Journey to the Only Surviving Universe

The Ancient One waved a hand. "There was no 'what if.' You learned it and came back. That's a fact."

"You needed a magic circle to get there because entering the library requires a special method. Leaving doesn't. Besides, even if you hadn't learned Teleportation Magic, I would have opened the Teleportation Magic Circle again in a week..."

Oh, so you knew that too! Lin Yi pursed his lips, not quite buying what sounded like an excuse she had made up after the fact.

"Enough of that. Your aura is unstable. You need to get it under control as soon as possible."

"The state you're in... something seems wrong."

Wrong was putting it mildly. It was downright eerie. He stood right in front of the Ancient One, yet she felt as though he wasn't in this dimension at all. His presence wavered, and looking straight at him felt more like peering through the barrier of the world at some mysterious existence.

Elusive. Unreal.

"How could I be fine? You have no idea what that forbidden knowledge and magic..." Lin Yi remembered the revolting, twisted things he had seen, and nausea rose in his throat.

"Forget it. I'm not going through all that again."

"I've sealed it all away, just like you said. I won't use it unless I absolutely have to. I don't even want to think about that stuff."

"And you, Master—weren't you afraid I'd lose myself in that Forbidden Magic...?"

The Ancient One understood how Lin Yi felt. Most Forbidden Magic was revolting, whether in what it took to cast or what it did afterward.

"I was worried. But things turned out well, it seems."

"You made the right choice. Of the magic recorded in the Lost Library, probably less than one percent can directly increase your fighting strength. But that one percent will help you in the future..."

The Ancient One shook her head and brought the subject to a close.

"Enough of that. Will one day be enough for you to recover? The preparations for traveling to that universe are complete. Did you find its coordinates?"

Lin Yi didn't want to talk about it anymore either. He nodded and waved a hand, displaying a stream of magical information. "Is this the place, Master?"

Startled, the Ancient One hurriedly waved away the shifting information.

"Don't display that so casually. Anyone who sees it will know that universe's coordinates forever."

"If those are the right coordinates, I'll rest for a day. We can leave this time tomorrow." Lin Yi yawned.

He didn't feel especially tired. He just needed a day to steady himself.

Deep sleep would help. Strictly speaking, Superman could get by without sleeping, but Lin Yi was used to it. Sleep was a pleasure for him—especially sleeping in the sunlight!

He wasn't in any state to see Strange or Peter right now. Strange would probably be fine, but Peter couldn't use magic, and Lin Yi was afraid he might affect him.

That night, lying in bed, Lin Yi went over everything that had happened in the past few days.

There were too many unknown dangers in Marvel. Lin Yi was in the habit of suspecting a scheme behind everything.

He thought the Ancient One really was taking a gamble.

Everything she had done since meeting him felt like a transaction, even though she had never once called it that.

She clearly knew that universe's coordinates, yet she had sent him to the library.

What she wanted was simple. If something changed in the future and Strange couldn't handle it, she hoped the benefits she had given Lin Yi would put him on the front line when it mattered.

But the Ancient One had been frank, too. She had told him outright that the future might require him and the knowledge in the library. That made it impossible for Lin Yi to dislike her completely.

Wait. What if even that was part of her plan?

Forget it. Conspiracy theories really do your head in!

Lin Yi gave up thinking about it and decided to follow his heart.

This universe had become his second home. He was happy to do what he could for it.

A day later, after resting and readjusting, Lin Yi finally felt like himself again. The vast knowledge in his mind had settled into a steady flow and no longer intruded on his thoughts at every moment.

Only when the Ancient One saw the humanity shining in the young man again did she fully relax.

Strange was ready as well. This time, he would travel with Lin Yi to the only universe known to have survived the Cosmic Virus.

Oh, and Spider-Man Peter was coming too...

Lin Yi hadn't planned to bring him, but the kid had invoked Stark's name and refused to leave Lin Yi alone.

That didn't work on Lin Yi, of course, but the Ancient One said Peter might prove useful in some unexpected way.

The old Riddler was at it again. Lin Yi couldn't be bothered to press her for an answer.

Fine. Peter could come. One more person wouldn't make much difference.

The three stood in the center of the New York Sanctum. The floor had been cleared, and a magic circle larger and more complex than the last had been drawn across it in faintly glowing pigment.

Entering the library had required a magic circle. Traveling to another universe couldn't be done with a simple Teleportation Magic spell, especially when the destination was a mutated universe. The Quantum Realm was no help, either; it could only take them between timelines and parallel universes branching from their own universe.

The Ancient One directed the three of them to take positions at three equally spaced points around the circle, then stood at its center herself.

Her expression was more solemn than Lin Yi had ever seen. "Gentlemen, I'm about to activate the magic circle."

"Remember: it is an extremely chaotic and dangerous universe. It is also the only universe I know of that has been confirmed to survive after the Cosmic Virus swept through it."

"Many powerful, unpredictable beings have arisen there because its rules have broken down. Whatever you do, don't leave Blue Star!"

"And be extremely careful. If that world has a version of me, don't trust her lightly. She may not help you. She might even see you as a threat. Don't readily trust anyone who looks familiar!"

As the Ancient One finished speaking, the magic circle throughout the Sanctum's hall activated. Light blazed up, brighter than the sun.

A pillar of light shot skyward and swallowed their figures. The immense surge of energy made all of New York tremble.

"Lin, I feel like we've forgotten something..." Strange suddenly spoke to Lin Yi from within the light. An uneasy feeling had come over him, as though they had failed to confirm something important.

Lin Yi tilted his head. A moment later, his eyes widened. He had remembered—but too late!

The teleportation began the next second, and the three figures blurred. The Ancient One's weak voice reached them one last time. "Oh, right. This Teleportation Magic Circle only works one way, and I can only activate it once in such a short span of time. You'll have to find your own way back. Good luck!"

"What... the hell? You're... pulling this... again?" Lin Yi's broken curse warped and vanished.