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

"Um, where should I start? How should I begin?" If he couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it and just wanted to heal his hands.

Chapter 291, Shock

The Ancient One picked up a book from the table and first showed Stephen Strange a mural depicting meditation.

Then I showed him an acupuncture chart of human meridians and acupoints.

Seeing his increasingly pale face, the Ancient One pulled out an MRI scan of his skeleton and showed it to him.

“Are you kidding me? I’ve only ever seen that mural in a gift shop.” Stephen Strange felt like he’d been tricked.

"And those meridians and acupoints have no scientific basis, not to mention the final MRI images. I am a doctor, and I have to go through a huge stack of them every day."

Ignoring Stephen Strange's slight frustration, the Ancient One calmly continued, "These are all methods humans have used throughout history to understand the human body."

"But like the blind men and the elephant, they only grasped a part or a portion of the whole, without seeing the real key."

Stephen Strange was already on the verge of collapse after hearing only part of it; he felt like he couldn't breathe, and all his hope was gone.

"I spent all my savings to buy this bicycle ticket, and now you're telling me it takes spirit and ideas to heal this wound that's practically impossible to heal!"

The Ancient One remained calm and composed, as if she wouldn't be surprised if Stephen Strange jumped out of the window.

"The world is just a glimpse of the leopard to you, only a part of it. You have no idea how vast the world is, how boundless the universe is, or how powerful the spirit is, and how many incredible things it can do."

"After all, you are trying to break through your own limitations, wanting to see more and understand more."

"But now that you know your limitations can be overcome in ways that are beyond imagination, you reject that possibility and stubbornly cling to the pitiful knowledge you have learned in the past in an attempt to measure the whole world and the universe."

“Stop talking nonsense to me!” Stephen Strange said angrily. “I don’t believe in any of this stuff, like Qi, meridians, or any of that energy or power of faith you’re talking about.”

"There is no such thing as spiritual power! We are all made up of matter, that's all!"

As Stephen Strange spoke, Mage Mordo shook his head and quietly looked towards the back of the mountain.

There sits a person with unparalleled spiritual power.

While Stephen Strange was vehemently denying spiritual power and believing that humans were only material beings, he was meditating on the grass by a cliff.

Meanwhile, Stephen Strange was still using his "extensive" knowledge to educate the Ancient One.

"Even you, the Ancient One who seems to be some kind of reclusive master, are just a tiny and insignificant speck of dust in this universe."

"You think you've seen through me? No, no, no, it's me who has seen through you!"

"I understand now, you and this place are a den of liars! You! Are the biggest liar!"

Stephen Strange was visibly agitated, even pointing his finger at the Ancient One.

Just as his hand touched the Ancient One, the Ancient One instantly grabbed his wrist, then reversed her right palm, took a half step back with her left leg, and struck Stephen Strange in the chest with her palm.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment, and a phantom figure flew out from Stephen Strange's body, looking utterly shocked with eyes wide open.

Stephen Strange looked at himself floating in mid-air, then at himself slowly falling to the ground but being caught by the sorcerer Mordo. His mind was filled with confusion, shock, and utter incomprehension.

A few seconds later, he felt as if he were suddenly sucked in by something, jolted forward, and instantly returned to his own body.

"What...what's going on! What did you do to my body?!" Stephen Strange stammered, filled with terror.

The Ancient One replied calmly, "I simply pushed your spirit out of your body so that you could see yourself better."

"What did you put in the tea?! Pluperidin? Hallucinogens? Or poisonous mushrooms?" Stephen Strange was still panting heavily in disbelief, guessing that there must be something in the tea that caused him to hallucinate.

"It's just a cup of tea," the Ancient One replied casually, taking another sip from her own cup.

"What... what is going on?" Stephen Strange looked around at everything, and for the first time, he felt extreme doubt about the world he was in and about himself.

After taking a sip of tea, the Ancient One put down the teacup and explained, "In that instant, your body and your spirit separated, and your spirit entered a spirit dimension."

"That is the place where the soul can exist outside the body."

"Do you realize how ignorant you are now?"

Stephen Strange looked at the Ancient One, still unable to believe what had just happened.

Seeing this, the Ancient One smiled and shook her head, then suddenly pointed a finger at his brow.

As the Ancient One moved, Stephen Strange felt himself being expelled from his body once again, and then entered a space that was rapidly reversing.

He put on Kamar-Taj and flew straight into the sky, out of Earth, out of the universe.

The voice of the Ancient One still echoed in his ears. The Ancient One had guided him, allowing him to fully experience what the real world was like.

The secrets of the universe and space slowly unfolded before him, and the scene of the multiverse was deeply imprinted in his mind.

When he came to his senses and returned to his chair in Kamar-Taj, he was still unsettled, his mind and body still reeling from the extreme shock.

“Tell me, Mr. Strange, have you seen these things in the gift shop?” The Ancient One asked with a faint smile as she looked at Stephen Strange, who was slumped on the ground, panting heavily and clearly shaken.

Stephen Strange recalled what he had just witnessed, and looking at the Ancient One before him, he realized how shallow his previous thoughts had been.

He no longer slumped to the ground, but instead turned over and knelt down, earnestly pleading with the Ancient One, "Please...please teach me!"

Upon hearing Stephen Strange's earnest request, the Ancient One took a sip of tea and then said calmly, "I refuse."

Chapter 292, Everything is in the Arrangement of Fate

“Mordor, please see this guest out.” The Ancient One said to Mordor and then put down her teacup, not even glancing at Stephen Strange, who was still kneeling on the ground.

“Let’s go, Mr. Strange, the door is this way.” Hearing the Ancient One’s order to leave, the sorcerer Mordo walked over to Stephen Strange and reminded him.

Stephen Strange stared blankly at the Ancient One, who was standing there with a sullen expression, seemingly still not quite understanding what was happening.

“Mr. Strange?” Mage Mordo raised his voice again.

Seeing that Stephen Strange didn't react at all to his shouts, the sorcerer Mordo was also a little puzzled. The Ancient One had clearly sent his spirit back into his body, so why was he still reacting so absentmindedly?

The moment Mordor looked slightly puzzled, Stephen Strange's slender body sprang up from the ground like a spring and rushed toward the Ancient One beside him.

He couldn't accept that after going through so much trouble to get here, seeing hope for a cure for his hands, he was refused treatment and had to slink back home.

He couldn't allow hope to slip away from him again, nor could he accept that his hands would remain so scarred and trembling for the rest of his life.

The sorcerer Mordo had not anticipated Stephen Strange's sudden, spring-like leap, but he reacted quickly, nimbly jumping several meters to press down on Stephen Strange's shoulder and stop him.

“This is very impolite, Mr. Strange.” Mage Mordo grabbed Stephen Strange by the back of his collar with a stern expression and forced him toward the other side of the main entrance.

"No! Give me a chance, I don't want to leave! Please! Give me a chance!"

"I apologize for my rudeness and recklessness just now. Please don't send me away. This is my only hope for healing my hands. Please!"

Stephen Strange yelled and struggled, trying to hook his feet on the pillars or tables, but to no avail. The pillars and tables were as slippery as if they were smeared with butter, providing no friction whatsoever.

This unusual occurrence made him realize that it was definitely some damned magic at work again. He now believed in these things, but he was still being thrown outside.

The sorcerer Mordo was very strong, and he dragged the tall Stephen Strange without any apparent effort.

It didn't take long for him to pull Stephen Strange to the door.

These two ancient wooden doors seemed to have their own consciousness, opening automatically when Master Modo approached.

Seeing the wide-open door, Master Modo immediately...

Stephen Strange threw it out like he was tossing away a bag of trash.

Stephen Strange rolled twice on the ground in front of the door, then hurriedly got up, trying to run inside before the door closed.

But just as he was about to step over the threshold, the two ancient wooden doors suddenly closed, the force of which hit the tip of his nose, making his nose sting and causing him to immediately cover his nose and squat down.

After this incident, Stephen Strange realized that even the two wooden doors of Kamar-Taj were magical objects with their own thoughts.

He came to this conclusion because the timing and force with which the two wooden doors were closed were so precise. Closing them a second earlier or a second later would not have achieved the same effect. If he had closed them with too much force, he would have had a nosebleed, and if he had closed them with too little force, he would have felt nothing.

“You can’t do this to me. I have nowhere to go. I have nothing left.” Stephen Strange covered his nose and leaned against the wooden door, muttering in a dejected voice.

Seeing the strange looks he was getting from passersby, Stephen Strange turned around and lay down across the entrance to Kamar-Taj.

By now, he was no longer ashamed. He decided to continue with this rogue-like strategy: as long as Kamar-Taj wouldn't open the door for him or let him in, he would just squat or lie at the door, refusing to go anywhere, and stubbornly stay there.

After lying there for a while, he would knock on the door again and shout a few words in a hoarse voice.

Like a timed alarm clock, he would remind the people inside of his presence again and again.

"Open the door, please open the door..." Stephen Strange knocked on the wooden door again and shouted.

After shouting a few times, he put his hand down and continued to close his eyes to rest.

He would do it again after a few minutes, and as long as he was on that day, he would never stop.

Four or five hours passed, and Stephen Strange, who had fallen asleep and then woken up at the door, was now banging his knee against it, still shouting soullessly, "Open the door, let me in, please let me in..."

He was a little tired of hitting with his hands, so he switched to using his knees. He was willing to use his butt as long as he could make a sound.

The people on the street seemed to have accepted his presence over the past few hours, knowing he would stay there, and then they started shouting in strange, incomprehensible languages.

Some kind-hearted people felt sorry for him because his voice was hoarse from shouting, so they gave him a bowl of water.

Children also came over curiously to take a look. They seemed to have never seen someone with such a scraggly beard and unkempt appearance before. They even brought him a few dry, hard steamed buns to eat.

After his incident, those who had previously flattered him and seemed to have a good relationship with him gradually turned their backs on him, making him fully realize what it means to be cold and indifferent to human relationships.

These people's kind actions not only warmed Stephen Strange's heart but also gave him energy, enabling him to continue shouting and banging on the wooden door.

In the tea room, Stephen Strange's voice couldn't reach them at all; the Ancient One was still drinking tea with Holm and Wanda.

"Are we really not going to do anything about him?" Wanda asked curiously. She had just seen Stephen Strange's eyes, and she was familiar with that stubborn look, so she knew he wouldn't give up.

Holm didn't say anything upon hearing this, but simply looked at the Ancient One. The Ancient One put down her teacup, smiled, and said, "Everything is arranged by fate, so don't worry."

Upon hearing the Ancient One's words, Holm understood her thoughts. It seemed that, just as he remembered, Stephen Strange would enter Kamar-Taj to begin learning magic.

Chapter 293, The Ancient One's Thoughts

With a whooshing sound, Holm piloted the Quinjet back to S.H.I.E.L.D. from Kamar-Taj.

Wanda did not return with him, but stayed in Kamar-Taj to learn about chaos magic from the Ancient One, hoping to master her powers as soon as possible.

As they parted, Wanda whispered to Holm not to worry, assuring him that she would learn to control chaos magic as soon as possible and help him fight off the enemy when Nal appeared.

"Unleashing my own power... What should I do?" Holm murmured to himself, leaning back in the driver's seat and gazing at the clear sky outside.

Venom then poked its head out from his shoulder and thoughtfully replied, "I think the Ancient One probably wanted you to continue developing your abilities."