Tea

As Li Feng explained Kamar-Taj's duties to everyone, Mordo secretly rolled his eyes beside him and inwardly grumbled, Do you have no shame? You're neither from this world nor a mage of Kamar-Taj. What's with claiming all that glory for yourself?

Though that was what he thought, Mordo did not expose the lie that he and Li Feng were not from this world. Just explaining how the two of them had arrived would take plenty of effort. Rather than wasting energy on that, I might as well think about what Li Feng said before about changing one's mindset.

Kay now understood that this world contained not only Demons, but all kinds of bizarre creatures. He silently thought, Perhaps races from myths and legends, such as Genies, truly exist somewhere in this world.

The Demon had been eliminated, and Beman and the others had learned of Li Feng's origins. The matter could be considered settled.

After Beman publicly acknowledged that Kay had become a glorious Knight, Kay glanced at Li Feng and Mordo, mounted his horse, and turned to leave.

Watching Kay depart, Li Feng scratched his brow and turned to Mordo. "Do you think that kid will tell The Church about us?"

Mordo shrugged and smiled. "What if he doesn't? What if he does? Even if The Church finds out, so what?"

What he meant was that, despite The Church's considerable influence, they would have already left this world and returned to the Marvel Universe by then. What could The Church do to them? If they had the nerve, they could go to the Marvel Universe and arrest them. Let's see how Ancient One would scare those stubborn "heretics" to death.

But while they could leave, Beman and Balthazar Blake likely would not be able to return home and live peacefully.

No matter what, Beman looked far too much like Balthazar Blake. Li Feng's conscience would not allow him to learn swordsmanship from Beman while also setting him up to be hunted everywhere by The Church.

After thinking it over, Li Feng decided to tell Beman a well-intentioned lie to mislead The Church. As for what The Church would do afterward, Li Feng could not be bothered to care that much.

"Mages live somewhere on Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. As for the exact location..." Li Feng turned and glanced at Mordo, who was nearly unable to hold back his laughter, before continuing to Beman, "We can't conveniently disclose the exact location."

Beman nodded. He understood why Li Feng had told him where the mages lived. It was simply because Li Feng feared The Church might persecute them. Once The Church failed to get any information from them, they might kill them to vent their anger.

However, after this mission to escort the Witch, Beman not only became firmer in his faith in God, but also trusted The Church even less.

Such an important matter as escorting a Demon, yet The Church had only sent a handful of them to handle it. This concerned an invasion from Hell, but The Church had still ranked it below missions to massacre heretics? Were they underestimating Hell, overestimating them, or did they know they could eliminate the Demon?

Fortunately, the Demon had ultimately been destroyed. Had they made even the slightest mistake during the mission, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Yet the more Beman thought back on the entire affair, the angrier he became. What kind of nonsense was this? The Church slaughtered humans and sent an endless stream of souls to Hell, giving Demons the means to escape Hell. Meanwhile, the mages condemned as heretics by The Church took it upon themselves to eliminate Demons. Shouldn't it be The Church eliminating Demons while mages slaughtered humans for experiments? How had the legends and reality become completely reversed?

One month later.

His entire body covered in bruises, Li Feng told Beman with an exhausted expression that he had learned enough saber techniques and was leaving.

If he did not leave soon, Li Feng feared Beman would truly beat him into a state where he could no longer take care of himself with that wooden sword.

Just look at how Beman trained Li Feng. He would casually pick up two sticks and say that only actual combat could hone swordsmanship. Then Li Feng would be beaten by Beman from morning until evening every day. To ensure Li Feng developed muscle memory within a month of training, Beman would even have Felson launch nighttime attacks on Li Feng with a wooden stick.

What kind of madness was this? Li Feng had not gotten a proper night's sleep since arriving in this world. He truly could not endure a training method even more brutal than Mordo's.

Unfortunately, after learning that Li Feng's opponents were all savage and cunning creatures from Otherworlds, Beman wished he could pour all his martial skills into Li Feng at once. He did not care whether Li Feng complained, especially since Li Feng himself had originally asked him to help train his swordsmanship. For this sort of self-torturing training request, Beman found beating Li Feng quite enjoyable.

In Beman's words, the teaching period was too short, so they could only use this hellish method of training—where he would abuse Li Feng a thousand times over and Li Feng could only swallow his broken teeth—to make Li Feng stronger as quickly as possible.

Especially after Mordo said he would watch over Li Feng, make sure he did not die, and heal Li Feng's injuries with magic after each day's training, Beman came up with even more ways to torture—no, teach—Li Feng. He only hoped Li Feng would kill more Otherworld creatures in the future, ensuring humanity would not one day suddenly become the slaves of Demons and similar creatures.

To this, Li Feng sincerely expressed his gratitude to Forsen and Beman: Thanks my ass, damn it. They abused me for a whole month, and I still have to thank them? I really am pathetic.

Thus, once the month was up, Li Feng eagerly bid farewell to Beman and Felson, then summoned a blue-white Portal. Before Felson and Beman could finish making the sign of the cross over their chests and saying "Amen," Li Feng fled through it with Mordo as though escaping for his life, vanishing before their eyes.

After returning to the Marvel Universe, Li Feng immediately looked at the electronic clock beside his bed. During this crossing, he had carefully studied the energy of quantum mechanics and the Portal, all to understand the difference in the flow of time caused by crossing worlds.

Beside him, Mordo, who was once again vomiting violently, rubbed his stomach and curiously looked at Li Feng, whose tightly shut eyes made him look constipated. After a while, realizing what Li Feng was doing, Mordo said quietly, "Not only do you need to examine how much energy was used during the crossing, you also need to examine the quality of the energy you used. Finally, let me remind you: next time you return to your home world, you can try opening the Transdimensional Portal at the same location where you arrived in the Otherworld. It may help."

After a long while, Li Feng scratched his head and smiled bitterly. My strength is still too low. It would already be impressive if I could determine how much energy I used, and I want to examine its quality? Maybe in a few years.

"Your suggestion isn't bad. I'll try it next time."

Mordo turned and glanced at Li Feng's room. "No need to wait until next time. Let's do it this time."

Damn it, I originally wanted to visit an Otherworld and broaden my horizons. Instead, never mind the rough sleeping and living outdoors, in the end I only went to an Otherworld to kill a Demon? If I wanted to kill Demons, couldn't I just kill them in my own world? Why travel all the way to another world to do it? Do I have a problem, or do you have medicine? If Beman and Felson hadn't told me about some of that world's customs during the last month, I would have learned absolutely nothing from this crossing. It would have been a complete waste.

Li Feng could tell that Mordo was not very satisfied with their trip to the Otherworld. He spread his hands and said, "The problem is, I didn't know where we would end up either. And from the sound of it, you want to cross worlds again?"

Mordo nodded. Now that he knew Li Feng's Mana leaned toward darkness, he could ensure Li Feng would not be harmed and keep the matter of Li Feng's Mana attribute secret. But what if other mages found out?

There were plenty of people in Kamar-Taj more knowledgeable than him. As long as Li Feng practiced magic in Kamar-Taj, someone would discover the secret of his Mana attribute sooner or later.

Therefore, after learning that Li Feng was destined to walk a path aligned with darkness, Mordo knew Li Feng would not remain at Kamar-Taj to study magic for long. Once Li Feng left Kamar-Taj, Mordo would not even know where to find him if he wanted to cross worlds. He might as well travel to Otherworlds again and broaden his own horizons.

"After I recount our experience crossing worlds to Master Ancient One, we'll set off for another Otherworld."

After saying that, Mordo ignored what Li Feng thought and walked straight out of the room toward Ancient One's resting chamber.

Li Feng smacked his lips, shrugged, and muttered, "Fine. I'm just an elevator attendant. I don't even get to decide which floor we stop at. Whether we cross worlds or not depends entirely on Mordo's mood."

As Mordo left Li Feng's room, his steps were somewhat hesitant. He did not believe Ancient One had failed to notice Li Feng's Mana issue. This was clearly Ancient One's indulgence.

Someone who used Dark Energy was hiding in Kamar-Taj, and Ancient One had even allowed him to learn large amounts of Kamar-Taj's magic. What was Ancient One trying to do? And had he misunderstood something about Ancient One's previous teachings?

By the time he reached Ancient One's resting chamber, Mordo felt his thoughts were in disarray. He raised his hand to knock several times, yet never brought himself to knock on the door. He did not even know what he was afraid of.

After a long while, Ancient One, seated at a tea table inside the chamber, waved her hand and opened the door. She gestured for Mordo to sit opposite her and, while pouring him tea, smiled. "You came at just the right time. The water has just boiled. Have some tea with me."

Though Mordo was Black, he had lived in Kamar-Taj for many years and knew that freshly boiled water was not suitable for making tea.

When brewing tea, one had to consider the type of tea leaves and choose the proper water temperature. Only then could the tea leave a sweet aftertaste.

Sitting across from Ancient One, Mordo considered what she was hinting at by making tea as he accepted the small porcelain cup and held it in his hand. "Master, during this trip to the Otherworld, we encountered a Demon."

Ancient One raised an eyebrow slightly in apparent surprise. As she drank her tea, she gestured for Mordo to continue.

"I discovered that Li Feng was learning magic from the Demon." As he spoke, Mordo carefully watched every change in Ancient One's expression. Yet aside from a slight frown, Ancient One maintained a smile throughout, leaving Mordo unable to judge how much she knew about Li Feng.

When Ancient One saw that Mordo had stopped speaking, she set down her porcelain cup and said, "Water at seventy to eighty degrees Celsius is suitable for brewing unfermented teas, such as green tea and sencha. That is because overly hot water causes these green teas to release tannins, making the tea bitter and astringent."

"Water at ninety degrees Celsius is suitable for lightly fermented teas, teas with tender buds, or finely broken tea leaves, such as Biluochun."

"Water above ninety degrees Celsius is suitable for moderately fermented teas and above—that is, more mature teas. Teas with a higher degree of fermentation can withstand high temperatures, which helps release their aroma, such as high-mountain tea and Tieguanyin."

Mordo was initially stunned. Then he lowered his head to look at the green tea in his porcelain cup. After a long while, he said quietly, "Are you trying to tell me that nothing should be taken to extremes? Just as water at one hundred degrees Celsius is unsuitable for making tea and instead ruins its fragrance?"

Ancient One casually poured out the tea in her cup and smiled. "I only wanted to tell you that this tea doesn't taste very good."