The Death Knell

"God's envoy, please stay!"

Just when it spread its wings and took off, the sound of the death knell came from the hall. Although the volume was not loud, the raven, which was meant for peeping and eavesdropping, could hear it.

It hovered in the air for a moment, then flew into the hall and landed on Deathstroke's table, tilting its head and looking at him with red eyes.

Su Ming plucked the white meat on the plate in front of him and picked out a piece that was fat enough for it to eat: "Please tell His Majesty Odin that I have news about his brother and invite him to come to Karma Taj."

The raven, which was pecking at the fat meat with its pointed black beak, paused, as if it was doubting what it heard, but when the death knell nodded to it again, it realized that it had heard correctly.

This matter was urgent, so it immediately turned around and wanted to fly away.

"No need to tell me, I'm here." A one-eyed old man wearing a wide coarse robe appeared in the afterglow of the rainbow, and the raven flew back to his shoulder: "Heimdall is paying attention here, I heard you if."

"I thought you were still sleeping." Su Ming stood up and walked into the courtyard, shaking hands with Odin: "Welcome to Kama Taj."

Odin touched the black bird on his shoulder and looked around at the beautiful courtyard that looked like a picture scroll. Peach blossoms and bamboos were planted in the courtyard. There was a gurgling water on the rockery in the pond, and several koi carp were happily swimming in the pond. The ground swims, and the lotus leaves cast shadows above their heads.

The air is full of leisure and elegance, which is a completely different style from the Golden Palace.

"The last time I came here, there wasn't even Kama Taj. Master Ancient One would not welcome me to her home." Odin sighed and hit his waist with his fist like an ordinary old man: " Give me a tour?"

"No problem, Xiao Wang, activate all the defenses of Kama Taj. The old man and I have something to discuss."

Su Ming gave instructions to the housekeeper, and when he saw him going about his business, he made a gesture of invitation, took Odin out of the courtyard, and wandered around on the path between the Karma Taj courtyards.

As the two walked, they commented on the animals and plants along the path. Odin praised a certain flower for blooming beautifully, or a crane that looked energetic.

For a while, the two of them talked about Fengyue, as if they were not in a hurry. The two one-eyed people seemed to be in harmony.

It wasn't until Xiao Wang came back and reported that Karma Taj had isolated himself into the pocket space, cutting off any detection methods from the outside world, that Su Ming took Odin to a pavilion by a small lake with a smile.

This is a Tianchi created by magic on the top of a mountain in the Himalayas. It is neither big nor small. It is not only a beautiful landscape, but also the fish pond of Kama Taj.

In the past, apprentices raised fish here for self-sufficiency. After all, in the mountains, eating fish regularly is good for the body.

After Deathstroke took office, all seafood and aquatic products were airlifted by reliable personnel arranged by the Spear Bureau. The fish in this pond have experienced good times for many years and have grown fat and big.

Su Ming handed Odin a fishing rod and picked one up himself. This pavilion was built later for fishing.

The mages of Kama Taj don't have time to play with this. They can't wait to devote every minute and second to magic research. Only Monaco occasionally comes to play here, and most of the time only Su Ming and Gin use it.

"Fishing... Haha, it's really an interesting activity." Odin took the fishing rod, sat on the bench under the pavilion, and very skillfully took the bait from Xiao Wang's hand and put it on the hook. : "The preference of the eastern countries of the earth. In Northern Europe, I used to be more inclined to teach people to use nets to fish."

Su Ming is doing the same thing: "Fishing is good for cultivating patience. To be honest, you should let Thor try this instead of using a hammer to electrofish."

Odin threw out the fishing line, with a headache expression on his old face, and the breeze made his white hair spin slightly: "I see his problem, but there is still no good solution. He is too proud. The Asa Protoss used their strength to gain territory in the past, but that doesn't mean they can be proud of the past today."

"You want him to let go of his pride as a prince instead of his pride as a warrior, so you can't decide the scale." Su Ming threw out the fishing line, and the two fish floats stopped quietly on the water. Stable, the fishing rod barely moves.

"You have no children and don't understand my difficulties. I am burdened with all the memories of the seven Ragnaroks. My efforts are in vain again and again, but they still lead to destruction. I am very tired."

Odin smiled and looked at the fish float, squinting his eyes under the sunlight reflected on the lake.

"How long can your body last?" Su Ming asked directly. Asgard is Odin, and Odin is Asgard. Once he falls, it means that Ragnarok is about to begin.

"I can't say when the Wolf Winter will arrive, but my body can last for at most fifty years."

He seemed very calm, but Su Ming didn't believe all the numbers he told. So far, apart from being relatively lethargic, Odin has shown no obvious signs of weakness. The surging energy in his body shows that he is still strong.

Maybe he's digging a hole for someone.

"I don't feel that Hela wants to kill you, and that stupid dog she raised doesn't have the ability to kill you." Su Ming said calmly while holding the fishing rod.

Odin sighed and turned his one eye to Deathstroke. He raised his hand and patted his knees, like a person with rheumatism: "Everything is a choice, she has no choice."

"Oh?" Su Ming's one eye also looked at him.

“When I was on the verge of death, Hela had only two choices. One was to follow the Twilight of the Gods script, let Fenrir eat me, launch Ragnarok, destroy Asgard, and wait for the next reincarnation. Or, just break out of this cycle and watch Asgard, and even our universe, slowly die like me due to lack of energy."

Odin was very calm. After all, he had experienced the same fate seven times. If anyone else remembered these seven reincarnations, one was him, and the other was Hela who was sent to the ancient times by the God of Stories.

No one knows what the God of Stories and she is waiting for, but she has made the choice to continue Ragnarok the first seven times.

Su Ming moved the fishing rod, imitating the situation of an insect falling into the water, causing a small circle of ripples on the water.

"There is really a problem in this world. By recycling gods to provide cosmic energy, the cosmic energy creates new gods, and the cycle repeats. Why nine realms?"

Odin smiled and pointed at Su Ming: "Is there anything else you don't know? Or are you pretending to be confused with me? Didn't you tell my two sons about the truth? I remember you said It’s still very good.”

Su Ming smiled: "As long as there are leaves flying, fire will burn. The shadow of the fire will shine on the village, and make new leaves sprout..."

"Yes, it is not only us who provide energy to the universe, but also the World Tree on which we live." Odin touched his beard, and he revealed the ultimate secret: "Winter of Light, Winter of Swords" , Wolf Winter...isn’t that very clear?”

"In winter, plants will lose their leaves and wither, and then revive again in the spring of the next year. This cycle is natural. Ragnarok is actually the withering and prosperity of the world tree." Deathstroke sighed. It seems that Odin knows more than he imagined. in more.

However, Asgard cannot survive without the World Tree. Their power, life, technology, and energy all come from that tree.

Not only them, the energy of that tree flows in the blood vessels of every living thing in the nine realms. Plants are the cornerstone of biological existence, and the World Tree represents the origin of plants.

The history that humans can record is currently only five thousand years, but humans have been born on the earth for more than this number. What about the history recorded by previous civilizations? Naturally, they were annihilated together in Ragnarok.

When the World Tree withers, the Nine Realms will wither, and all creatures living on it will wither, ushering in the cold winter.

When the World Tree burns, the nine realms will burn, and all creatures living in the nine realms will dance together like flames, ushering in the end.

Odin nodded, yes, because they gained many benefits from the World Tree, they also became gods, but in the final analysis, there is actually no essential difference between Asgardians and mortals.

They can intermarry and reproduce with humans, which means that at some time in the past, they were the same species.

"Throughout connecting these nine worlds is a huge ash tree. It sprouted in the 'past', flourished in the 'present', and circulated in the 'future'. Its name is 'Yugatrash'."

The God King said its name with some emotion. He once exchanged an eyeball and a large amount of blood for the power of the 'Rune Language'. It was at that time that Odin knew its name.

It is indeed alive and has a will of its own.

Why is the technology in Asgard so advanced that Odin didn’t reshape an eye to replace it for himself? Because it was paid to World Tree as a price, the existence of that eyeball was erased conceptually.

The cosmic consciousness believes that Odin only has one eye, so he cannot have a second eye.

Su Ming clicked on his eyepatch and found that his situation was similar, except that he couldn't have a second eye because it conflicted with the origin story.

He did not dwell on this point and continued to ask:

"When did you know that the World Tree also belongs to the Ancient God?"

"A long time ago, when the Asa and the Warner were still fighting the second war of the gods." Odin showed neither pride nor regret about his past, but was very calm.

"Yugatrasi is indeed the first ancient god born on earth, an ancient plant god. With it, there are other ancient gods of animal nature, such as Oshutu, Seth, Gaia, etc. Seathorne.”

Odin was very sincere, and Su Ming also shared some information that he knew. Yes, World Tree is actually one of the oldest ancient gods.

When other ancient gods left the earth for other dimensions and became dimensional demon gods, it still chose the path of the ancient gods.

Others occupied dimensions, and it followed the instinct of a plant and grew like flowers and fruits into nine other dimensions besides the earth, including the kingdom of angels, Havenheim, which was later cut off from the World Tree by Odin and banished to the void. .

Yugatrasi follows the growth laws of plants and continues to wither and flourish, and the nine realms that accompany it do the same, with the only exception being the earth where it was born.

Odin may have finally figured this out before he was willing to let the death knell from the earth give it a try, hoping to stop the cycle of Ragnarok, but only if the survival of the universe must be ensured.