"Anyway, when you're the Sorcerer Supreme of one universe, you are also the Sorcerer Supreme of other universes. It's the same thing. What's the difference?"
The Ancient One pursed her lips and seemed a little unhappy.
The Eye of Agamotto was the supreme artifact of Kamar Taj.
There was a true Infinity Stone inside, which could distort time and retrace everything.
All other masters would be ecstatic and readily agree.
When it was Luke's turn, he directly refused it.
Won't the Sorcerer Supreme lose dignity!?
"Thank you for the kindness Master Ancient One, but I just want to live a quiet life. "
Luke replied rather in a perfunctory manner.
The Ancient One obviously dug a hole and waited for him to jump in.
The Eye of Agamotto wasn't only the supreme artifact of Kamar Taj but also the inheritance token of the Sorcerer Supreme.
If he really wanted to take it, it meant taking the initiative to take on the Ancient One's job.
Although Luke had become a Sorcerer Supreme, how vast were the troubles of this universe? He hadn't figured it out yet.
The Vishanti forcibly appointed him, and for the quest reward, he just took the seat.
As far as the current situation was concerned, this universe was definitely more complicated than the movie universe.
What if he just took the seat, then the Celestials called, the Living Tribunal appeared, the five gods died, and the big event of restarting the multiverse began ... What should he do?
According to the norm, in the face of the great crisis sweeping the universe, they first needed to sacrifice a superhero.
Superman in the studio next door, and the Flash would take this job.
For decades, he just waited to be sacrificed.
But in the Marvel Universe, it's much more complicated.
Because there was no fixed candidate.
Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and others have all been sacrificed once or even more.
Summing up the rules, Luke believed that the greater the reputation, the easier it was to get this 'precious opportunity'.
After all, no one cared about this shit.
To sum it up, being this universe's Sorcerer Supreme was a big enough headache.
If he became another universe's Sorcerer Supreme, Luke was worried that he wouldn't be far from being sacrificed.
"Look at the bigger picture, don't be so narrow-minded. The Sorcerer Supreme doesn't need to sacrifice anything. You just need to protect the Earth. "
The Ancient One seemed to have guessed part of Luke's thoughts. She shook her head and said:
"It's most unlikely to suffer from suspicion and malice from anyone."
Luke saw the Sorcerer Supreme put on an expression of 'I am a positive person, why would I lie to you?', and smiled.
She was also a beacon of justice on Earth, the light of the right path, so she occasionally did something ... that violated the rules.
Superheroes only had a higher moral bottom line, but with the 'right' purpose, they would make big mistakes and create disasters -- this had become the norm in the Marvel Universe.
For example, the Ultron crisis.
Whether in the movie universe or in comics.
At first, the purpose of manufacturing Ultron was a good cause.
However, the result was unsatisfactory.
The former led to the Sokovia incident and the Superhero Registration Act, which planted the seed of the Civil War incident.
The latter was even worse. Ultron had become the ultimate villain, dedicated to eliminating all life on earth, bringing endless death and destruction to the world, which could be called a lingering enemy of the Avengers.
In addition, the Illuminati would banish the Hulk, which would lead to the subsequent World War Hulk.
In order to prevent an invasion towards Earth, the Illuminati broke into the Skrulls' people's planet to show their strength. They were captured, escaped, and chopped their enemy's heads off one by one, leading to the Secret Invasion.
Doing bad things with good intentions made it impossible to end, and the innocent people paid for it. This was completely the traditional scene in the Marvel Universe.
Therefore, Luke's trust in superheroes had always been kept at a barely passing level.
Good people make mistakes, and unlike villains, they always get the punishment they deserve.
Good people would suffer from inner torment and fall into self-repentance.
But when they saved the world again, their previous mistakes would be forgotten, and they would still be sought after by the public.
Luke didn't think this was right.
"So Agamotto was right about you. You're unwilling to sacrifice for others and have a strong sense of self, which hardly fits Vishanti's requirements."
The Ancient One thoughtfully shook the wooden-handled fan in her hand.
She didn't have any prejudice against Luke. Demanding others to make sacrifices was no different from being a bandit.
The bald master just felt it was a pity. Superman's moral bottom line needed to improve to become the perfect Sorcerer Supreme successor.
"I was appointed. If the Vishanti thinks that letting me sit in this position could change my thinking, then it's inappropriate for me to be the Sorcerer Supreme."
Luke shrugged his shoulders and said so.
The hot tea in the cup had cooled down.
He took a sip and calmly looked at the Ancient One.
"Then, I'll take back my previous comment. "
The Ancient One put down the Eye of Agamotto after realizing Luke's resistance to words like responsibility, obligation, and sacrifice. She seemed to remember something, and the corners of her mouth curled up.
"You should know that sooner or later, you will face a choice. "
The Sorcerer Supreme spoke slowly and meaningfully, "There is a saying in the East, 'When the sky falls, a tall man will hold it up."
"As you gain more power and have more strength, sooner or later you will have to step up, in front of the whole world and the whole universe."
"What are you going to do then?"
The Ancient One raised the key question.
"We'll talk about it when we get to that point. "
Luke's answer seemed perfunctory and then digressed into an unpleasant and rather uninteresting topic.
He put down his teacup, put forward his purpose, and got down to business.
"Doing business with a devil, and it's Mephisto?"
After listening to the presentation, the Ancient One narrowed her eyes and showed her displeasure.
She wasn't like her own teacher, Agamotto, who was very determined to fight against Hell.
However, harvesting human souls in partnership with the devil sounded like something that evil villains would do!
"Kamar Taj won't allow it! If the creatures of Hell are allowed to enter this world, then the Temple of the Three would just be a decoration. There would be no value to its existence anymore."
The Ancient One shook her head and refused.
Luke had put forward many ideas.
Some, she would agree to.
For example, the establishment and preparation of the Magic Congress, deeply rooted in the secular world.
However, there are some issues involving the bottom line that cannot be agreed upon.
"Master Ancient One, you misunderstood what I meant. "
Luke also knew that trying to get Kamar Taj and Hell, Sorcerer Supreme and the big devil, to sit at the same table was just a fool's errand.
Even if the two sides weren't completely opposite camps, there was no room for cooperation between them.
"The ultimate destination of human souls is either Heaven or Hell. "
Luke held out his finger and outlined the Ten Realms.
He had read the relevant materials in Kamar Taj's library.
Only by doing his homework could he persuade the Ancient One with confidence.
"Different from religious books, where you can enjoy happiness in Heaven and suffer in Hell. In fact, Heaven and Hell are just two vast dimensional worlds."
The Ancient One closed the fan; her eyes were curious, and she seemed to want to know what the other party was going to say.
"The soul is the currency in circulation, and this sentence is valid in every dimension. "
Luke pointed to Hell on the map and lightly said, "Whether to Heaven, or Hell, the essence is the same. "
"The soul is considered consumable and cannot be recycled. In other words, once a human being dies, there is no possibility of rebirth or reincarnation. "
"In this case, what's the difference between Heaven harvesting souls and Hell harvesting souls?"
The Ancient One clapped her hands twice to express her appreciation for Luke's long-winded speech.
Her mouth turned up, and she softly laughed, "No wonder you and Mephisto could hit it off. Compared with human beings, you're more like a devil, good at compelling people. "
"Is that a compliment?"
Luke asked as the corners of his mouth twitched.
"An impartial assessment. "
The Ancient One said.
The two people in the room were silent for a moment.
The Sorcerer Supreme, sitting at the top, then gave an answer to Luke's previous question.
"Heaven or Hell, Kamar Taj is not on either side. "
"However, the forces represented by the two camps are both light and dark, and Kamar Taj favors the former."
"The flow of souls into Hell is indeed no different from ascending to Heaven, as both use them as consumables that support the existence of the dimensional worlds."
"But there is one difference. The devils and the demons of hell are born to spread the seeds of chaos and evil."
"Although heaven is ... disingenuous, angels still maintain the basic principles of justice and righteousness. "
The Ancient One denied Luke's idea of the Kamar Taj choosing a side.
Between the black and white of Heaven and Hell, the Sorcerer Supreme clearly leaned towards the former.
"Then the three sanctums too. "
Luke didn't stop there; he had guessed the Ancient One's answer.
Cooperation wasn't something easily achieved.
To put it bluntly, the image of Hell wasn't as bright as the surface of Heaven.
"Companies need to face regulators, and the three sanctums could take on this part of the responsibility, which could constrain Hell."
Luke, as if the business was a cake, took the initiative to cut a piece and serve it to the Sorcerer Supreme.
"The rules and regulations are determined by the Kamar Taj, while the Hell Group represented by Mephisto would need to play according to our rules so that most of the problems could be avoided. "
"As for the so-called 'harvesting of souls', it is only to give them a stamp in advance for their final destination."
"This doesn't constitute a crime or being evil. "
Luke, who had his head held high and was very dignified, paused and then said, "Even the Vishanti wouldn't turn down a soul that came on their own. "
"And Kamar Taj can also benefit from it."
"For example, use those reserved souls to repay the cost of casting spells. "
The Ancient One did not say anything.
She was thinking.
The interests of Kamar Taj shouldn't be based on the sufferings of innocent people.
This was the Sorcerer Supreme's bottom line.
Other than that, the Ancient One didn't have many commandments to follow.
About the Hell Group, about soul currency...
She could see that Luke was trying to build a strong and stable system through this.
The prospect was bright, but whether it could be achieved was still unknown.
"The next time you talk to someone, don't make your interests so obvious."
The Ancient One could turn a blind eye to some things.
"Kamar Taj won't cooperate with Hell, but whatever Mephisto does on Earth will be supervised by the three sanctums. "
"As for the consequences of the success or failure of your plan to form an alliance in Hell, and what kind of consequences it would lead to ..."
Seeing Sorcerer Supreme's expression and attitude, Luke understood it and naturally answered, "I'll take care of it myself. "