My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Even the sorcerers of the Kamar-Taj Order of Wizards weren't always able to master the art of "drawing circles" to create portals.

The Kamar-Taj sorcerers, tasked with guarding the three sanctuaries, could indeed teleport anywhere on Earth with pinpoint accuracy, traversing 20,000 kilometers with ease, as if visiting a neighbor. However, when they first became magical apprentices and arrived at the Kamar-Taj Sanctuary in Nepal to learn how to "draw circles to open portals," like apprentices in any other profession, they initially either couldn't draw the portals at all, or made numerous mistakes in the "portal location," and because they didn't have enough magic power at the beginning, they could only teleport very short distances.

The Ancient One had no other choice but to have her magic apprentices practice diligently over and over again until they became proficient.

As for the initial stages of practicing "drawing circles" to open portals, you might open the portals to places you shouldn't... but that's just how it is.

In Kamar-Taj, Nepal, when apprentices practice "drawing circles," they try to draw circles towards the snow-capped, sparsely populated Himalayas behind them to create portals. Aside from shivering from the biting Himalayan winds, they are generally unharmed.

Even if the magician accidentally opens a portal into a mountain dweller's house or a nearby citizen's residence, as long as the magician doesn't do anything more foolish, the Kamar-Taj organization, with its centuries-old and deeply entrenched influence in Nepal, can suppress it.

However, once they arrive in New York, the Kamar-Taj magic apprentices, who can't open the portals very far, will find that if they make a mistake while "drawing circles," they will no longer just experience a few gusts of biting wind from the Himalayas or hear a few words from the simple Nepalese mountain people. Instead, they will find that the "circles" they have drawn connect to subways, yachts, women's bathhouses, consulates, police stations, drug lord dens, and all sorts of other incredible places.

Even though the apprentices are relatively cautious and won't just barge through after drawing a circle to open the door—Kamar-Taj's magic apprentices are mostly mature adults recruited from all over the world, with virtually no underage boys or girls, and usually not prone to acting recklessly out of curiosity.

The problem is, people or things on the other side of the "circle portal" will inevitably crash in!

For example, not long ago, an Indian apprentice drew a circle that mistakenly connected to the middle of a suburban road. Before he could even react, a smoky-eyed hottie riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle sped through the sparkling circle...

As a result, this poor Kamar-Taj magic apprentice immediately experienced a painful "hug-and-kill" moment that was anything but erotic – two living people plus a Harley-Davidson motorcycle traveling at over 100 kilometers per hour crashed into each other on the spot, flying more than ten meters into the air before falling back down.

Whether it was a magic apprentice or a hot girl on a motorcycle, they all suffered multiple comminuted fractures and internal organ damage upon landing.

—This is absolutely the real deal, an unbearable burden!

If this hadn't been Xavier's Magical Academy, and if Captain America and Phil hadn't arrived in time to cast spells and save them, none of them would have survived...

As for the bullets, soaps, and razors thrown from the other side of the portal, and the ear-piercing screams, they came even more frequently.

Faced with this constant stream of trouble, Captain America Steve Rogers, the first headmaster of Xavier's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was naturally at his wits' end, especially when a muscular female apprentice opened a portal into his bathroom while he was humming an old WWII song in the shower... What followed was a nightmare, especially since he hadn't noticed that someone there had a smartphone and had taken pictures as souvenirs.

Afterwards, he had to beg for help everywhere and even hire online trolls to convince the public that the "Captain America emerging from the bath" photo was photoshopped.

However, just as he complained to Nick Fury, the masters who came from Kamar-Taj ignored Captain America's advice and instead declared that, according to the prophecies made by the Ancient One and Mr. Stark, an unprecedented crisis would strike Earth in the next few years, and the preparation time was extremely tight, with the battles to be extremely fierce.

Therefore, the Ancient One recently went to the Temple of Sleeping God on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong to use otherworldly divine power to treat the hidden injuries and hidden dangers accumulated in her body over the years (this was not entirely a lie told to the people of Kamar-Taj), in order to be in the best possible condition to deal with the great battle to come.

Because the entire treatment process is expected to be very long, Tony Stark, the Iron Man, will act as the Sorcerer Supreme during her slumber.

Similarly, faced with an unprecedented crisis threatening the entire human civilization on Earth, Kamar-Taj's magical apprentices also need to race against time to intensify their training, without delaying for even a moment, at least not to hold them back in future battles—and the complex urban environment of New York City is just the perfect training ground, allowing apprentices to learn how to conduct magical combat in a metropolis... just like how the military trains for urban warfare.

If a mistake is made during training now, it can be remedied. But if a mistake is made in war due to unfamiliarity with the urban environment, that would be truly disastrous!

Faced with the lofty and potentially dangerous claim of "protecting the Earth," Captain America was momentarily at a loss for words.

Especially when this righteous man of God has to face a group of stubborn Kamar-Taj magicians.

Aside from the Ancient One, who has fallen into a deep sleep in Hong Kong and cannot be awakened anytime soon, the only one who can command these Kamar-Taj sorcerers is the new Sorcerer Supreme, the "hero of two worlds," the Iron Man Tony Stark, protected by the seven gods. He has indeed been staying in England all this time, busy with the preparations for the British to set up a third magic school. He is so busy that he can only operate his own company's business through remote communication...

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As mentioned earlier, the Marvel universe has three most powerful magical vein nodes, located in New York, Hong Kong, and London.

The Kamar-Taj Sanctuary in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is the central hub of the entire Earth's spiritual energy system, which has been artificially modified.

Therefore, after Xavier's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was completed and opened in the suburbs of New York, China and Britain, which also have abundant spiritual energy, were naturally very envious and prepared to catch up as soon as possible, building their own magic schools so as not to let the Americans monopolize the benefits of the magic era.

One month after Xavier's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opened, the Lantau Island School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Hong Kong, China, was also completed and put into use.

The first batch of magic apprentices from East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, have been selected and are ready to come to Hong Kong to study and further their education.

Similar to Xavier's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, due to concerns about potential accidents during magic instruction, Hong Kong's magic school was not built on Victoria Peak, which is adjacent to the city center. Instead, it was established on Lantau Island, a relatively remote outlying island, some distance from the city center.

The first wave of Asian magic apprentices, guided by policy and persuaded by sponsors, largely chose healing professions rather than the Evocation school, which championed the Cult of Fireball, or the sinister-sounding Necromancer school. For wealthy and powerful figures, wouldn't they have bodyguards and thugs skilled in defeating skeletons? Wouldn't they have access to modern weapons far more powerful than fireballs? In comparison, prophetic magic does have some use, but how can you guarantee that the prophet will tell the truth, and the complete truth at that?

Anyway, there's no world war going on right now, and the Earth's environment is supposedly still good for another century (Ainz: Don't think like that!). The most urgent thing is to be diagnosed with some kind of terminal illness. After all, those high-ranking and powerful people are basically quite old. When they were young, they often indulged in drinking and womanizing and had a lot of fun. On the surface, they may look energetic, but their bodies have long since developed a bunch of health problems...

Like a certain moderate Secretary of State who, despite being half-dead with a catheter, still flies around the world trying to save the nuclear crisis.

Therefore, it's more important to quickly train a group of therapists to prolong the lives of these old, frail people.

As for other mage professions, we can train them gradually in the future! It's not like this is the only batch, and there will be no more.

In short, despite its utilitarian teaching philosophy and shrewd calculations, the magic school in Hong Kong was ultimately successfully established.

However, the establishment of the British magic school in London has encountered unexpected difficulties, and so far, they haven't even been able to determine a location...

Unfortunately, ever since its hegemony ended, the British Empire has become a huge rice bowl, occasionally emitting embarrassing and mysterious sounds.

—Compared to the Hong Kong unrest in China, which was quickly quelled by the iron fist of tanks taking to the streets, the London unrest, which was also instigated by multiple parties, lasted for more than two months: the British Empire, which only knows how to reduce its military these days, can no longer afford to maintain a tank force!

Of course, the Queen Elizabeth II can still afford to hold a super-luxurious birthday celebration; at most, the naval review can be scaled down to a rowing race.

In short, the British Army is currently short of men and weapons and in a sorry state, while the organizers of the London riots, who are mainly of Indian, Pakistani and Arab descent, are surprisingly militant. They not only successfully mobilized a large number of armed men by relying on the religious system, but also obtained a lot of military aid from somewhere, with everything from submachine guns to RPGs, and even snipers. They even engaged in a street battle with the British mounted police responsible for suppressing the riots.

Adding to the woes, the US troops stationed in Britain openly declared they would not interfere in the internal affairs of their allies, remaining aloof and observing from the sidelines. Meanwhile, the EU deliberately deployed troops, amassing large forces in Antwerp and Calais across the Channel, displaying a cowardly attempt to take advantage of the chaos. This tied down a significant portion of the British forces, severely hindering the British Empire's efforts to quell the rebellion in its capital… ultimately leading to the prolonged and unresolved unrest in London.

By the time the rioters, who had once controlled most of London and other towns, gradually exhausted their manpower, supplies, morale, and energy, and finally collapsed, Buckingham Palace and London Bridge had been hit by artillery fire, Regent Street was a pile of rubble, Hyde Park was littered with corpses, Chelsea was burned to the ground, and the Temple of Sleep, whose foundation had just been laid and which was only half-built, was also destroyed in the chaotic fighting.

It wasn't until the security situation in London stabilized and the shaken British government was able to resume preparations for their magic school—by then, Xavier's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in New York had already opened, and the Lantau Island School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Hong Kong was nearing completion.

As a result, British officials discovered that in order to get this magic school up and running, they would have to solve many unforeseen troubles and problems.

First, there's the issue of the magic school's location—given the recent London riots and London's undeniably "un-British" ethnic composition, some argue that the racial mix and poor security in the capital, London, warrants relocating the magic school to the sparsely populated and safer Scottish Highlands. As a Celtic woman, the Ancient One is more than happy to support her homeland.

However, another group of politicians argues that since Margaret Thatcher's targeted taxation and deindustrialization policies severely offended the Scots, the independence movement there has been growing stronger. Previously, Scotland, relying on its North Sea oil fields, was already extremely vocal, waving independence flags everywhere. Now, if they were given the only magic school in all of Europe… wouldn't that only further inflate the ambitions of the Scottish independence movement?

Moreover, the underground spiritual veins cannot be moved. The nodes of the spiritual veins are in London, and no other place can compare to the abundance of magic in London.

Therefore, magic schools in Britain can only be located in London, at most avoiding the most bustling urban areas and choosing a relatively quiet and spacious suburban town to break ground—just like New York chose Xavier's Castle in Westchester County and Hong Kong chose Lantau Island as its school site.

Secondly, there is the issue of ownership of magic schools: given that Britain has not yet left the EU, are London's magic schools solely British property, or should they be shared by the EU? The British certainly want to keep them all, but the EU believes that "the ley lines certainly belong to Britain, but even more so to Europe"... In addition, African countries without large ley lines have also jumped in, wanting a share of London's ley lines.

Europe, America, and Asia all have their own magic schools. Antarctica is a frozen wasteland with no one living there. Oceania is too small to be taken seriously. Only the black uncles in Africa are still jumping around, saying that we have entered the magic age and that they, the unlucky ones, also want to get some of the good fortune from Europe!

Specifically, the magic school that's being set up in London needs to reserve some places for students from African countries!

After all, even the most unlucky African chiefs often harbor the ambition to leap over the dragon gate and become European emperors!

Amidst this turmoil, Tony Stark, the Iron Man who came to London to survey the spiritual veins and choose a location for the school, discovered an even bigger problem.

"...What? You want me to manage the magic apprentices at Kamar-Taj and stop them from randomly drawing circles and opening portals? Because they saw something they shouldn't have seen? Damn it, what secrets in this world could be more important than protecting the Earth?"

"Alright, alright, I understand. You've been under a lot of pressure too. I'll send them to the magic school on Lantau Island in Hong Kong right away, so they won't be an eyesore in New York anymore. Is that alright? Tsk tsk, you think they're a nuisance? Chinese people don't treat people like that. We've already invited them several times... But, Director, since that's the case, could you please come to London as soon as possible?"

Under a gloomy, rainy sky on the outskirts of London, Iron Man Tony Stark toyed with a bright red unidentified object in his hand while talking on the phone with Nick Fury. "...I just found something really good here and wanted to show it to you! I also have a bit of trouble that I need your help with... What kind of good thing is it? Probably something like that Tesseract that cut a hole in the sky above New York?"

"...On the same level as the Tesseract? Could it be one of the six Infinity Stones?" Nick Fury gasped. "...Okay, I understand, and I can guess what trouble you're in—stay calm and don't start a fight! I'm coming over with men right away!"

Fourth long-term brainstorming idea: Explosions are the rule of propriety!

When the ancient Chinese people of the Shang and Zhou dynasties possessed gunpowder, when cannons were called "big ding" and rocket launchers were called "big gui," the main theme of the "Rites of Zhou" became the way of bombardment: "caliber equals justice, range equals truth"...

Confucius traveled around the states in an animal-drawn armored chariot, pulling a bronze cannon and carrying a rocket launcher to "civilize" the barbarians.

The wandering assassin, executed by cannon fire, shouted, "A true man who cannot live on five tripods of food should die on five tripods of food!"

Indian monks traveled across the ocean to promote "Gatling Bodhisattva".

What kind of magnificent scene would the increasingly bustling and noisy wars of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods take to form?

—Wang Qiu, the famous general of Yue who was bestowed the title of "Fujita-kun", couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: This Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods are just too Wagggggh!

"...General! I've heard that the King of Qin is smelting copper and iron in Lu, casting thirty giant 'Ruhr' tripods, and will soon launch another eastern expedition!"

"...Don't be afraid, our army also has the Five Fireball God Cult's ultimate weapon, the 'Katyusha' Great Jade! Although its accuracy is a bit lacking, its power is just as good! Also, quickly send someone to ask those Indian monks when they will be able to repair their 'Namo Gatling Bodhisattva'?"

The ancient Chinese people, who have suffered from a fear of insufficient firepower since ancient times, are now in an era of massive explosions, with cannons versus rockets. Let the whole world join in the Wagggggh!

Author's message

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, half of Shanghai was still underwater, and West Lake in Hangzhou was a lagoon similar to Venice, where tides could directly flood in, turning it into saltwater. Incidentally, Hedgehog Cat's company headquarters was also underwater at that time.

If the Yue Kingdom could have used its naval superiority to contend with the unified Qin army, it would have been a wondrous spectacle reminiscent of the Venice vs. Ottoman Turkish war... The bastions atop Wu Mountain, the blockade of the Yangtze River estuary, the sieges and defenses on West Lake... I feel like this idea is so wildly imaginative that it's impossible to stop it once it starts.

Fourth Brainstorm Completed: The Warring States Era's Sky-Shattering Chronicles

Cannons are ceremonial instruments, and explosions are part of the ritual!

When the ancient Chinese people of the Shang and Zhou dynasties possessed gunpowder, when cannons were called "big ding" and rocket launchers were called "big gui," and the main theme of the "Rites of Zhou" became the way of bombardment: "caliber equals justice, range equals truth"... Confucius drove an animal-drawn armored chariot, dragging a bronze cannon, traveling around the states to "educate (bombard)" the barbarians; when wandering knights and assassins executed by cannon fire shouted, "A true man cannot live on five dings of food, but should die on five dings of food," and when Indian monks crossed the ocean to sell "Gatling Bodhisattva," what kind of booming and noisy scene would the increasingly lively and noisy beacon fires of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods take on?

—Wang Qiu, the famous general of Yue who was bestowed the title of "Fujita-kun", couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: This Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods are just too Wagggggh!

"...General! I've heard that the King of Qin is smelting copper and iron in Lu, casting thirty giant 'Ruhr' tripods, and will soon launch another eastern expedition!"

"...Don't be afraid, our army also has the Five Fireball God Cult's ultimate weapon, the 'Katyusha' Great Jade! Although its accuracy is a bit lacking, its power is just as good! Also, quickly send someone to ask those Indian monks when they will be able to repair their 'Namo Gatling Bodhisattva'?"

The ancient Chinese people, who have suffered from a fear of insufficient firepower since ancient times, are now in an era of massive explosions, with cannons versus rockets. Let the whole world join in the Wagggggh!

Male lead:

Wang Qiu, the Nth generation Fujita-kun, an RPG enthusiast, and the garrison commander of Hangzhou (Hangyi) in the Yue Alliance. Because the city of Hangzhou in later times was still underwater and West Lake was a bay, his fief was the Liangzhu Ancient City, built in 3200 BC—the oldest city in Chinese civilization! Older than the pyramids!

He is suspected to be a descendant of the time-traveling ancestor, the director of the Fujita Weapon Research Institute, and his family's unique skills are raising pandas and making various strange firearms out of bamboo.

Female lead:

Mi Hui, also known as Huihui, is a sorceress who serves the fire god Zhurong. She is a female Nobel laureate with a fervent passion for "explosive magic." Because she caused an accident while developing a new type of explosive at the Mausoleum of Yu the Great, she was expelled from the Temple of God in Kuaiji (Shaoxing), exiled to Hangzhou, and is expected to establish the "Huihui Peace Prize" in the future.

The Yue Alliance: After the Yue state was destroyed by the Chu state, the remaining Yue city-states formed a military and political alliance that nominally submitted to the Chu state.

supporting role:

Lü You, nicknamed Youyou, is Huihui's follower and best friend. She is a little princess from the Southern Guangdong tribe who speaks with the language of a strongman.

Missionary and diplomatic monks sent by King Ashoka of India, and the Maitreya master who worshipped "Namo Gatling Bodhisattva".

Xiang Liang, a Chu general who fought repeatedly despite defeats, and Xiang Yu, a strongman who could carry a cannon on his shoulders during an army march.

Xu Fu, a navigator from Langya who discovered a new continent, and Hei Fu, a Qin state supply officer driven mad by the logistical problems.

The prologue is a heavily modified version of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, and the first volume is about the Qin's conquest of Chu. Then it continues to delve deeper into how the Qin army fully experiences the "tyranny of distance" between the humid and hot Jiangnan region and the Yue Alliance's fortresses, getting bogged down in the "Vietnam War".

Keywords: Yue Maiden Sword, Austronesian voyages, sea power vs. land power

Author's message

PS: After checking the information today, I found that just like Qin and Zhao both belong to the Ying surname, Chu and Yue both belong to the Mi surname.

According to historical records, the royal family of Yue originally had the surname Si, but by the time of the Wu-Yue rivalry, they had changed to the surname Mi, sharing the same ancestor as Chu.

In other words, without any historical record, the Yue state once experienced a "Tian family usurping the throne from the Qi state."

The third idea involves Islam, which is said to be easily reported and shut down. The fourth idea goes back to before Christ, where not only Islam didn't exist, but even Christianity didn't exist; only Buddhism was dominant.

Chapter 288, Aether Particles

In a dilapidated, abandoned factory on the outskirts of London, England, a place rarely visited by people.

In winter, the sky over Great Britain is almost always gray, like a worn-out overcoat that has been repeatedly washed and soaked.

London at night is indeed chilling and desolate, but even during the day, it is still cold and rainy. Occasionally, a rare sunny day will appear, but it will be fleeting, with light, white clouds piling up in an instant, turning into a dark and oppressive scene.

Although the winters in Great Britain may not seem too cold in terms of temperature alone, thanks to the influence of the Atlantic Drift, the high latitude of the UK makes the days very short, and the already scarce sunshine becomes even more meager, making it impossible to see one's own shadow when walking outside.

The somber atmosphere of continuous rain and fog, and the menacing dampness of gloom, can only be truly felt by experiencing it firsthand.

Such cold, damp, and dark winter days not only make people feel depressed, but also make them more susceptible to rheumatism.

Therefore, when the damp and cold British winter arrives, most people would rather stay at home and warm themselves by the fireplace than go out and get rained on and exposed to the wind.

However, beneath the cold, dark clouds and amidst the continuous winter rain, a dilapidated factory overgrown with weeds on the outskirts of London was bustling with activity. Countless police officers, soldiers, reporters, and other bystanders, braving the winter drizzle, drove up and surrounded the site, creating a dense crowd. They had split into several factions, adopting a tense stance, all appearing excitedly charged as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

“…Mr. Stark! You cannot take this back to America! This is British soil, and it is the property of the British government!”

A British policeman shouted through a megaphone, "...Please put it down, and even if you can't, wait for our experts to come and take over..."

Behind the policeman, several armored vehicles were parked, their dark machine gun barrels pointed at Tony Stark, who looked grim.

"...No, no, no! This should be the common wealth of all Europe! Only the EU can decide how to handle this aether particle! Moreover, given the recent riots in London, we have doubts about the British authorities' ability to properly handle this supernatural object!"

A middle-aged politician in a black suit also shouted, "...The British government has no right to monopolize this treasure! Nor is it capable of handling it properly! You must wait for the final decision made by Brussels! If Britain still considers itself a member of the EU!"