Chapter 1 Crack Nebula, Purgatory Star

For the indigenous people living on this planet, the land beneath their feet and the sky above their heads held extraordinary significance. Myths and legends about heaven and earth had a long history, and these myths were closely intertwined with reality. Perhaps no other mortal race in the world had experienced what they had – the land beneath their feet was essentially the corpse of a planet-sized super-being, and the sky above their heads had once been covered by the branches and leaves of this super-being. They had personally experienced the era of living in the lower crust, and then witnessed the upper crust being stripped away and opened up by powerful mining starships, revealing the unfamiliar starry sky before these natives...

Then came the Yggdrasil space chain, which arrived on this planet and linked to the planetary system, and the nebula vortex shimmering in the night sky, said to lead to another universe...

These drastic changes, which ordinary races might not experience even once in tens of thousands of years, all happened within a few short years. This was bound to profoundly and permanently affect the culture and religious beliefs of the indigenous inhabitants of Purgatory Star. In fact, the impact was already apparent. Regarding the changes in heaven and earth, and the alien continent groups floating in the sky, the elders and wise men of various tribes had successively provided explanations that were convincing and reassuring to the tribesmen. These explanations would undoubtedly become part of myths and legends many years later.

Living myths, right before their eyes.

Just thinking that he was one of the generation that personally experienced these myths, and might even leave his name in these epics, Gezer, a tribal warrior who had experienced countless trials and hardships, couldn't help but feel a little elated.

He couldn't help but think of his wife, whom he had just married a year ago, and his unborn child. In this era of great changes in the world, could he, a tribal warrior who had personally experienced the miracle of "walking with gods," extend his glory to his descendants?

A distracting thought flashed through his mind, and the next second, he was struck head-on by a golden light, violently sent flying, and everything spun around him for a moment.

After leaving a long mark on the ground, Gezer finally stopped. He struggled to support himself, and saw the golden armor not far away walking towards him with a clattering sound. The armor was gorgeous and elegant, like the armor of the gods in legends, but the armor was empty inside, with only flowing light like water between the various parts. In his right hand, he held a long sword entwined with flames, and his left hand was reaching out towards him.

"Thank you..." Gezer somewhat embarrassedly grasped the other party's gauntlet. After being pulled up by the other party, he glanced at the surrounding situation. The huge martial arts arena was divided into independent areas, each with a warrior and a "Heroic Spirit Warrior" sparring with the warrior. He was not the first to fall. At least half of the tribal warriors in sight were leaving the platform dejectedly, but what was frustrating was that he was not the last to hold on either: there were still a dozen or so tribal warriors on the platforms fighting fiercely with the Heroic Spirit Warriors.

"You lost focus," a somewhat ethereal voice came from the golden armor, drawing Gezer's attention away from the other martial arts platforms, "otherwise you could have lasted longer – you are one of the best warriors here."

"I will remember this lesson," Gezer respectfully bowed his head, as respectful as he had been to his martial arts instructor many years ago.

As a tribal warrior admired by his people, Gezer rarely needed to face others with such a respectful attitude. However, in front of these Heroic Spirit Warriors, he was quite willing to do so. These Heroic Spirits from the "Aurora World" were all incomparably powerful warriors. They had souls honed through endless martial training and combat skills far exceeding ordinary people. It was said that each of them had won at least a hundred victories in their lifetime. Such warriors were worthy of respect no matter what.

And more importantly, these warriors from the floating continent groups in the sky also brought various useful machines to the world below. Their life form, between the living and the dead, also helped the ancestral spirits in Soulfell City complete the soul solidification ceremony. They also brought a lot of knowledge and technology related to soul transformation.

Although the world below had to exchange food and meat for these things, the tribal elders often said that knowledge was the most precious wealth. Therefore, Gezer had an extra layer of respect for these alien warriors called "Heroic Spirits."

Grain could grow from the ground every year, but knowledge was different.

At the edge of the martial arts arena, on a high stone platform, Banya quietly watched the daily competition taking place below. Two years had passed, and this once-young Holy Maiden of the Fire Tribe had slightly shed her immaturity. Although some immaturity could still be seen, she was already a capable figure. Therefore, she was able to stand on this martial arts arena, which gathered the elite warriors of various tribes, as a representative of the tribal alliance, and inspect the most outstanding warriors with the Valkyrie from the Aurora World.

Banya temporarily moved her gaze away from the martial arts arena and looked at the distant horizon – there was a dark green pillar like a tower reaching the sky, as majestic as the former Sky Pillar Giant Tree, and at the base of the dark green pillar, some newly established settlements could be vaguely seen. At the top of the pillar, a spreading, vine-like phantom could be seen, those phantoms interlaced and grew between the clouds and the starry sky illusion, connecting the continents suspended high in the sky. From time to time, bright spots of light could be seen flashing between those continents, which were the machines left by the "Divine Envoys" to maintain the operation of the Aurora World.

"Yggdrasil has completely stabilized," the tall woman standing beside her said, noticing Banya's gaze. The latter's voice was very pleasant, but it had a strange inorganic feel, like those "thinking machines" left by the Divine Envoys, "Has the Sky Tower vibrated recently?"

Banya glanced at this alien woman called "Valkyrie". She knew that the other party also had a name called "Valkyrie", but neither Valkyrie nor Valkyrie seemed to be the other party's real name, which felt very strange, but people from the Aurora World seemed to be somewhat strange.

The faint glow and stern temperament emanating from the Valkyrie made the young Holy Maiden pause slightly, but Banya quickly reacted and shook her head slightly: "The Sky Tower has been very calm recently. The Black and White Twin Goddesses said that the 'tentacle' has successfully taken root, and there will be no more changes in the future unless there is an accident or the situation requires it. The elders of the tribal alliance are currently discussing opening up folk caravans, allowing civilians to climb the Sky Tower on their own – as more and more of you appear on the earth, many people in the tribe are very interested in the Aurora World."

"It's Yggdrasil," the Valkyrie corrected seriously.

"But this pronunciation is too difficult for us," Banya stuck out her tongue, a childish action that the elders would definitely nag about if they saw it, "On the ground, the name Aurora World is more common – after all, you are always shrouded in a aurora."

"That's right, after all, we also use Sky Realm to refer to your 'world below'," the Valkyrie nodded, "To us, you are the ones floating in the sky."

Banya sighed softly: "The power of the gods... is really amazing."

The Valkyrie did not speak – although her name had a "god" in it, and her former master Odin was also considered a member of the gods, the current Valkyrie understood very well that the real gods were more great and more difficult to imagine beings. If she had to say it, only the giant nebula vortex (the gateway to the Dream Dimension) constantly rotating in the night sky could be considered a little bit of the power of the gods, and such distant things were difficult to explain to Banya. In fact, even she herself had difficulty understanding these things, so she simply chose not to answer.

Banya seemed to be used to the Valkyrie's silence. She changed the subject without embarrassment: "Speaking of which, the amount of food you want this month is 30% less than usual. Did something happen?"

The Valkyrie nodded lightly: "The natural environment of the Midgard Continent is rapidly improving. The land reclaimed by humans has gradually begun to produce grain officially. In the future, the amount of food we need will only decrease."

Banya couldn't help but frown and think: "If you don't want food anymore, what will we exchange for in the future?"

The Valkyrie glanced at Banya, with a slight smile on her face: This young Holy Maiden was very talented in rune magic and quite proficient in knowledge of ancient civilizations, but she was obviously very immature in other fields: "As long as Yggdrasil and your world are still developing, trade will only increase. There will always be new products that one side is rich in but the other side urgently needs. You don't have to worry about these things. Just leave them to the elders who specialize in handling these matters."

"Okay, let the old men in Soulfell City worry about it," Banya said, shaking her head, then looked at the martial arts arena below: The tribal warriors had all retreated, and at this time, they were replaced by young warriors recommended by various tribes who had the potential to become "warriors". The Heroic Spirit Warriors from the Aurora World began to spar with those young warriors in a teaching manner, and the intensity of the battle instantly dropped by several levels, but it still beat the latter into a mess. The tribal warriors who had been beaten down before were all standing at the edge of the martial arts arena, watching the juniors being trained with gloating expressions.

"Heroic Spirits are really amazing..." Banya couldn't help but sigh, "... They don't need to rest at all... Our most powerful warriors can't beat them."

"It is very difficult to become an Einherjar. Every Einherjar was a victorious warrior in his lifetime. We collected souls from the most cruel battlefields for thousands of years to form the Einherjar Legion," the Valkyrie said lightly, "So the strength of these Heroic Spirits is inevitable. There is no need to envy them – if you can also gather all the most outstanding warriors in thousands of years, and have more powerful weapons and equipment, then they will not be much weaker than the Einherjar."

Banya was very curious: "You collect the most powerful warriors like this, and constantly strengthen their training. What kind of enemies are you trying to deal with?"

"It used to be to face Ragnarok," the Valkyrie said quietly, "But now... it is for our new master, to eliminate the enemies in front of our new master."

As this silver-armored, tall and elegant Valkyrie spoke, she looked up at the distant sky, at the nebula vortex leading to the Dream Dimension.

In her vision, which was floating with various aiming reticles, auxiliary lines, and information windows, striking text suddenly appeared:

"The Lord of the Nine Realms issues a decree: The Einherjar Legion will be prepared immediately, and will gather at Asgard-Golden Palace in forty-eight hours to prepare for boarding.

Heroic Spirits, the war is about to begin."