Chapter Summaries

Zhao Yu wiped out waves of Chitauri with Vishanti Chains, astonishing the Kamar-Taj mages, then explained that Loki’s Mind Scepter could pierce the shield around the Portal. At Stark Tower, Loki outmaneuvered the Avengers with illusions and struck down the warrior in the Star-Spangled Uniform.

• Zhao Yu’s Vishanti Chains surpassed a threshold, grew stronger, and tore through the Chitauri until the battlefield fell silent.
• Hamir and the other mages struggled to understand how Zhao Yu had turned Hamir’s restraint spell into a devastating attack, while Wong ordered them to call it a secret inheritance of the Sorcerer Supreme.
• Zhao Yu warned Wong that the Portal had to be closed and said Loki’s Mind Scepter could pierce its shield, so Wong ordered them to find Loki and take it.
• At Stark Tower, Thor confronted Loki, but the Hulk’s attack struck an illusion and Loki created numerous copies of himself to surround the Avengers.
• Loki taunted the Avengers and struck the warrior in the Star-Spangled Uniform with an invisible blow, claiming the warrior had never truly defeated him.

Zhao Yu and the Kamar-Taj sorcerers secretly disrupted Loki’s magic, letting the Avengers overpower him. With Loki restrained, Captain America led the team outside to address the hole in the sky.

• Zhao Yu and Wong watched from the Mirror Dimension as Hulk’s punch struck Loki after Zhao Yu’s binding spell stopped his escape.
• Loki attacked the Avengers with illusions and magic, but their attacks repeatedly found him because the sorcerers were interfering.
• Thor and the Avengers fought Loki, and Hulk battered him into a crater after Loki’s spells failed.
• Wong praised Zhao Yu for resisting Loki’s mind spell, while Zhao Yu credited Wong and the other sorcerers for their help.
• Captain America ordered Thor to cuff Loki and Natasha to take the scepter, then led the Avengers outside to seal the hole in the sky.

Zhao Yu and the Kamar-Taj mages joined the exhausted Avengers and tore through the Chitauri forces guarding the Portal. After learning the military had launched a nuclear weapon at New York, Zhao Yu went to intercept it, then the story shifted to him hearing distorted rumors about his power and status in Kamar-Taj.

• Captain America rallied the exhausted Avengers to keep fighting, but Zhao Yu arrived through a golden portal with several Kamar-Taj mages and ordered Natasha and Hawkeye to shut down the Portal.
• Zhao Yu and the mages attacked the Chitauri while the Avengers resumed fighting, and Zhao Yu cut down the enemy forces with his golden chains.
• Wong told Tony Stark that Zhao Yu was only an apprentice by Kamar-Taj standards, leaving Stark and Thor stunned by the implication.
• Tony Stark warned the group that the military had launched a nuclear weapon, and Zhao Yu said he would handle it before leaving through a sling ring.
• Zhao Yu heard mages in Kamar-Taj repeating rumors that he had devastated the Chitauri and might succeed the Sorcerer Supreme.

Zhao Yu sought further magical instruction, but Mordo said he had exhausted what he could teach and arranged for the Ancient One to guide him. After returning to Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One heard of Zhao Yu’s unusual talent and met him in the central courtyard.

• Zhao Yu escaped the attention of admirers through a Portal and sensed their gazes invigorate his sword while making the Scarlet Contract chain uncomfortable.
• Zhao Yu asked Mordo to teach him more magic, but Mordo said he had already mastered the formal mage spells and had reached the limit of Mordo’s instruction.
• Mordo told Zhao Yu that the Ancient One would soon return and could guide his cultivation.
• The Ancient One returned to Kamar-Taj, and Mordo described a gifted student named Lin who had learned the Mirror Spell with astonishing speed.
• The Ancient One agreed to meet the student the next afternoon, and Zhao Yu arrived in the central courtyard and greeted her.

Ancient One recognized Zhao Yu’s extraordinary magical talent and began personally teaching him the Shield of the Seraphim. During his first lesson, Zhao Yu’s spell fused with another protective magic and transformed into an unknown rune array, leaving Ancient One on guard.

• Ancient One tested Zhao Yu’s magical knowledge and watched him conjure a precisely controlled platinum-white longsword before agreeing to guide his studies herself.
• Ancient One began teaching Zhao Yu the Shield of the Seraphim, and he rapidly absorbed its structure and energy pathways.
• Zhao Yu formed a stable barrier during the lesson, then continued practicing after Ancient One left.
• Zhao Yu reproduced the complete shield as a cocoon, but two energies collided within him and dark-red patterns spread across it.
• The cocoon transformed into a rotating three-dimensional rune array, and Ancient One calmed the surrounding magic while questioning whether Zhao Yu had fused two protective spells.

Zhao Yu's fused magic mutated into a shield woven from divine laws, astonishing Ancient One, who promoted him to Apprentice Mage and assigned him to help Mordo teach a new arrival. The new apprentice was Stephen Strange.

• Zhao Yu failed to dismiss the mutated rune array, so Ancient One collapsed it with her magic.
• Zhao Yu's Seraphim Deified Shield mutated into Bethpheny's Sigh, displaying divine laws that Ancient One could barely touch.
• Ancient One proposed making Zhao Yu an Apprentice Mage, and Mordo agreed that Zhao Yu was qualified.
• Zhao Yu accepted the title after Ancient One explained that Kamar-Taj judged ability rather than age and reminded him that he had protected mages in battle.
• Ancient One assigned Zhao Yu to assist Mordo in instructing a new apprentice, then revealed that the newcomer was Stephen Strange.

Doctor Strange arrived at Kamar-Taj seeking a cure for his damaged hands, and Ancient One used an astral projection to convince him that magic was real. After several days, Mordo began teaching Strange with Zhao Yu, whose effortless magic left Strange stunned and struggling to understand how to focus his mind.

• Strange questioned Ancient One about how she healed Pangborn, then rejected her explanation that the soul could help heal the body.
• Ancient One separated Strange's spirit from his body, and he agreed to learn magic before she sent him away to reflect.
• Several days later, Strange questioned whether Zhao Yu was qualified to teach him, so Zhao Yu bound him with a golden chain spell.
• Mordo taught Strange to focus his intent and explained that magic could be understood as another kind of energy, but Strange failed to cast a spell.
• Zhao Yu formed a dark red barrier without moving his hands and told Strange to clear his mind and hold on to one thought.

Zhao Yu and Mordo struggled to help Strange overcome his inability to cast magic, so Zhao Yu took him to Mount Everest to force him to focus under mortal danger. Strange returned alive and began mastering spells rapidly, leaving the chapter with Mordo acknowledging his swift progress.

• Zhao Yu demonstrated effortless control over magic, deepening Strange’s doubts about his own inability to cast spells.
• Zhao Yu told Mordo that Strange’s pain and doubts were blocking his concentration, then proposed taking him to Mount Everest to push him toward a breakthrough.
• After Mordo reluctantly agreed, Zhao Yu brought Strange to Mount Everest and left him there with 120 seconds to focus before returning through a portal.
• Strange endured the deadly cold and thin air, discovered how to gather his focus, and opened a portal back to Kamar-Taj.
• Strange’s understanding of magic grew rapidly, and Mordo noted that he had already mastered much of the basic framework.

Strange struggled to control the Ring of Raggadorr while Zhao Yu effortlessly wielded three kinds of divine power, deepening Mordo’s alarm and Strange’s doubts. Later, Zhao Yu studied an ancient journal in the library and transformed a wind spell into a new power called Nebula Storm.

• Mordo urged Strange to master the Ring of Raggadorr, but Strange’s attempts to control its energy repeatedly failed.
• Zhao Yu formed a shield from scarlet, white, and black divine powers, which flowed together without conflict and advanced his training.
• Mordo and Strange watched Zhao Yu’s display in shock, and Mordo encouraged Strange to focus on the energy rather than doubt the spell.
• Strange tried drawing on the power again, but the clashing energies threw him to the ground, and he realized Zhao Yu could not be measured by ordinary standards.
• Zhao Yu went to the library, where Wong managed the books, and studied a passage in an ancient mage’s travel journal.
• Zhao Yu used the passage’s corrupted power of Watoomb to transform a wind spell into a new form called Nebula Storm.

Zhao Yu's modified Winds of Watoomb spell tore through Kamar-Taj's library and courtyard before Ancient One stopped it and warned him not to use modified spells there. Later, Zhao Yu demonstrated the Crimson Chains for Strange, shaping them into a fluid, tentacle-like form.

• Zhao Yu cast a modified Winds of Watoomb spell that erupted into a gigantic vortex, wrecking the library and courtyard and leaving Wong unconscious.
• Ancient One halted the vortex, questioned Zhao Yu, and ordered him not to use modified spells within Kamar-Taj.
• Zhao Yu carried Wong away while Ancient One restored the damaged courtyard and used the pendant to reverse the destruction inside the ruins.
• Zhao Yu and Mordo joined Strange's training, and Mordo taught him the Crimson Chains and warned him against changing their form recklessly.
• Strange failed several attempts to summon the chains, so Mordo asked Zhao Yu to demonstrate.
• Zhao Yu formed a shifting, flexible Crimson Chain that curled through the air like a tentacle.