The Cheat Has Arrived

A suitable environment really did help people learn.

Take Li Feng, for example. Over the past two years, whenever he had nothing to do, he would stroll out of Chinatown. Everything he heard and saw was in English, and combined with his body's instinctive memories, he had long since become fluent in English.

Sometimes, Li Feng would even mock himself: If I'd studied this seriously for the college entrance exams, forget Tsinghua and Peking University—I could've tested my way off Earth and charged out of the Milky Way.

Besides helping Li Feng fully adapt to life in New York, the past two years had also allowed his soul to completely merge with his body.

The bodily aging he had once feared due to the influence of his middle-aged soul had not happened either. However...

Li Feng lowered his head and rubbed his Little Belly, the corner of his mouth twitching. "You're still the best to me. I fucking transmigrated and even got a new body, yet you still refuse to leave me. Little Belly, Little Belly, does this mean you're my true love?"

While mocking himself over how wonderful it felt to have the fat on his belly love him, Li Feng got up and returned to his tiny room.

Drinking beer and grilling steak on the rooftop had been to celebrate his soul's complete fusion with his body. Now that he had drunk the beer and burned the steak, it was naturally time for Li Feng to go downstairs and get to work.

Back in the tiny room that was less than thirty square meters, Li Feng shut the doors and windows, took a deep breath, and concentrated intensely. He stretched both hands forward and slowly drew a circle. Unfortunately, the magic he had imagined did not produce even a single spark.

Li Feng was not discouraged by this. He had no idea how many times he had tried casting spells before. Failing to produce magical sparks was his normal routine. Only in recent months, as his soul and body had merged, would a few sparks occasionally emerge during spellcasting, barely comforting his nearly exhausted patience.

After practicing continuously for half an hour, Li Feng suddenly sensed a rhythm within the energy. He had an instinctive feeling that if he followed the flow of that energy and nudged it slightly, he would complete a perfect practice cast.

With that thought, Li Feng quickly steadied his mind and stretched out his hands again, gesturing before him. First, an orange-yellow beam of light about fifty centimeters long appeared out of thin air between his hands. Then, as Li Feng traced a circle with his hands, the orange-yellow light formed a ring that crackled with sparks.

Before Li Feng could break into a grin, the orange-yellow ring turned into scattered sparks and dissipated throughout the room.

Though the spell had still failed in the end, Li Feng continued grinning. At least I've improved, and not just a little. Once I completely grasp the rhythm of this energy, I'll be able to cast spells successfully.

Glancing at the Sling Ring on his left hand and the figure dressed in Monk robes on his computer monitor, Li Feng sat cross-legged on the floor and recalled the feel of that energy. As for the Sanctum Sorcerer standing atop a distant skyscraper in the surveillance feed and observing him, Li Feng simply pretended not to see him.

Even Li Feng himself did not know how many times the other party had appeared after he cast spells. In any case, Li Feng had spotted him at least three times. There were probably even more occasions when he had been monitored without noticing.

Before long, Li Feng opened his eyes, looked helplessly at the surveillance screen, and muttered, "He left? There's only one Masters of the Mystic Arts in New York, so they can always detect my Mana fluctuations immediately. But they clearly know about me, yet they won't contact me. Is it out of consideration for my deceased grandfather? Or do they think my talent is too poor to be worth contacting? Or are they simply monitoring me? As long as I don't fall into darkness like Kaecilius, they'll leave me alone?"

At first, I was afraid they would discover the abnormality of my Astral Body, so I wanted to avoid them. But since they won't come looking for me, I'll find an opportunity to go to Kathmandu and look for them.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Li Feng scratched his forehead and continued practicing his spellcasting.

After his first successful cast, the following attempts became as easy as having his Ren and Du Channels opened. After only a few rounds of practice, Li Feng felt that he could already successfully condense Mana outside his body in a quiet environment.

If there was noise around him, Li Feng admitted that he still needed more practice. As for combat, forget it. He still needed a quiet environment to cast spells. Casting while moving in battle was still a long way off.

After a long while, Li Feng sat at the edge of his bed, holding a stack of scenic photographs from different countries.

Now that his spellcasting practice was over, all that remained was diligent training. He felt it was time to practice Portal magic.

In his previous life, he had possessed the heart of a traveler ready to leave at any moment. Unfortunately, the wallet in his pocket had held him back, pointing at his wife and children's diapers and formula and refusing to let him turn that idea into reality.

In this life, although he had gained extraordinary powers and had a chance to gather all six Infinity Stones to open a path home, he had not gathered them yet.

And now that he could use Portals, why should he deny himself the chance to travel around the world without buying plane tickets or applying for visas? At the very least, before going home, it would not hurt to enjoy himself in this world for a while. Before Iron Man appeared, so long as he did not fool around on a battlefield full of flying shells, the Marvel Universe was still safe enough for someone with magic like him.

Picking out a photograph of an abandoned train station from the stack, Li Feng grinned and began practicing Portal magic.

Li Feng did not know exactly where the location in the photograph was. He only knew that there was no one near the abandoned train station and that the surrounding environment was decent. As for whether the Mages of the Masters of the Mystic Arts would come arrest him after he teleported there, he was not worried in the slightest.

The magic had come from his grandfather, so he could explain that clearly. He was not afraid that the people of Kamar-Taj would call him a thief. His soul had already fused with his body, and even Ancient One would not be able to spot any flaw. What did he have to worry about? So what if he got arrested? Maybe he would even get to go to Kamar-Taj and study magic further.

At worst, his travel plans would be put on hold for a while. Li Feng stared at the photograph and continuously constructed the abandoned train station in his mind.

When casting a Portal, only by vividly constructing the appearance of the destination in one's mind could one open it quickly. Otherwise, all that would appear before one's eyes would be a mass of sparks spinning in circles.

Argentina, an abandoned train station—the exact location shown in Li Feng's photograph.

Inside the abandoned train station, Elias Starr was performing the final inspection on the Quantum Tunnel equipment.

Back then, Starr and Pym had researched quantum science together at S.H.I.E.L.D. However, Pym had accused Starr of pursuing the wrong research direction, fired him, and ruined his reputation.

Now, Starr was going to stake everything on using the results of his research to refute Hank Pym. As long as he succeeded, Hank Pym's slander against him would vanish into thin air, and he would regain the prestige he once had.

After checking the equipment, Starr activated the Quantum Tunnel with an excited heart. But before long, he realized something was wrong. He did not know what had gone wrong, but the equipment was about to explode.

Though Starr was afraid, he believed the Quantum Tunnel could still be saved. After ordering his wife and daughter to leave immediately, he resolutely returned to the equipment for one final struggle.

Unfortunately, it was all over. The explosion would happen regardless.

On the other side, Li Feng had finally managed to construct the scene of the abandoned train station in his mind, and a Portal finally appeared before him.

Before Li Feng could proudly declare himself a Mage capable of opening Portals—a genius who had succeeded after only a few attempts—the stable Portal suddenly shook. Then, the originally orange-yellow Portal turned blue-white, while the ring of light that had shown the scene on the other side became a curtain of light.

Li Feng was a little dumbfounded. What's going on? Why did the Portal turn into this when it was supposed to be a Portal?

Before Li Feng could recover, a violent shockwave erupted from the blue-white Portal. The shockwave not only plastered Li Feng's face firmly against the wall, but also dragged the Portal toward him.

In the end, the curtain of light inside the Portal completely enveloped Li Feng before rapidly vanishing, leaving behind only the white short-sleeved shirt, blue-and-white jeans, flip-flops, and boxer briefs he had been wearing that day.

Before Li Feng could understand what had happened to him, he was wrapped in white light and sent through all sorts of illusory bubble-like worlds. He felt as though he had been stuffed into some rubber tube, with no idea where its exit was.

Not long after, Li Feng was squeezed out of the rubber tube and dropped to his knees, vomiting miserably. Fuck, what kind of damn Portal was that? Wasn't it supposed to be one step across and you'd be in another country? Why did I get squeezed out instead of stepping through? Fucking Portal's a cow, and I'm the milk—just squeeze and I come out.

My whole body hurts. Even if you beat me to death, I'm never using a Portal to travel again. This thing can easily cause psychological trauma.

Just as Li Feng felt he was about to vomit up all his bile, an old man behind him reached out to help him and said, "Sir, are you all right?"

To the old man's surprise, his hand passed straight through Li Feng's body, as if Li Feng did not exist in front of him at all and was merely a three-dimensional projection.

The old man instinctively assumed this was some kind of street prank art. He raised his head, wanting to look for nearby cameras or other equipment. In his eyes, the prankster must be nearby, watching him make a fool of himself—such as being startled by Li Feng and thinking he was some supernatural being like a ghost.

Sure enough, the old man really did spot something abnormal. For example, directly above his head, an urn was rapidly falling toward him.

What kind of trick is this? Trying to scare me? Don't they know I'm famously brave? It's just a projection. If you've got the guts, hit me.

Unlike the old man, who calmly watched the urn fall toward him, Li Feng also noticed something unusual about himself. First was the agonizing pain as though his entire body were being torn apart. Second was the fact that aside from the Sling Ring on his left hand, he had nothing on him. Forget clothes—he was not even wearing underwear.

Fine, Portal, you win. You shouldn't be called a Portal. You should be called a clothes-stripping artifact. Fuck.

Li Feng not only had a thick face, but an extremely thick one. Enduring the pain of his body being torn apart, he covered his crotch, stood up, and looked around.

If possible, Li Feng wanted to find some clothes first. If that was not possible, even a newspaper would do. At the very least, he could cover his face. He did not want his photo to appear in tomorrow's news, especially one that clearly showed his facial expression.

"Sir, could you give me some clothes?"

Feeling a little cold, Li Feng asked the old man for clothing in confusion while following the old man's gaze up at the sky.

He clearly remembered that it was summer. Why had it become winter the moment he stepped out of the Portal?

And what was going on in the sky? An urn was rapidly falling toward him, while someone covered in black smoke crawled out of it?