Chapter 155 : Shocking Kamar-Taj, Dark Doctor Strange!
Li Yu's calm voice pulled Miles back to reality from his shock.
The one-armed sorcerer instinctively swallowed, his voice already tinged with undisguised reverence.
When Strange first entered Kamar-Taj, he stumbled even when drawing a complete circle, but this young man could not only easily shape energy but also imbue it with life.
This talent completely subverted his understanding of magic apprentices; he felt as if he was witnessing the emergence of the next Sorcerer Supreme.
"Please, please wait a moment, there's one last test."
Miles composed himself, unconsciously using honorifics, and pointed to the dark red magic circle in the center of the stone chamber.
"Please stand inside.
We need to test your resistance to high-dimensional mental impact and soul pressure.
This might be slightly uncomfortable."
He raised his hand and formed a seal; the magic circle instantly lit up, and dark red runes flowed across the ground as if alive.
The next second, a chilling, chaotic aura suddenly enveloped the stone chamber, as if countless whispers from the depths of the void swirled in his ears.
Invisible mental barbs tried to pierce his consciousness, and chaotic will surged like a tide, battering the dam of his reason.
This was Kamar-Taj's simulated low-tier dimensional contamination environment.
Kamar-Taj's main enemies were demon lords from other dimensions.
If one's mental resistance was insufficient, it was easy to have one's spiritual core contaminated and become a fallen sorcerer.
Such precedents were not uncommon in history.
Now, this stage had become a mandatory test item, designed to screen out apprentices with sufficiently resilient mental strength.
Li Yu calmly stepped into the core of the magic circle.
Buzz!
A powerful mental impact and soul pressure surged like a tsunami, and the air itself seemed to twist under this force.
However, when this impact landed on Li Yu, it was like hitting an ancient, eternal divine mountain, instantly dissipating without a trace.
Li Yu's soul had long been tempered to be indestructible in the Eighth Sense Cosmo.
Chaos Lightning had washed over the origin of his consciousness, and he had even experienced the strengthening of Athena's true spirit imprint and the sealing of the World's power.
The resilience and strength of Li Yu's soul had long transcended the mundane, reaching the level of a demigod or even a true god.
These simulated impacts were not even a gentle breeze to him.
Oh?
A hint of surprise flashed in the one-armed sorcerer's eyes.
The young man in front of him showed no reaction, which was utterly impossible in his impression; even the strongest person would show fear and pain.
Could the magic circle be malfunctioning?
Miles increased the intensity of the corrupted impact, doubling it, tripling it... all the way to five times!
Inside Li Yu, the double seals of [Immovable Spirit Pivot Lock Divine Ring] and [Formless Return to Ruin], set by the World with the power of the World, were suddenly activated.
The true spirit imprint, confined by the seals, and the inherent essence of Olympus divinity within it, were disturbed by this external probing force.
Like a sleeping giant touched by an ant, it instinctively emitted an extremely faint but supreme divine pressure!
"Boom!"
The entire test stone chamber trembled violently.
The runes on the bluestone walls flickered erratically, emitting an unbearable hum, as if they would shatter at any moment.
The crystal ball in the center cracked with a "crunch," and golden energy leaked from the cracks, forming tiny light traces on the ground.
Miles, who was presiding over the test, was hit hard, spitting out blood and grunting as he stumbled back several steps, crashing heavily against the wall, his face instantly turning ashen.
His gaze towards Li Yu was filled with extreme fear and disbelief.
This was not a test at all; it was like fishing for a deep-sea leviathan with a lure!
That divine pressure, even just a trace, made his soul tremble, as if he were facing an ancient god walking among men!
The anomaly in the stone chamber was like a mental nuclear bomb dropped into the peaceful Kamar-Taj.
Almost the instant Li Yu reined in his aura, with a whoosh, the stone chamber door was forcibly pulled open by powerful spatial magic.
Wang, wearing a yellow robe and with a sturdy build, stood at the doorway, his face so grim that it looked like water could drip from it.
His gaze was sharp as an eagle's, instantly locking onto Li Yu in the center of the magic circle.
Powerful magical energy waves emanated from him, undisguised, clearly indicating he had entered a state of high alert.
"That energy fluctuation just now... was it you?"
Wang's voice was low, carrying an undeniable authority, and a hint of an undetectable inquiry.
Two golden Kamar-Taj runes condensed in his palms, and powerful magical energy flickered in the air, clearly ready for battle at any moment.
Before Li Yu could answer, a low voice came from the shadows behind Wang, with an eerie hoarseness.
"More than just a fluctuation, Wang... This feeling is like having one's soul scorched by a miniature star."
"Such pure and ancient power... truly nostalgic, and yet, alarming!"
As he spoke, a figure slowly stepped out of the void.
He wore his iconic blue Cloak of Levitation, its edges faintly glowing with a dark aura.
His gaunt face was bloodless, and deep dark circles were beneath his sunken eyes.
His eyes, which should have been filled with wisdom, now only held the fatigue of prolonged torment and a cold indifference that saw through everything.
Most unsettling was that his exposed hands, neck, and even the skin vaguely visible beneath the collar of his robe, were covered in winding, dark magic patterns.
These magic patterns exuded an unsettling dark aura, completely at odds with Kamar-Taj's sacred magical energy, yet they were eerily fused, as if two extreme forces had reached a dangerous balance within him.
"Dark Doctor Strange?"
Li Yu's pupils suddenly constricted, and a storm raged in his heart.
The Strange before him was completely different from the normal version he knew.
He had clearly come into contact with forbidden dark magic, paid a heavy price, and was a Dark Strange walking on the edge of light and abyss!
If that was the case, then this Universe was probably not an ordinary Marvel Universe.
The power of Dark Strange was comparable to a multiversal-level powerhouse, even capable of contending with Six-Stone Ultron.
Had he mistakenly entered the Multiverse where Six-Stone Ultron resided?
Strange's gaze fell on Li Yu, the dark magic patterns subtly writhing beneath his skin.
He spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of an imperceptible tremor.
"You have... an ancient divine aura on you, and also... the imprint of another World's laws.
You are not from this Universe, are you?"
Wang also reacted instantly.
Kamar-Taj's admission brochure would never be issued to outsiders.
His magical energy fluctuations surged again, and the runes in his hands became sharper, like two daggers.
"Outsider?
You intruded into Kamar-Taj; what is your purpose?"
Li Yu looked at the tense situation before him, quickly calculating in his mind.
The appearance of Dark Strange disrupted his plans, but it also meant that the Infinity Stones in this Universe might hold more complex secrets.
With Dark Strange present, outright snatching was no longer realistic.
He spoke calmly, his gaze directly meeting Strange's.
"I am here to find the Soul Stone, and as for my origin... perhaps, we can sit down and talk."