21st Century Necromancer

In Norse mythology, there is an incredibly gigantic tree, with its branches extending across the sky, and legend has it that its branches form the entire world.

In Norse mythology, the great god Odin once hung himself upside down beneath this tree, offering one of his eyes and himself as a sacrifice, wounded by a spear as the price to gain wisdom, acquiring knowledge of the runes.

In Norse mythology, there is a poem in a self-narrative tone that records Odin's experience at the time: "Nine nights I hung on the tree swaying in the fierce wind, wounded by a spear; I was offered to Odin as a sacrifice, sacrificed myself to myself, on the mighty tree no one knows! No bread to satiate hunger, no drop of water to quench thirst. I looked downward, picked up the rune characters, shouting while picking, falling from the tree."

Because Odin was hung upside down beneath the great tree, and hanging upside down was a very severe punishment under the Nordic law, also known as riding a horse, this great tree was thus named Yggdrasil, meaning Odin's horse.

The Hanging Man in the popular Tarot cards in the West symbolizes this very story.

As for Yggdrasil, because its trunk bears the nine worlds of Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is also called the World Tree.

"So this is a branch of the World Tree?" Chen Yu asked Andrei, who seemed a bit nervous and uneasy, while looking at the seemingly ordinary white ash tree branch inside the open box in front of him.

The branch before him seemed as if it had just been broken off from the tree, with its leaves still vibrant green, appearing unremarkable, but Chen Yu could feel the enormous power contained within it.noveldrama

Andrei nodded affirmatively and said, "This is the trophy we brought back from Finland during the Winter War era, a tender branch of the World Tree."

"A rather remarkable thing, just this branch alone makes all the Soviet losses in that war worthwhile," Chen Yu remarked without any sarcasm. Although the Soviet Union suffered heavy losses in the Winter War, obtaining this branch was worth it for the Soviet Union.

This is a branch of the World Tree, and legend has it that this gigantic tree nurtured the nine worlds of Norse mythology, and even Odin's spear, Gungnir, was made with the wood of the World Tree.

Even without considering using this clearly still active branch to grow a new World Tree, just using it to create another divine artifact alone would be worth waging a war for.

Chen Yu brushed his hand over the box containing the World Tree branch, and the Death God Power contained in his hand immediately elicited a reaction from the branch, emitting a faint green glow, seemingly resisting yet responding to the Death God Power.

Chen Yu found this unsurprising; in Norse mythology, among the nine worlds nurtured by the World Tree, Helheim and Niflheim are realms of the dead, and the power of the World Tree does not only encompass life and creation but also possesses attributes of death.

"So you plan to use this branch as compensation to secure my agreement to your deal?" Chen Yu validated the World Tree branch before him, tapping his finger on the table with a troubled expression on his face: "This is indeed an irresistible offer, making it difficult to choose!"

A branch of the World Tree, of course, could sway Chen Yu into agreeing to the Russians' deal, but his recent discoveries held him back from agreeing to them so readily.

"A branch of the World Tree is also an exceptionally valuable item for you in Russia, right? After you seized it back then, didn't you try to plant it to grow a World Tree?" Chen Yu asked Andrei, gazing at him.

Hearing Chen Yu's question, Andrei's expression visibly flickered. Although his demigod-level self-control helped him suppress his expression well, Chen Yu still keenly observed his change in expression, further confirming his speculation.

Thus, Chen Yu placed his hand on the World Tree branch with a smile toward Andrei and said, "This branch is freshly harvested, isn't it? You've successfully grown the World Tree."

Chen Yu's words instantly caused Andrei's face to tense up, and he gritted his teeth responding, "This is the World Tree branch we brought back from Finland, and Russia has not attempted to grow the World Tree."

"Russia hasn't tried, but the Soviet Union did." Chen Yu clearly picked up on Andrei's verbal maneuver, just lightly chuckling while shaking his head: "There's no need to hide it, this branch was harvested no more than three days ago; as a necromancer, I can discern such details."

Andrei's face turned pale, and he grew increasingly silent, his tightly clenched hands turning white.

"You don't need to worry so much; even if you have a complete World Tree, it doesn't matter." Chen Yu, of course, understood why Andrei was so anxious. A living World Tree is something enough to incite new wars and drive even deities mad.

A living World Tree signifies a whole new world.

No one can resist the temptation of an entire world, not a demigod, nor a necromancer, not even Chen Yu.

But Chen Yu had no intention of seizing the Russian-grown World Tree because he could very well grow one himself.

Chen Yu directly took out his "Multiverse Universal Necromancy Spell Compendium," flipping through the pages to find content related to the World Tree. Quickly browsing through the desired information, he placed the book on the table, indicating for Andrei to look at its contents.

Mortals who observe the contents of the "Multiverse Universal Necromancy Spell Compendium" would go mad as their brains cannot process such immense knowledge, but demigods can bear such knowledge.

"This is... the method to plant the World Tree?" Andrei understood the contents of the book. Although it was just a brief introduction, Andrei still understood.

Chen Yu nodded with a smile, explaining to Andrei: "The World Tree is indeed quite precious and rare, but bringing it to the level of bearing a world is not an easy task; it can't be done without knowing how."

Andrei naturally understood the meaning behind Chen Yu's words. In fact, after the Soviets acquired the original World Tree branch from Finland, they spent tremendous effort researching it, with countless resources invested in this project. From the Soviet era to the Russian era, no matter how difficult the economy was, the project continued to operate normally even through the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

However, their achievements were not pleasing; decades of time, countless resources, and energy resulted in nothing more than a small sapling, with the new World Tree branch before him being the only reward.

Considering this, Andrei reached out to flip through more of the planting method content in the "Multiverse Universal Necromancy Spell Compendium," yet was stopped by Chen Yu.