Boom!!
Rolling waves of dark magic permeated the boundless space, wreaking havoc on this dimension and filling everything with shades of gloom.
Endlessly, those areas corrupted by the dark power formed crystalline shapes and interconnected.
Massive surging dark energy formed a terrifying head the size of a planet, with giant eyes radiating dark purple light, and murky energy roiled as if to obliterate everything.
But before this terrifying entity stood a small figure.
A bald female mage in a yellow sorcerer's robe, wearing a necklace emitting a green glow, and it is none other than the Ancient One.
Boom!
A massive, purple lightning bolt surged from afar toward the Ancient One. Without turning her head, she waved her hand lightly, and the golden magical fan in her hand stirred slightly. Instantly, the thick purple lightning curved and shattered a dark energy-infused planet behind her.
The fierce wind and shockwave from the lightning displayed its terrible power.
And this was merely a greeting.
The Ancient One remained
expressionless, looking up at this restless old friend.
"Dormammu, you seem weaker than before."
The Ancient One's words seemed to provoke the Demon God in front of her. The gigantic energy-formed head surged, its grotesque mouth opened, and a deep voice like thunder echoed through the space.
"Ancient One, you won't live much longer. Look at your decaying body, that shell is riddled with holes. You should know what fate awaits you at the end of your life. You will be devoured by darkness, you will become my minion, my slave, you will single-handedly destroy the world you protect, and those insignificant humans."
Hearing this, the Ancient One remained unmoved, with only an imperceptible flicker in her eyes.
But this flicker was keenly captured by Dormammu, who burst into a sinister laugh.
The reverberating laughter shook the space.
"You are afraid. The frail lives of humans, no matter how strong you become, you cannot escape your brief existence. Death is your ultimate enemy, Ancient One."
The flicker in the Ancient One's eyes faded, her heart remained calm.
What fear? She was merely pretending, pretending well enough for Dormammu to sense it and thus not suspect. She knew Dormammu too well.
It always seemed that Dormammu was manipulating her, but in reality, she was subtly manipulating Dormammu all along.
"Can you tell me why you've been appearing so frequently lately?"
The Ancient One asked bluntly.
Dormammu's energy-formed head fluctuated: "You never asked such questions before. What are you wondering, what are you afraid of?" Dormammu insinuated.
"Your schemes will never succeed, Dormammu. You'll never know how outstanding he is," the Ancient One said with a gentle smile.
"Outstanding?" Dormammu snorted coldly.
"No matter how outstanding he is, in this narrow world and universe, he will never grow, he will never reach my level. Only by joining me can he gain vast and powerful knowledge and strength."
Dormammu, having become the ruler of the Dark Dimension, had gone through many crises and battles.
He had seen all kinds of people, and a mere human, though capable of reaching such a level, could indeed be called outstanding, but no matter how outstanding, could never reach his level.
"I don't think so, Dormammu."
As Dormammu's words fell, the entire world suddenly changed. In the space tainted by darkness, a dazzling golden sun appeared, its holy light dispelling the darkness, consuming and purifying all.
The scorching light made Dormammu roar repeatedly, and the surging dark energy turned into waves resisting this scorching holy light.
The world fell into a struggle, with Dormammu's gigantic dark head on one side, darkness raging, and a scorching golden sun of the same size on the other side, its holy light warm and dazzling.
Darkness and light clashed in this space.
Dormammu's piercing gaze fixed on the dazzling golden sun, which gradually shrank into a small figure.
It was Bi Xiao.
Wearing the previous gray sweatpants and white sneakers, T-shirt, this simple outfit did not quite match the style of this space, but neither Dormammu nor the Ancient One paid any attention to this.
"It's you, that human brat, daring to obstruct me and even dare to appear before me."
Dormammu roared in fury, sound waves rolling and raging, but as they crossed into the boundary of light, they were calmed by the vast holy power.
This casual display made the seemingly furious Dormammu frown secretly.
He could feel that this human seemed stronger than the last time, and not just by a little.
Dormammu's heart suddenly grew heavy.
This person seemed no less powerful than the Ancient One. If he were to descend upon this universe, both the Ancient One and this human would be his greatest obstacles.
The Ancient One's life was nearing its end, and she was already wavering in her beliefs. Fall and corruption were inevitable.
Only that human was still in his prime, with a much longer life ahead.
Dormammu could perceive that Bi Xiao's life level was exceptionally high, extraordinarily high. Although he verbally labeled Bi Xiao as human, he had already internally acknowledged that Bi Xiao was, in a sense, a true god.
Such a level had already transcended the limits of lifespan. With time, Bi Xiao's life level would gradually increase, and life itself would become merely a number to him.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, living until the universe's end was not an issue.
After all, Bi Xiao's greatest advantage was his youth, giving him ample time to grow.
Dormammu himself was unsure to what extent Bi Xiao could grow. Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. Although he had previously belittled Bi Xiao in his verbal exchanges with the Ancient One, he had not truly underestimated him. However, he now realized he was gravely mistaken.
This was his true most formidable enemy.
The plan to eliminate Bi Xiao revealed a significant flaw that could lead to its failure. He needed to alter his strategy and plan, increasing the stakes.
Otherwise, if the plan failed or aborted, it would make Bi Xiao even more vigilant.
Dormammu thought this while maintaining an impassive facade.
"You look incredibly ugly," Bi Xiao, floating beside the Ancient One, commented disdainfully as he observed the massive energy head in the distance.
"Ugly? What is the definition of ugly? Such meaningless things hold no value; power is eternal," Dormammu angrily retorted.
This form was merely an appearance. He was originally a dark sorcerer with a body, but upon entering the Dark Dimension, he abandoned his fragile physical form, transforming into an energy form. However, this did not mean he couldn't revert to a human form. At this level, reshaping a physical body was not difficult.
He could still have children? He even had an illegitimate child—would he mention this?
Discussing beauty and ugliness held no significance or value.
Human kids were just human kids.
Dormammu secretly sneered.
"Well said, but I still find you extremely ugly. I can't believe you're the ruler of the Dark Dimension," Bi Xiao scornfully looked at Dormammu, his voice full of contempt.
"Damn brat, I'll kill you."
"Come on, do you think this is your Dark Dimension? Here, you're just a pig waiting to be slaughtered."
"Ant, bastard."
"Ugly, useless."
The two suddenly started quarreling, baffling the Ancient One, who could not comprehend the situation. How did Bi Xiao and Dormammu end up arguing like children?
The bickering turned the scene somewhat bizarre.
However, in the midst of the insults, Dormammu suddenly launched an attack. An endless ocean of terrifying purple lightning breached the boundary of light, sweeping towards Bi Xiao and the Ancient One.
The Ancient One's eyes flashed. She raised her folding fan, ready to counterattack.
But Bi Xiao acted first.
Bi Xiao extended his right hand, forming a magnificent golden magic circle in front of his palm. A vast golden beam roared through the space, swallowing the incoming purple lightning storm and continuing towards Dormammu's main body.
Seeing this, Dormammu opened his massive mouth, spewing a torrent of black particles.
Boom!!
Darkness and light, two completely different energies, collided, causing the entire dimensional space to tremble. A terrifying shockwave emanated from their collision, shattering the floating dark crystal-formed planets along the way into dust.
At the center of this fierce energy clash, capable of destroying anything, Dormammu didn't care, as his dark power was infinite.
Bi Xiao wasn't fazed either. Dormammu's power was endless, but so was his.
Since he took his magic seriously, it had never been a weakness. Besides, he had the support of the Golden City.
The Golden City, linked to him, was a massive magic production factory. Numerous inherent magic corridors and patterns meant that even a small amount of magic input would multiply daily.
Moreover, the output used could quickly recover.
The Golden City was essentially a miniature Dark Dimension. As Bi Xiao perfected the Golden City, surpassing the Dark Dimension was inevitable.
Both Dormammu and Bi Xiao had their strengths, like two bulls locking horns, neither backing down, continuously outputting energy. The entire space began to tremble from their vast energy outputs, and the collision point even started creating a singularity.
At this rate, the space would be destroyed sooner or later.
This space was not the Ancient One's Mirror Dimension but a gap dimension existing between Earth's reality and illusion. There were many such dimensions. The Ancient One, detecting Dormammu's invasion, intercepted him here.
This ensured Dormammu's power was suppressed and prevented any unforeseen incidents.
After all, the mirrored space she created was easily shattered in the face of Dormammu.
The collision of their powers could potentially lead to Earth's destruction, and it was certain that all life on the surface would be wiped out.
"Xiao~~"
Seeing this situation, the Ancient One moved her hands, stabilizing the dimension with magic, and specifically reminded him that such a collision was Dormammu's preferred method. After all, Dormammu, suppressed to the level of a Sky Father, could not break this dimension through his own power alone.
Usually, the Ancient One knew this and never gave Dormammu such an opportunity.
Bi Xiao understood this well; he knew that this situation was to deliver a severe blow to Dormammu.
Golden light radiated in his eyes, and in an instant, a grand and sacred city appeared as a phantom behind him. It was as if the holy heavens were echoing with epic chants, a chorus sung by all beings.
Radiating a dazzling, holy aura, strong and noble.
This city phantom was none other than the Golden City.
Its appearance shocked both Dormammu and the Ancient One. Dormammu had never anticipated that Bi Xiao would have such a means. The moment the Golden City appeared, a sense of danger filled Dormammu's heart.
At that moment, bells rang, the phantom shone, and twelve buildings within the Golden City illuminated their constellations, connecting together.
The brilliance of the stars echoed, and a river of stars surged forth.
"What is this?"
The star-formed river seemed to transcend time and space. Before Dormammu could react, he was completely pulled into the river, subjected to an indescribable force that cleansed him. Dormammu roared and struggled, continuously releasing his power to break free.
But no matter how he struggled, Dormammu's dark power was severely suppressed, decomposed, and absorbed within the river, ultimately erasing even Dormammu's descending consciousness completely.
Then, the river of stars radiated brilliant light, standing within this dimension, appearing so beautiful.
As if one were standing within the starry sky.
Bi Xiao curved his mouth into a satisfied smile at the effect brought by the Golden City, while the Ancient One beside him was deeply moved. She scanned the starry sky with uncertainty, every star seemingly possessing world-destroying power.
She turned solemnly to look at the phantom of the Golden City.
Her eyes flickered, but no useful information could be discerned, and what presented before her was a paradox that could be seen but not captured.
Concept~
This word flashed through the Ancient One's mind.
She couldn't help but take a deep breath. Bi Xiao had never mentioned the Golden City to her, only having discussed related matters. She had thought that Bi Xiao intended to create a very powerful and large magical artifact, similar to an enlarged mage's tower.
But she had never imagined that Bi Xiao had created something like this.
With the Ancient One's experience and insight, although she didn't know the true purpose and function of the Golden City, the brief yet magnificent battle just now revealed its terrifying nature.
It was even more dreadful than all the artifacts in Kamar-Taj's history.
Perhaps only the Eye of Agamotto could compare slightly.
The special nature of the Time Stone, of course, surpasses this giant artifact. However, whether this thing will grow stronger with Bi Xiao's growth, she did not doubt at all.
"You have truly given Dormammu and me a surprise."
The Ancient One looked at Bi Xiao with complex emotions. Bi Xiao had said he wanted to give Dormammu a surprise, but she hadn't expected this surprise to come so quickly and fiercely, to the point of scaring even her.
How did he manage to create such a terrifying thing that was both a city and seemingly a super artifact?
And it also possessed some hidden concept.
This was somewhat similar to some of Kamar-Taj's spells. She could completely hide the Time Stone within the stars; even if someone noticed the starry sky, they wouldn't find the Time Stone. It was similar, yet different. Concept was a deeper layer.
An artifact that existed only in concept. Even if one knew about it, finding and destroying it would be impossible, not even in the Dark Dimension could Dormammu do it.
Unless Bi Xiao released it himself.
This meant that Bi Xiao could bring out this artifact openly, and the enemy could only watch, unable to catch or strike it.
It was more advanced than simple concealment magic.
"I think Dormammu might be hopping mad." Bi Xiao said with a mischievous smile.
This time, Dormammu's loss was significant. If it was merely dark energy, erasing dark energy comparable to a Sky Father's was nothing compared to Dormammu's endless dark power in the Dark Dimension.
But the consciousness guiding that dark energy was erased, directly harming Dormammu himself.
Even Dormammu would take a long time to fully recover.
"Dormammu might regret provoking you, but more so, he will want to kill you by any means. Being hated by Dormammu, only you can remain so relaxed."
The Ancient One laughed heartily.
Nothing brought more joy than seeing Dormammu suffer.
~~~
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