The Sorcerer Supreme

Ancient One turned his head, smiling as he watched Chen Xu with great interest. Chen Xu had somehow made his way to the door of the Sorcerer Supreme's residence. "I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of surprise you'll bring me, little one."

Outside the temple, Chen Xu cleverly slipped past the taxi driver and his underlings, arriving at the door that, in his memory, led to the Sorcerer Supreme Ancient One's residence. He crouched beside it.

I wonder when this door will open.

Chen Xu crouched beside the temple and muttered softly, "I was told to go to Kamar-Taj and check in to complete the mission. Good thing there's no time limit, or I'd be screwed."

Chen Xu did not say those words aloud. He merely thought them deep in his heart. After what had just happened, who knew whether Ancient One would come out to investigate?

If he investigates while I'm muttering and hears what I'm saying, won't Ancient One just kill me? Then I'd really be done for. I finally got reincarnated once, only to die again.

What Chen Xu did not know was that his concern was correct. Ancient One was standing before him and had heard some of his muttering. A trace of gravity flashed through his eyes.

"How does he know about Kamar-Taj?"

Ancient One murmured doubtfully, "What does he want? How did he learn of a place like Kamar-Taj?"

As the Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One could clearly sense the terrifying spiritual power within Chen Xu, as though it could erupt at any moment and crush everything in its path. It was vast and horrifying. Before that dreadful spiritual power, even Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, was no match.

At the same time, Ancient One could see that the terrifying spiritual power in Chen Xu's body was strange. It seemed to have been innate, never refined or strengthened through any training. It was even crude.

If spiritual power were compared to water, an ordinary person would be a simple glass of plain water, while Chen Xu was like a boundless ocean—visible, yet unreachable.

Strangely enough, Chen Xu possessed such power. The situation was so bizarre that even Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, did not know how to deal with it.

"Time..."

Ancient One solemnly looked at the Time Stone glowing green on his chest, then at Chen Xu, who was emitting the same green light. However, the green glow around Chen Xu was extremely faint. Ancient One narrowed his eyes and made a decision.

"Let me see what you intend to do, little one."

Chen Xu was still crouching in the corner and muttering softly when someone in front of him handed him a flyer.

"What?" Chen Xu stared blankly at the contents of the flyer, then his eyes widened. "Kamar-Taj? You can get in by taking an entrance exam?"

"Registration closes today? Damn, I need to sign up now."

Chen Xu immediately stood up to register, but he was moving too fast and could not stop in time, crashing into someone. The man turned around and glared at Chen Xu in confusion and fury. "What. Fuck. You."

Just as the man was about to make a move, Chen Xu immediately prepared to use his terrifyingly powerful spiritual force.

The man's fist was about to strike Chen Xu in the face. To Chen Xu, such behavior was no different from courting death.

Before the man's fist could touch Chen Xu, he suddenly collapsed. Chen Xu, who possessed terrifying spiritual power, also sensed another mental force that had directly knocked the man unconscious.

Because Chen Xu possessed extraordinarily powerful spiritual force, his senses were likewise incredibly sharp. Naturally, he could feel that mental force.

Pretty strong spiritual power, though nowhere near as powerful as mine. If he had guessed correctly, this spiritual power belonged to Master Ancient One.

Chen Xu was startled. Damn it, when did Master Ancient One notice me? Could he have discovered my secret? Is he going to kill me to silence me? No. If he intended to kill me, he wouldn't have helped me.

Chen Xu shook his head, stopped overthinking it, and ran off to register.

Chen Xu touched his forehead. He did not have a fever. This was all real; he was not dreaming. Seeing the accustomed expressions of the people around him, Chen Xu knew the registration form was genuine.

Following the address on it, Chen Xu arrived beside the White Tower, Kalayan's landmark building in Kathmandu.

Seeing the long lines of applicants, Chen Xu's mouth twitched violently several times. He could only helplessly walk to the very back and obediently join the end of the queue.

While waiting in line, he also learned about the rest of the exam. As usual, it was divided into two parts: a written test and a spiritual power test. However, everyone in Kathmandu knew one saying: "Kamar-Taj's written test is only for the mediocre."

Before absolutely powerful spiritual talent, the written test was unnecessary and could be skipped entirely.

As for the spiritual power test, that was simple. It had never changed.

It involved the crystal balls that appeared in Western myths.

The test was conducted during registration. As long as one touched the crystal ball and poured in one's spiritual power, it would react and emit different colors of light, arranged in the order of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Purple was the highest, representing the greatest talent, but it had not appeared in a very long time. It was said that there were levels beyond purple, though no one had ever seen them.

The mage beside the crystal ball judged a person's spiritual talent based on its color.

Those whose color reached yellow or above had a chance to enter Kamar-Taj and become one of the rare mage apprentices.

"Li Yang."

The mage beside the crystal ball called out a name. It was the first person in line. Li Yang stepped forward and began pouring in his spiritual power.

The crystal ball began to glow, first red, then orange, then gradually yellow, where it stopped.

"Seventh-grade spiritual power. Qualified. Please proceed to the White Tower for the test."

Li Yang bowed excitedly, took the wooden token representing qualification, and headed for the White Tower.

Because the very first person had succeeded, everyone looked on with envy, as though he had already passed the written test. This young man named Li Yang would become a mage apprentice, and his quality of life would greatly improve.

After waiting for quite a while, it was finally Chen Xu's turn. The mage beside the crystal raised his eyes slightly and said, "Begin infusing your spiritual power."

Chen Xu did not waste words. He raised his right hand and carefully infused spiritual power into it. After observing for a while, Chen Xu had already guessed the upper limit of what this crystal ball could withstand.

At the very beginning, Chen Xu used only one ten-thousandth of his power, yet he could easily exceed the crystal ball's limit. As Chen Xu fed in more and more spiritual power...