---
Chapter 6: The Devil's Dojo
China.
Bustling, ancient, modern—chaos and calm dancing together in the same breath. Marcellus, China, to be exact. A place where people mostly mind their own business, where you can be anonymous if you want to be—and sometimes, even when you don't.
Leo had arrived during a festival. Lanterns drifted in the air like glowing fireflies. Laughter echoed from every corner. Cosplayers roamed the streets, some dressed as anime characters, others oddly enough as superheroes from Marvel itself.
"Funny. They don't even know they're dressing as real people," Leo thought with a smirk.
But he wasn't here to enjoy the celebration.
He was here for something far more dangerous.
---
The Dragon Behind the Curtain
The path to Xu Wenwu was anything but easy. Not many even knew he existed. To find him, Leo had to dig through the CIA's darkest black files, scrape old MI6 ghost operation records, and infiltrate fragments of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s now-obsolete Hydra-corrupted database.
All signs pointed to one myth made real:
Xu Wenwu. The man with the Ten Rings. The Immortal Warlord.
And now, Leo stood before him.
The air felt heavier in the presence of this man. He didn't look particularly intimidating—but he didn't have to. His mere presence exuded power... timeless power.
"So..." Wenwu said, his voice smooth like silk yet sharp as a blade. "You traveled all the way here… for what? Learning martial arts?"
There was no hint of hospitality in his tone. Just cold curiosity.
Leo didn't flinch. He met Wenwu's piercing gaze with calm resolve.
"Indeed, sir Xu. The entire reason for my visit is to learn from you."
Wenwu's expression didn't change—but the temperature in the room might as well have dropped.
---
The Offering
Leo continued, voice steady. "I want to learn your martial arts, the art of disguise... and your medical techniques."
Wenwu raised a single eyebrow. "Quite daring of you to walk into my territory and demand to be taught… without offering anything in return."
Leo smiled faintly. "Ah, but I didn't come empty-handed."
From his jacket, he pulled out a small velvet pouch. He opened it, revealing a coin-sized shard of vibranium, glistening like a star in the dim light.
Wenwu's eyes widened for a moment—an emotion Leo rarely expected from a man this ancient.
"Where did you get this?" he asked, unable to hide his surprise.
Vibranium. Rarest metal on Earth. Unless you were Wakandan royalty or Ulysses Klaue, you didn't get your hands on it. And even then, it wasn't cheap.
"I got it from a… friend," Leo said casually. "He didn't know how rare it was, so he just gave it away."
A blatant lie. In truth, Leo had stolen it from a mafia stash—who themselves had gotten it from Klaue's black market network. He could've taken more. Hell, he could've stolen from Klaue himself. But that was a later job.
This tiny piece? It was enough.
"Max I could've made a knife," Leo mused. "But from Wenwu's training? I can forge a whole new me."
Wenwu turned the shard in his fingers, visibly tempted.
---
The Pact
"Magic," he said suddenly.
Leo blinked. "Excuse me?"
"If you ask me to teach you magic, I will kill you," Wenwu said flatly. "And if you ever teach my skills to anyone else... your head will decorate my gate."
Leo shrugged. "Fair deal. I have no interest in magic. Only in mastery."
For a moment, silence.
Then, Wenwu nodded and pocketed the vibranium.
"Very well," he said. "Your training begins tomorrow. You will live here. You will follow my rules. You will bleed. You will break. And if you survive, you will learn."
Leo smiled.
"Deal."
---
Why It Mattered
This wasn't just about learning how to punch harder or disappear in a crowd.
Xu Wenwu's martial arts were older than modern warfare.
His disguise skills could fool even shapeshifters.
And his medical knowledge—rumored to restore someone from the brink of death—was nearly supernatural.
Leo didn't need superpowers to stand among gods. Not yet.
He needed to break his limits first. Reach the peak of human potential.
Master every skill. Every tactic. Every weapon.
And Xu Wenwu?
He was a step in that direction.
---
End of Chapter 6