Preparing to Absorb the Time Stone
"Asgard?" Xia Yu muttered to himself.
At this moment, the Ancient One, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.
"You mean, you want Xia Yu to create Ragnarok and destroy Asgard?"
No, no!
The old man shook his head repeatedly.
"Odin must have told Xia Yu before that they were born in the universe and would eventually return to the Cosmic Origin. This statement is actually wrong. The correct way to understand it is that Asgard was born in the universe, and the gods of Asgard, including Odin, will return to the Source of Asgard after they die."
"Asgard exists in the universe, but it has its own independent rules. Its demise is inevitable and will occur in its own unique way. There is no need to interfere, lest we suffer more uncertainty. Xia Yu only needs to absorb it after its destruction and before it returns to the universe in its Source."
Ancient One and Xia Yu both understood what the old man meant.
If the Source of the universe is a great tree, then Asgard is a branch that has separated from that tree. Odin's fall will nourish the branch, and although it is also part of the tree, the trunk itself remains unchanged.
However, pruning the branches can still help the tree grow. What Xia Yu needs to do is absorb the nutrients from the falling branches, which is basically competing with the tree for resources.
Suddenly, Xia Yu understood his situation.
His absorption of the Infinity Stones' energy was essentially the process of transforming into a small tree. However, compared to a large tree, he was far too weak and could only absorb some of the tree trunk to strengthen himself.
Asgard is undoubtedly one of the larger trunks in this tree.
But what happens after you become a sapling? Does it absorb the larger tree and take its place, or what?
Who is this old man hiding behind the scenes? Or is he just a puppet, being used and then someone else comes out to reap the rewards?
Xia Yu's thoughts began to wander. He didn't want to end up doing all the work for someone else. Right now, he just wanted to resolve his life-or-death crisis and live a good life with his friends in this world.
The old man always seemed to be able to read Xia Yu's mind.
"Don't worry, we have absolutely no ill intentions towards you. You'll understand that later. If we really had any ill intentions, I wouldn't have needed to take out the system in front of you. I know you have doubts, but everything will become clear when you enter the Soul Sanctum."
"I still can't fully trust you unless you tell me directly, or what your purpose is."
Xia Yu asked, getting straight to the point.
"Purpose? Our purpose is the same as yours, Xia Yu. You should understand that everything in this world is predetermined. It originated from a series of movies in another world, which led to the creation of this world. Now that you've come to this world and have your own family and friends, you naturally don't want the ending to be the same as before. This is your purpose, and it's also ours: to break free from the influence of that world and make this world an independent one."
The old man spoke calmly, while Ancient One on the other side was greatly shocked.
She wasn't surprised that Xia Yu was a time traveler. Later, when they talked about some kind of system, Ancient One didn't know what a system was, but she imagined it as a tool made by the old man or someone behind him to help Xia Yu.
None of this was enough to make the Ancient One panic, but when it was mentioned that this world was a movie, the Ancient One couldn't sit still.
"What? This world is a movie? Then what about us, Xia Yu...?"
Before Ancient One could finish speaking, the old man waved his hand and disappeared from this space.
He didn't mind the Ancient One listening in, but he couldn't be bothered to explain much to her.
"Auntie, what did you do to her?"
Xia Yu instantly stood up and assumed a fighting stance, even though he knew he might not be a match for the old man.
"Don't be nervous, I just saw her out first. Sit down and listen carefully, Xia Yu."
"My authority limits my words, but I assure you, I have no ill intentions towards you. You will understand everything once Ragnarok ends and you enter the Soul Stone Sanctum."
"Stan Lee is an interesting person. Although he can't help you with your strength, you can trust what he says. Alright, time is running out. I'll send you out. I've already altered the Ancient One's memories; she won't remember anything about this place. You don't need to tell her much. As for this system, you no longer need it, but you can keep it with you as an artificial intelligence. Whether you want it or not is up to you."
As the old man spoke, he released his grip, and the small yellow ball of light that the system had transformed into landed in Xia Yu's hand.
Xia Yu lowered his head and considered it for a moment. The old man was right. If there was really malice, there was no need to mention the system in front of him.
It's good to have Tmall around; it doesn't talk much, but it can help you make phone calls, pilot spaceships, and so on when needed.
Moreover, Xia Yu had a gut feeling that if the other party had malicious intent, it wouldn't matter to him whether the system existed or not.
Xia Yu reached out and absorbed the ball of light back into his body.
Seeing that Xia Yu had made his decision, the old man waved his hand again, and everything before him slowly faded away, like a virtual image...
Suddenly, everything changed, and by the time Xia Yu realized what was happening...
He had already appeared in the cave where he started, one hand still resting on the stone pillar, which was slowly emitting light.
A line of Huaxia characters appeared above.
Space Stone, Xia Yu established Sanctum in Sky City, strengthened the array, and completely isolated the Dark Dimension.
A smile appeared on Ancient One's face.
"Xia Yu, you know I possess the power of the Dark Dimension, which I need to suppress for a long time. It's not enough to activate this altar. Fortunately, you're here. I think I understand what to do now."
Xia Yu tried to talk to Ancient One for a few minutes and discovered that Ancient One's memories had been completely altered; she hadn't just forgotten what had just happened.
She didn't even remember killing Strange, which she had mentioned at the beginning. In the Ancient One's memory, she was worried about Dormammu's invasion from the Dark Dimension in the future, so she came to this altar for help.
However, because he couldn't mobilize enough power within his body, he sought Xia Yu's help.
That old man, or whoever or whatever he represents, possesses terrifying power; he actually altered the Sorcerer Supreme's memories.
However, a solution was provided for dealing with Dormammu: build a Sanctum on Xia Yu's floating continent, echoing the Three Sanctums on Earth, to increase the power of the formation and completely isolate it from invasions from the Dark Dimension or other dimensions.
Xia Yu had no objection to this, since he was going to talk to Ancient One about absorbing the Time Stone anyway.
Ancient One had told Xia Yu about this from the very beginning, and now she could fulfill her promise.