Self-Inflicted Misfortune

Librarian Old Wang drew a circle in the air with one hand, and a spatial portal appeared before him. On the other side, Ancient One was sitting upright behind a tea table, raising her cup toward Zhan Liu.

Zhan Liu nodded in thanks to Old Wang, then stepped through the portal.

After the portal closed, Old Wang was just about to turn around and leave when a voice came from behind him.

"Wong, who was that? A new disciple?"

"No, a guest of the Sorcerer Supreme." Old Wang turned his head and looked at Kaecilius, who was strolling over.

"A guest..." Kaecilius immediately lost interest.

"Kaecilius, you've borrowed a lot of books about the Dark Dimension recently. With your current level of magic, you should try not to become too obsessed with dark forces. The Vishanti's white magic is already enough for us to use."

"Thank you for the reminder, Wong. I know what I'm doing," Kaecilius replied absentmindedly.

Wong sighed and decided not to try persuading him any further. After all, those who could become sorcerers were generally people with clear goals who knew why they were learning magic.

Meanwhile, after meeting Ancient One, Zhan Liu cupped his hands in greeting. Ancient One returned the gesture, then invited him to sit.

Zhan Liu hated people who spoke in riddles, so as soon as he sat down, he got straight to the point.

Ancient One nodded, poured him some tea, then asked with a smile, "How much do you know about the Celestials?"

"Not much. I only know that they're immortal members of the God Race in the universe. They're huge, wear armor, and often travel through the cosmos conducting biological experiments. Humans are one of their test subjects."

Zhan Liu had never concealed the fact that he was from another world. He also knew that Ancient One could see the moment he arrived on Earth in the river of time, so there was nothing wrong with revealing that he knew a certain amount about the Celestials.

Ancient One often lingered in the river of time, much like an internet addict spending all day in an internet café, watching all kinds of live broadcasts there. She had long since grown accustomed to otherworlders, people from parallel worlds, and people from the future.

"You may not know this, but the Celestials themselves are incarnations of the rules. They're born with a mission. Thus, when a Celestial is born, it naturally has a name and designation, and everything it does afterward is influenced by that mission."

"That mission cannot be changed. Otherwise..." Ancient One stopped halfway, raised the teacup in her hand toward Zhan Liu, then poured the tea out.

Zhan Liu understood and tentatively asked, "Otherwise, the Celestials will send someone to kill the 'fetus' whose mission has deviated?"

Ancient One took a sip of tea and nodded slightly.

"Exactly. Magnetic Field Rotation pollutes this planet, and it has likewise contaminated the fetus, causing its 'developmental deformity.' A child conceived this way is not what the Celestials need. So when the baby is about to be born, if the Celestials who come over discover that the child has mutated, there's a very high chance they'll kill it before it's even born."

This doesn't sound much like the setting in the movies and television shows. It seems more like the comics. Or is this a mixed universe?

Zhan Liu nodded silently. "That's a pretty good method. Did you see this in the future?"

"I did see this possibility. But how the future develops and what ultimately happens will still depend on what you create." Ancient One smiled.

"But won't doing this offend the Celestials?" Zhan Liu asked hesitantly.

"You don't know what's inside Earth, and no one ever told you. All you did was cause a large number of Magnetic Field Rotation martial artists to appear on Earth." Ancient One rolled her eyes at him and spoke casually.

Only then did Zhan Liu realize that he had made a mistake by coming today. He shouldn't have come.

If he remained completely in the dark, or reached an understanding with Ancient One and pretended not to know anything, then the Celestials, as incarnations of the rules, wouldn't come after him without reason.

But he hadn't figured out the crux of the matter and had run over to ask Ancient One about it. As a result, the two of them had both become involved.

"Ahem..." He cleared his throat, feeling rather embarrassed, and apologized awkwardly. "I'm sorry for causing trouble for the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Actually, it doesn't matter to me. It'll still take several years for the baby to finish developing." The corners of Ancient One's lips lifted as she looked at Zhan Liu with an enigmatic smile.

Fuck!

How could I forget? In a few years, Ancient One will fake her death and disappear, leaving the position of Sorcerer Supreme to Doctor Strange.

So in the end, I'm the only one who'll suffer and get screwed over?

Zhan Liu stared at Ancient One, dumbfounded.

Ancient One smiled as she drank her tea without saying a word.

I fucking asked for this!

Why did I have to rack my brains over what this scheming old hag Ancient One was thinking?

I even stupidly went and dug a hole beneath the sea!

Maybe this scheming old hag wanted to drag me into the mess so I'd contribute to the fight against the Celestials in the future.

And I actually went to her myself to ask what was going on!

Curiosity really does kill the cat!

Without another word, Zhan Liu stood up, patted his backside, and took his leave.

I'm never coming here again.

Ancient One smiled and opened a portal leading directly to the martial arts school, sending him back.

Zhan Liu returned to the martial arts school in a foul mood and began focusing on cultivating the disciples.

Even a baby Celestial wasn't someone he could deal with. Even if he achieved the highest realm of Ultimate Limit Qigong and reached the Fiftieth Heaven Magnetic Field Rotation, he might not necessarily be a match for that baby.

If that baby turned out to be a Magnetic Lunatic, then he'd be even more utterly screwed.

If things really came down to it, he could just admit defeat and let the baby be born safely. To hell with it!

As for how many people on Earth would die in the process, heh... Hadn't anyone heard the saying? Humans were the cockroaches of Earth. Wildfires couldn't burn them all away, and spring winds brought them back to life. They were also like the chives in the stock market: once one batch was cut down, another batch grew back.

As for the Eternals, he couldn't be bothered to ask about them anymore. Whatever. What did they have to do with him?

He hadn't returned for the past few days, and without the Magnetic Field Acceleration around him, the disciples' cultivation speed had been severely affected.

As soon as he returned this time, many disciples came over to ask him questions. He was explaining things to them when the ear-piercing screech of a sports car braking sounded outside, followed by Tony's carefree voice echoing through the martial arts school.

"Hey, Master, where have you been fooling around these past few days? How come you didn't take me with you?"

Amid a chorus of greetings to the Senior Apprentice-Brother, Tony swaggered in with a cheeky grin.

Zhan Liu shot him a glance and continued explaining, ignoring him.

Tony, however, grinned and sidled over. "Master, I've got something good to show you!"

He casually pulled something, and a blue light flared.

"Fuck! How is that possible?" Every disciple stared with their mouths agape, unable to believe it.