Some time ago, after failing to master hand-to-hand combat techniques, Clark began reflecting in his downtime. He figured that, given who he was, he must have some kind of unique move or special ability.
But Superman didn't have any "special moves." His body alone was already beyond powerful—most people couldn't even take a regular punch from him, let alone a specialized technique.
Still, maybe because Clark had a heart that resonated with Chinese culture, he eventually developed something inspired by Chinese martial theory—internal energy.
It wasn't quite "qigong" or anything mystical like that. It was more of a method to manipulate the energy inside his own body.
Clark had realized long ago that he was basically a walking battery. The solar energy he absorbed daily wasn't all immediately consumed—some of it remained stored within his body. That's why he could recover even from serious injuries at night or during cloudy weather.
So Clark began trying to consciously channel that stored solar energy.
At first, he had no idea how to even locate it inside him, let alone move it around.
So he just tried using his mind—focusing his will to concentrate all his energy into a single spot.
At first, nothing happened. But since he had nothing better to do, lying around in a flower shop and soaking up the sun, he had plenty of time to experiment.
Eventually, after many attempts, Clark managed to concentrate his energy into his right hand. Once the energy gathered there, his hand began to glow faintly.
Over time, as he gained more control, Clark could channel more energy, and his hand began to glow brighter and brighter, until eventually, when he channeled most of his energy, it shone like a miniature sun.
He hadn't tested the move under combat conditions, so he didn't really know how much damage it could deal yet.
Of course, there were drawbacks. Because the energy came from within his own body, once he concentrated it in his hand, the rest of his body would become noticeably weaker.
The extent of this weakness depended on how much energy he moved. As of now, Clark's upper limit was about 60% of his total stored energy.
After using that much, he estimated his body would be about 5% weaker overall. That was still manageable, since Superman's strength came mostly from his physical form, not energy-based stats.
Also, if he was fighting under the sun, this weakness was much less relevant, since sunlight constantly replenished his energy. That meant Clark could unlock more than just the "blood seal"—he could even activate the magic lock.
And in the Mirror Dimension, Clark confirmed that he could still absorb sunlight. After all, mirrors reflect light—without light, there could be no Mirror World.
So even now, facing off against the Ancient One in a magic dimension, Clark wasn't afraid at all.
After missing his last punch, he decided to try out his new ability.
But of course, the Ancient One wasn't a training dummy. He wouldn't just stand there waiting for Clark to power up. He'd spent his entire life battling otherworldly demons and invaders. He wasn't about to give Clark time to get ready.
As Clark retreated to charge up, the Ancient One raised both hands, and the ground behind Clark surged like a tidal wave—an avalanche of terrain rushing in to bury him alive.
Seeing this, Clark immediately suspended the energy-gathering in his hand, thrust upward, and broke through the rising earth, soaring a full kilometer into the air.
The Ancient One wasn't done. Without a word, he brought his hands together, and two fan-shaped constructs made of runes appeared in them.
He waved one of the fans before him, and the ground beneath his feet surged upward, carrying him at high speed toward Clark. In the blink of an eye, the Ancient One was also hovering a kilometer above ground.
Then he brought his hands together again, and the two fans combined to form a circular magic sigil. As it glowed to life, Clark felt a powerful sense of danger—his instincts screaming at him to move or die.
But just as he tried to act, it was like the air had turned to molasses. No matter how hard he tried, he could only move as fast as a normal human.
The sigil flashed.
And then—a beam of concentrated magical energy fired toward the sigil's center, heading straight for Clark.
"Then I'll fight!"
With no way to dodge, Clark could only meet the attack head-on. He raised his right hand, now charged with nearly half his internal solar energy, and swung it toward the Ancient One's blast.
BOOM!!!
The moment the attacks met, everything went silent. Then, a massive shockwave rippled out from the collision point.
The force was so great that even Clark, with all his strength, was blasted backward like a missile hit him. He had no time to react.
And anything else caught in the circular shockwave—buildings, landscape, even magical constructs—were completely disintegrated, not even leaving behind ash.
But when the shockwave reached the Ancient One, he merely waved his hand, and the devastating energy transformed into a gentle breeze, ruffling his robes and nothing more.
"Damn it..."
Far below, Clark climbed out of a massive crater he'd been slammed into. Looking up at the Ancient One, he couldn't believe just how wide the gap in power really was.
It reminded him of those times, watching the movie in his past life—where budget constraints killed the hero's VFX.
Still, Clark knew the real reason: it wasn't the director's fault—it was that the Ancient One really was that powerful.
But even knowing that, Clark wasn't about to back down. He was Superman. He had his pride.
Sure, he hadn't really hurt the Ancient One, but the Ancient One hadn't exactly hurt him either.
Seeing Clark get back up, the Ancient One teleported to stand a short distance in front of him. This time, he didn't attack. He simply dismissed the magic sigils in his hands.
"Your power is immense. And it looks like you can continuously draw that energy from the sun—like..."
The Ancient One paused. He himself was the same—except instead of the sun, he drew his energy from Dormammu and the Dark Dimension.
And with that power came constant temptation.
Although the Ancient One could resist Dormammu's influence, the more of that dark energy he absorbed, the more he endangered the world.
It was this realization that made the Ancient One hesitate to continue fighting Clark. The man standing before him was no pushover.
Sure, he could defeat Clark. But if the fight dragged on, he'd be forced to tap into even more dark power, increasing Dormammu's influence on Earth.
And the Ancient One knew—it wasn't worth it.
Having made that judgment, the Ancient One dropped his stance and stopped attacking.
"I want to know… why are you here? What do you want?"
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