A flower-pinching smile, a momentary grace!
When Hawke saw the Ancient One, serene in appearance and ethereal in temperament, on the stone platform, making a flower-pinching gesture, he was momentarily entranced as if he had seen a Buddha.
A person referred to as being closest to a god.
The difference was, that person was a man.
This one before him—
Was a woman.
Uh.
Gender wasn't the point, let's not discuss gender.
Hawke quickly blinked his eyes, shook his head, and after regaining his composure, looked back at the Ancient One on the stone platform.
As he looked.
The Ancient One had already left that transcendent state.
Hawke opened his mouth.
"How is this possible?"
"Standing at the forefront of the flow of time, one can see both the past and the future, and since I possess the Time Stone, seeing the future is even clearer than seeing the past."
The Ancient One's voice remained calm, her tone very tranquil, as she looked at Hawke and said, "Moreover, this is much easier than borrowing power from Dormammu. What is borrowed from Dormammu must eventually be repaid, but borrowing from one's future self is very easy and does not require repayment."
Hawke had already recovered from his brief shock.
However…
It was merely shock, not much surprise.
After all, before he came to Kamar-Taj, he already had a rough psychological expectation regarding the price of borrowing the Time Stone.
The strange yet familiar energy fluctuation that the Ancient One momentarily displayed just now also allowed Hawke to glimpse a corner of the future.
Hawke's thoughts turned as he looked at the Ancient One.
"So, my future self succeeded?"
"Cannot be said."
"Uh…"
"You cannot cheat."
"But you cheated."
"Yes."
The Ancient One's expression remained serene, and her demeanor was very composed. Facing Hawke's accusation, she nodded honestly and then said to Hawke, "But I am inconsequential. Even if I cheat, it will not affect the future, and I am happy to accept any future, just like the All-Father Odin."
You might as well just say, 'I know the future will definitely change the future.'
All-Father Odin possesses the divine power of foresight, but he only foresees and does not interfere. Just as he clearly knows the cause, process, and end of Ragnarok, but he never thought to stop any of it, instead accepting and facing everything with composure.
This is the high EQ way of saying it: composed, tranquil.
Low EQ—
Lying flat!
Giving up!
If Hawke knew what his future would be like, and if bad things were to happen, he certainly wouldn't quietly choose to accept it.
After all…
Are kings, nobles, and generals born to be so?
My fate is mine, not heaven's!
These two lines are not carved into Hawke's bones, but deeply etched into his soul, and have become completely bound to his soul.
Even if he knows it's impossible, he must still try.
Therefore.
This is a true man!
Of course, it is precisely because of this that the Ancient One did not want to tell Hawke the corner of the future she had seen.
Hawke also understood this from the Ancient One's words.
In a word.
If you don't tell me, can't I just go see for myself?
Hawke's thoughts turned as he glanced at the eye of agamotto on his hand, which housed the Time Stone, and then looked up at the Ancient One on the stone platform again.
The Ancient One's face was serene, seemingly unaware of Hawke's intentions, yet there was also an air of, 'I know what you're thinking, but I don't care, I'll just watch your performance.'
Hawke refocused his gaze on the eye of agamotto in his hand, then took a deep breath.
Time Stone!
Open for me!
The next second.
The unique green light symbolizing time instantly burst forth from the Time Stone. In just a flash, the green light of time instantly engulfed Hawke like a tide.
In the torrent of time.
Hawke, who had not yet comprehended the Tenth Sense, reaching the state of the beginning of all, the cause of all effects, both the beginning and end of the Universe, and had not even touched the threshold of the Seventh Sense, instantly became as small as a lone boat in a turbulent ocean the moment he appeared in the torrent of time.
The torrent of time was like monstrous waves, surging forward relentlessly. At first, it was just one stream, but in the blink of an eye, it split into countless dense, uncountable分支.
In just an instant, Hawke, like a lone boat, decisively gave up the idea of looking at his own future and instantly arrived in his Little Universe.
The moment Hawke, wrapped in a layer of green light, appeared in his Little Universe, with just a thought, the Little Universe underwent a truly earth-shattering transformation in an instant.
Looking out.
Countless grains of sand began to densely appear in every corner of the Little Universe under the influence of the Earth element.
After the sand appeared, it began to constantly collide with the surrounding sand, and due to the influence of the Fire element, flames appeared.
Beneath the flames, the sand, like magma, began to continuously aggregate.
Wind fueled the fire.
In the Little Universe, countless stars suddenly appeared through the cheating of time.
But…
Just as Hawke intended to push his Little Universe to its current limit in one go, an uncontrollable fatigue instantly washed over him.
It wasn't physical fatigue.
Nor was it even spiritual fatigue.
Instead, it was mental fatigue, and at the same time, the Phoenix Heart also revealed itself, transmitting a crucial piece of information to him.
His mind had reached its current limit of endurance. If he were to rashly use the Time Stone to cheat again, his mind would instantly wither, collapse, and become shattered.
After receiving the Phoenix Heart's warning, Hawke decisively stopped his attempt to cheat his Little Universe again using the Time Stone.
It is well known.
Cheating is a very satisfying thing.
But being caught is a very miserable thing.
Know when to quit while you're ahead.
The Little Universe, which had transformed from a relatively barren state to one that, while not full of stars, was at least visible to the naked eye, had already saved him decades of arduous cultivation.
Although it's not yet full of stars.
But that's okay.
Once he raises his mental level, he can just borrow the Time Stone and cheat again, right?
Cheating once, satisfying once.
Cheating always, satisfying always.
Having already cheated twice with an Infinity Stone—first the Reality Stone, then the Time Stone—Hawke couldn't say he had no psychological burden, only that he had grown accustomed to it.
In fact, at this moment, he had already thought of how to cheat to quickly awaken his Seventh Sense.
If the Sixth Sense is the true entry point for a saint seiya.
Then comprehending the Seventh Sense is what truly qualifies one to be called a saint seiya.
What determines the superiority of a saint seiya is not the saint cloth, but the Little Universe.
Why are Gold Saints so powerful? It's because they have already comprehended the essence of the Little Universe—
The Seventh Sense!
Mind, soul, and life, after a saint seiya comprehends the Seventh Sense, the three will become one, indistinguishable.
Only a saint seiya who has integrated their mind, soul, and even life with their own Little Universe is worthy of being called a Gold Saint who has comprehended the Seventh Sense of the Little Universe.
The Mind Stone among the Infinity Stones.
If nothing unexpected happens, it should allow him to successfully comprehend and master the Seventh Sense at the fastest speed.
Hawke, who had cheated twice consecutively with Infinity Stones, instantly thought of the next tool for cheating: the Mind Stone.
And cheating with the Mind Stone should be even easier than with the Time Stone.
At this point in time, if nothing unexpected happens, the Mind Stone should already be in HYDRA's hands.
Hmm.
After I finish what I'm doing, I'll call Anna and borrow the Mind Stone.
If HYDRA is worried he won't return it, that's fine; he can go in person to borrow it.
Hawke thought to himself.
Soon.
He focused his attention on the present, on the core of his Little Universe: the obsidian-black core, radiating endless fire, formed from the fragments of the law of life and death seized from Blackheart, combined with the creative four elements of Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire, all within the phantom of the Black Phoenix that the Phoenix Heart had transformed into.
It was time for his own Underworld to accelerate its birth.
With a thought, Hawke instantly arrived above the Underworld, which was still slowly forming. The green light symbolizing time, like a stream, began to fall towards the Underworld below.
And as the green light of time was captured by the Underworld below, the forming Underworld seemed to have been artificially pressed an acceleration button in an instant.
Rumble!
The law of life and death, taken from Blackheart, which was originally expected to take a long time to be completely absorbed, was completed in the blink of an eye. The fragments of the law of life and death transformed into a viscous, intensely dark substance and began to merge with the accelerating Underworld with lightning speed.
This dense darkness, like a living tide, instantly and rapidly integrated with the Underworld.
Similarly, in the accelerating Underworld, the land also began to vibrate violently, as if an unlimited movement of tectonic plates was occurring.
The landmasses were squeezed during acceleration, re-converged, then continued to be squeezed, and then re-converged again.
In the blink of an eye, such movements had occurred countless times.
It was in this process of continuous squeezing, rupturing, and then merging, that a type of gem appeared beneath the land of the Underworld, looking very much like crystal but deeply black in color, and even faintly emitting a peculiar metallic luster.
Even on the surface of the Underworld, these black gems, resembling both crystal and metal, appeared.
Underworld specialty—
Black gems!
saint cloths forged from these black gems are called underworld cloths, and their performance is almost on par with the twelve Golden Saint Cloths of the Gold Saints.
However, the moment it's used for comparison with the Golden Saint Cloth, it implies that the underworld cloth is actually inferior to the Golden Saint Cloth.
But that doesn't matter.
Hawke only intends to use the underworld cloth as a transitional item, because the underworld cloth has a characteristic that the Golden Saint Cloth cannot match.
That is—
Wearing the underworld cloth, even with his current Sixth Sense Little Universe, which has not yet comprehended the Seventh Sense, he can freely travel between the Worlds of life and death.
…
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