Marvel's master of cosmic magic

Chapter 526

Rowan Mercer already had several solid healing spells of his own.

They were powerful by any normal standard.

But compared to Dual Ascension, they were crude tools next to a precision instrument.

If he fully mastered Dual Ascension and fused it with his own healing magic, soul-control techniques, and necromancy, the results would be obscene. As long as a soul hadn’t been completely erased or reincarnated, he could bring someone back. Even without a body, he could build one. Or craft a magical vessel and install the soul inside it like software into hardware.

Death would become a technical inconvenience.

"Alright. Deal’s done. Take care of yourself."

With Dual Ascension secured, Rowan didn’t bother wasting another word on Quinn Thorne. He vanished on the spot.

Quinn staggered upright, clutching her head, fury boiling behind her eyes.

She couldn’t touch him.

Not now. Not ever.

Someone like Rowan Mercer was completely beyond her reach.

"That bastard... he’s no saint," she hissed.

Now she saw him clearly.

He had rules. He preferred deals over brute force.

But he wasn’t righteous. Not even close.

And the timing was too perfect.

Marcus Hanlon defects. The Company mobilizes. Rowan just happens to appear. Then she’s forced into a life-or-death bargain.

There was no way he wasn’t involved.

"Where are we?" she snapped.

One of her subordinates ran a scan and frowned.

"...An island. Near New York."

Quinn’s stomach sank.

Rowan reappeared in Jia Village Martial Arts Academy, outside Xi’an.

Dropping Quinn and her people on a remote island wasn’t meant to kill them. With their abilities, they’d survive easily. But getting back across borders and oceans would take time, resources, and favors.

A mild punishment.

And no, he absolutely wasn’t going to have a child with her.

He’d come to Jia Village for one reason.

Telekinesis-based weapon control.

Paired with his metal manipulation, it would turn physical combat into a massacre.

At this point, he had acquired six of the Eight Great Techniques.

Only two remained.

The first was Grand Void Sight.

That one intrigued him.

It resisted tracking spells. Even divination returned only static.

Its creator, Orion Gu, had vanished decades ago during a siege by rival mystics. One moment he was there. The next, he was gone. Not dead. Just... gone.

Shortly afterward, the leader of the attacking faction went insane.

Rowan’s conclusion was simple.

Grand Void Sight wasn’t just perception.

It allowed its user to construct reality-anchored spatial fields, similar to the artificial zone that formed the Celestial Valley. Orion Gu likely dissolved himself into one of those fields, merging with the environment itself.

Which was why divination couldn’t lock onto him.

And why the faction leader lost his mind.

His personal spatial field had been rewritten.

If Rowan couldn’t find it, he’d just build his own version later.

The second was the Saint Devourer Art.

Its creator, Ronan Feng, was hiding on Nathen Island.

That technique was the pinnacle of physical enhancement. It rebuilt the body into something bordering on immortal, with regeneration that bordered on parody.

It turned the digestive system into a perfect energy refinery. Anything consumed was instantly broken down and converted into usable internal power.

Fiona Barlow’s longevity came largely from this technique, amplified by her exposure to multiple others.

Rowan didn’t care about immortality.

He already had that.

What he wanted was what came with it.

A body that grew stronger by devouring powerful things.

And his future menu was... ambitious.

Dragons from the northern continent of Earthland. Celestial embryos from the Marvel core timeline. Living planets. Star gods.

The list was long.

But to trade with Ronan Feng, Rowan needed Dual Ascension refined first.

Ronan’s mind was broken.

And Rowan would need to fix it.

He stayed in Jia Village for one hour.

Long enough to acquire their telekinetic weapon art through a clean trade.

Then he left.

Over the next month, Rowan hunted down independent mystics and rogue factions, extracting rare techniques.

Most importantly, he secured the "Borrowed Power" art.

Exactly what he wanted.

One month later, he visited the Lu estate.

And walked away with the Triple Reversal Art.

The price was predictable.

Find the man responsible for the destruction of the Trinity Sect.

Rowan already knew who that was.

And where he was hiding.

Nathen Island.

Perfect timing.

While Rowan was harvesting techniques and refining the Eight Great Arts...

Another body of his awakened.

Piltover.

The Undercity.

Zaun.

Polluted river water split apart.

A boy’s body surged upward and collapsed onto a wooden walkway.

Rowan opened his eyes.

"...Right. League of Legends."

The body belonged to an eleven-year-old orphan named Sil.

His parents had died years ago in the Bridge Riot between Piltover and Zaun.

He survived by begging. Then stealing.

Then he inhaled toxic industrial fumes.

And drowned in a sewer canal.

Rowan absorbed the memories.

And smiled faintly.

"A high-magic industrial world."

Not bad.

Not bad at all.