Ancient One's Teaching and Practice

Ancient One understood why Li Feng showed no attachment to Chinatown, because she could see that he was ready to make a name for himself on the path of magic. A place like Chinatown was clearly unsuitable for practicing magic. Not only was it easy to be disturbed, but any leakage of magical energy would also be troublesome. Not to mention anything far off—even S.H.I.E.L.D. alone would be enough to give Li Feng a headache. Oh, sorry, it had not changed its name to S.H.I.E.L.D. yet. It was still called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

After arriving at Kamar-Taj with Ancient One, she did not immediately begin teaching Li Feng. After all, she could tell that he needed rest after having just crossed back.

After instructing Mordo to arrange a room for Li Feng, Ancient One entered the hall carrying the Magic Book that Li Feng had not even had time to read, then began reading it with great interest.

Mordo was rather stubborn. In the original story, he had chosen to leave after learning that Ancient One had secretly absorbed Dark Energy, then slaughtered many Mages to preserve the balance of nature. Therefore, aside from surface-level politeness, Li Feng had no intention of getting close to him.

Besides, Li Feng was well aware of the path that lay ahead of him. Since his Mana leaned toward the dark side, conflict with Mordo was inevitable. Rather than being unable to explain things later, he might as well keep his distance from Mordo now.

The night passed without incident.

After a night of rest, Li Feng arrived at Ancient One's reception hall under Mordo's guidance, feeling refreshed. Ancient One had already prepared tea to receive him.

Although Ancient One said that brewing tea herself was merely standard practice, Li Feng still felt flattered.

This was tea personally brewed by one of the most powerful figures on Earth. How many ordinary people would ever get to drink it?

Once Li Feng had carefully savored the tea, Ancient One handed him the Magic Book and said, "The spells and the book are very interesting. But because the worlds are different, much of it is incomplete. I'm afraid you'll need to spend time recording it yourself."

Incomplete because the worlds were different?

Li Feng did not quite understand. He had glanced through this Magic Book before and had not noticed anything missing.

Ancient One gestured for Li Feng to open it himself, telling him he would understand.

With a trace of confusion, Li Feng flipped through the Magic Book. Before long, the constant twitching at the corner of his eye showed just how speechless and helpless he felt.

The Magic Book had originally been able to automatically record everything that happened in the Magic World, but the world connected to this book was clearly Balthazar Blake's world. Once it came to the Marvel Universe, it was obviously having trouble adapting.

First, knowledge related to magical history and the arts had inexplicably vanished. Li Feng did not care much about those things anyway, so it was no big deal if they disappeared.

But some potion formulas and alchemy recipes had also lost the names of materials that did not exist in the Marvel Universe. It was not exactly that the formulas had disappeared; rather, the names of the corresponding ingredients were gone.

Even so, Li Feng still felt that he could not take it anymore.

What kind of nonsense was this? A potion that could improve mental strength originally required ten ingredients, but because the relevant herbs did not exist in the Marvel Universe, it left him five ingredient names and five blank parentheses? Was he supposed to figure out what herbs to fill into those parentheses himself or what?

The only good news was that all kinds of spells Balthazar Blake had left in the Magic Book still existed. Aside from proving that those spells were still effective in the Marvel Universe, it also indirectly proved that as long as Li Feng worked hard, he could learn all of them. That included the Time Acceleration and deceleration spells that even Ancient One found tempting.

But since I'm at Kamar-Taj now, I should first learn how to forge a Mage robe. Otherwise, am I supposed to land naked in other planes every time I cross worlds? After crossing several times, either I'll be too ashamed to show my face, or I'll just have to stop caring about shame altogether.

While inwardly complaining nonstop about how crossing worlds would not even let him keep his clothes on, Li Feng folded the Magic Book, which was the size of two A4 sheets of paper, down to the size of a matchbox and slipped it into his pocket. Then he sat cross-legged across from Ancient One, looking as though he were calmly awaiting instruction.

Ancient One truly deserved to be called an experienced educator. The moment Li Feng raised a question, she was already explaining it in a way he could understand.

The only regret was that although Kamar-Taj could forge its own magical weapons, when it came to forging magical clothing, Ancient One said the relevant materials existed, but the actual process was clearly beyond a rookie like Li Feng.

As for pre-made Mage robes and other clothing, Li Feng said that even if Ancient One gave him a friendly discount, he still could not afford them. He was not some wealthy man. Since he had been focused on practicing magic, he had not found a proper job and only did odd jobs for pocket money. On top of that, he had previously spent money on equipment to train his body. Now, Li Feng had less than ten thousand dollars in his pocket.

Kamar-Taj was Ancient One's territory, so it was no problem for Li Feng to stay for a while. He believed Ancient One would not say much about it. But treating Kamar-Taj as his own home was something Li Feng could not do for the time being. Besides, his Mana attribute would easily draw prejudice from this group of righteous Mages. If they decided to hold some demon-extermination event, would Li Feng rather be beaten to death by a group or strangled to death by Mordo?

So he had already decided how to spend the remaining ten thousand dollars. For example, he could buy a secondhand RV, a large tent, and some wilderness supplies. He could travel aimlessly while crossing into other worlds to continue traveling. That ten thousand dollars probably would not even be enough for him to spend, so where would he get spare money to buy a Mage robe?

Amid their questions and answers, noon arrived quietly.

Li Feng stood and bowed to Ancient One in thanks.

Ancient One nodded with a smile and reminded him, "If you travel using time and Portals, you need to try many times and grasp the proper limits. Otherwise, you may find that you were only gone for a day, yet when you return to this world, an entire year has passed."

Li Feng was also helpless about the unequal Timelines between worlds. Just as he had stayed in The Sorcerer's Apprentice world for less than half a month, yet when he returned to the Marvel Universe and checked the time, more than a month had already passed.

And that was only one world. If he ever entered a world where one day there equaled one year in the Marvel Universe, as Ancient One had described, he would be finished. If he returned from another world only to discover that Purple Chin had already snapped his fingers, destroyed the Infinity Stones, and the heroes had already returned the stones to the past, where would he go to cry?

If he wanted to understand the time involved in crossing worlds, then at Kamar-Taj, he would inevitably have to deal with the Eye of Agamotto. But if Ancient One wanted to lend that thing to Li Feng for research, the other Mages would never agree.

Why should an outsider receive Ancient One's favor? Was there something improper going on between them? How was Li Feng supposed to answer that? Say that Ancient One liked men with little bellies?

Without Ancient One lifting a finger, Li Feng would be drowned in the Mages' spit.

Fortunately, there were quite a few worlds that had studied time. For example, the Harry Potter world was basically safe as long as one did not court death. Hermione Granger had used a time-related item because she had enrolled in every course.

Unfortunately, Li Feng knew full well that he had no idea which world he would appear in after crossing. If he could never reach Harry's world, he could only be left grasping at straws.

That afternoon, they were still in the reception hall, but this time Li Feng demonstrated Merlin's Ring before Ancient One, then performed Astral Projection and increased his Mana inside Merlin's Ring.

To be honest, Li Feng was still somewhat worried about showing Astral Projection in front of a big shot like Ancient One. What if she noticed something and casually destroyed him? Was he supposed to explain that Quantum Energy had caused abnormalities in his Astral Body?

Fortunately, Ancient One did not notice anything unusual about Li Feng's Astral Body. She only thought that Li Feng had not fully mastered the spell involving his own Astral Body, making him somewhat nervous.

"Relax," Ancient One said with a smile. "Casting spells is a precise process. You cannot be too nervous. Just like in battle, the more nervous you are, the more likely your spellcasting is to fail. A calm and ordinary state of mind is more helpful for casting."

Li Feng smiled faintly on the surface, but inwardly, he sighed in relief. At least judging from Ancient One's tone and expression, she had not noticed anything unusual about his Astral Body.

Taking a deep breath, Li Feng gently closed his eyes and gathered energy within Merlin's Ring.

Ancient One's familiarity with Dark Energy was far beyond Li Feng's. With one glance, she saw the nature of his Mana, and sighed softly inwardly. A promising Mage who can travel to other worlds, yet his Mana leans toward darkness. Fortunately, this is his talent. As long as he keeps his mindset unchanged, he can live like an ordinary person. He does not need to constantly guard against Dark Energy's corruption like I do.

But this child clearly cannot remain at Kamar-Taj for long.

Fortunately, I established a connection with him today. I hope that once someone with such limitless potential grows stronger, he will look after Kamar-Taj.

Thinking of the future, Ancient One unconsciously glanced out the window. Outside stood someone dressed in apprentice robes, his eyes filled with confusion as he diligently practiced. His name was Kaecilius, and he was also a whetstone Ancient One had prepared for Stephen Strange.

At that moment, Ancient One hesitated somewhat. Li Feng did not know how far his little boat could cross, but based on her many years of studying time, Ancient One could see that as long as Li Feng was willing, any magical creature could be brought along on his little boat to cross worlds.

This did not merely apply to items like Sling Rings and Magic Books. It also included living creatures with Mana. Unfortunately, Mages were classified as living creatures with Mana as well.

Compared to Doctor Strange, who had grown through being repeatedly slaughtered by Dormammu, a Sorcerer Supreme who traveled to other worlds and broadened his horizons would obviously possess greater strength. And as long as Li Feng mastered the Timeline well, perhaps Stephen could grow even stronger than her before facing Dormammu's invasion.

When the time comes, Stephen beating Dormammu senseless would definitely be quite a sight. Unfortunately, my time will not allow me to see that scene.

Forget it. Since the plan has already been made, it is better not to disrupt the original arrangement. As for Li Feng, he can serve as an unexpected safeguard.

With that thought, Ancient One spoke up and interrupted Li Feng as he gathered Mana, then explained several mistakes he had made during Astral Projection.

Li Feng humbly recorded this valuable advice in the Magic Book. These were points personally taught by Ancient One. As long as he understood them, the duration of Li Feng's Astral Projection could increase severalfold. That would also give his Astral Body more time to remain within Merlin's Ring and improve his Mana.

Over the next few days, Li Feng also learned the Mirror Dimension spell from Ancient One. Although he still could not casually release the Mirror Dimension with a wave of his hand like Ancient One, he felt that he had made considerable progress. At the very least, after making a series of gestures, he could successfully cast the Mirror Dimension. For someone preparing to travel, that meant gaining a place to practice spells without interference.