With a smile that captures the essence of fleeting beauty!
When Hawk saw The Ancient One on the stone platform, with a peaceful demeanor and ethereal aura, making a gesture like holding a flower, for a moment, it seemed as if he was seeing a Buddha.
A person known as the closest to a god.
The difference is, that person is a man.
The one before him—
Is a woman.
Uh.
Gender is not the point, let's not discuss gender.
Hawk blinked quickly, shook his head, and regained his focus, then looked back at The Ancient One on the stone platform.
Upon looking again.
The Ancient One had already left that state of transcending everything.
Hawk opened his mouth.
"How could it be?"
"Standing at the crest of time, one can see both the past and the future, and with the Time Gemstone, seeing the future is even clearer than seeing the past."
The Ancient One's voice remained very calm, the tone very serene, as she looked at Hawk and said, "Moreover, this is much easier than borrowing power from Dormammu, since borrowing from Dormammu ultimately needs to be repaid, but borrowing a little from one's future self is very easy, and you don't need to repay."
Hawk had already calmed down from the brief shock he felt earlier.
However...
It was just shock, not entirely unexpected.
After all, before he came to Kamar-Taj, he already had a general psychological expectation of the cost of borrowing the Time Gemstone.
The unfamiliar yet familiar energy wave that The Ancient One displayed in that instant allowed Hawk to glimpse a corner of the future.
Hawk's thoughts were whirling as he looked at The Ancient One.
"So, does this mean my future self succeeded?"
"Cannot say."
"Uh…"
"No cheating allowed."
"But you cheated."
"Yes."
The Ancient One's expression remained very calm, and her state was very natural. Facing Hawk's accusation, she nodded honestly, then spoke to Hawk, "But I am insignificant. Even if I cheat, it won't affect the future, and I am very willing to accept any kind of future, just like God King Odin."
You might as well say that I know the future will inevitably change just fine.
God King Odin does have the divine authority of foresight, but he only foresees and does not interfere, just as he clearly knows the causes, processes, and ends of the Twilight of the Gods but never thought to stop it. Instead, he faces and accepts it all calmly.
This is the high emotional intelligence narrative: composed and calm.
Low emotional intelligence—
Lying flat!
Indifferent!
If Hawk knew what his future was like, and if something bad happened, he definitely would not choose to accept it silently.
After all...
A king can rise from the commoners; why should nobility be hereditary!
My fate is determined by me and not by the heavens!
These words are not just etched in Hawk's bones, but deep within his soul, thoroughly intertwined with his very being.
Even knowing something is impossible, one must still act.
Therefore.
This is a real man!
Of course, precisely for this reason, The Ancient One did not want to tell Hawk the corner of the future she saw.
Hawk also understood this from The Ancient One's words.
One sentence.
If you don't tell me, does that mean I can't see for myself?
Hawk's thoughts turned as he glanced at the Eye of Agamotto set with the Time Gemstone on his hand, then looked up at The Ancient One again on the stone platform.
The Ancient One's face was peaceful, seemingly unaware of Hawk's intentions, but still had a demeanor of knowing what he was thinking yet choosing not to intervene, just watching him perform.
Hawk's gaze returned to the Eye of Agamotto in his hand, then took a deep breath.
Time Gemstone!
Open for me!
The next second.
The unique green glow of time instantly burst forth from the Time Gemstone. In just a fleeting moment, the green light of time, like a tide, instantly engulfed Hawk.
Within the torrent of time.
Not yet having comprehended the Tenth Sense, reaching the beginning of all, the cause of all effects, both the start and the end of the cosmos, and even not having yet touched the threshold of the Seventh Sense, Hawk, appearing in the torrent of time, instantly seemed as small as a lone boat in a tumultuous ocean.
The torrent of time, like a monstrous wave, surged forcefully, pressing forward. Initially, there was only one stream, but in the blink of an eye, it split into countless streams, so densely packed that they could not be counted.
In just a moment, Hawk, like a lone boat, decisively gave up the idea of looking at his own future and, in an instant, entered his own Little Cosmos.
Hawk, enveloped in a layer of green light, appeared in his Little Cosmos, and with just a single thought, his Little Cosmos underwent a true upheaval in an instant.
As far as the eye could see.
Countless grains of sand began to densely appear in every corner of the Little Cosmos under the influence of the Earth Core Element.
After the appearance of the sand, they began to constantly collide with the surrounding grains, causing flames to appear due to the influence of the Fire Element.
Under the flames, the gravel seemed like magma, beginning to continuously converge.
The wind fueled the fire.
Within the Little Cosmos, countless stars suddenly appeared amidst the cheating of time.
But...
Just as Hawk planned to press forward and elevate his Little Cosmos to the current possible limit, an indescribable fatigue suddenly hit him.
It wasn't a physical fatigue.
Nor was it a fatigue of the soul.
Rather, it was a fatigue of the mind, and simultaneously, the Phoenix Heart revealed itself, conveying a crucial message to him.
His mind had reached its current limit, and if he continued to recklessly cheat with the Time Gemstone, his mind would instantly wither and shatter into pieces.
After receiving the warning from the Phoenix Heart, Hawk decisively halted his intention to cheat his Little Cosmos with the Time Gemstone again.
As everyone knows.
Cheating is quite a thrilling thing.
But getting caught is a quite unfortunate thing.
Know when to stop.
This Little Cosmos, which transitioned from its original desolation to now being countable by the naked eye, has already saved him nearly decades of arduous cultivation.
Although it's not yet filled with stars.
But that's okay.
Once he elevates his mental state, he can cheat again with the Time Gemstone, can't he?
Cheat once, enjoy once.
Keep cheating, keep enjoying.
Having already cheated once with the Reality Gemstone and twice with the Time Gemstone, Hawk couldn't say he felt no psychological burden, but he could say he was accustomed to it.
Even at this moment, he already thought of how to cheat quickly to comprehend the Seventh Sense.
If the Sixth Sense is the true initiation for Saint Warriors.
Then only by comprehending the Seventh Sense can one be called a true Saint Warrior in the real sense.
What determines the superiority of Saint Warriors is not the Holy Armor, but the Little Cosmos.
The reason why Golden Saint Warriors are so powerful is that they have already comprehended the true essence of the Little Cosmos—
The Seventh Sense!
Mind, soul, life; once a Saint Warrior comprehends the Seventh Sense, these three will merge into one, indistinguishable from each other.
Only a Saint Warrior who has integrated their mind, soul, and even life with their Little Cosmos is qualified to be called a Golden Saint Warrior who has comprehended the Seventh Sense Little Cosmos.
The Mind Gemstone among the Infinity Gemstones.
Unexpectedly, it should enable him to comprehend the Seventh Sense smoothly and quickly, and to comprehend the Seventh Sense.
Having cheated twice with the Infinity Gemstones, Hawk instantly thought of using the Mind Gemstone as the next cheating tool.
Moreover, cheating with the Mind Gemstone should be easier than with the Time Gemstone.
At this point in time, unexpectedly, the Mind Gemstone should already be in the hands of Hydra.
Hmm.
Once the tasks at hand are complete, I'll give Anna a call to borrow the Mind Gemstone.
If Hydra worries about it being borrowed without return, it's okay; he can personally go and borrow it.
Hawk thought to himself.
Soon.
He concentrated on the present, within his Little Cosmos, the black Phoenix Heart phantom manifesting the Life and Death Law Fragment seized from the Witch Heart Demon, coupled with the Four Elements of Creation: wind, earth, water, and fire. The Earth Core, black on the outside yet blazing with endless flames beneath, was stirring.
It's time to accelerate the birth of his own Netherworld.
With a thought, Hawk suddenly appeared above the slowly forming Netherworld, with green light, symbolizing the time glow, cascading like a stream towards the Netherworld below.
And as the green light of time was captured by the forming Netherworld below, it seemed to be artificially fast-forwarded at that moment.
Boom!
The Life and Death Law Fragment, seized from the Witch Heart Demon, anticipated to take a long time to be absorbed completely, suddenly finished that process. The fragment turned into a thick darkness, merging with the accelerating Netherworld at a lightning speed.
The thick darkness, like a living tide, quickly fused with the Netherworld in an instant.
The accelerating Netherworld experienced violent tremors, akin to an endless tectonic shift.
Land was compressed, recombined, compressed again, and recombined once more.
In the blink of an eye, this action repeated countless times.
In the process of continuous compression, breaking, and subsequent fusion, there emerged a gemstone beneath the Netherworld's surface that resembled crystal in appearance but was deeply black, faintly exuding a unique metallic luster.
Even on the surface of the Netherworld appeared such a crystal-like metallic Black Gemstone.
A specialty of the Netherworld—
Black Gemstone!
The Holy Armor forged from this Black Gemstone is known as Netherworld Armor, and its performance is almost on par with the twelve Holy Armors of the Golden Saint Warriors.
But the fact that it's compared to Golden Holy Armor indicates that the Netherworld Armor is actually inferior to the Golden Holy Armor.
Nevertheless, it doesn't matter.
Hawk only intended to use the Netherworld Armor as a transitional tool because it possesses a feature unmatched by the Golden Holy Armor.
Which is—
Wearing the Netherworld Armor, even with his current Sixth Sense Little Cosmos without comprehending the Seventh Sense Little Cosmos, he can freely move between the realms of life and death.
...