Inside the New York Sanctum, Xia Zuo stood calmly in the main hall, waiting for the Ancient One to arrive.
To be honest, Xia Zuo was not absolutely certain he could persuade the Ancient One to teach him magic. After all, they had no ties whatsoever. Why should she teach him? Xia Zuo did not believe in those scenes in novels where the protagonist merely flexed and heroes from all corners came kneeling at his feet. Still, he had other plans.
If this doesn't work, I'll control a few weaker sorcerers and have them teach me magic directly.
Xia Zuo murmured inwardly. This was his last resort, but not his best option. After all, the results of learning magic from a few weak sorcerers and learning from the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme, would be worlds apart.
If there were no difference between the two, Xia Zuo would have already controlled a sorcerer without another word. After all, he preferred taking direct action to making plans!
Whoosh!
A golden ring a full two meters across appeared out of thin air before Xia Zuo. A bald woman slowly stepped out of it, her white monk's robes lending her an air of transcendence!
This was the very person Xia Zuo had come to find, the Ancient One. Behind her, the man Xia Zuo had controlled and sent to notify her also slowly appeared, and the ring vanished.
"I am Xia Zuo. Greetings, Ancient One."
Looking at the Ancient One, Xia Zuo pressed his palms together and nodded slightly.
This was his first time truly seeing the Ancient One, yet he could instinctively sense the terrifying power contained within that slender body. This was the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme who protected this world. Only someone like her warranted such solemn treatment from Xia Zuo.
"Xia Zuo? So it was you? You've never learned magic, so how did you control Mordo just now?" The Ancient One looked at Xia Zuo curiously, for the maturity he displayed did not match his age.
The Ancient One could tell that Xia Zuo had controlled Mordo and sent him to report to her. If Xia Zuo had harbored any evil intentions, he might very well have succeeded by catching her off guard.
Yet Xia Zuo had done nothing else out of line. Instead, he had sent Mordo to her, which seemed like an expression of goodwill. That was why the Ancient One was curious.
Such a disposition, and such an ability-neither seemed like something a child could possess!
"That was merely a little ability of mine. Nothing worth mentioning."
Xia Zuo spoke slowly, his expression composed. He had not expected the man he controlled to be the future Baron Mordo, but his mind was not on that right now. He skipped straight past that part of the conversation and got to the point.
"Ancient One, I've come to study under you. I have a great yearning for magic."
Xia Zuo looked calmly at the Ancient One. This was precisely what he had come for, and he hoped she would agree. As for his sincerity, he believed she had already seen it.
"Learn magic..."
The Ancient One's gaze suddenly grew serious. She studied Xia Zuo closely, as though trying to discern something about him.
This was inevitable. A child with maturity beyond his years had come to her and suddenly declared that he wanted to learn magic. However one looked at it, this was no simple matter. The Ancient One was bound to investigate Xia Zuo's background.
"Your origins are rather interesting. Even I can't quite see through them. But your future is even more interesting!"
Only after a long while did the Ancient One slowly speak, a hint of surprise in her words. As she examined Xia Zuo, she found that she could not quite discern his origins. She was, after all, someone capable of breaking through this world and entering others.
This was inevitable. Even if the Ancient One could roam multiple worlds, Xia Zuo's origins lay beyond those worlds. One could even say that his origins lay beyond the entire Marvel Universe. As long as the Ancient One remained confined to the Marvel Universe, she had no way to see through his origins.
This was also Xia Zuo's final trump card, so he was not surprised at all. What concerned him, however, was the Ancient One's final remark.
"Ancient One, what do you mean when you say my future is even more interesting?"
Xia Zuo looked seriously at the Ancient One, hoping she could explain. He knew that her abilities were immensely powerful and even extended into time. After all, the Time Stone was in Kamar-Taj, so she might very well have seen one possible future for him. Xia Zuo cared deeply about the future she had mentioned.
"It could be the greatest good, or it could be the utmost evil. But whichever it is, your future is intimately connected to the future of this world. The slightest change to one affects the whole. I've never seen anything like this."
The Ancient One spoke in shock. She had never seen such a situation, for no one's future had ever been like this. Moreover, every glimpse of his future was the same, without any difference, as though it were a single, eternally unchanging outcome.
Time was always the most incredible thing. Sometimes, a tiny action could produce multiple different outcomes, bringing enormous changes to the resulting future. This was what caused those differences!
Someone who would originally have become a great figure might, because of a tiny change while growing up, become ordinary as an adult instead. Unable to achieve greatness, they could only mingle among the most ordinary people. This, too, was something that could happen.
Take Newton, for example. If that apple had not fallen back then, or if what fell had been a durian rather than an apple, perhaps he would never have become a great figure. Such was the diversity of the future.
The Ancient One understood that a person had more than one future. People held many possibilities, which gave rise to many different futures. Yet that was not what she saw in Xia Zuo.
She saw many changes along Xia Zuo's path of growth, with certain details leading to different experiences. But whether he became a vicious, utterly evil villain or a hero who cared for the whole world, at the end of his growth, Xia Zuo would become a being she could not fathom, one who was even intimately connected to the entire world.
The river of time had hundreds upon thousands of paths, but whichever path he took, there was always only one future at the end!
The Ancient One had never heard of such a situation. It was downright inconceivable. Such fortune could practically rival the entire world. Xia Zuo was destined to be extraordinary, and that was why she was so shaken!
Here was someone with only one future, a being destined to reach the pinnacle!
P.S. Thank you to [X Ghost Mask X] for the generous 2,000 tip. Thank you so much!
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