The feasts in the Immortal Palace were always so noisy and joyous, the sounds of bottles shattering on the ground intermingling with the boasting and coarse language of the men and women, creating a unique scene.
Of course, the Asgardians would also sing their poems at these banquets.
However, like the Norse Vikings who were influenced by the Asgardians, their poems sounded to Shimizu like a chaotic cacophony.
Someone once commented on their poetry: "I have never heard such terrifying roars; a pack of wild dogs' howls could match their voices, but not their debauchery."
"I believe you are also a master of the sword."
Fandral, carrying a flagon of wine, sat down next to Shimizu and spoke.
"Can you tell?"
"Yes, your eyes, movements, temperament, and bearing all suggest a master swordsman."
Fandral, in a relatively gentle manner, clinked his cup with Shimizu.
Like the Allmother Frigga, Fandral hailed from Vanaheim, and possessed a slightly gentler disposition, even after spending so many years in Asgard, despite a tendency to assimilate.
"Are you departing tomorrow?"
Fandral took a large gulp of wine, wiped his mouth with his wrist, and asked Shimizu.
"Uncertain, possibly."
Shimizu nodded slightly.
Since the Ancient One was not in a hurry to compete with Odin in drinking, it meant the time had not yet come.
Perhaps the other Sorcerer Supreme that the Ancient One mentioned also needed time to prepare, but since he brought him to Asgard now, it meant the time should not be too far off.
"I have a presumptuous request."
Fandral refilled Shimizu's cup to the brim.
His body strength far exceeded that of normal humans, and he was among the top tier even among these Asgardians, with a well-proportioned physique, sharp eyes, and long, powerful arms.
"Well, since I don't know when we'll meet again, I've challenged all the sword masters in the Immortal Palace, except for the Allmother and the Allfather, and it's always the same old thing."
"Alright."
Shimizu decisively clinked his cup with Fandral.
Thor's close combat skills were those of a master of instinct; he could wield most weapons effectively through his battle instincts, especially his hammer.
Fandral was clearly not in the same league as Thor, but he was still a renowned sword master in the Immortal Palace, basically representing Asgardian swordsmanship.
Shimizu was happy to learn from these schools of swordsmanship that he had never encountered before, to absorb their essence and strengthen himself.
Just then, Volstagg and Hogun's martial arts contest came to an end, with the former, as the older Asgardian, possessing greater physical strength and combat memory than the latter, successfully knocking Hogun to the ground.
Amidst the cheers of the Asgardians, Fandral gracefully leaped from his seat to the center of the clearing, gesturing an invitation to Shimizu.
"Would you mind if I borrowed your sword?"
"If you don't mind the unfamiliarity."
Shimizu reached out to Sif, who was sitting in the next seat, and took the bright silver rapier.
His own sword, with its vibranium-plated blade, was too sharp for sparring and unnecessary to bring out.
Sif's sword was made of a unique Asgardian metal, heavy in the hand, and its strength should surpass most conventional metals, making it sufficient for use.
Beside the throne, Frigga frowned slightly, looking at her husband Odin.
"Is Fandral being a little impolite by doing this?"
Before Odin could answer, the Ancient One interjected.
"No, no, no, let the young people have their fun, haven't you seen everyone below applauding? Let's continue eating."
He didn't have much time left to live, so he had to taste more of these delicacies that he couldn't usually get.
"Are you ready?"
Shimizu stood still, holding the sword in one hand behind his back, and looked at Fandral, who was not far ahead.
The latter moved lightly, like a nimble cat, holding the sword in both hands in front, slowly circling Shimizu.
The movements appeared to have very subtle flaws!
But with Fandral's level, he could feel that behind these flaws, there were often more profound follow-up moves.
There was no perfect sword stance, but one could turn that imperfection to one's advantage.
Moreover, the opponent had no aura at all; even with the far superior senses of the Asgardians, combining smell and hearing, it was impossible to detect a trace.
If one closed their eyes, they wouldn't even know there was a person in front of them.
With the improvement of Shimizu's spiritual power and the research on the Mind Stone, the original transparent world had become more refined at this moment, the perception was more detailed, and the concealment of the aura was even deeper.
Unless one's spiritual power was strong enough, it was impossible to detect it.
Frigga beside the throne watched the competition below with interest.
When she was young, she had also fought in all directions with Odin, and was proficient in swordsmanship and illusion and healing magic, and could see the nuances in it.
However, many Asgardians, who relied entirely on brute force in fighting, were loudly clamoring at this moment.
"Fandral, what are you doing!"
"Go up and stab him with your sword!"
"Don't worry about hurting the guest, our healing magic is very powerful!"
… …
Fandral was also an outstanding warrior who had fought with Thor in the Nine Realms for many years, so he would naturally not be influenced by these words at this moment.
But he also knew that the longer it dragged on, the greater the possibility of him revealing a flaw.
So he chose the most commonly used method of conscious flow combat by Thor—brute force!
Charge up, and as soon as you make a move, you have a chance to create a flaw in the opponent!
A gleam of cold light quickly magnified in Shimizu's eyes.
"Clang! ~"
The sound of swords clashing rang out, Shimizu twisted the sword lightly, deflecting Fandral's sword, and then turned to stab his wrist.
His avatar did not have a perfect Oni Transformation body, but he had high-quality Chakra there, coupled with the breathing method that had basically approached the limit, and the body strength was even higher than that of most Asgardians.
Ordinary Asgardians did not have Odin's bloodline like Thor, possessing an extremely durable body, and in the absence of Mjolnir, they could still fight the Hulk with their own divine power.
A burst of machine gun bullets was enough to break the defense of most Immortal Palace guards.
Fandral could be considered strong among the Asgardians, but he was far from Thor's level, but there were still commendable points.
He gracefully somersaulted backward, avoiding the stab, while slashing the long sword in his hand from bottom to top towards Shimizu.
Shimizu still stood in place, twisting his wrist, quickly rotating the sword downwards, deflecting the sword, and then stabbing diagonally towards Fandral's wrist again.
Non-Aggression Swordsmanship!
Attacking without killing, simplifying complexity, aimed at interrupting the opponent as soon as they launched an attack.
I use Non-Aggression Swordsmanship, but you are the one who cannot attack!
The Non-Attack Swordplay of the Mo Clan, in Qingshui's hands, subtly evolved into a slightly different meaning according to his understanding.
Now, the cheers from Asgard's side grew even louder.
They revered the brave.
Anyone with eyes could see that Fandral's strength was on a different level compared to Qingshui.
The Warriors Three of Asgard still had a certain reputation in Asgard, and Qingshui's ability to easily suppress Fandral meant that his strength surpassed that of quite a few Asgardians.
Without a single mistake, a song, a hair, an inner, a tolerance, all in one glance!
However, even when suppressed, Qingshui still thought Fandral was quite formidable.
Although he didn't use magic or armor, Qingshui could still suppress Fandral relatively easily, but that was actually because his perception ability far surpassed the other party, and his own speed, strength, and other basic stats were slightly higher than the other party's, allowing him to achieve this.
Even so, even though Fandral was beaten quite miserably, he didn't collapse at the first touch. Instead, relying on his abundant combat experience and exquisite sword techniques, he stubbornly held on under Qingshui's hands for dozens of rounds before Qingshui used Sif's thin sword to knock the weapon out of his hand.
Once the victory was decided, the wailing and howling in the arena became even more lively.
Thor, at this moment, even stepped onto the table, waving his hands wildly, stirring up the atmosphere.
"Woohoo!!"
"Awoo awoo awoo!"
"Haha, Fandral, you lost, get down here and drink ten barrels of wine!"
… …
Fandral shook his head helplessly, took a step back, and raised his hands to indicate that he had lost.
"You won, very impressive swordsmanship, I've learned a lot."
"You're not bad either."
Qingshui nodded slightly to Fandral.
After dozens of rounds, it was enough for him to see the core essence of Fandral's moves.
"It's my turn, it's my turn! Fandral, you're no good, let me do it!"
Sif jumped over from the table with a long spear in her hand, excitedly.
Her features were considered quite pretty, but her skin was slightly dark, and her words and actions were full of a tomboyish spirit.
Asgard seemed to always be like this, with wine and martial arts, and that poetry that sounded like ghostly howls, continuing day after day under Odin's rule for thousands of years.
The next day, in a guest room in the Immortal Palace.
Qingshui rubbed his eyebrows, feeling that the alcohol had almost worn off.
He usually didn't drink.
It had nothing to do with the three ninja prohibitions of extravagance, wine, and lust. He couldn't even abstain from the last one, let alone all of them.
It was just that he believed that alcohol would numb the brain, thereby negatively affecting his behavior, actions, and thinking, so he generally didn't touch it.
However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and Asgard currently had two Skyfather-level powerhouses, Gu Yi and Odin, sitting in command. Even if Thanos came, it would be useless, so it was naturally safe enough.
But the people of Asgard were also enthusiastic enough about fighting. After Qingshui successively defeated Fandral and Sif in martial arts, even Thor ran up to compete with him.
Dealing with Thor, who possessed the Mjolnir, he naturally couldn't be like he was with the other two. Qingshui naturally put on the latest set of Lightning Armor and used the artifact, the Net of Zoroaster, as well as magic and ninjutsu.
However, this battle also ended without a result, because the destructive power of the two was too great and was stopped by Odin.
Because the commotion of the two's battle was too great, the aftermath vibrated out after only a few moves. If they continued fighting, this magnificent Immortal Palace hall would have to be torn down.
And because they had witnessed Qingshui's strength, the Asgardians, who most admired warriors, came up one after another to offer him wine, almost knocking Qingshui down.
Fortunately, after the banquet ended and he went to the guest room to rest, Qingshui used the Subtle Extraction Technique to remove the alcohol from his body.
It was just that the wine from Asgard had magic in it. Even if the alcohol was removed, there were still some slight effects, but this little effect could be completely resisted by his own mental strength, and by the next day, there was nothing wrong at all.
The next morning, Asgard, the Rainbow Bridge.
Odin, riding a Pegasus and holding Gungnir, together with Thor, led Qingshui and Gu Yi to the teleportation point of the Rainbow Bridge.
"This is Heimdall, the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. Next, he will take you to the location of the World Tree."
Odin pointed to an Asgardian warrior who was tall and burly, wearing golden armor, and holding a golden sword, and introduced him to Qingshui.
"Your Majesty the God-King, Prince Thor, and also the Supreme Mage and Master Wote, I am Heimdall, and I have repeatedly understood the great achievements you have made through the Heavenly Eye."
Heimdall bowed slightly.
"Heimdall's eyes can see through most areas of the Nine Realms."
Afraid that Qingshui didn't know, Thor also leaned close to Qingshui and muttered a sentence.
Qingshui and Gu Yi nodded slightly and responded with a few words.
"Let's begin, Heimdall. Thor, you come along too. As the future God-King, you may also need to go there."
Odin turned his head and said to Thor, while waving his hand at Heimdall.
The latter immediately inserted the golden long sword, which served as the key, into the instrument in the middle.
The interior of this golden fortress-like building at the end of the Rainbow Bridge was instantly shrouded in colorful light.
In an instant, a sense of weightlessness came, and when everything around him returned to normal, Qingshui found himself in an incomparably empty and extremely quiet hall.
There were only two things in the hall.
One was a giant tree, incomparably thick, covering most of the hall's area, and the other was a pool of spring water under the tree that looked like it was about to dry up.
"This is the second root of the World Tree, and that is the Mimir's Well. When I was young, I sacrificed one of my eyes to the World Tree in exchange for wisdom. Afterwards, I was hung on the branches of the World Tree for fifteen days. With the help of the World Tree, I used my wisdom to comprehend the Rune, which is also the source of some of Thor's hammer's power."
Odin leaned on Gungnir, looking at the World Tree root in front of him, which looked like a ten-thousand-year-old giant tree, with a somewhat complicated expression.
Back then, his father and brothers died, and even if he inherited Bor's divine power, he still couldn't defeat the fire giant Surtur in his prime.
So he came here to seek the help of the World Tree, and combined strength and wisdom to finally achieve victory.
That was an unknown number of years ago from now.
"Put on the Sling Ring. Odin will send you to a higher-dimensional space outside the world. There, you can use the Sling Ring to reunite with another Supreme Mage, and rely on the guidance of the Vishanti to reach Altor. Also, remember to bring everything you want to bring, including equipment and artifacts. Once you reach another dimension, it won't be so easy to summon items across dimensions."
Gu Yi reminded Qingshui.
