Marvel's Venom, starting with a Hydra undercover agent.

Holm, thinking that the somewhat familiar-looking black man in front of him must be the sorcerer Mordo he had seen in the movies, politely replied, "Hello, I'm here to visit the Ancient One."

Upon hearing Holm directly mention the name Ancient One, Mordo knew that the other party was no ordinary person who had stumbled upon this place, so he opened the door and invited him in.

“I am Master Mordo, you can just call me Mordo. The Ancient One is meditating inside. Please wait here for a moment while I go and inform her.” Mordo then led Holm and Wanda to a quaint tea room and asked them to sit there for a while.

Holm nodded in agreement and beckoned to Wanda beside him, inviting her to sit quietly at the tea table with him, sipping hot tea and gazing at the scenery outside the window.

"I thought he'd at least have a beard. Mordo, Mordo, sounds like an old man." In the quiet tea room, Venom was mentally criticizing the name of the mage Mordo.

“This might just be his Buddhist name; his real name might not be this,” Holm said while sipping his tea.

After he and Venom talked for a while, and Wanda also looked through the program inside, the Ancient One also came to the tea room, followed by Mordo.

“I didn’t expect you to come here on your own initiative; this is much earlier than I anticipated,” the Ancient One said with a smile as she sat down opposite Holm.

As she sat down, a cup of hot tea appeared out of nowhere in the empty teacup in front of her.

The Ancient One took a small sip and then placed it back on the table, awaiting Holm's response.

"It seems that the Ancient One did indeed know of my existence and that I would come to find her," Holm thought to himself after hearing the Ancient One's words.

After sorting out his thoughts, Holm got straight to the point and told the Ancient One the purpose of his trip.

"Since you knew I would come to find you, you must already be aware of what is about to happen."

"That terrifying evil god is awakening, and many recent tragedies are related to it."

"I know some things about his situation, but not very clearly. Although I am confident in my abilities, I am still not sure if I can take care of him after he wakes up."

"In order to deal with the problems ahead, I am trying my best to find and kill his servants in order to delay his awakening."

"Time is running out. I must find a solution to this problem within this timeframe, or the consequences will be unimaginable..."

Chapter 287, Ancient One, Do You Want a Disciple or Not?

The Ancient One's expression did not change as Holm spoke; she maintained a faint smile, occasionally taking a sip of the hot tea in front of her, appearing so detached.

Wanda, who was standing next to Holm, and Mordor, who was standing not far behind the Ancient One, were hearing about this for the first time.

Hearing Holm's concern and apprehension towards Nar, the two of them also began to frown, becoming somewhat worried as Holm put it.

Finally, after Holm finished recounting what he knew, the Ancient One put down her teacup and said softly, "You should know your own specialness. The development of this world has changed a lot because of your existence, and this incident is the best proof of that."

"The one who tied the knot must untie it; ultimately, you'll have to solve Nar's problem yourself."

Hearing the Ancient One's words, Holm also said seriously, "I understand what you mean. After all... there are many changes that even I didn't expect."

“I never thought of running away from this matter. It is precisely because I know the role and influence I have in this incident that I am worried about how to resolve it.”

"I believe that with my abilities, I will surpass Nar in time, but the problem is that there isn't enough time for me to grow now; my current abilities are not strong enough..."

"So I want to use some external forces to improve my strength as quickly as possible, such as magic..."

"Since the power of magic can help you resist the invasion of so many dimensional demons, preventing them from touching Earth, it should also be effective against Knar..."

After Holm finished speaking, he looked quietly at the Ancient One, waiting for her response.

Upon hearing Holm's thoughts, the Ancient One scrutinized him closely, seemingly trying to discern whether he possessed the potential to learn magic.

After a moment, the Ancient One shook her head and said softly, "I'm sorry, but if you're looking to learn magic to fight against Gnar, I think you'll be disappointed."

"From my current observation, you do not have the talent to learn magic, and you could even say that you are worse than the average person."

“You are wasting your time learning magic. Even if you spend 100 years, you may not be as strong as you are now.”

Upon hearing the Ancient One's assessment of his magical talent, Holm felt a pang of disappointment.

After making her judgment, the Ancient One also sprinkled the tea from her teacup into the air, creating vivid and magical tea paintings to help Holm understand why she said that.

As the images formed by the tea changed, the Ancient One continued to explain to Holm.

"The key to the power of magic lies in communication, bringing your heart closer to nature, and allowing your will to resonate with the power of magic."

"When you are communicating with evil beings, such as other evil gods, like the god of black magic - Sun, the serpent god - Set, the beholder - Shuma Golas, or even Dormammu of the dark realm, you can use black magic or dark power."

"However, this power usually comes at a great cost. It corrupts people's minds, making them unconsciously become puppets of the power. As you use their power more frequently, they will gradually steal your essence, soul, and life, turning you into nourishment for them."

The tea in the air condensed into black, forming different bizarre and grotesque shapes resembling evil gods.

After speaking of the evil god, the Ancient One waved her hand, causing the tea to dissipate and then recombine.

"The mages of Kamar-Taj must learn to communicate with the Triune Vishanti, which is the source of the power we need to draw upon."

"They are the omnipotent Oshit, the all-seeing Ajimoto, and the aged Hoggs. In the past, when black magic was rampant, their appearance gave humanity hope. Humans could use their power to dispel the darkness, fight against black magic, and not be controlled by the power."

"Among them, Ajimoto was the first Sorcerer Supreme on Earth. He led humanity to drive away the evil gods, expel the dark energy from the earth, and then established the three sanctuaries, so that the earth would no longer be tempted by the evil gods and corrupted by the dark energy."

"Some of the treasures he left behind still play an extremely powerful role today; they are very powerful magical artifacts."

Holm looked at the tea in the air, which formed a woman, a man, and a tiger.

Unlike the dark and grotesque evil god from before, the three of them together exuded a very peaceful and natural aura, without any sense of evil or even mind-stealing.

The Ancient One looked at the triune Vishanti formed by the tea, and then continued.

"In contrast to black magic, we collectively refer to this part of magic as white magic because the cost of using it is minimal."

"White magic does not reverse the laws of nature or damage the order of the universe like black magic does; instead, it responds to nature and goes along with nature."

"These are the applications of magical power. The key to magical power lies in communication. The reason I said you don't have the talent to learn magic is because you don't have the talent to connect with nature and the Triune Vishanti."

"Your spiritual power and magical power are different. The source of your spiritual power is yourself. So you only need to learn to control and use your spiritual power. You don't need to communicate with anyone, because it is your own power."

"Perhaps because of your special nature, I cannot see any affinity with magical power in you, so this power is not suitable for you."

After speaking, the Ancient One put the tea back into the cup and looked up at Holm, who looked somewhat disappointed.

"Of course, you can insist on learning it, but to be honest, it's a waste of time and effort. You could use that time to do other things, like exploring your own potential and accelerating your growth."

After hearing what the Ancient One said, Holm gave up his desire to learn magic.

The Ancient One has already made it quite clear: he is completely unaffected by magical powers and has a less sensitive perception of them than ordinary people.

If you force yourself to study, you'll end up just like the Ancient One repeatedly warned you about – a complete waste of time.

When Nal actually arrives on Earth and stands before him, he doesn't even know if he can successfully create a portal capable of teleportation.

“What about her? She can’t possibly be like me, lacking the talent to learn magic, right? As far as I know, her abilities should also be a kind of magic.” Holm said, glancing at Wanda sitting next to her.

Wanda was still immersed in the story that the tea had just told, staring blankly at the teacup in front of her.

Chapter 288, Chaos Magic

Feeling that everyone's eyes were on her, Wanda raised her head and nervously took a sip of tea.

“You seem to know quite a lot,” the Ancient One said with a smile when Holm mentioned chaos magic.

Her gaze, though gentle, was incredibly insightful, making Holm feel as if he had been seen through instantly.

"I only know the name; I don't actually know much about him," Holm said, rubbing his nose somewhat embarrassedly.

He didn't really know much about chaos magic, only that Wanda's abilities were related to it and that it was very powerful.

The Ancient One didn't say much upon hearing this, but looked at Wanda and pondered for a moment before saying, "Just as you thought, she has great magical talent, but this talent doesn't lie in the white magic I just mentioned, but in the chaos magic she possesses."

“You really don’t understand chaos magic, because if you did, you would know how powerful and uncontrollable it is.”

At this point, the Ancient One's expression also turned serious.

"Chaos magic can be said to be the ancestor of all magic. It is the oldest independent form of magic and the earliest primordial light in the cognition of the universe and accidental events."

"The strange, impossible flame of life that burns is chaos magic."

"Chaos magic is neither purely constructive nor destructive; it is not limited by good or evil, but rather encompasses everything within good and evil, beyond good and evil, and in between."

"It is the die thrown by the spellcaster. A balancing wheel that moves between life and death."

"For your companions, this power is both a blessing and a curse."

"It is called a gift because this power is incredibly strong, and your companion can communicate with her directly. This is a talent that no one has ever had before."

"It is called a curse because this powerful force is not entirely under the control of your companion. To your companion, this powerful force appeared out of thin air, rather than being cultivated from scratch."

"Once this power begins to expand, and your companion is not capable enough to control it, she will become a slave to this power, turning into a being far more terrifying than Nar, capable of destroying the world."

Upon hearing the Ancient One's explanation, the expressions of the others present instantly turned serious.

Wanda was initially pleased with herself for wielding such immense power, but upon hearing the Ancient One's warning about the consequences of losing control, she instantly turned pale and filled with fear.

She knew that her power did indeed have a problem with being unable to control it flexibly. However, she used to think that this was because she didn't understand her power well enough, which was why she couldn't control it flexibly. Now that she knew the truth, the pressure on her heart instantly increased.

"Then... what should I do?!" Wanda asked nervously.

Seeing that Wanda was a little nervous and scared, the Ancient One comforted her with her eyes and said softly, "There's always a solution to a problem. Don't be afraid or nervous."

After saying that, the Ancient One looked at Holm beside her and said, "If possible, she can stay in Kamar-Taj and learn how to use and master its power."

"Although she is unable to learn the mainstream white magic of Kamar-Taj, I have some knowledge of chaos magic, which should be able to help her solve her problems."

"If her studies go smoothly and progress quickly, she might be able to provide you with some unexpected help when dealing with Nar."

Before Holm could say anything after the Ancient One finished speaking, Wanda spoke up first, saying, "I will definitely study hard!"

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Holm, her eyes firm and serious, and said, "Trust me, I can definitely help you."

Hearing Wanda's words, Holm nodded, deeply moved.

But considering that he had not yet achieved his main goal of improving his strength, he looked at the Ancient One again with some reluctance and said.

"If I can't learn magic, how can I be powerful enough to defeat Nar when he arrives?"

Upon hearing Holm's question, the Ancient One picked up her teacup and, while looking at it, said to Holm, "I understand your anxiety. You now believe that you are this teacup, and that you have reached the limit of the amount of tea you can hold."

"But in reality, your boundaries and limits are not as low as you imagine. You can still hold a lot of tea, even tea that I cannot estimate."

"So as for how to improve your strength, you just need to delve deeper into your potential, and everything else will take its natural course."

“Nar is not as invincible as you think, and your strength and potential are not as bad as you worry.”

After saying this, the Ancient One said no more, picked up the tea in front of her and took a sip.

Seeing her expression, Holm understood that this was all the Ancient One could say.

After figuring this out, he frowned slightly, pondering how to tap into his potential.