Some Price, I Can Afford It!

Congxin One was a massive spaceship resembling a space fortress, far too conspicuous. If he flew this thing back directly, there was no guarantee people would not mistake him for an invader attacking Earth.

To avoid causing any unnecessary misunderstandings, Li Congxin could only use Pym Particles to shrink it and stuff it into his pocket, then return in the spaceship they had used when leaving.

There was temporarily no way to resolve the matter of the Phoenix. Aside from the portion of the Phoenix Force hidden within Ava, two other portions had vanished to who-knew-where.

Finding two portions of the Phoenix Force hidden somewhere in the boundless universe was definitely a huge project that would give anyone a headache just thinking about it.

Rather than blindly running around without a purpose, it would be better to steadily focus on improving his strength and respond to all changes with constancy.

The first thing he had to do now was reclaim the trace of divine power he had previously stored in Little Spider. More importantly, he had to retrieve the consciousness attached to that divine power, then activate the BGM of Moving Heaven and refine the Reality Stone to upgrade himself!

What Li Congxin had not expected was that when he returned to Avengers Tower, the news he received was that Little Spider had already come back!

Upon hearing this, their timid brother immediately became displeased.

You came back by yourself?

What about my divine power? Why can’t I sense it anymore?

Seeing Li Congxin charge outside angrily after asking about Little Spider, Tony keenly sensed that something was wrong. Anxious to protect the boy, he feared that Li Congxin might do something to Little Spider, so he hurriedly came up with a flimsy excuse and insisted on accompanying Li Congxin.

And so, the billionaire became Li Congxin’s temporary driver.

"Oh, Mr. Clark. It happened like this. While I was dealing with some bad guys, I was sucked into a strange energy vortex. That energy vortex was incredibly powerful. I couldn’t resist it at all…"

Looking at Little Spider, who had somehow lost his divine power and was now rambling on as he explained what had happened, Li Congxin suppressed the urge to hit him and forced out a sentence through clenched teeth: "Get to the point!"

"All right, the important part starts when I passed through that energy vortex and traveled to a Parallel Universe. Did you know? There are lots of Spider-Men and Spider-Hams in Parallel Universes…"

Li Congxin silently activated the BGM of Rite, already prepared to hit him at any moment.

He had to teach this little brat what it meant to keep things brief!

"Moon Prism Power, transform!"

Seeing that Li Congxin was about to lose his temper, Tony, who stood behind him, instantly activated his transformation mode. After wrapping himself tightly in his nanotech suit, he grabbed Li Congxin from behind. "Calm down, Clark. He’s still just a child!"

Li Congxin had never intended to do anything to Little Spider. Seeing Tony acting like a peacemaker, he could not help frowning and asking, "Are you saying that because he’s still a child, I absolutely shouldn’t let him off?"

"Uh…"

Tony froze, but his sharp mind quickly realized that the key still lay with Little Spider. He turned around and winked at him, only to remember that he was wearing a helmet and Little Spider probably could not see his expression. He could only say aloud, "There’s no need to explain everything in detail. Just tell us where you lost the divine power Clark lent you."

"It’s with Gwen." Little Spider had finally learned his lesson this time, but after saying that, he still could not help explaining. "The situation was really dangerous at the time. I used the method Mr. Clark taught me to transfer half of the divine power into Gwen’s body and help her suppress the rejection from the universe. Later, because I was worried that I wouldn’t have time to learn how to coordinate its use, I had no choice but to transfer the rest of the divine power into her as well. After all, she was the strongest among us."

"After the battle ended, I forgot to ask her to return the divine power, so… I’m sorry, Mr. Clark."

In other words, that portion of divine power was taken to another Parallel Universe and can’t come back for now?

Seeing Little Spider standing there like a guilty child awaiting punishment, Li Congxin was still angry, but he could not bring himself to do anything to the boy. Although an underage scumbag was infuriating, Little Spider clearly did not fall into that category. At most, he was simply unreliable.

The saying about young men being unable to handle things properly probably referred to people like him.

Little Spider in this world had gained his powers far too early.

A gentle burst of divine power sent Tony, who was caught off guard, staggering away. "Let go of me first. This position is too undignified. I’m not interested in men."

Received 66,666 Impression Points from Tony Stark!

That hateful guy looked down on him again. But in order to plead for Little Spider, he still had to keep smiling.

I’m so mad!

After Tony repeatedly persuaded him, Li Congxin finally decided to let the troublesome little fool off. Judging from the situation at the time, the consciousness he had left within the divine power had not objected, so things were probably more or less as Little Spider had described.

Even so, Li Congxin would have a hard time trusting the little fellow again for a long time.

A reckless young brat who never let anyone rest easy was better left to Tony to slowly discipline.

By comparison, his own Mindy was much cuter, even though she was no longer a child…

Sigh, it was truly a sad story.

After confirming the situation with that trace of divine power, Li Congxin could only abandon the idea of reclaiming it before upgrading himself.

Based on the fixed timeline of the movies, Dormammu’s threat was already imminent, while the threat of the Phoenix could erupt at any moment. Since he could not resolve either threat at its root for now, Li Congxin could only choose to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

After explaining all kinds of matters on the Avengers’ side, Li Congxin went straight to Kamar-Taj to meet Ancient One.

The Sorcerer Supreme’s destined path was now nearing its end, but she seemed to be in excellent spirits—in fact, better than ever.

She had been exhausted for all these years. It was time for her to get some proper rest.

During this conversation, Ancient One told Li Congxin many things, most of them concerning Earth’s safety and the successor to the Sanctum. It gave the exchange a strong air of someone arranging her final affairs, which left Li Congxin feeling somewhat melancholy.

During the early and middle periods after the Marvel Cinematic Universe began, there had always been two people who exerted tremendous influence over this world, especially Earth.

One was Odin, and the other was Ancient One.

Both of these powerful figures had helped Li Congxin considerably as he grew, allowing him to reach his current position more smoothly.

But compared with the two of them, Li Congxin still liked Ancient One more.

Although he and Odin appeared much closer on the surface, constantly calling each other brother, deep down, they still regarded each other more as business partners. Transactions clearly outweighed their personal feelings.

Li Congxin helped look after Thor, and Odin paid him with a divine weapon.

Later, whether it was resolving Ragnarok or dealing with anything else, Odin paid while he did the work.

Compared with those merchants who cared only about profit, the two of them merely had a little more mutual trust and integrity.

Odin could pay his reward in advance, while Li Congxin had never considered refusing to settle the debt after Odin’s death. That was all there was to it.

Ancient One, however, had helped Li Congxin in a much more selfless manner.

Perhaps "selfless" was not quite the right word. Put another way, her interests and Li Congxin’s shared considerable common ground, so there was no need for either of them to haggle too much when helping each other.

Although Odin was the All-Father of the Nine Realms, if one truly examined his priorities, Asgard was undoubtedly more important to him than Earth. If he had a choice, he would absolutely be willing to divert the disaster of Ragnarok to Earth in exchange for Asgard’s safety.

But Ancient One would not!

After inheriting the position of Sorcerer Supreme, Ancient One’s greatest duty was to protect Earth’s safety.

Therefore, compared with Odin, Ancient One had been Earth’s guardian before Li Congxin rose to prominence!

"Perhaps I can remove the Dark Energy from your body while preserving your life." After Ancient One finished saying what she needed to say, Li Congxin suddenly changed the subject and spoke calmly. "Give me a few days. Maybe three days, or perhaps longer—five days, seven days… It definitely won’t take more than ten days. I should be able to do it."

"When the time comes, I can use another method to extend your lifespan by ten or even several dozen years." Li Congxin looked at Ancient One earnestly and said with complete sincerity, "At that point, you can continue staying at the Sanctum to guide your juniors, or you can go out and enjoy an ordinary person’s life."

"You’ve already given more than enough to Earth all these years. You deserve this."

Li Congxin’s strength had now reached the peak of the Singular Universe. Once he broke through again, he would cross the threshold into the Multiversal Level. The promise he was making might still be somewhat difficult for him at present, but after breaking through, it should no longer be a major matter.

Ancient One’s expression remained as still as an ancient well. Li Congxin’s proposal seemed not to stir even the slightest ripple in her heart. Instead, she calmly brought up a topic that appeared completely unrelated to his suggestion. "Someone once said that the greater one’s ability, the greater one’s responsibility. But what I want to say now is that the greater one’s ability, the more restrictions one has."

"Take the Space Rift, for example. In the past, you could descend in person like I did to deal with demons from other realms. But now, your situation is similar to those demons. They can’t enter, and neither can you."

At this point, Ancient One shifted the subject again, finally returning to Li Congxin’s earlier proposal. "Birth, aging, illness, and death are the natural laws. If you insist on breaking those laws, then even if your strength reaches Dormammu’s level, you will still have to pay a price."

Ancient One was telling the truth. That was also why Lady Death always liked to trick others into slaughtering their way across the universe, while never taking action herself.

Some things could not be done recklessly unless one reached a level beyond her current understanding, such as the Omniversal Level.

Li Congxin knew this perfectly well, yet he still made that promise.

As for Ancient One’s concerns, his answer was simple and forceful:

"Some price? I can afford it!"