Marvel's master of cosmic magic

Chapter 516

"Divination Matrix."

Rowan Mercer stepped into his inner realm and tried to lock onto the shapeshifter’s identity.

The answer exploded into existence as a colossal, burning sphere.

He opened his eyes.

"So it’s that kind of presence," he murmured.

Rowan dropped the attempt.

Not because he couldn’t force his way through, but because the man was standing right here. There was no reason to wrestle the world itself for information he could get by asking.

Even if backlash couldn’t truly hurt him, bad luck was still irritating.

Getting struck by lightning while crossing a street.

A random car veering into him.

Strangers developing sudden, irrational hostility.

None of it was lethal.

But all of it was tedious.

"Thick-headed brat," the old man muttered inside the building. "I practically spelled it out for him."

He had just finished cursing Evan Ward under his breath when a voice spoke from directly behind him.

"Hints. Enlightenment. Sounds like a retired mentor role. Funny thing is, I’ve never heard of anyone from Evan’s sect who can shapeshift."

The old man’s body stiffened.

He spun around and jumped back, eyes narrowing when he recognized the speaker.

"...You."

Right now, there was only one young man in the mystic world with that face and that reputation.

Tournament champion.

Owner of the Heavenly Talisman.

The man who erased the Hale family.

The old man had personally watched the tournament in bird form.

"I don’t owe you my name," he said coldly.

His body blurred and shrank into a sparrow, darting toward the open window.

Running was the correct move.

Even he wasn’t confident he could win against Rowan Mercer.

"You like transformations?" Rowan said mildly. "Let’s compare technique."

His body rippled and reshaped into a golden eagle, diving after the sparrow.

The sparrow dropped onto the road below and expanded into a massive tiger that lunged upward.

Rowan twisted midair and became a giant panda.

One lazy paw sent the tiger flying across the asphalt.

A tired office worker walking home froze mid-step.

"...Am I hallucinating?"

A panda and a tiger squared off in the middle of the street.

He rubbed his eyes.

They were still there.

He turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction.

Filming could wait.

Survival couldn’t.

"This isn’t the place for this," the old man snapped, reverting to human form. "What do you want?"

Rowan returned to his own body and smiled politely.

"Nothing hostile. Your transformation technique is beautiful. I got curious."

The old man snorted. "I’m busy."

He turned to leave.

"Are you Victor Shaw?" Rowan asked casually. "The man who created Evan Ward’s forbidden spatial art?"

The old man stopped.

Very slowly, he turned back.

His eyes narrowed.

"And if I am?"

"I want to learn it," Rowan said plainly. "Name your price. I prefer trades."

Victor Shaw studied him, then suddenly laughed.

"Oh? You want it? Perfect. I’ll teach you right now. No conditions."

Rowan blinked.

"...That was easy."

Victor’s smile bent sideways.

He knew exactly what he had created.

The art he developed allowed a practitioner to command spatial change itself. But it also forced their mind into constant contact with the deepest layers of reality.

Most people cracked.

They doubted the world.

They doubted themselves.

They doubted everything.

They tried to dominate reality itself.

And their minds collapsed into the inner realm, never returning.

Years ago, Victor had secretly gone back to his old sect and taught it to several fellow masters.

Every one of them went insane.

Only Evan Ward had inherited it successfully.

And even that had been a fluke.

In Victor’s judgment, even the world’s strongest mystic would probably go mad if he pursued the technique deeply enough.

Rowan Mercer?

Too young.

Too ambitious.

Too greedy.

He wanted everything. The Heavenly Talisman. True Ember. This art too.

Perfect candidate for self-destruction.

If he went mad, that solved several problems at once.

"That’s very generous of you," Rowan said with a faint laugh. "Tell you what. If you ever need help in the future, call me."

Victor waved dismissively.

"Save it. You’ll be too busy losing your mind."

Rowan only smiled.

He already knew the art was dangerous.

Evan’s attitude had made that clear.

But danger didn’t mean much when your mind and soul were built on something entirely different from this world’s rules.

Victor Shaw and Evan Ward could survive it.

So could he.