Chapter 162: The World Tree, the Earth Dyed Gold

They could see clearly now — the interwoven, thick brown strips were tree roots!!

Because people could see that above the web-like strips in the sky, there was something even higher up — something incomparably thick, so vast it squeezed the entire firmament, so vast the whole world could barely contain it.

Looking closer, that thick thing was a tree trunk!

And those thick brown strips growing from the trunk — weren't they tree roots?

"A tree?!" The people cried out in disbelief.

Trunk, branches — these already made clear what that thing in the sky was. What hung in the sky was a tree.

This tree was far too vast.

One could see that the great tree occupying the firmament was wreathed in mist all around — not clouds, more like the primal chaos where realms meet and merge. The great tree was wrapped within it, as if the tree had reached over from another world, stretching across endless vastness, with only a part of it descending here.

But even just a part of it still squeezed the heavens to cracking, pressed the earth as if to flip it over.

Impossible to imagine how immense the great tree was — surely no smaller than an entire world, right?

Wait!

A great tree that could be bigger than the world itself?

"The World Tree!"

At that moment, the people understood.

This was the World Tree!

Legend has it that, in Norse mythology, the world grows upon a colossal tree. The great tree is incomparably vast, and upon it grow nine worlds — or rather, nine worlds are strung together by an incomparably vast tree. This great tree is called the World Tree!

Suddenly someone shouted: "Look up at the sky, quick!"

At once the people goggled their eyes, desperate to see clearly what that great tree in the sky was.

In the sky, mist drifted hazily among the sky-covering great tree, but one could faintly make out the sight of the great tree above.

The tree was divided into three layers, each one vast and immense, with worlds hanging from it — nine great worlds in all.

Each world was different — a world crusted in frost, a world of flame, a world teeming with towering giants, a world where luminous, dazzlingly beautiful beings dwelled…

"The Mist World Niflheim, the Fire World Muspelheim, the Land of Giants Jotunheim…"

Utterly breathtaking!

The World Tree that formed Norse mythology — the Nine Great Realms were truly this boundless, this supremely vast, this magnificently grand.

Unforgettable for a lifetime.

But everyone's attention was fixed on the single world at the very top.

The sole world at the top was not the largest, but it was absolutely the most beautiful.

A grand Dahe flowed across the land, plunging down from the world; the waterfall flung up rainbow halos, dazzling and exquisite, the waters trembling, crystalline and translucent, with divine charm drifting above, brimming with divinity.

Mountain ranges meandered, stretching across this world; plains spread broad and endless; peaks rose layer upon layer, snowcaps gleaming white, lending a touch of pure white to this world that was forever green.

And at the center of the world stood a complex of magnificent palaces and halls, divine light suffused, divine splendor faintly visible, palaces gathered in clusters — a place only gods could dwell in.

Asgard!

Countless people shook violently, recognizing this world as Asgard from Norse mythology — the world of the Aesir gods, and the dwelling place of Odin, the King of Gods who ruled over the Nine Great Realms.

Just as they were thinking this.

Boom!!

Heaven and earth trembled; the World Tree shook; ripples spread across the Nine Great Realms; endless divine light burst forth, blinding people for a moment.

When they opened their eyes again, the people were stunned.

At some unknown moment, the endless divine light had transformed into a riot of color — a radiant, multicolored splendor — gathering into a rainbow curtain that hung down from Asgard.

"The Bifrost!" Faces changed drastically; many were both thrilled and trembling: "This is the Bifrost that connects Asgard and Midgard!"

Midgard — one of the Nine Great Realms, the world where humanity dwells.

Only then did the people notice that one of the Nine Great Realms on the World Tree was dim and gray, flickering in and out of sight; compared to the other worlds, it seemed illusory and unreal. For a moment many were shaken, and hurriedly swept their gaze across the other eight worlds.

Each of the Nine Great Realms had its own distinct features, easy to identify.

Yet not one of the eight worlds was Midgard — each one could be named. The people could only look once more at the dim, gray world that flickered in and out as if only a projection remained. Midgard could only be that gray world…

How had the human world become like this?

No — that's not right!

That was not the Midgard of Norse mythology where humans lived.

At this moment, the people noticed that the Bifrost connecting Midgard and Asgard did not fall upon that dim gray world, but instead pierced straight through it as if passing through illusion, descending all the way down — clearly about to fall upon the very place where the people stood.

Many were shaken to the core, dimly realizing what was happening.

But before they could be astonished, atop the firmament — atop the World Tree, upon Asgard, at the place where the Bifrost began — stood a towering, domineering figure.

If Zeus was majestic and towering, then this figure was domineering and majestic, radiating the divine will of a god-king, imperishable and undying.

One could see that behind the domineering divine figure stood twelve supreme gods, and an army composed of gods, their momentum invincible — even gods and demons could not stand against them.

At this moment.

A stretch of endless Lei Ting appeared, coming from the distant vastness.

Lei Guang blazed dazzlingly, falling in sheets like a marsh, landing at the place where the Bifrost began, falling straight into the hand of that domineering figure, and transforming into an eternal, imperishable divine spear.

"The Eternal Spear…"

"Odin!"

No matter how foolish, anyone could understand — that domineering divine figure was Odin, the King of Gods from Norse mythology.

He was about to return.

Bringing with him the gods of Norse mythology, bringing his Aesir race back.

As if sensing something, as if perceiving something, all those whose attention was fixed on Odin noticed Odin move — slowly turning his neck, his single eye, in which the light of the gods flowed, turning to look in one direction.

"What is Odin looking at?"

Many were curious and immediately followed Odin's gaze toward that direction.

Huh?!

Their pupils suddenly widened, sending a shiver straight to the depths of their souls, forcing them to cry out in shock.

That direction is damn well Greece, isn't it?

The people in Norway did not know that, at this moment, in Greece…

Europe, Greece.

People saw that upon the towering Mount Olympus, Zeus, holding Lei Ting, gazed toward one direction, his eyes surging with supreme divine lightning.

Upon closer inspection, the direction Zeus stared at was none other than the direction of Norway!

At this moment.

People in Norway and Greece were struck with terror and awe.

Zeus, King of the Gods, and Odin, King of the Gods, gazed at each other across the distance.

Like a breached dam, like a feast of the gods, as anomalies appeared in Beimeizhou, Japan, Egypt, Greece, and Norway, Earth entered a great explosion of wonders.

Across the five continents—America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa—the lands of myth all manifested earth-shattering anomalies.

Anomalies—earth-shattering, countless—turned the entire Earth golden, as if a new sun had been born.

At this very moment.

People across the world, in shock, realized that the gods truly existed.

They also understood the reason for the gods' appearance: "The gods return—the reckoning is near!"

The entire world erupted!!

……