The Reviving Phoenix Force?

After returning to Howard Estate, Qin Yi put Tony and Happy on Tony's bed.

As he walked downstairs, he asked Bucky,

"Want to see your old friend, Uncle Howard?"

Bucky nodded silently.

Howard and Maria were listlessly eating in the living room, while Phoenix sat across from them, gloomily stirring her coffee with a spoon.

When she heard someone coming down the stairs, Aunt Maria hurriedly called upstairs,

"Is that Tony and Qin back?"

Qin Yi quickly called back when he heard her.

"Auntie, it's us."

Maria stood up and lightly smacked Qin Yi, who had just come downstairs, in reproach.

"Why were you gone for so long? Where's Tony?"

"Auntie, I took Tony and Happy out to train for a while. They were tired, so they're sleeping upstairs."

"I'll go check on them. Howard, have the chef make some more breakfast."

Aunt Maria hurried upstairs.

Howard stared at the familiar figure beside Qin Yi. After a long while, he called out uncertainly,

"Bucky?"

Bucky smiled and embraced Howard.

"My God, this is unbelievable. You haven't changed at all. Bucky, did you get injected with the super-soldier serum too?"

Bucky and Howard sat down and began chatting.

Qin Yi walked over to Jean Grey.

"Thanks, Senior Sister."

"Hmph. I thought you weren't coming back. Oh, right, Master wants you to visit Kamar-Taj once you're back."

"Let's go. I haven't seen Old Yao in ages. I kind of miss her."

Qin Yi said to Howard, who was deep in conversation,

"Uncle, Senior Sister and I are going to visit Master. We'll be back for dinner tonight."

"Remember to come back early. Your school teachers have called several times already."

With a ripple of spatial energy, Qin Yi and Jean Grey vanished directly from Howard Estate.

Kamar-Taj

Ancient One was demonstrating magic to a group of sorcerers when she sensed the spatial disturbance.

"Mordo, you take over the demonstration."

"Yes, Sorcerer Supreme."

Ancient One turned and left. As soon as she reached the door, she heard cheerful chatter and laughter inside.

She pushed the door open and saw Qin Yi and Jean Grey making tea.

Ancient One asked helplessly,

"Everything resolved?"

"Yeah, it's resolved. I came to see you as soon as I got back."

"Jean, go train with Mordo. Later, I'll check on your recent progress."

Jean Grey looked at Qin Yi with a miserable expression, and Qin Yi helplessly shrugged.

After Jean Grey closed the door, Ancient One set up a Mirror Dimension inside the room.

Qin Yi slowly recounted everything that had happened during this time.

After listening to Qin Yi's recent experiences, Ancient One fell silent for a while.

"Could our universe face something like an invasion of a zombie virus?"

As Qin Yi poured tea for Ancient One, he said,

"Probably not.

The zombie virus in that universe has already been completely eradicated. Unless there are zombie viruses in other universes, or someone in this universe enters the Quantum Realm and gets infected. Besides, even if it does happen, it won't be much of a problem.

If it comes down to it, I'll just snap my fingers."

Qin Yi suddenly froze after saying that.

Damn it.

The Space Stone in the main universe has already been devoured by me. All that's left is an empty shell.

I can't gather all six anymore...

Qin Yi hurriedly recalled the timeline from the past few years. The Tesseract should still be with S.H.I.E.L.D.

I'll take a look another day and see whether the Space Stone inside has changed at all.

Ancient One did not notice Qin Yi's unusual reaction.

"A few days ago, when I went to see Jean, I discovered that the Phoenix Force inside her seemed to have revived."

Qin Yi stared at Ancient One in disbelief. Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

He had thoroughly devoured the Phoenix Force inside his Senior Sister back then. Could it really have been the phoenix's nirvana?

That made no sense. This was only one of the countless fragments of the Phoenix Force.

"Master Yao, could you have been mistaken? Senior Sister and I were together for so long just now, and I didn't notice anything."

"That's the strange part. After you returned, the Phoenix Force inside her seemed to disappear again."

Qin Yi: ...

Could it be the main body of the Phoenix Force? But I've never heard of anyone possessing the complete Phoenix Force.

The master and disciple, both lost in thought with their heads lowered, were interrupted by Qin Yi's phone ringing.

Qin Yi answered the call. An elderly voice came from the other end.

"Qin? I finally got through. Where have you been all this time? Even if you're a genius, you can't keep skipping class like this. Get your ass over here for class. Several projects are waiting for you to research."

"Okay, okay. I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning, Professor Downey."

His academy teacher, Robert Downey. When Qin Yi first heard his name in class, he had immediately asked whether he had a son named Robert Downey Jr.

The old man shook his head and said he only had one daughter.

Ancient One looked at the helpless Qin Yi.

"Why are you so interested in mundane knowledge?"

"You know how it is, Master Yao. I'm afraid that if my strength grows too quickly, I'll lose myself, so I found something relatively difficult to pass the time."

Ancient One nodded approvingly.

"Master Yao, secretly observe the Phoenix Force inside Senior Sister for a while. I won't come over for the time being. Let me know if anything happens. Oh, right, in a few days I'm going to the Hong Kong Sanctum. Please let the sorcerers there know."

"Alright."

"Then I'll head back first, Master Yao."

With that, Qin Yi appeared in his room amid a ripple of spatial energy.

After taking a shower and changing clothes, Qin Yi went downstairs.

He stared incredulously at the short-haired Winter Soldier sitting in the living room.

"Damn, Bucky. What kind of shock did you suffer?"

Bucky remained silent.

Howard stood nearby and said helplessly to Qin Yi,

"Bucky said he wanted to be your bodyguard, but it isn't easy to get into the academy. So for now, he'll be your driver. Oh, and Professor Downey called again. You have to go to the academy tomorrow."

"Okay, okay. Is Tony still asleep?"

"He went to the company and dropped Happy off at home on the way. Happy's parents have been calling from time to time these past few months too. You're not allowed to go out training for this long again."

"Got it, Uncle. I'm going to help Auntie in the kitchen."

Bucky silently watched Qin Yi walk toward the kitchen.

"You get along well with them."

Howard smiled at that.

"Nine years ago, we got into a car accident, and that boy saved us. We just never managed to find his parents afterward. I've investigated for years, but there isn't the slightest clue."

"Maybe this is for the best."

Bucky recalled what had happened in 1991 in the original universe.

"Yes, but Maria and I are getting older. Now we just hope those two get married soon. Tony has always refused to marry, and Qin is only fifteen. I hope Maria and I live to see them start families."

Bucky remained silent.

"Oh, right. I got you a new identity."

Bucky nodded.

"Want to go see Carter?"

"Let's go together."