Alien invasion? Luckily, I'm Superman.

Led by Mordo, the disciple of the Ancient One and Strange's senior brother, Su Mo entered the Sorcerer Supreme's dojo.

After crossing the square paved with bluestone slabs, Modu stopped in front of an ancient wooden door and gestured for Su Mo to go in.

Su Mo pushed open the door and saw the Sorcerer Supreme, dressed in a simple white robe—the Ancient One from the movie.

She was sitting cross-legged on a futon, with a pot of steaming tea in front of her. Sunlight streamed in from above, reflecting off her bald head.

"Greetings, Venerable Master." Su Mo bowed respectfully to Gu Yi.

Su Mo had great respect for the Ancient One, who secretly protected Earth, prevented invasions by magical enemies and dimensional demons, and established the three great temples.

Even if he didn't want to respect the Ancient One, he couldn't, because he couldn't defeat her. Do you think becoming the Sorcerer Supreme is something you can just do on a whim? The Sorcerer Supreme is basically the strongest person on Earth, except for Strange.

Thanos didn't immediately come to take the Infinity Stones because he knew that Earth was protected by the Ancient One and Odin. As long as one of them was still alive, Thanos wouldn't dare to launch a large-scale invasion of Earth, and would only dare to do some small things, such as dealing with the Chitauri and the Dark Elves.

"Hello, Su Mo. I know why you've come to Kamar-Taj. Come with me." Gu Yi clasped her hands together, nodded slightly, then dismissed the surrounding disciples and gestured for Su Mo to follow.

Su Mo followed behind the Ancient One, walking through corridor after corridor. He wasn't worried at all that the Ancient One would have any intention of harming him. If the Ancient One were to attack him, he wouldn't be able to resist in the slightest.

The Ancient One possessed peak Celestial-level combat power, and with the aid of artifacts like the Eye of Agamotto, the Cloak of Levitation, and the Book of Vishanti, she could even approach the level of a single universe. Su Mo, on the other hand, was currently only a small Karami, approaching the planetary level. This was why he was so eager to increase his strength.

"Sorcerer Supreme, do I not need to undergo any trials?" Su Mo asked from behind the Ancient One, his tone tinged with curiosity. "Like Strange, having your soul blasted out of your body to explore the multiverse?"

Su Mo actually really wanted to experience the multiverse roller coaster; wouldn't that be interesting?

"No need. You don't need a test." Gu Yi didn't turn her head, her tone calm. She stopped in front of a heavy wooden door, pushed it open, and entered. This was the forbidden book section of the library at Kamar-Taj Sanctuary, where several rows of bookshelves were filled with ancient books that emitted a faint glow.

Gu Yi waved his hand, dispersing the few monks who were still borrowing books. They all closed their books, bowed, and left.

"You should need this."

After speaking, the Ancient One walked to a stone niche at the deepest part of the room, opened the locked treasure chest, and took out a bronze-colored metal pendant. The pendant was shaped like a vertical eye, with fine runes engraved on its surface, emitting a faint green glow.

The Eye of Agamotto.

"Ancient One, what do you mean by this?" Su Mo asked in confusion, not understanding why the Ancient One wanted to show him the Eye of Agamotto. Did she want him to become the Sorcerer Supreme? He quickly waved his hand, "Let me make this clear first, I don't want to take your position."

"You're overthinking it." Gu Yi glanced at him, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. "The Sorcerer Supreme belongs to Strange."

With that, Gu Yi made a single gesture in the air, and golden sparks from her magic ring exploded, rapidly spinning into a bright teleportation portal. On the other side of the portal, the wind howled. She stepped inside first, Su Mo following closely behind.

On the other side of the portal was the very summit of Mount Everest. At the snow-capped peak, howling winds blew and the cold was biting, but the sunlight overhead was dazzlingly bright.

Standing atop the peak, the Ancient One's robes fluttered in the wind, yet she felt no cold. She looked at Su Mo and explained, "A little over a month ago, I discovered I could no longer use the Time Stone to see the future. Just as I was worrying about some multiverse-level crisis, you appeared."

I?

Su Mo frowned, somewhat disbelieving Gu Yi's words. But she was hardly worthy of being lied to; could it really be true?

As if reading his mind, Gu Yi continued, "Your future self is very weathered. I'm begging you to come and help you grow. That way, your future journey will be smoother."

Su Mo remained silent for a moment, processing this information. His future self traveled back in time to ask the Ancient One for help? What kind of crisis would it take for his future self to make such an arrangement? Or rather, what kind of sacrifice did he make?

"So, what should I do?" Su Mo looked up. "How can you help me improve?"

"Stay here and don't move." Gu Yi raised her right hand, made a hand seal, and drew an arc in the air with her fingertips.

The Eye of Agamotto opened, revealing the emerald green Time Stone within. A ghostly green light poured from the stone, flowing across the Ancient One's fingertips. She chanted a magical incantation softly, the syllables ancient and difficult to pronounce.

A golden halo of time appeared around Su Mo, swirling around him in layers. The halo began to rotate, faster and faster, and Su Mo could feel the flow of time around him changing drastically.

Sunlight shone on him, and he could clearly feel his body rapidly becoming stronger. Before, he was only getting a little stronger each day, like a trickle of water; now, thanks to the Time Stone, that trickle had become a raging river. His superhuman physique was improving at an incredible rate, traversing in every second a journey that would have taken months to complete.

The feeling was magical. He could sense his body growing rapidly, but his mind remained unaffected, and his consciousness remained clear. It was probably because the Ancient One was taking special care of him.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

The Ancient One withdrew her hand, the light of the Time Stone slowly dimmed, and the Eye of Agamotto closed.

Su Mo stood atop Mount Everest, looking down at his hands. His body had grown for ten years under the influence of the Time Stone. For the past ten years, his body had been absorbing sunlight—continuously exposing itself to solar radiation as time accelerated.

He could sense that he had completely reached the level of a normal comic book superhero, nearing the peak of the planetary level. But he wasn't particularly happy, because this also meant that the future crises would be even greater.

"Master Gu Yi, thank you." Su Mo bowed deeply.

The Ancient One's rise to her current power level certainly didn't come without a price. While the cost of spellcasting in the cinematic universe is much lower than in other versions, and her future self likely paid a price—perhaps a promise, perhaps some kind of deal—that doesn't mean she can ignore the other party's goodwill.

"No need to thank me yet." Gu Yi waved her hand, her posture relaxed, seemingly without having expended any energy. She raised her hand and drew a new portal. "I also prepared something for you."