Doctor Strange Driven Crazy, Enlightenment in Desperation!

"It's all right."

Mordo patted Strange on the shoulder and comforted him gently. "Just keep working hard. Remember the core principles, and make sure you concentrate. Cast aside all unnecessary thoughts."

Strange let out a despairing sigh.

He had heard those few sentences so many times that his ears were practically calloused.

But I really can't do it!

It was like someone telling you that nuclear fusion simply meant making atomic nuclei collide.

It sounded as simple as one plus one equaling two.

But actually building a fusion reactor was harder than reaching the heavens.

Strange had even begun to suspect that, even if he practiced until his next life, he still wouldn't be able to produce a spark.

Filled with frustration, he silently stepped aside and continued his tedious spellcasting practice like a robot.

Mordo and Raine moved to the edge of the area.

To prevent any disturbances, Mordo casually raised a small soundproof barrier.

"Raine, how long do you think it'll take him to get started?"

"At this rate, he has no chance in the short term." Raine shook his head. "He used to believe in science, and the arrogance rooted in his bones will be difficult to eliminate. On top of that, with both hands crippled, he can't concentrate completely. Even if he endures for several years, he'll probably remain stuck where he is."

"How can that be?" Mordo's brows knitted tightly. "Dragging this out would simply waste his astonishing talent."

"I do have a shortcut." The corners of Raine's lips curled upward.

"What shortcut? Stop keeping me in suspense."

Mordo hurriedly pressed him for an answer.

"Simple. Throw him into the blizzard on Mount Everest. When faced with life and death, people naturally find enlightenment when pushed to the brink."

"Don't be ridiculous! That's far too dangerous!" Mordo rejected the idea outright. "Kamar-Taj has never had such an extreme teaching precedent! Besides, when people are on the verge of death, they only become more frightened and desperate. How could they possibly calm down enough to cast spells?"

Raine smiled and countered, "How do you know it won't work if you don't try? Besides, with us watching from the shadows, he won't die."

"No! It's utterly absurd! I absolutely refuse to gamble with an apprentice's life. This method won't work." Mordo's attitude was resolute.

"Master Mordo, Strange isn't an ordinary person." Raine's tone was calm as he struck directly at the heart of the matter. "If we don't take an unconventional path, we can only watch him become a cripple. Watching his talent go to waste would be the greatest failure of us as mentors."

Mordo froze.

Those words had struck his weak spot squarely.

As a mentor, he wanted more than anyone for Strange to succeed.

After struggling with the decision for quite some time, he finally spoke.

"All right. We'll do as you say. But you must guarantee his absolute safety." Mordo finally gritted his teeth and compromised.

"Don't worry. Leave it to me."

Raine withdrew the barrier and strode toward Strange, who was still practicing hard.

"Stop for a moment. Come somewhere with me."

"Where?" Strange asked, looking confused.

"You'll know when we get there. Stop wasting time." Raine couldn't be bothered to explain.

He suddenly raised his right hand, and a golden Portal burst open directly in front of them.

Strange followed him in, utterly bewildered.

The moment he stepped through the Portal,

a bone-chilling wind mixed with snow and ice lashed viciously across his face.

His breathing instantly became incredibly difficult, as though a massive stone had been placed on his chest.

He shivered violently from the cold and instinctively hugged his thin clothes tighter around himself.

"Th-this... this is Mount Everest?!" Strange's teeth chattered from the cold.

"Correct."

Raine stood in the wind and snow without even blinking.

This level of cold and oxygen deprivation was barely worth mentioning to him now.

Strange looked around at the endless white snow and ranges of mountains stretching into the distance.

"The scenery really is spectacular... but it's also unbearably cold."

"The scenery may be beautiful, but this is a hell that devours people." Raine's tone was cold. "Extreme cold coupled with severe oxygen deprivation. An ordinary person wouldn't last more than a few minutes here before hypothermia sent them into a coma, and then they'd go meet God."

Raine held up two fingers. "Strange, you have only two minutes left. If you want to live, concentrate with everything you have and open the Portal back yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, Raine stepped back through the Portal.

Whoosh! The Portal closed instantly.

"Hey! Wait!"

Strange's shout was completely swallowed by the blizzard.

Across the boundless Snowfield, only he remained—a cripple in thin clothes, trembling in the freezing wind.

Kamar-Taj, Advanced Training Ground.

Raine had just stepped out of the Portal when Mordo immediately hurried over to him. "How is it?"

"Master Mordo, relax. Just wait a few minutes." Raine looked completely at ease.

Mordo forcibly suppressed the panic in his heart and stared fixedly at the empty space before him.

Time passed second by second.

The air remained silent. Not even a spark appeared.

"No! Raine, hurry up and pull him back! He absolutely won't last!"

Mordo was sweating profusely with anxiety. "I told you this plan was nonsense!"

Mordo waved both hands frantically and was just about to force open a Portal to rescue him.

Buzz!

The air suddenly rippled violently.

A dazzling golden light abruptly appeared before the two of them.

Immediately afterward, a Portal burst open.

Strange, covered in snow and ice, tumbled and crawled through. He collapsed onto the ground like a dead dog, gasping desperately for breath.

Mordo's eyes went wide, and his entire body felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

He... he had really succeeded?!

How was that possible?!

At the final moment, when faced with the threat of death, a person's mind should be filled with nothing but fear, or replay their entire life like scenes from a film.

In such an extremely chaotic mental state, how could anyone possibly gather the willpower to move the Laws of Magic?!

This completely violated Kamar-Taj's common sense about Magic!

Mordo stared blankly at Strange on the ground, then turned to look at Raine, who remained perfectly calm.

He felt as though his entire worldview had once again been brutally ground into the dirt.

These two weren't normal people at all! Each was more abnormal than the last!

It was one thing for Strange to produce Magic in such a desperate situation.

But Raine was even more outrageous!

How had he dared to be so certain that Strange could unleash such potential at the brink of life and death?

They had only known each other for a few days. How could Raine understand Strange better than Strange understood himself?

Could it be that this kid wasn't merely a peerless genius at cultivating Magic, but also a natural-born freak when it came to teaching?

Mordo rubbed his temples in pain.

Staying with these two inhuman monsters made him feel like a complete and utter waste.