Luo Bai spoke calmly.
Although his tone was light, Odin immediately sensed something was off.
He had just unintentionally spoken the truth.
Luo Bai was the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj.
By saying that Kamar-Taj's mages were weak, wasn't he essentially questioning the teachings of the Sorcerer Supreme himself?
In the past, Odin wouldn't have cared.
As the King of Asgard, he never had to concern himself with such things—who was he supposed to save face for?
But this time was different. He had come to Earth to ask Luo Bai for help.
With that in mind, he held back his pride and changed the subject.
"But this isn't really your fault," Odin said. "Magic is still difficult for humans to master."
Luo Bai remained silent, lost in thought.
He knew that the mages of Kamar-Taj were far weaker than Asgard's warriors.
Previously, he hadn't paid much attention to the gap between mages.
But after observing their training several times, he gradually came to understand the disparity.
To put it bluntly, aside from a few powerful sorcerers, most mages at Kamar-Taj couldn't even open a portal properly.
Even among the strongest mages—such as Wong—they had only mastered basic spells like portals.
...
Luo Bai had always felt that in the Marvel universe, becoming a top-tier magic user required more than just talent—it required luck.
Sometimes, even raw talent wasn't enough.
After all, in this world, true power came from borrowing energy.
Most of those who could borrow power became formidable sorcerers.
Those who couldn't?
They ended up like the current Kamar-Taj mages—training for half a lifetime yet still struggling to open a simple portal.
If it had been other mages, Luo Bai wouldn't have cared.
But these were the mages of Kamar-Taj.
After the Kaecilius incident, Luo Bai had taken the opportunity to restructure Kamar-Taj.
Those who weren't fully committed had already left.
The ones who remained were those who genuinely recognized Luo Bai's authority and chose to follow him.
Kamar-Taj was now under his direct control—it was his base of operations.
And yet, its mages were still this weak?
That wouldn't do.
Come to think of it, it was time to strengthen Kamar-Taj's mages.
With this in mind, Luo Bai sighed and admitted, "What you just said isn't wrong. The mages of Kamar-Taj are indeed a bit weak... It's time to strengthen them."
Odin, though not particularly knowledgeable about Kamar-Taj, had a general understanding of magic users.
Generally speaking, human mages found it difficult to achieve significant power.
It was only after witnessing Luo Bai that Odin had wondered whether human sorcerers had evolved.
But after coming here and seeing them with his own eyes, he realized it was just the same as before.
Feeling reassured, Odin said with a hint of pride, "Asgard is the realm of the gods, after all. It's only natural that its people excel in combat."
Luo Bai chuckled and replied, "Normally, that's true. But it's not impossible to change."
In the past, Luo Bai might not have been able to alter the state of Kamar-Taj.
But now, he had an idea.
The main reason Kamar-Taj's mages were weak was their inability to absorb large amounts of energy.
Currently, Kamar-Taj mages relied on drawing energy from various sources across the multiverse to cast spells.
The magic tomes in Kamar-Taj's library recorded several methods of absorbing energy.
But in Luo Bai's eyes, those methods... were not even as efficient as Chthon's way of absorbing dark energy.
To put it simply—they weren't direct enough.
So, Luo Bai came up with a more straightforward solution.
Instead of struggling to absorb energy from random sources, why not have Kamar-Taj's mages borrow energy from him?
After absorbing the power of three Dimensional Lords and a portion of Vishanti's power, Luo Bai now had more than enough energy to "lend."
If he set up a magic formation within Kamar-Taj, the mages training there would be able to tap into his power—allowing them to cultivate using his energy.
This wasn't some kind of trick.
Kamar-Taj had always relied on borrowing energy from Vishanti.
Now, they would simply be borrowing from a more generous lender.
And the cost?
Luo Bai didn't want their souls.
He simply required that, upon their deaths, all the energy they had accumulated would return to him.
In fact, when calculated properly, this was an extremely profitable deal.
By granting them access to his energy, he could significantly enhance their power.
As their abilities grew, they would be able to absorb even more energy from the multiverse.
And once they died, all that accumulated power would return to him, amplified many times over.
Even better, if these mages borrowed power from other gods, Luo Bai could simply claim it for himself.
If he seized that power upon their deaths, then every bit of energy they had ever borrowed would become his.
At that moment, Luo Bai suddenly understood why the gods loved "lending power" so much.
This was an investment with guaranteed returns.
A small amount of energy today in exchange for an exponentially larger return in the future.
Tsk, tsk.
Now Vishanti seemed even more sinister than before.
Of course, this wasn't completely without risk.
The biggest risk was if the wizard you invested in suddenly found a top-tier god to back them.
Just like the Ancient One... there was a high chance you wouldn't get your energy back in the end.
But for Luo Bai, this wasn't a concern at all.
After all, he had immense room for growth, possessing both the power of the fairies and the lucky BUFF.
If he continued developing like this, what was there to fear?
Loan approved!
This "loan" wouldn't just strengthen the mages of Kamar-Taj—it would also provide Luo Bai with additional energy.
A win-win situation.
Thinking of this, Luo Bai immediately cast a spell, and an invisible surge of energy spread across Kamar-Taj.
It was his magic circle.
As the enormous formation enveloped Kamar-Taj, a powerful energy flooded the entire place.
The mages, who had been struggling to absorb energy, quickly noticed something was different.
Today… drawing in energy felt easier than ever before.
In the past, they had to concentrate intensely, pulling tiny amounts of power from the multiverse, bit by bit.
That energy was barely enough to cast a few spells.
But now, for some reason, they felt completely surrounded by energy, absorbing it effortlessly.
Even Strange, who had just started learning magic, realized something was off.
Before, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't absorb even a trace of energy.
But suddenly, he could do it with ease.
Then, with a "click," he opened a portal.
Odin was stunned.
Just moments ago, he had thought the mages of Kamar-Taj were weak compared to Asgard's warriors.
Yet now... in just an instant... the difference was staggering.
"Wait, didn't you say that wizard named Strange just arrived today?!" Odin asked in disbelief.
"How did he learn space magic in the blink of an eye?"
For a moment, Odin even wondered if he had missed something.
How could it be that, in the span of mere moments, it felt like a completely new group of mages had appeared in the training ground?
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