Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 500 The Ancient One Wants to Retire Early

Nick Fury's arrogance backfired; his original plan to suppress Captain America instead provoked the heroes' anger.

The aggressive intervention of the braised egg and Tony Stark's ill-timed push ultimately escalated the conflict, leading to the disintegration of the Avengers.

Nick Fury suddenly realized his mistake and used S.H.I.E.L.D.'s power to cover for the heroes, managing to prevent Captain America and the others from being wanted by the authorities. He even became a regular S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Xia Zuo learned that this was just Nick Fury's publicity stunt to glorify himself.

In reality, if he hadn't done that, Vision would have run away with Scarlet Witch.

Thus, the once invincible Avengers, who had interfered with global security after the Battle of New York, split in two.

Stark leads one group, Steve leads another, and the two sides are fraught with conflict, causing the Avengers to lose their former glory.

Nick Fury was unaware that this was not his achievement alone, but rather the result of the will of the five great powers.

Okay, rice grains don't count.

Because the Avengers are in Captain America's hands, they inevitably serve American interests.

No matter how upright Captain America is, he can be controlled by carefully selected intelligence and involuntarily serve the Mi Li Jian family.

As time went on and the incidents became more frequent, Captain America didn't realize he was being used, but how could the other four major powers not realize it?

They're all ancient fox spirits, why are they playing at some kind of ghost story?

However, Captain America was too appealing, and none of the five major powers would back down, making it impossible to distribute the benefits. The only solution was to break them up.

As a whole, the Avengers established tremendous prestige during the Battle of New York, possessing an irresistible appeal to other superhumans and capable of making even the most arrogant individuals submit.

This unparalleled influence is what the five major powers deeply fear.

However, a disbanded and diminished Avengers is not so intimidating.

Captain America, despite his title as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, has lost that irresistible appeal.

The power of just a few superheroes, even a monster like the Hulk, wouldn't pose much of a threat to a major power.

Skye found it strange: "Boss, why don't you recruit a few people?"

Shazo shrugged and replied, "The Avengers are too conspicuous, and they've all been corrupted by Steve and Stark; they all have such bad tempers."

"I don't want to serve this master—"

Skye was amused and laughed heartily. The stunningly beautiful girl aroused Xia Zuo's desire.

Unfortunately, just as Xia Zuo was about to make a rash move, a "ding" notification sound rang out, disrupting his mood and interrupting the girl's silvery laughter.

The girl said regretfully, "What a pity."

Xia Zuo asked with a look of regret, "What kind of alarm is it this time?"

Skye activated the AI ​​assistant, and after checking the alert's contents, her smile faded, and she frowned, saying, "Dark energy erupted, and the eruption point was located in Hong Kong. It should be a large extradimensional monster approaching Earth from another dimension."

Xia Zuo nodded: "Hong Kong, huh? That should be the Dark Lord Dormammu. It's alright, it's not his first time on Earth. The Ancient One will take care of him."

"The Ancient One?" Skye summoned a surveillance camera: "If the sorcerer you're talking about is her, then I think you're mistaken, boss—"

After seeing this, Xia Zuo couldn't help but scratch his head: "Oh ho, this is really a big shock."

He was very puzzled. Was the timing a bit off? Dormammu, as a god of the Dark Dimension, would also be affected by his own butterfly effect?

But it's clear that the Ancient One really did quit before the time was right, and Dr. Strange obviously didn't receive enough magical education. He not only didn't have a cloak, but he was also very clumsy at opening portals.

So the question is, why did the Ancient One use her disciple to escape beforehand? What kind of future did she foresee?

It was obvious that the future reassured the Ancient One so much that she was unwilling to wait even a year, or even for Strange to grow up, and rushed off in such a hurry.

No, this woman was absolutely certain that even if Strange turned out to be a monster and never became the Sorcerer Supreme, Earth would be safe.

So what happened in the past few months?

"Holy crap!"

Xia Zuoteng jumped up, cursing, "Damn it, Gu Yi! You're trying to pin this on me!"

Yes, there have been some changes in the past few months, but not many, and they are not important, at least not enough to affect the overall trend of the world.

In addition to finally merging with the position of the God of Wealth, Shaza also boosted the Saiyan Shaza's aura, causing his own combat power and life position to leap to the level of "god".

With a god among mortals present, what did the Ancient One have to fear?

She is a great mage who can see the future. Even if she can't see Xia Zuo himself, the Abomination, Green Goblin, Skye and others around him can't escape her eyes.

Even through indirect observation, the Ancient One could determine Shaza's power, character, and attitude toward Earth.

In recent months, she suddenly discovered that Xia Zuo's future power had increased dramatically, an earth-shattering increase.

Based on her observations of Shazo's power, he might not be able to defeat Dormammu in the Dark Dimension, but if Dormammu dared to descend directly to Earth, Shazo would definitely grab him by the head and beat him up.

What incredible power this is! It's like a living god in the real world!!

Since you, Xia Zuo, are a responsible deity of this world, then I'll trouble you to take over my responsibilities.

Therefore, the Ancient One decisively destroyed her fallen disciple Kaecilius, using him to lure Dormammu into unleashing his power.

Then, with the help of Kaecilius, who was imbued with Dormammu's power, they happily began the process of returning to Mount Light.

When the Ancient One appeared in Kamar-Taj covered in blood, Doctor Strange, whose hands had just been healed, was completely numb.

After examining the Ancient One, the sorcerer confirmed that magic could not save her life, and Strange could only use teleportation.

The Ancient One was taken to New York Central Hospital.

He can only try his luck with modern medicine.

Strange wasn't well-liked when he was sent there, and it got even worse after his hands were crippled, but it didn't matter, he had a little fangirl who arranged for the Ancient One to receive emergency treatment through her.

Well, the medical expenses might be high, but for Strange, a former top neurosurgeon, that amount of money is nothing.

But what he didn't expect was that the Ancient One wanted to retire on his own, so how could a few machines prevent the death of his physical body?

Chaos erupted in the emergency room, with doctors and nurses in disarray.

"Her vital signs are continuing to weaken; she's nearing her end!"

"Adrenaline injection! Quickly!!"

"Blood glucose levels continue to drop!"

"Increase the pressure! Improve the purity of the oxygen supply!"

"Her pupils are dilated! I need a defibrillator, quick!!"

"No response, no brain activity detected —"

"It's hopeless—"

"Strange isn't willing to give up yet. Perhaps we could try craniotomy to relieve the pressure on her brain?"

"Okay, this is the last try anyway."

Inside the emergency room, the Ancient One was covered in tubes, her dignity completely gone. Her eyes were wide open in anger, her pupils dilated, the monitors were flashing red lights, and various alarms were blaring. The three straight lines on the monitor only added to the despair.

Her disciple, Stephen Strange, who would later become the Sorcerer Strange, did not want to accept reality, but as a top doctor, he knew that everything was beyond redemption.

His magical guide, the Ancient One, is dead.

Strange cried his heart out, like a 150-pound child, which broke the heart of his little fangirl, who hugged him and cried along with him.

Seeing this, the other doctors and anesthesiologists silently left the operating room, leaving behind a man and a woman crying together, and a body that was still warm.

This kind of waste of an operating room can only happen in Mi Li Jian, since the doctors here have a very small workload, and leaving the operating room empty is not a big deal.

That would be impossible at the University of Tokyo. With so many patients needing to be saved, the utilization rate of operating rooms and treatment rooms would never be less than 70%.

Strange was crying loudly, while on the hospital rooftop, Shazam and the Ancient One stared at each other.

The Ancient One is now just a soul, and should have returned directly to her divine throne to enjoy eternal light and completely rid herself of the magical debtors she can no longer even remember.

She had calculated everything, except for Xia Zuo.

As a result, the Ancient One's soul was intercepted by Shazam, who stepped on her soul shadow, forcefully suppressing her ascension momentum.

Xia Zuo sneered, "Ancient One, if you're going to abandon your responsibilities, shouldn't you at least train the new Sorcerer Supreme? How can you just wash your hands of it and dump the responsibility of protecting Earth on my shoulders?"

"If you don't give me an explanation today, you can forget about returning to Vishanti, let alone following the eternal God and becoming a Holy Spirit."

The Ancient One was numb, how could she still be caught by Xia Zuo after she died?

She asked in surprise, "Xia Zuo, how... how did you manage to catch me?"

Xia Zuo laughed and said, "You would never guess that I really possess the power of a god, and it's a divine power that can be linked to death."

Death God Xia Zuo said: It's not that exaggerated. I'm still exploring the possibility of becoming the King of Hell or the Grim Reaper.

After repeated attempts and all efforts failing, the Ancient One finally gave in: "Alright, Lady Shazam, what explanation do you want?"

Xia Zuo said, "Magic."

Gu nodded: "No problem."

After saying that, she gathered her soul power and imprinted a small magic emblem, which she then handed to Xia Zuo.

Xia Zuo took the insignia and placed it directly on his forehead to confirm that it contained the complete set of basic magic knowledge. Only then did he release his feet, allowing the Ancient One to regain her freedom.

However, her ascension momentum has completely vanished, and she can only wait for the Vishanti's summons, or for another being to be sacrificed to re-energize the Ancient One's soul.

The Vishanti's concept of time is far different from that of humans. By the time the Trinity remembered, the Ancient One would have long since turned to ashes.

The only solution is to find a suitable offering.

It was also a miracle that Master Xu Guyi was destined to die. Just then, the New York Temple was suddenly destroyed, and a powerful dark force was leaked out.

The Ancient One's soul reached out and controlled the dark power in her palm, proposing, "Shazo, I want the fragment of the dimensional demon's body that you obtained when you defeated Dormammu."

Xia Zuo laughed and said, "Sure, but—it'll cost extra."

The Ancient One breathed a sigh of relief: "No problem, I'll trade you the Kamar-Taj library space wandering password."

Xia Zuo's eyes lit up: "Deal!"

Hong Kong Temple.

Casillas came from the New York Temple. He pushed open the temple doors and prepared to leave with a large number of his men.

He was one of the most skilled sorcerers in Kamar-Taj, and knew all the secrets of the three great temples. Therefore, the temples' magical traps were useless to him, and he encountered no significant resistance from the beginning to the end of the invasion.

boom!

Kaecilius destroyed the last magical node, triggering a massive magical explosion.

Having confirmed that the magical protection enveloping the Earth had vanished, Kaecilius knelt on one knee and then devoutly called upon Dormammu's name.

His voice sounded like a whispered murmur in your ear, but it actually pierced through the barriers of the world and resounded throughout the entire dark dimension.

Kaecilius proclaimed loudly, "The great, immortal Lord of Darkness—Dormammu!"

"I sing your praises, I admire you, I yearn for you, please come into this world with me at the center."

Dark forces, using Kaecilius as a coordinate, relentlessly surged into Earth, plunging Hong Kong into chaos. Kaecilius, too, was corroded by the high concentration of dark dimensional energy, his flesh gradually decaying, and black mist emanated from him.

The flow of space entered his body, reorganizing his black muscles and blood vessels.

The immense energy was far beyond what Kaecilius could withstand; after all, in thousands of years, Earth had only produced one Ancient One sorcerer.

As darkness poured in, Casillas roared in agony, tearing at his flesh as more darkness replenished his body.

The poor fellow thought Dormammu was the hope of immortality, but he didn't know that the demon god could not grant immortality at all. He only wanted to descend to Earth and then swallow this strange and vibrant world whole.

The first step in the devouring was to eat Casillas.

The sky was suddenly torn apart, and a dark, ancient, and decaying aura flowed out from the crack, spreading rapidly and corroding everything in its path into a state of decay.

As the rules of corrosion and devouring spread, a world that was previously invisible and imperceptible appeared.

It was a dark space that was much larger and more desolate than the real world.

All the worlds corrupted and devoured by Dormammu are forever rotting in the Dark Dimension.

In the deepest part of the darkness, two star-like cores slowly lit up, like the eyes of a demon from the abyss, looking down on everything on Earth with a haughty and triumphant air.

The joy in his eyes was completely undisguised, leaving Casillas speechless.

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