American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

As the black mud tried to burrow into the crevices of the World Tree's roots, the golden flames in Xiu En's eyes slowly died out.

He stretched out his hand, his five fingers spread wide, and golden light shot out from his fingertips, enveloping the fragmented black substance.

The light filament tightened, forcibly pulling back all the scattered black droplets, causing them to regroup and shrink into a small ball.

The black mud howled and struggled violently, but each contact with the light caused it to shrink painfully and become smaller.

Finally, it was dragged back to Shuen.

Xiu En watched with great interest the trembling black mass within the net of light, then reached out with his other hand and casually kneaded and pressed it like dough.

The black mud transformed into various shapes in his palm, from flat mud cakes to sharp strips, and finally was rolled into a flexible black sphere.

"It's quite bouncy."

Xiu En gave it a satisfied squeeze.

Then, he pulled out a golden filament and stuck one end to the black sphere.

With a flick of his wrist, the black sphere made of the symbiote was flung out, its light threads taut. Just as it was about to reach its farthest point, Xiu En pulled his wrist back.

"Whoosh—"

The black mud ball was pulled back at an extremely fast speed, and returned to its spherical shape just before it hit Xiu En's palm.

Xiu En, feeling playful, began to tirelessly try to create a "Great Earth Spin"!

Peter Parker stared blankly at the man of light who had been showing off his giant rock not long ago, now playing with a terrifying creature that could corrode the World Tree as if it were a toy.

"Shuen! Haven't you said enough?!"

The sunflower covered its face with its leaves, unable to bear the sight of this degrading scene.

"Stop playing with that dirty stuff! Your hands will be covered in germs! We need to get some clean branches!"

"What's the rush? This little thing is quite fun."

Xiu En made the black mud ball spin at high speed at the end of the light filament, but did not bring it back.

He examined the small black ball and suddenly had an idea.

He withdrew the light filament, pinched the still slightly trembling black mud ball between two fingers, and brought it up to his eyes.

"From today onwards, you will be called Xiao Hei."

Xiu En unilaterally announced.

As soon as he finished speaking, the starry sky inside the trench coat shimmered slightly, and a pocket, completely isolated from the rest of the coat, appeared out of thin air in a brand new location on the inside of the trench coat.

Xiu En casually tossed the black symbiote, named Little Black, into his new pocket, then patted the outside of the pocket, warning, "Stay in there, don't move around, and don't get my clothes dirty, you hear me?"

A faint rustling came from inside the pocket, then all was quiet.

After doing all this, Xiu En clapped his hands with satisfaction, turned around and picked up the Uru ore again.

He glanced at Parker, who was still standing there in a daze, and waved to him.

"Come on, Peter, stop standing there like an idiot."

Xiu En strode forward, heading towards the even more powerful source of life energy deep within the passage.

"Let's break off some pretty branches and then take you home."

Shum waved to Peter Parker, who was still standing there in a daze, signaling him to follow.

Peter jolted awake and quickly jogged after him. The ringing in his ears still lingered, and he decided to temporarily abandon his thoughts.

"Come on, Peter, stop standing there like an idiot."

Sunflower then jumped back onto Xiuen's shoulder, gently patting the blue mineral with its leaves, as if checking the freshness of the ingredient.

They continued deeper into the path through the tree roots.

The deeper you go, the more concentrated the life energy becomes.

Peter felt his fatigue and tinnitus quickly subside under the nourishment of this energy, and even the black stains on his suit seemed to fade a little.

At the end of the passage, a great light shone.

As they passed through the final veil of light, the sight before them caused Peter and the sunflower to stop in their tracks.

This is an indescribably vast space, with a dome so high that it seems to have no end. Countless enormous tree roots, hundreds of times thicker than those in the previous passage, intertwine here, forming a boundless continent.

In the center of this continent, a colossal World Tree trunk stands majestically, its surface flowing with a dazzling torrent of life.

"Wow... x3"

The three voices sounded incredibly small in the face of this magnificent sight.

But what truly captivated them were the nine enormous branches extending from the main trunk into the air.

At the tip of each branch, like a vine, hangs a fruit that radiates a different kind of light.

The fruits were huge, slowly rotating spheres.

Some shimmer with a sacred golden light, and inside one can almost see a magnificent golden palace.

Some are a cold blue, their surfaces covered with frost that never melts.

Some are the familiar azure blue, with white clouds floating above them.

Each sphere contains a delicate and complete miniature world.

"Potted plants! So many beautiful hanging potted plants!"

The sunflower shouted excitedly, its two leaves pointing at the spheres of light and swaying excitedly.

"Shuen! Shuen! Look! They're all so beautiful! Can we pick them all and take them home? They'll look so pretty hanging in the greenhouse!"

Xiu En held Qingyu in his arms, gazing up at the nine world models suspended in the air. Nine different lights were reflected in his golden pupils. He could sense that each sphere of light contained unique rules and immense energy, like nine top-quality dishes with distinct flavors.

"You have a good eye for choosing."

Xiu En examined the fruits.

"They all look quite good, but I don't know which branch would be best to use as a sacrificial offering."

When Parker heard the word "take off," he shuddered and almost slipped off the tree root.

He suddenly remembered the legends Thor had described about the World Tree and the Nine Realms.

"Wait! Mr. Shuen!"

Parker shouted hurriedly.

"Um! If I'm not mistaken, those fruits seem to be... from the Nine Realms?!"

"Nine Realms?"

Xiu En looked curious.

"What's that? Is it tasty?"

"No! Absolutely not!"

Parker was so anxious he almost jumped up. He waved his arms, trying to piece together the Asgardian myths he'd heard from Thor, which were tinged with the smell of beer.

"Those are nine worlds! Real worlds! Mr. Shun! Just like Earth! Inhabited by many people, uh, or Asgardians, frost giants, and stuff like that!"

He pointed to the sphere shimmering with holy golden light, his speech quickening: "Look at that golden one, that's Asgard, Thor's home! And that blue one is Jotunheim, the territory of the Frost Giants! And that azure one is Midgard, our Earth!"

The sunflower blinked its big, dark eyes, its leaves drooped, and its tone was full of disappointment.

"Oh? It's not a potted plant after all? People live inside it, so I can't just water it whenever I want after taking it home. That's such a hassle."

Peter nearly choked on his breath when he heard this.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and continued to explain in as sincere a tone as possible:

"Sir, the branches of the World Tree support the existence of the Nine Realms. If you break even one of them, the fruit will wither, and the entire world will be destroyed! Thor said so!"

Shuen listened quietly. He glanced at Peter's anxious face, then looked up at the nine dazzling orbs of light, and finally his gaze fell back on the blue Uru ore he was holding in his arms.

A few seconds later, he reached out and gently patted Peter on the shoulder.

"Oh, I understand."

Xiu En nodded. "You mean, we can't touch the fruit on top, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Peter saw a glimmer of hope and nodded frantically.

"Okay, got it."

Xiu Enchong gave him an approving smile that said, "You know so much, don't you?"

"That makes things easier. I won't pick the fruit; I'll just cut off a branch to take back with me."

Having said that, he ignored Peter's instantly frozen expression and petrified body, and turned his gaze to the branch that connected Asgard.

That branch was the thickest of the nine, its surface flowing with pure golden life energy, radiating light, clearly the most nourished.

"Little Flower, look!"

Xiu En gestured with his chin toward the golden branch.

"How about that one? It's thick and shiny; it'd be perfect as a sacrificial offering!"

"Uh-huh!"

The sunflower's spirits lifted again, and its leaves stood upright once more.

"That one! That one's the prettiest! The leaves on top are even golden! Quick, quick, let's break off a piece to take home!"

Parker discovered that he and the Light People were not on the same wavelength at all.

He tried to say something more, but Hugh had already taken a step and walked towards the huge branch that connected Asgard.

The branch shimmered with light, exuding an aura of holiness and majesty.

Xiu En approached the branch, stretched out his hand, and covered the bark, which looked as if it were cast in gold.

A golden divine fire flashed through his palm, instantly analyzing the energy structure of the tree branch as if scanning it.

"Yes, it is indeed very sturdy."