Telling Mordo About 'Ne Zha'

While Li Yue and Ancient One were talking, the Senate Hearing in Washington had already begun.

The senator who led the hearing was the first to provoke Tony, demanding that Tony hand over the Iron Man armor technology. In a future movie, this senator would be revealed to be a member of Hydra.

Tony being Tony, he shut the senator down with just a few words. The Hydra senator then invited the president of the Hammer Industry, Justin Hammer, with the hope that Justin Hammer could counter Tony's arguments.

However, Justin Hammer didn't have much luck himself. He was ridiculed by Tony pretty much the moment he entered the room.

Justin Hammer was the current president of the Hammer Industry. He had always been a rival of Stark Industries, particularly in gaining contracts with the U. S. military. Back when Tony suddenly announced the closing of Stark Industries' weapon production department, he was so happy that he almost jumped up. He thought that Tony Stark was crazy to make such a stupid decision.

The Hammer Industry immediately took the opportunity to usurp the vacuum in the arms business with the US military, supplying the military with weapons that they produced.

Justin Hammer never expected that Iron Man would suddenly appear out of nowhere, waking him up from his dream. Tony Stark even admitted publicly that he was Iron Man.

In the face of such advanced technology, the US government couldn't help but be jealous. If they could, they would've sent tank divisions marching toward Tony's villa to confiscate the armor technology. However, they couldn't do that, nor did they dare to do so.

They could only secretly support Hammer Industry, hoping that they could copy the armor technology. Unfortunately, not everyone was a genius like Tony. Even with the support of the government, Hammer Industry had made zero progress in copying Tony's Iron Man armor.

The government eventually gave up. They had made such a large amount of investment, all of that with no hope of returns. Even a fool would cut their losses.

Iron Man's growing reputation and continuously improved armor had given him public approval rate exceeding the government itself. This had caused panic among the politicians, paving the way for Hydra to secretly orchestrate today's hearing.

The purpose of the hearing was to force Tony Stark to hand over his armor technology. Justin Hammer was invited as a weapon expert affiliated with the government.

Justin Hammer was not as eloquent as Tony, so he could only respond to Tony's sarcastic remarks with mockery about Tony's father.

The Hydra senator saw that Justin Hammer couldn't actually contribute to the argument, so he turned to the military representative Colonel Rhodes, who was Tony's good friend. He asked Rhodes to read a specific paragraph on Rhodes' report.

Unfortunately for the senator, Rhodes was Tony's friend, so he talked with Tony. Rhodes was the mediator that had prevented the military from taking direct actions against Tony to confiscate the armor technology.

Tony didn't entertain any of the senator's nonsense. He instead used his phone to hack into the display system of the court, showing footage of various countries attempting to copy the armor technology.

The audience became rowdy as Tony displayed the failure of China, North Korea, Iran, and the Hammer Industry's attempt at copying the armor technology.

Tony didn't miss the opportunity to shoot a sarcastic remark at Justin Hammer, "Other countries, maybe five to ten years behind. Hammer, twenty years."

The audience burst into laughter.

"I have successfully privatized world peace!"

...

The confrontation ended with Tony's victory, but this wasn't the end for the government, especially for the Hydra senator.

Far away, in a dimly lit and relatively dilapidated room, an old uncle with unkempt long hair watched Tony's smug face with venomous hatred.

He turned his attention away from the TV and to his workbench, tinkering to complete a device. He then attached it to a simple exoskeleton armor and wore the armor on his body. In his hands were whips that constantly flashed with electric arcs.

The device attached to the chest of his armor was an Arc Reactor—similar to the one that Tony had.

...

Li Yue finally finished his conversation with Ancient One, ready to leave Kamar-Taj. The only thing left to do was to bid farewell to Kaecilius and Mordo.

As usual, Li Yue found Kaecilius diligently practicing magic. Li Yue was already used to this sight.

"Master Kaecilius. I'm here to inform you that I will be leaving Kamar-Taj."

Kaecilius stopped his practice when he saw Li Yue arrive.

"Leaving? Mage Li Yue, why are you in such a hurry?" Kaecilius asked doubtfully.

"I don't have any particular reason. I simply found the right track for my cultivation, and since I am not an official mage of Kamar-Taj, I don't have to stay in Kamar-Taj anymore. That's why I'm going back."

Li Yue obviously couldn't say that he intended to intervene in the plot, so he had to find an excuse to brush it off.

Kaecilius didn't say much after that. He just regretted that he couldn't continue the training with Li Yue, but he respected Li Yue's decision to leave.

"Mage Li Yue, see you again!"

"Venerable Kaecilius, please take care of yourself as well. Remember that the passing of your wife and child was not your fault. I hope that you can bring yourself up as soon as possible, so we can meet again as friends," Li Yue replied, his words full of meaning. He then turned around and left.

"Friends... I hope so!"

Kaecilius watched as Li Yue left, an inexplicable flash in his eyes.

...

"Venerable Mordo, I wish to talk to you."

Li Yue found Master Mordo, who was not surprised that he was leaving. It seemed that Mordo had already known about his departure.

"Venerable Mordo, let me tell you a story!"

Li Yue spoke suddenly, not giving Mordo any chance to respond.

"A long time ago, the spiritual energy of heavens and earth gathered into a Chaos Pearl of great power. The Primeval Lord of Heaven separated the Chaos Pearl into a Spirit Pearl and a Demon Orb. The Spirit Pearl incarnated as a human, blessed with the ability to slay demons and abolish devils, while the Demon Orb would give birth to a demon king and bring disaster to the world.

"The Primeval Lord of Heaven marked the Demon Orb with Heavenly Tribulation, such that it will be struck by heavenly thunder in three years. He then entrusted the Spirit Pearl to his disciple Taiyi, instructing Taiyi to let the Spirit Pearl incarnate as the third son of the Li Jing family in the city of Chentanggua. However, due to an accident, the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Orb were swapped. Instead of the great demon-slaying hero, Nezha became the incarnation of the calamitous demon king..."

...

...

...

"In the end, Nezha and Ao Bing sacrificed their lives to save the world."

That's right, Li Yue shamelessly adapted the plot of the 2019 Chinese animation movie "Ne Zha" that he had seen in his previous life. He told Mordo the entirety of the plot, albeit biased towards Nezha's glory and greatness.

"Venerable Mordo, even people explicitly born as the incarnation of a demon king can change their fate and save the world. Therefore, the distinction between good and evil is an illusion. Your power could as easily be used to save or destroy the world," Li Yue finished his long-winded lecture with a deceptive conclusion.

Mordo's face contained a multitude of emotions. Doubt, shock, and disbelief flashed one after another; it seemed that Li Yue's story succeeded in impacting his worldview.

He had no idea who the Primeval Lord of Heaven or Taiyi was or what the Heavenly Tribulation meant. But he could still follow the general plot of the story. A person destined to become a demon lord had saved the world.

He began to doubt himself and his stubbornness.

"Therefore, Venerable Mordo, don't be too stubborn about anything. You must learn to think outside the rules of the secular world. I hope you can understand it when we meet next time."

Li Yue looked at Mordo, who was deep in thought. He thought to himself, "I can only help you this much. Whether your fate changes or not depends only on yourself."

Li Yue said nothing more and disappeared in front of Mordo, leaving Kamar-Taj.