountain air instantly became viscous.
As if falling into a large jar of rapidly spoiling purple honey.
"Hiss—"
Mordo grabbed his chest, letting out a suppressed miserable cry.
The magic inside his body began to flow outward uncontrollably.
Not just him, all the mages of the entire sanctuary felt a sense of detachment originating from the depths of their Souls.
Aaron spat out the last bit of plum stem in his mouth, the laziness in his eyes instantly dispersing.
Replaced by a violent, murderous aura after having his mood disturbed.
"Another one wanting to do demolition?"
Aaron sneered.
He saw.
Right above Kamar-Taj.
That dimensional barrier that was originally as solid as steel,
right now was like a rag torn apart by immense force, emitting a teeth-aching...
Rip.
The sky split open.
Innumerable pitch-black fluids flashing with eerie purple light spots surged out from that bottomless crack.
At the center of that fluid,
a huge face large enough to cover the entire mountain range, pieced together from countless Planet ruins,
was slowly pressing down with the greed of devouring everything.
Dormammu.
The monarch of the Dark Dimension.
Its voice, sufficient to shatter Souls, exploded thunderously across the entire Himalayan valley.
"Ancient One... your lifespan has reached its end..."
Aaron looked up at that huge face, a trace of crimson light restlessly dancing at his fingertips.
He tidied the collar of his down jacket.
"Big-faced monster, do you know..."
"You've disturbed my nap?"
Chapter 98: Dormammu's Invasion? Aaron Treats the Dark Dimension Like a Buffet
The sky shattered.
Not the kind of shattering where clouds disperse, but like a cheap mirror smashed by a heavy hammer.
Dense purple cracks spanned across the entire Himalayan Mountains.
The originally crisp sunlight was forcibly crowded out by a viscous, putrid purple-black torrent.
Kamar-Taj's clock tower let out its final moan.
Dong——
The dull bell toll was frozen in the air.
That was the physiological reaction of the dimensional barrier completely collapsing.
Sorcerer Ancient One stood in the center of the bluestone plaza, her khaki monk robes pulled straight by the fierce wind.
She extended her right hand, her fingertips suddenly clasping the Eye of Agamotto.
The turning sound of the golden mechanism should have been crisp, but at this moment, it was covered up by the roar coming from the horizon.
Ancient One's hand was shaking.
Her knuckles pressed out a ghastly white, which was her overdrawing her vitality to forcibly stabilize reality.
"Dormammu, you came early."
Ancient One murmured in a low voice, her voice hoarse.
She glanced at her already blackened palm, which was the trace of corrosion from the Dark Dimension.
She had wanted to accompany this World to the very last moment, and even if she were swallowed by Dormammu, she would bite off a piece of meat from him.
"Ancient One... Your hypocrisy will eventually be extinguished."
Above the firmament, that giant face completely solidified.
Countless shattered stellar remains piled up to form its contour, and every single "eyeball" was a burned-out star.
It opened its mouth.
The energy of the Dark Dimension poured down along the spine of the snow mountain like breached black oil.
The mages inside the Sanctum knelt down in batches.
This was not etiquette, but absolute energy-level suppression.
Master Mordo's fingers holding the staff were creaking.
He felt the magic within his body being sucked away, as if someone had stuffed a water pump into his blood vessels.
"This is starting already?"
Aaron had his hands in his pockets, his toes grinding in the accumulated snow.
He looked up at the big face that occupied the entire sky, his brows knitted together.
Just now he was planning to ask Wong where they sold authentic Nepalese flatbread around here.
As a result, once this streak of purple viscous liquid came out, it froze all the red plums around the Sanctum into ice dregs.
More importantly, this big face happened to block the position where the Sun rose.
The gloomy and cold wind scraped against his face like a knife.
"You're blocking me from sunbathing, you know?"
Aaron took a step forward.
His leather boots stepped on the bluestone slab, making a faint click.
This sound was insignificant amidst Dormammu's roar.
But Ancient One abruptly turned her head.
She saw that the air within one meter around Aaron, which was originally being assimilated by the Dark Dimension, had miraculously calmed down at this moment.
Those rolling purple mists, the moment they touched the collar of Aaron's shirt, were like crashing into a branding iron, turning into nothingness with a sizzle.
"Aaron, that guy doesn't look very easy to communicate with."
Wanda stood behind Aaron.
The red light at her fingertips no longer jumped, instead turning into a restrained dark red.
She could feel that the other party was strong, strong enough to reshape the constants of the Universe.
"Communication is for people."
Aaron shook his hands, the joints on his wrists emitting a crisp popping sound.
"For someone who rifles through trash cans like this, just send them straight into the incinerator."
He extended his right hand, his five fingers suddenly grabbing into the Void Realm.
"Chaos Domain, open."
Hum——!
A low-frequency tremor that almost made everyone's eardrums burst instantly swept across the entire Kathmandu.
Originally it was Dormammu devouring Earth.
But now, a dark red Domain, deeper, more viscous than the Dark Dimension, and exuding an aura of destruction and Rebirth, violently burst out from the soles of Aaron's feet.
The red light diffused in a circular shape.
Wherever it passed, those purple dark energies rapidly dissolved like foam encountering sulfuric acid.
"What is this... What kind of thing are you!"
Dormammu's face, composed of stellar remains, twisted.
It felt an unprecedented greedy will.
That will was not to oppose it, but to... eat it.
Aaron closed his eyes, his hands held flat in front of him, as if welcoming a grand lunch.
Within his Sea of Consciousness, the System prompts had already connected into a string of hurried busy tones.
[Ding! High-purity Dark Dimension Origin energy detected!]
[Initiating automatic plunder mechanism...]
[Conversion ratio: 1:1000.]
[Current Mystery Box Points: +100,000, +500,000, +1,200,000...]
"The taste is a bit sour, like expired berries."
Aaron smacked his lips.
He could feel those gloomy and cold dark energies, enough to drive a Mortal insane, drilling into his body along his pores.
Then they were instantly crushed and reorganized by Chaos Magic, finally turning into glowing System points flickering with golden light.
Chaos Magic itself was the nemesis of reality.
Dormammu wanted to modify Earth's reality through the Dark Dimension.
While Aaron directly treated Dormammu's "reality" as fuel.
"Give me some more, I'm not full yet."
Aaron took a second step forward.
The red Domain was like a giant funnel, beginning to inversely devour the purple cracks in the sky.
The dark torrent that originally surged down had now eerily stagnated.
They changed direction in mid-air, frantically surging into Aaron's palm.
A muffled sound similar to a giant whale inhaling water came from the air.
The mages in the Sanctum were dumbfounded.
Master Mordo's staff dropped to the ground, rolling twice without him going to pick it up.
Wong's chubby face was covered in cold sweat as he watched the purple smoke filling the sky being sucked away by Aaron like a tornado.
"He is... Is he sucking in Dormammu?"
Ancient One stared at Aaron's back.
She could feel that the energy being sucked in by Aaronevery second.
Was enough to support Kamar-Taj to operate for a hundred years.
And Aaron's body was like a bottomless black hole.
Not only was it not blown open, but on the contrary, that grey down jacket seemed to brighten by a few shades.
"No! Stop! You are stealing my authority!"
Dormammu let out a panicked roar.
Its voice was no longer majestic, instead carrying a desperate sharpness.
It tried to close the dimensional cracks.
Trying to pull its dark Domain back into that Land of Nihility with no concept of time.
But it found that it could not do it.
Aaron's red light was like a row of barbed chains, tightly hooking onto its Soul.
That was an absolute suppression of a higher dimension.
It was just like a three-dimensional creature folding a two-dimensional paper.
Dormammu's proud dark energy was nothing more than a nutrient meal with a slightly higher energy density in Aaron's eyes.
"Weren't you quite arrogant just now?"
Aaron opened his eyes, gorgeous red flowing light circulating within his pupils.
His right hand suddenly yanked backward.
"Since you've already come, leave behind some local specialties before you go."
Crack——!
The movement of some behemoth breaking came from the horizon.
That purple crack spanning across the Himalayas was actually torn twice as large by Aaron raw.
More dark energy spilled outward frantically like a punctured abscess.
Aaron's points panel was already going crazy.
[Total points Breakthrough 50 million...]
[System is upgrading...]
"Tastes awful."
Aaron complained while increasing the suction force.
He was like a picky diner, yet he had to lick the plate clean for the points.
Dormammu felt a physiological panic.
It found that its body, claimed to be infinite, actually experienced a sense of exhaustion at this moment.
The giant face that originally covered the entire heaven and Earth was shrinking rapidly.
From blocking out the sky.
To covering half of the mountain range.
To only remaining the size of a room.
Its stellar remain eyeballs extinguished one by one.
The originally dense purple smoke became thin and transparent, like ink diluted by water.
"Save me... No! Stop!"
Dormammu's voice was trembling.
It found that its true form, enough to destroy countless planets, was at this moment before Aaron's palm.
Curled up into a ball out of fear.
Its body was getting smaller.
Its will was collapsing.
In its life of hundreds of millions of years.
For the first time.
It discovered that it was not a harvester.
But a piece of food placed on a plate, being frantically chewed on.
Top-tier steak.
Dormammu looked at the youth below who was patting his belly and full of disgust.
Within those black eyes.
It saw something older and deeper than the Dark Dimension.
Absolute malice.
It let out the most terrified of its life.
Scream.
Chapter 99: Dormammu: "Don't come over here! Isn't it enough that I'm going back to my hometown?!"
The fissure in the Himalayas looked like a torn, aged scar.
Purple pus churned within the void.
Aaron shook the fallen snow off his down jacket and stepped inside.
The soles of his boots crunched on the void, making a sound similar to stepping on dry, stiff plastic wrap.
The air here was as thick as expired syrup.
Every inch of space was filled with Dormammu's rotten, electrically charged burnt stench.
The dimensional barrier slowly healed behind Aaron.
The snow of Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One's monk robes, and Wanda's worried red hair were all isolated outside that purple curtain.
Aaron stood at the core of the Dark Dimension, his nose twitching slightly.
"It stinks."
He frowned, a flash of red light flicking from his fingertips.
The red light was like a flame dropping into a wok of oil, instantly blasting open a circle of vacuum zone within the purple mist.
Dormammu's true body was right ahead.
It was a behemoth composed of countless shattered Planets, glowing stellar remains, and dark energy.
That face of its was as large as dozens of Earths.
At this moment, this face was twisted into a bizarre arc due to extreme terror.
It had never seen anyone dare to proactively jump into its stomach pouch.
Even less had it seen someone enter its territory whose first reaction was to complain about its poor house hygiene.
"Aaron Parker..."
Dormammu's voice reverberated in the depths of the dimension.
The teeth made of stellar remains crashed against each other, emitting a muffled, thunder-like roar.
"This is my absolute Domain; here there is no time, no life and death..."
"And no vacuum cleaner."
Aaron interrupted it.
He lowered his head to glance at his cuff, which was stained with a wisp of purple energy thread.
With a casual pat from him, that wisp of energy was instantly pulverized by Chaos Magic, turning into a series of numbers that burrowed into the System panel.
[Ding! Plundered the Dark Origin successfully, points + 2 million!]
[Ding! High-energy stellar core discovered, convert or not?]
Aaron looked at the wildly jumping numbers on the panel.
In his black pupils, that coldness named "a wage earner looking at overtime pay" gradually lit up.
He raised his head, sizing up Dormammu's huge, messy body.
"Are these glowing balls all trash you collected?"
Aaron pointed at those burning stars in Dormammu's eye sockets.
"Those are civilizations devoured by me!"
Dormammu roared.
It attempted to mobilize the gravity of the entire dimension, wanting to grind this ungrateful shorty into atoms.
The purple gravity wave slapped over like a tsunami.
Aaron didn't dodge.
He merely stretched out his hand and grabbed into the void.
The moment those gravity waves came into contact with the red Domain, they were like a forcefully tamed stray dog, spinning once and turning into pliable threads.
"Too messy."
Aaron took a step forward.
He drew a circle in the void, and the red mist instantly filled a space of ten thousand miles in radius.
"I don't like the color tone here, it's too dark."
Aaron snapped his fingers.
Those stars regarded as trophies by Dormammu were forcefully dragged over by Chaos Magic.
They reorganized and arranged themselves in the air.
In the blink of an eye, they turned into rows of huge ceiling lamps emitting a warm yellow light.
One of Dormammu's eyes went out.
Because the star in its eye socket was taken by Aaron to be used as a light bulb.
"You... what are you doing?!"
Dormammu went crazy.
It felt that its authority was being stripped away.
This feeling was like sleeping in your own home when a decorator suddenly barges in and insists on tearing down your load-bearing walls.
"Spring cleaning."
Aaron's tone was plain.
Taking the initiative as a guest, he walked around in the void. Every step he took, a large expanse of dark energy was forcefully formatted.
Those viscous grievance crystals that had entangled for tens of millions of years—
with a casual wipe from Aaron, they turned into neat square bricks used to pave the floor.
Those broken meteorites floating in the air—
with a point of Aaron's fingertip, they turned into a few minimalist obsidian sofas.
[Ding! Points + 5 million!]
[Ding! Points + 8 million!]
The System prompt tone was rhythmic in Aaron's mind like rave dancing.
The more Aaron worked, the more enthusiastic he became.
He found that this Dormammu was simply a huge, mobile point bank that even refreshed on its own.
He walked to the location of Dormammu's huge bridge of the nose.
There was a thick cluster of void fire seed there.
That was one of the core energy levels for Dormammu to maintain the stability of this dimension.
"This piece of material is not bad, suitable to be a fireplace for my living room."
Aaron rubbed his palms together.
The red Chaos Magic turned into two huge palms, reaching directly toward that cluster of fire seed.
"No! That is my divine godhood!"
Dormammu let out a heart-rending scream.
Its face composed of Nebula began to tremble violently, and large swathes of purple light gushed out from the wounds.
It attempted to resist.
It mobilized all the afterimages of the dimensional demon gods, trying to siege Aaron.
Those ferocious demon god phantoms had just rushed within three meters of Aaron.
Aaron waved his sleeve without even turning his head.
"Quiet down, can't you see I'm busy assembling furniture?"
A red light flashed past.
All the demon god phantoms instantly turned into pink balloons, patter-patter dropping onto the newly paved floor tiles.
Dormammu completely collapsed.
It had lived for tens of millions of years, seen heroes who wanted to challenge it,
seen madmen who wanted to study it,
and even seen the Ancient One who wanted to utilize it.
But it had never seen a scoundrel who treated its dimension as a buffet restaurant and a building materials market.
If Aaron were allowed to stay here for another half hour,
the Dark Dimension would probably be remodeled into a Manhattan-style five-star resort hotel.
And it, the monarch of this dimension, would most likely be dismantled by Aaron to be used as stone lions at the entrance.
"You can leave..."
Dormammu's voice changed, becoming no longer majestic, even carrying a hint of a lingering cry.
Its huge face had shrunk by half due to energy loss, looking shriveled and comical.
"Not leaving, there are quite a lot of points here."
Aaron set his sights on a Nebula again, its color extremely resembling a rug he was missing.
"I'll give it to you! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you!"
Dormammu roared, its huge body violently shrinking in the void.
"I swear! As long as you are on Earth for a day, I will never step foot into that stellar System by even half a step!"
"I don't even want that old hag Ancient One's debt anymore! I'll even pay you back! I'll provide you with energy!"
Dormammu was so anxious that it spat out a mouthful of purple energy essence.
That energy turned into a purple contract in front of Aaron.
"I'm begging Grandpa, just hurry up and get out!"
Seeing that Aaron was still sizing up its chin, Dormammuwas so frightened that its entire face was about to split open.
"If you stay any longer, my hometown is going to be completely dismantled by you!"
Aaron glanced at the contract.
Printed on it was Dormammu's primordial Soul imprint.
As long as Aaron was willing, he could follow this imprint to come back and "restock" at any time.
"Fine then."
Aaron retracted his hand with some regret.
He patted the wrinkles on his down jacket and swept his gaze around this dark core area that had become neat, bright, and filled with the "Aaron style".
"Although only half renovated, it's barely passable to look at."
Aaron lifted his foot and walked toward the exit.
With his back to Dormammu, he waved his hand without even turning his head.
"Remember to keep it clean. If I come back next time and find that this place has started stinking again—"
Aaron paused, his tone carrying a trace of chilliness that made one's back neck turn cold.
"I'll dismantle that face of yours and turn it into the toilet mat for my home's bathroom."
Dormammu's huge body shuddered violently.
It didn't dare to talk back.
It exhausted all its strength, even stirring up a dimensional storm.
As if pushing away a plague god, it fiercely smashed open that spatial fissure.
A breeze carrying the cold air of Kamar-Taj and the red Mei fragrance poured back in.
Following the wind, Aaron stepped out in one stride.
Bang!
Almost out of extreme panic, Dormammu instantly welded the dimensional fissure shut.
Because the door-closing speed was too fast, it even clipped off a small section of its own purple beard.
Aaron stood in the snow of the Himalayas.
Beneath his feet were smooth bluestone slabs.
Surrounding him were the dumbfounded Kamar-Tajmages.
Wanda rushed over, her palms pressing on Aaron's arm, checking him eagerly.
"Aaron, are you okay?"
The Ancient One also walked over, staring at the dimensional fissure that had completely disappeared and been reinforced with countless layers of defensive spells.
Her expression was complex.
She could feel that that monster Dormammu... seemed to be crying?
Aaron lowered his head to take a look at the System panel.
That long string of zeros made him feel that this "spring cleaning" trip was well worth it.
He moved his somewhat sore shoulders, looking toward the gradually dispersing dark clouds.
Sunlight shone onto the snow-capped mountains once more, reflecting a dazzling white.
"Going back to his hometown just like that?"
Aaron smacked his lips with some unfulfilled satisfaction.
He turned his head to look at the Ancient One, his gaze revealing a greed of not having farmed enough points yet.
"Ancient One, do you have any other enemies?"
"The kind with a large territory, lots of energy, and looks rather ugly."
"Aside from Dormammu, aren't there a few over in Hellwho like to renege on debts?"
Just as Aaron's voice fell,
the snow accumulation on the entire Himalayan mountain seemed to tremble violently because of the terrifying malice brought by this sentence.
Darkness had long since receded.
But that flash of red light in Aaron's eyes, beneath this brilliant sunlight,
appeared increasingly restless.
Chapter 100: Blind Box Yields Upgraded Sling Ring, Go Anywhere You Want with the Anywhere Door
The wind on the Himalayas stopped.
The originally torn sky looked like a patched-up old piece of cloth.
Except for the color being a bit lighter than before, there were no traces left of Dormammu struggling desperately there.
Half of a purple beard was whipped up by the wind, falling into the snow crevices of the steps, and quickly frozen into hard icicles.
Aaron patted the wrinkles on his down jacket.
He was just doing some renovations inside the Dark Dimension, and his movements were a bit too big.
The fluffy collar around his neckline was stained with a bit of purple energy powder.
He reached out his hand and gave it a gentle swipe, like flicking away dust.
"Sizzling," that bit of Origin of darkness that could drive any mage insane simply dissipated like that.
The Sanctum plaza was in dead silence.
Hundreds of mages were still kneeling on the stone slabs.
With their foreheads pressed against the cold ground, no one dared to raise their heads to take a glance at the Sun.
The weight pressing on their spines had disappeared, but the awe in their hearts took root even deeper, like old tree roots.
Mordo raised his head, a large patch of his monastic robe around his knees soaked through by the melting snow.
He looked at Aaron, his throat letting out a dry swallowing sound.
Just moments ago, he had sensed that dark god powerful enough to swallow the World begging for mercy behind the rift.
That was not a battle.
That was a one-sided bullying.
"Mentor, you... are you full?"
Wong stood up supporting his knees, his chubby face still carrying undried cold sweat.
He was fast-mouthed, blurting out whatever he thought in his heart.
Aaron gave him a sideways glance and said nothing.
He was looking at the System interface that had popped up in his mind.
That "buffet" just now had indeed made him a bit too full.
The numbers in the points column had already jumped into a string of meaningless ellipses.
[Ding! Since the host completely resolved the "Dark Dimension Invasion" crisis, mission evaluation: SSS-Rank!]
[System reward settlement in progress...]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Supreme-tier Mission Blind Box × 1!]
[Current points have met the target, the System is opening the final version celebration lottery of Version 1.0!]
Aaron found an unbroken stone pier and sat down.
Wanda walked over, skillfully pulling a pack of wet wipes from her pocket.
She half-squatted by Aaron's legs, picked up his right hand, and carefully wiped away the lingering trace of purple smoke between his fingers.
Lorna stood on the other side, her magnetic field propping up a three-meter-wide wind-sheltered area around them.
The wind and snow swirled around them, failing to drop even a speck onto Aaron.
"Open."
Aaron gave the instruction in his mind.
He didn't expect this System to give him any more power to move mountains and fill seas.
After all, just relying on his fists now, he could smash and crack Earth's core.
What he lacked were interesting things.
Things that could add a bit of variety to such lazy days.
In his mind.
A wooden box, pitch-black all over with dark golden runes flowing along its edges, slowly slid open.
There was no such dazzling strong light.
There was only a slight creaking sound, like that emitted by an old phonograph.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for opening the Supreme-tier Blind Box!]
[Obtained Divine Rank item: Heavens Coordinate Sling Ring (System Special Edition)!]
Aaron's hand suddenly felt heavy.
A ring appeared out of thin air in his palm.
It wasn't like those bulky brass Sling Rings of Kamar-Taj.
This gadget was dark silver all over, feeling refreshingly cool to the touch.
The band was very thin, densely engraved with tens of thousands of microscopic coordinate points invisible to the naked eye.
Every coordinate point flickered with a faint light of different colors.
Some were vibrant green, while others were red like magma.
"What is this?"
Ancient One walked over.
She stared at the ring in Aaron's hand, her fingertips instinctively rubbing her eye of agamotto.
As the Sorcerer Supreme, her senses for spatial fluctuations were acute.
But on that dark silver ring, she sensed a... sense of unknown that made her hair stand on end.
That was not Earth.
Nor was it the Dark Dimension.
It didn't even belong to any corner of this Universe.
"A tool for opening doors."
Aaron slipped the ring onto his middle finger; the size was just right, fitting seamlessly.
He casually flipped his palm over.
"However, this door is a bit bigger than the doors of your Kamar-Taj."
[Heavens Coordinate Sling Ring]:
[Function 1: Plane transition. No longer limited to the Marvel 616 Universe, it can cross the heavens and dimensions based on coordinates.]
[Function 2: Absolute fixation. The opened passage is blessed by Chaos energy; unless the host allows it, no existence can forcibly pass through or close it.]
[Function 3: Holographic projection. Can observe the real-time scenery of the target plane in advance.]
Aaron looked at the introduction floating on his retina, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly by a millimeter.
This was getting a bit interesting.
Although the Marvel Universe was lively, after looking at it for long, it was just so-so.
Those Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., those quarreling muscle men of the Avengers, and those immortal bugs of HYDRA.
Having grown tired of this place's private cuisine, one always had to change tastes.
"Mentor, are we going back?"
Strange asked cautiously beside him.
The way he looked at Aaron right now was even more pious than looking at God.
His restored hands were nervously rubbing against each other.
"No rush."
Aaron stood up.
He casually waved towards the empty snowy mountain plain.
No circle drawing, no chanting.
The dark silver Sling Ring drew a streak of red light in the air.
The stream of light rapidly expanded, turning into a huge mirror surface more than a dozen meters high.
Inside the mirror surface, it was no longer Manhattan's steel jungle.
But a sea of azure blue.
Floating on the sea were huge, winged Strange fish.
In the distance was a floating mountain range with ten-thousand-foot waterfalls cascading down, and sunlight passing through the water mist to refract colorful light rainbows.
That was the scenery of another plane.
"This... where is this?"
Mordo cried out in shock, his staff almost poking his own toes.
As a mage, he knew what this meant.
That was not magic, that was a divine miracle.
"A vacation resort."
Aaron swiped again casually.
The scenery in the mirror surface changed once more.
This time, it was a ruined city made of steel, with huge mecha wreckage diagonally stuck in the asphalt road.
In the air, one could seemingly smell a desolate smell of gunpowder smoke.
"Or here, it looks like fighting could be more enjoyable."
Ancient One stood behind Aaron, the whole person looking like a solidified stone carving.
She finally understood.
Aaron Parker, this teenager who was not within the fate lines of the Time Stone.
Not only could this World not trap him.
I'm afraid even this entire dimension was nothing more than an occasional lodging inn to him.
"Mentor, are you leaving?"
Ancient One's voice trembled slightly, carrying a trace of faint loss that even she herself hadn't noticed.
"Depends on my mood."
Aaron withdrew his hand, and the portal instantly collapsed into a speck of dim light, submerging into the ring.
He looked at Ancient One and pointed at her teacup.
"Drink your tea sparingly. When I get tired of playing one day, I'll come back to see if the door over at your place is fixed."
Red Chaos energy once again enveloped Wanda and Lorna.
Pietro also quickly drilled into the energy circle with sharp eyes and quick hands.
Aaron waved at Strange.
"If you want to come with me, keep close. If you want to stay on the mountain and become a bald guy, suit yourself."
Strange didn't hesitate in the slightest, scrambling and crawling into the red light.
...
A few seconds later.
New York, Manhattan penthouse apartment.
The heating of the thermostat System quickly dispelled the chill of the Himalayas.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan's neon lights were bustling as usual, looking like colorful sugar beans spread across the night.
The snowy mountain battle just now, in the eyes of these busy citizens, was nothing more than an abnormal record by the meteorological bureau.
Aaron collapsed into that genuine leather sofa that hadn't been replaced with a new one yet.
Lorna skillfully walked over to the bar counter; with a movement of her magnetic field, a newly arrived bottle of top-tier red wine uncorked itself.
The wine liquid traced a perfect arc, precisely falling into the crystal glass in Aaron's hand.
Wanda sat on the carpet.
She leaned against Aaron's knees, reaching out to pinch his slightly cool fingertips, her eyes full of soft light.
"Aaron, that World just now was very beautiful."
"There are plenty of beautiful places."
Aaron took a sip of red wine, pillowing his head with one hand.
He spun the dark silver Sling Ring on his fingertips.
The coordinate points on the ring flickered slightly, as if sending a silent invitation to him.
He glanced at this living room.
He glanced at this Manhattan that he once thought was somewhat interesting.
At the moment he mastered the heavens coordinates, he suddenly felt a strong emptiness called "invincibility."
Right here.
If he wanted money, banks all over the World were his treasury.
If he wanted power, the Five Representatives had to bow their heads when seeing him.
If he wanted strength, Dormammu was beaten so hard that his home door was welded shut.
"Now I'm truly invincible."
Aaron murmured in a low voice, his voice revealing an unconcealable laziness and disdain.
He looked at the swaying wine liquid in the glass, reflecting the bustling, dreamlike night view of New Yorkoutside the window.
He put his arm around Wanda's shoulders, while his other hand played with Lorna's dark green long hair.
The two girls obediently snuggled in his arms.
The lights from outside the window shone into the room, outlining his young face that was already superior to all living beings.
Aaron stared at a coordinate point on the ring that was emitting an eerie green light.
There was a wondrous rule different from here attracting him.
"Marvel's show is about to wrap up."
Aaron drank up the last bit of red wine.
He looked at the two girls, a flash of banter passing through his eyes.
"Hey, babies."
"Next step."
"Where shall we go play?"
Outside the window, the wind swept across the clouds.
At this moment, the lights on the top floor of Stark Towerseemed brighter than the entire New York.
And at Aaron's fingertips.
A new World.
Was slowly.
Opening.
The curtain.