Mythology: Spiritual Ruler

Mystery has ‘weight’, even if it is just a memory, and the closer to the source, the more obvious this phenomenon is.

As mentioned before, at the level of the world, matter, energy and information are equivalent to each other, and some things of extremely high essence will also have similar characteristics, such as [Rune].

When Odin completed his own sacrifice and ‘picked up’ the rune that was enough to analyze everything in the world from the Fountain of Wisdom, he thought he could become the master of the world with it, but later he gradually found that he could not bear the weight of this ‘mystery’ at all.

If the problem faced by Chaos, the original god, was that he could not withstand the long-term erosion of the complete great power, and had to walk the world in the form of an incarnation in order to maintain his personality, then Odin also encountered a similar problem.

His own soul and memory could not carry all the mysteries of [Rune] at all, but unlike the original god, [Rune] would not damage Odin’s soul, it would only dissipate on its own because the carrier was not perfect.

Asgard's God King could almost foresee that the power of these great runes would gradually fade away in his memory until it weakened to the point where he could fully bear it.

Faced with this situation, Odin naturally could not accept it. How could the results he had fought for with his life and death be weakened out of thin air? So in order to preserve his results, he thought of a way.

The power of the world tree Yggdrasil is unquestionable. If it had wisdom, it would be the most powerful god in the world. So Odin picked its most vital leaves, both young and old. He made them into special paper together with the bark, and then imprinted the runes in his memory on it.

This imprint is not a copy, but a transfer of the "mystery" they possess. The result was very successful. The power of the [Rune] no longer faded, and it was permanently left on the [Original]. Odin re-observed the [Original] and learned the rune secrets that he could understand again, and then spread its existence.

However, in the field of mysticism, the more it spreads, the farther it is from the original, and the weaker its power, so the power of runes is often very different. In the hands of some beings, it can foresee the future and forge artifacts, but among mortals, it has even gradually become a very common symbol, with only a few symbolic concepts left.

The runes are all the same runes, but the "mystery" contained in them is completely different.

"So, the runes on the [Original] can also be considered the source of the nine kingdoms' writing?"

Somewhat wanting to laugh, Ryan thought of a former god of language and innate writing. Of course, he should now call her by a new name, the Demon Mother Moya.

It seems that in the dark, he is indeed very close to things like writing. Perhaps the writing in the spiritual world is destined to change step by step in his hands, and eventually become an existence that explains all the rules and mysteries of the world.

He summoned the [Original] to his side, and was not in a hurry to look through it. Ryan looked at Mimir.

"Go on, what's the rest?"

The first treasure is so precious that Ryan couldn't help but pay more attention to Odin's treasure house.

Although the power of the Rune has been greatly reduced due to the change of the world, Ryan is not interested in the power. What he needs is information, the way to analyze the rules of the world, and the original rune in the original can undoubtedly help him complete this step well.

"That one, that ring, it is Odin's Polymetallic Ring."

Without keeping it a secret, Ryan noticed a verdant and dazzling ring at Mimir's suggestion.

He heard about it in the myths of later generations. This is the artifact that the dwarf brothers Sindri and Brok made and presented to Odin during the incident of Sif's golden hair.

This pair of dwarf brothers, like Hephaestus and the Cyclops of Chaos, possess extraordinary forging skills. In addition to the Polymetallic Ring, Thor's hammer Mjolnir is also one of their masterpieces.

"Can an ornament be hidden in Odin's treasury?"

Asking casually, Ryan was not surprised that the ring in the myth was destroyed. Maybe it was a replica.

"In the eyes of the world, the [Gold Ring] is just a precious treasure that can replicate itself, which sets off the glory and greatness of Odin, but in fact, it is a derivative product of exploring the highest realm of alchemy."

Faced with Ryan's doubts, Mimir immediately explained:

"Legend has it that one of the ultimate achievements of alchemy is to master the core of material change. In the eyes of that existence, there is no difference between a handful of soil and a piece of magic metal. Of course, the [Gold Ring] can't do this. It can only complete the transformation of ordinary things, such as turning stones into gold, or self-replication."

"Turning stones into gold. But I can easily do this with my divine power."

Summoning the [Gold Ring], Ryan didn't know much about alchemy, and more of it was just some seemingly plausible principles passed down in later generations.

As for the so-called changing the properties of things, or achieving immortality, or creating souls, he could do it himself, so naturally he had never been interested in alchemy.

"This is different. The changes under the influence of divine power are changes under the influence of external forces. The divine power consumed when you transform a bowl of running water into gold nuggets and into spring water containing magic power is different, but alchemy is different."

"In theory, when you understand the most fundamental principle, the changes of all things will make no difference to you, because at a certain level, everything is 'equivalent'."

After a brief explanation, Mimir finally explained:

"But this is just what I know. In fact, I am not good at alchemy."

"I see."

Nodding, Ryan put the [Gold Ring] on his finger.

"Equivalent exchange. Perhaps the so-called ultimate of alchemy is to equate matter, energy and information like the world, from three to two, from two to one, until the original source is grasped."

"But probably no one or god can really do this. After all, it means that his wisdom can already understand the 'root', which is something even I can't do."

"Next."

Whether the so-called supreme alchemy exists or not is still a question, but Ryan can already see the ultimate of the gods and is on the road. Therefore, this ring is not very useful. It is just an introduction. At least now, Ryan does not plan to go to study the 'technology' of this mythical world from scratch.

In addition to these two treasures, there are six items in the treasure house.

Two small bottles filled with unknown liquids, a crystal box filled with leaves - Ryan could recognize them without asking, they were tender leaves of the World Tree, probably the leftover materials from the creation of the [Original].

There was also a box sealed with gray mist, a sword covered by a scabbard made of purple-green crystal, and a broken stone tablet.

"The sword is called Levadin, symbolizing victory and destruction. It was once the proton sent to Asgard by the Vanir gods, the sword of Frey, the god of sunlight and abundance. I heard that it later fell into the hands of the giants, but I didn't expect it to appear here."

Looking at the sword, Mimir was a little surprised.

"Who knows, maybe Odin saw something too."

With a wave of his hand, Ryan immediately grasped the hilt of the sword.

When the palms touched the hilt, a hot feeling came from it, which was not the warmth of sunlight, but the burning heat of fire. This reminded Ryan of a rumor: Frey, the god of sunlight, lost the sword in order to marry a giantess, and it eventually fell into the hands of Surtur, the master of the Fire Kingdom.

The leader of the fire giants recast the artifact, and eventually killed Frey, who had no weapon, with it during Ragnarok, and even destroyed Midgard on earth.

This is also a part of the fate of Scandinavian mythology. The sword of destruction in the hands of the god of abundance eventually brought destruction to himself and the world.

But obviously, in the nine kingdoms whose fate has changed, the first half of the sword is the same as before, it fell into Surtur's hands, but the second half is not the case.

No one knows what happened in the middle, but it eventually fell into Odin's hands.

"Generally, even after being recast, it only touches the lower limit of the [High Artifact]."

"As a weapon, it is already rare. Even Themis's [Sword of Judgment] cannot compare to it, but it is useless to me."

As Ryan made a soft comment, his fingers brushed the edge of the sword, and a slight tingling sensation came.

With a casual throw, the sword passed through the space and merged with a stone sword inserted in the bluestone.

That is the object attached to the core priesthood of the sun god. However, although the original stone sword is extraordinary in nature, the object it is attached to is just an ordinary stone, but now, it has changed its carrier.

From then on, its power is not only stronger, but also has some of the power of [Victory]. Of course, in contrast, the difficulty of using it has increased further.

Not only is it the curse of the sun burning the body, but only those who are recognized by it can hold it. For others, it is just an indestructible stone.

"Continue, what are in those two bottles?"

Ripples appeared in the space, and the stone sword and the stone platform it was on were moved into the belly of the Sinai Mountain, near the source spring pool that nurtured a group of artifacts.

After all, it is an artifact from the outside world, and it still needs a period of transformation before it can become a part of the spiritual world. Most of these foreign objects are like this.

".The two bottles are equipped with a poison and its antidote, Sir Ryan."

"It is made of the refined spring water of Hvergelmir, the blood of the original giant Ymir, and some terrible things. Its toxicity is the best in the nine realms, and almost nothing can stop this poison."

"But Chaos's god is different from yours. I'm afraid it's too much to expect a dose of poison to kill the gods."

Looking at the two bottles, Ryan had a vague sense of threat. Of course, this is actually an illusion. The unknown liquid can only threaten his divine body, and the body part is the most insignificant part of Ryan's strength.

But having said that, Ryan still put away the two vials.

The effects of toxins are often long-lasting and hidden. Perhaps at the right time, they can also play a role.

"There are the last two items. What is that stone tablet?"

The incomplete body of the tablet and the unclear text make it difficult to identify its origin. But as a collection in Odin's treasury, it cannot be just an ordinary stone tablet.

But this time, Mimir failed to give him a satisfactory answer.

"I don't know its origin either. It may be Odin's own collection. At least in my long life, I have never heard of anything like it."

"As for the gray fog, it should be the resentment left by the original giant after his death. It should have turned into a curse, but was eventually trapped here by Odin."

The original giant Ymir, in Scandinavian mythology, is a role similar to the God of Creation. However, the only meaning of the existence of this "God of Creation" is to give birth to a group of giants and gods, and then be killed.

Even dwarves and elves are transformed from the derivatives of his body after his death.

His fingers tapped the stone tablet lightly, but there was nothing to find, so Ryan had to put it aside first. As for the gray fog, there was no place to use it for the time being, so he simply put it away.

Finally, Ryan looked at the skull of Mimir, the giant he brought back to the spirit world.

The other party also looked at him nervously, and the giant knew that the role he could play was over.

"I took you away from Asgard, and you answered my questions. Now, we are clear, do you have anything else to say?"

Looking at the half-human head, Ryan asked calmly.

He didn't need such a head as an aide, but he didn't plan to let him leave. After all, Mimir witnessed his gains along the way, so it was better to stay in the spirit world.

And even though he is very respectful to me now, he is probably not an honest guy.

"If possible, I want to stay in the spirit world and do something for you in return."

As a head without any resistance, Mimir knew nothing about Chaos. He only knew that he was in the spirit world, the kingdom of the gods in front of him, just like Odin to Asgard.

Although Ryan was polite along the way, Mimir judged him by himself, and the other party would not let him leave on his own. Besides, he didn't think that as a head, he would live better outside.

"However, I hope to get a body that can walk, instead of staying like this."

"You can stay, of course. As for what to do. Since you were once a wise giant, then take care of the knowledge. I will build a library in the third spiritual world, and you will be the gatekeeper. By the way, you can also compile your past memories into books in your spare time and store them together. As for the body."

After a little hesitation, Ryan finally gave a very interesting answer.

"Your body, you have to find a way to get it yourself. I will open the library to the public. Anyone who puts knowledge in it can get equivalent knowledge from it. You cannot actively harm any life that comes to the door, and of course, they cannot harm you. This is the rule I set."

"But you can exchange with them. As long as they voluntarily lend their bodies to you without deliberately deceiving you, then you can become the owner of the body. Everything is fair, isn't it?"

"You are right, I am willing to accept such a result."

Although a little disappointed, it is not bad. Compared to being a head forever in the Golden Palace, Mimir at least has the opportunity to move around now.

I just hope that more people will come to this "library" in the future, instead of not seeing a single person for many years.

"Very good, since you agree, then the agreement is made. I will go to see you when I am free in the future."

Ryan nodded and pointed.

In the Severaz Temple on the Sinai Mountain, countless various kinds of knowledge were extracted from the artifacts that stored the memories of living beings in the fourth layer of the Spirit World, and then turned into books.

They were displayed in turn in a circular library generated out of thin air under the influence of invisible forces, arranged in a spiral, and it was difficult to see the end from top to bottom.

In this process, Mimir's head was also sent to the hall of the circular library. From then on, he was the administrator here.

With a wave of his hand, the library disappeared in the folded space and then appeared somewhere in the third layer of the Spirit World. A kind of attraction of fate was added to it. From then on, any life that craves for some kind of knowledge may come here unintentionally, leave what it has, and get what it wants from it.

At this point, the chores were done, and Ryan's eyes finally fell on the dragon eggs he brought back.

As a god who had created more than one life with his own hands, Ryan easily noticed the characteristics of these dragon eggs.

They have not yet been finalized and may change at any time due to changes in the external environment. If Ryan had not isolated them from the interaction with the spirit world, this change might have already begun.

Undoubtedly, the better the environment, the stronger the power absorbed during the incubation process, the stronger the newborn dragons will be, and even further, their offspring will also be stronger.

As the core of the spirit world, Mount Sinai is actually an excellent breeding environment, but the power of the spirit world itself is very complicated. If it is allowed to breed on its own, Ryan does not know what kind of dragon will be born in the end.

In this case, how to shape this batch of dragon eggs more specifically has become a question worth considering.

In terms of power and purity, the three powers of [spirituality], [reincarnation], and [order] are definitely the most suitable in the spiritual world, but the power of [order] is not unique to Ryan in Chaos, and for some reason, [reincarnation] is not suitable to be the original power of the new dragon clan. So looking at the two dragon eggs with the most vigorous breath in front of him, Ryan undoubtedly needs to find another suitable authority.

After thinking about it, a semi-finished product is more suitable.

"[Time], I have had it for a long time, and the artifact it transformed into has not yet been born."

"It will take at least another era for it to be born as a [Creation Artifact], which is perfect."

Letting the authority have a race corresponding to it will undoubtedly help its evolution and perfection. Besides [Time] is the origin closest to the great level in the spiritual world besides [Spirituality], [Order] and [Reincarnation].

No matter in terms of strength or development, it deserves to be one of the choices.

"In this case, lucky guy, you are the first [Time Dragon] in the world."

Stretching out his hand, one of the two dragon eggs in front of him changed its position instantly. It appeared in the hinterland of the sacred mountain, next to a dark golden light ball, which was the embryo of the artifact that had been nurtured for an era.

The power of time began to infect the dragon egg, adding a few dark golden stripes to it, and the breath of life was also stimulated. At the same time, the power of the spiritual world began to cleanse the origin of the dragon egg, and completely turned it into a member of the spiritual world before it was born.

Before life is born, it is the best opportunity to change its source.

Artifacts and dragons will be a pair that complement each other. In the future, the time dragon will be able to travel between time and space, pick up time fragments and return them to the artifact embryo, or personally influence certain major events and create [historical nodes] to speed up the birth of the artifact. Conversely, the stronger the artifact embryo is, the more complete the [time] authority of the spiritual world is, and the time dragon clan will also gain more powerful power.

There may be many dragon clans in the future, but Ryan believes that the time dragon bound to the [artifact of creation] must be the most powerful one among them.

As for those with weaker auras, they can do whatever they want, and they can all be regarded as adding bricks and tiles to the diversity of the dragon clan in the world. After all, carrying power also requires potential. In addition to the two best ones, even if Ryan can find suitable authority, they will only be able to obtain a small part of the power like Odin who cannot bear the complete [Rune].