The ability of Ancient One is definitely part of the strongest echelon officially recognized by Marvel. The Sorcerer Supreme truly deserves the title. One can imagine the power it takes for someone to protect Earth for thousands of years. Blaine even suspected that the reason that Thanos hadn't come to Earth for so long was because of the Ancient One.
"According to the plot, it seems that after the Ancient One dies, Thanos comes to grab the Stones."
It was terrifying to think about, but it was too late for the Ancient One to die now. Blaine couldn't believe that such a powerful old monster—who had lived for so long—would be killed by a small spell.
And regarding everything happening on Earth, Blaine had actually thought it through very seriously.
Why were so many superheroes born on Earth? It seemed like many major figures in the universe were aware of Earth's existence.
And Earth was like a delicious pastry, constantly fought over by others. Not just people—even many powerful substances in the universe, like Infinity Stones, appeared on Earth. For example: the Mind Stone, the Time Stone, the Space Stone.
In the early days of creation, three of the six Infinity Stones appeared on Earth, and two still remained there even now. What did that mean? Could it be that something on Earth attracted everything around it?
"Could what the ancients said about the center of the Earth be true? Is Earth really the center of the universe?"
Blaine felt like all the education he'd received over the years had just been insulted.
They say the winner becomes the king, and history is written by the victors—just like that famous saying in 'King of Glory': only the living get to clear the lane. Could it be that the history written in textbooks now was also half true and half false?
Perhaps some scientific truths had long contradicted reality. As the saying went, the end of science was metaphysics. Blaine now suspected that those long-dead scientific giants must have been hiding something. Maybe Earth really 'was' the center of the universe.
It wasn't just these powerful cosmic substances on Earth. The Ancient One lived there, and even Odin, the All-Father of the Aesir from Norse mythology, had come to Earth in his later years. Was that a coincidence? Blaine definitely didn't think so.
"It doesn't matter… I'll think about it later."
"One day, I'll get to the bottom of all this…"
Now Blaine seriously doubted whether his own time travel was connected to these mysteries. Maybe the so-called Hunter system, the Bounty Hunter path—maybe all of it tied into some kind of cosmic causality.
While Blaine was lost in thought, he didn't notice the white ring of light—mentioned earlier by Gali—flicker a few times above his head.
"Now that you're out, let's test your skills."
Having been suppressed by Dormammu moments ago, Blaine hadn't been able to fight freely. His pent-up frustration made his hands itch.
"Come on!"
"Let me see your true strength."
Directly ahead floated a cluster of small planetary bodies—small meteorites, really. The average diameter was only about ten meters. The largest was thirty to fifty meters, and the smallest maybe less than a meter. But even a ten-meter meteorite falling to Earth could destroy a city with a population of tens of millions. Not to mention an entire cluster of them.
"…"
His lips parted slightly, and in an instant a Dormammu Ray shot toward one of the medium-sized planets.
"Hey, what a pity. Not strong enough…"
For some reason, the moment the ray fired, Blaine shook his head and sighed, as if disappointed.
XXX…
Indeed, the planet he hit spun a few times from the impact, pierced straight through but not exploding as he had expected.
Outside the Dark Dimension, without enough dark matter to support it, even the condensed Dormammu Ray was much weaker.
"It seems it can still work as a sneak attack skill."
Although the explosive force wasn't enough, its penetration ability was impressive. Being able to replicate the skill at all was already satisfying for Blaine. Free power was still power.
"A fifth-level Copy Eye really is something."
Maybe Blaine's strength had increased, or maybe it was psychological, but he felt like his analysis of the Dormammu Ray was much faster this time. Mastering it took much less time than before.
"Since the ray doesn't cut it, let's try the Flood Dragon Trident."
With a flick of his wrist, the Flood Dragon Trident reappeared in his hand. With a kick of his calf, he bounded toward a small planet with a single leap…
"Drink—open!"
The trident whirled like a blade flower in his grip before he swung it at a large planet roughly fifteen meters across.
Rumble…
A planet of that size didn't last half a second under Blaine's trident. It practically exploded the moment he struck its surface.
"Again!!!"
The trident danced faster and faster in his hands. The nearby planets burst like falling rocks, shattering into gravel. It felt like firing a machine gun across a still lake—ripples exploding everywhere at once.
"Roar…"
Before he knew it, Blaine had swung thousands of times. The Flood Dragon Trident's secondary ability, Flood Dragon's Roar, activated once more.
In the next second, the dense field of small planets was blown clear, leaving a blank zone. Even the more distant planets quivered, thrown out of position.
"Phew… that felt good…"
The feeling of striking something solid with every swing was genuinely satisfying. Unlike fighting Dormammu—where every blow felt like hitting cotton, leaving no effect—it had been maddening.
"Host, Tian arrives in five minutes!"
"Okay. Don't remind me again unless I ask."
"Yes."
Just as the prompt ended and Blaine was about to open a space crack again, he noticed something strange floating in the cleared area ahead.
It was very small—like a tiny sphere. But it was definitely not the crushed stone from earlier. It was extremely dark, almost invisible unless one looked closely. If Blaine's Hawkeye ability weren't active, he might not have seen it at all.
He walked over and casually grabbed it.
"So heavy!!!"
Looking closely, it was indeed an unfamiliar sphere, covered in strange textures. It was unbelievably heavy. Blaine could wield a thousand catties of force without trouble, but holding this thing in his palm still felt strenuous. Even after living two lifetimes, he had no idea what it was.
"System? What is this?"
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