Cutting Loose

Ancient One had taken less than an afternoon—more precisely, only a few moves—to convince the masters and sorcerers of the Three Sanctums in New York, Hong Kong, and London.

Qin Yi stared at Ancient One, who was preparing to retire, in disbelief.

This really doesn't seem like something Old Yao would do.

What, you're about to retire, so you're planning to cut loose?

According to tradition—

Uh, according to the tradition Ancient One had established—

After all, Kamar-Taj had had only one Sorcerer Supreme for the past several centuries.

Before Qin Yi became the Sorcerer Supreme, the sorcerers of the Three Sanctums could challenge him until someone defeated him, or until he became the Sorcerer Supreme.

Kamar-Taj's enormous plaza was packed with sorcerers who had come from all over the world.

Amid the dense crowd, the masters of the Three Sanctums discussed their candidates. Ancient One turned back and smiled faintly at Qin Yi, who had been staring at her all this time.

Qin Yi thought viciously, I was careless. Old Yao actually tricked me.

A long while passed, yet they still could not select a suitable candidate.

The sorcerers of the Three Sanctums could not fathom Ancient One's intentions. Was this going to be a real fight, or just for show?

Seeing the bitter expressions on the faces of the three masters, and to avoid being called the weakest Sorcerer Supreme in history—

Qin Yi waved a hand. The surging energy above the plaza instantly transformed into streaks of seven-colored magical sword phantoms, which spiraled through the skies above the plaza.

Ever since his fight with that show-off,

Qin Yi had put considerable effort into finally developing this awe-inspiring spell.

Unfortunately, he had never found a suitably cool fighting pose, so for now, all he could do was wave his hand.

Seeing this, the sorcerers of the Three Sanctums abandoned any thought of underestimating Qin Yi.

Under the commands of several masters, they hurriedly formed one magical shield after another above the crowd.

Seeing Qin Yi's display, Ancient One thought, Is this kid trying to smash through Kamar-Taj? She hurriedly stopped him.

"Don't! Don't damage Kamar-Taj!"

The three masters and the sorcerers in the plaza

thought the Sorcerer Supreme was telling them not to hurt Qin Yi, and their faces turned bitter.

Even if you're the boss, is it really appropriate to tell us so openly to go easy on him?

Not until Qin Yi casually unleashed an incomparably massive Mirror Dimension that completely enveloped Kamar-Taj

did the suddenly transformed space and unfamiliar surroundings leave the three masters staring in shock.

They hurriedly cast defensive shields with all their strength. The smaller shields above the crowd reflected one another, forming an enormous barrier over everyone's heads.

The instant Qin Yi swung his hand downward, the sword phantoms filling the sky came pouring down. The gigantic shield was pierced by the sword phantoms like paper, and the sorcerers looked in despair at the sword phantoms about to pierce their bodies.

Qin Yi's hand stopped, and so did the sword phantoms, halting one centimeter from everyone's foreheads.

Curious about just how strong Qin Yi was, Mordo had secretly brought his obedient disciple Pietro and hidden among the sorcerers. Mordo stared blankly at the sword phantom before his forehead; he had not even finished his casting gesture.

Only when the three masters bowed did he snap out of it.

"Revered One."

The disappearance of the sword phantoms filling the sky did not make Mordo feel any more at ease.

Trembling, he placed a hand on Pietro's shoulder and glanced at him. His obedient disciple had yet to recover from the shock, so Mordo puffed out his chest.

"See that, good disciple? This is the foundation of Kamar-Taj. From now on, call Master Qin... remember to address him as Sorcerer Supreme."

Pietro nodded blankly, regretting it inwardly. If I'd known, I would have taken him as my master.

Pietro himself did not understand why, ever since meeting Qin Yi, his heart had always been filled with an inexplicable hostility toward him.

After Qin Yi dismissed the Mirror Dimension,

the sorcerers finally came back to their senses upon seeing Kamar-Taj's familiar surroundings. They promptly bowed to Qin Yi.

"Sorcerer Supreme."

Seated above the plaza, Ancient One smiled even more brightly, like a child.

She kept waving for Wanda to hand Qin Yi the prepared robes of the Sorcerer Supreme.

Once Qin Yi put on the robes and cloak representing the Sorcerer Supreme,

all the sorcerers and apprentices of Kamar-Taj bowed together.

"Sorcerer Supreme."

If there had not been so many people around, Qin Yi suspected Old Yao would have burst out laughing.

At the side, Wanda held the hand of her senior sister Jean Grey and smiled happily.

Qin Yi nodded and returned the crowd's salute.

"Uh, Old... Ancient One asked me to say a few words. From now on, submit all expenses from the Three Sanctums to Little Fatty... to Wong for reimbursement. All right, everyone, go do what you need to do. We still have to protect Earth's safety."

As the sorcerers from the Three Sanctums and all over Earth departed, the plaza became empty.

At that moment, Ancient One walked over and instructed Qin Yi.

"The teleportation arrays and protective formations at the Three Sanctums have not been maintained for a long time. Find time to reinforce them. If you can add a few more protective formations, that would be even better."

Qin Yi immediately rolled up his sleeves.

"What about you? What are you going to do?"

Ancient One spread her hands and smiled faintly.

"I'm no longer the Sorcerer Supreme. Of course, I have to go out... I have to teach disciples. There are still many apprentices at Kamar-Taj who need my instruction."

Yeah, right. As if I'd believe that.

A ringing phone interrupted Qin Yi's urge to give Old Yao a piece of his mind.

Ancient One pulled out an Ikong phone from her pocket. After staring at it for a while, she said to Qin Yi,

"It's not my call. Is it yours?"

Qin Yi suspected Old Yao had angered him senseless. He took out his phone and answered it, only to hear Tony's excited voice from the other end.

"Qin, get over here. Something's up."

Qin Yi looked up at Old Yao, who was smiling more and more wantonly, even a little smugly.

"I'm heading back to handle something. I'll check on the Three Sanctums again tonight."

With that, a spatial vortex appeared behind Qin Yi. He turned back to look at Old Yao making an OK gesture, then gritted his teeth and stepped inside.

Howard Estate Underground Laboratory

Tony stared in shock at Qin Yi as he emerged from the spatial vortex.

He pointed at Qin Yi with one hand, his mouth opening as though he wanted to say something. Yet his mind could not organize the words, and he could only point at Qin Yi blankly.

Qin Yi turned sideways and glanced back at the spatial vortex that was about to dissipate, then asked in confusion,

"You've seen this thing before. Why are you making that face?"

After catching his breath, Tony pointed at Qin Yi's clothes and asked,

"The clothes?"

Qin Yi lowered his head to look at the robes representing the Sorcerer Supreme and the Eye of Agamotto hanging from his chest.

After freezing for a moment, he thought, Old Yao gave me even this. Is that guy planning to disappear?

After Tony heard Qin Yi's explanation,

"So, you're Kamar-Taj's leader now?"

Sighing helplessly, Qin Yi spoke to Tony with righteous seriousness.

"The Sorcerer Supreme. Kamar-Taj's Sorcerer Supreme. The Sorcerer Supreme who protects Earth's dimensional safety."

Tony waved a hand, then looked at Qin Yi expectantly.

"So, can you teach me magic?"

Seriously? After all these years, you're still thinking about being a magical Iron Man? Qin Yi shook his head and comforted Tony with a solemn expression.

"Brother, lacking magical talent isn't your fault. It's enough for one Sorcerer Supreme to come out of this family. Your talent is in that brain of yours. By the way, you called me back in such a hurry. What's going on?"

Tony finally remembered the important matter. He turned and pointed to a silver suit of armor.

"It's done. The reactor, everything—it's all done. Want to try it out?"

Qin Yi gave Tony a thumbs-up.

"Sure. As long as you don't fall to your death on the spot, I can save you."