Lord: Sequence Master

"I've actually stolen Baal's opportunity," Rosen thought, feeling a twinge of guilt after devouring the spiritual essence of Baal's great-uncle.

Several hours later, Rosen had fully absorbed the spoils.

First, his spiritual capacity increased from 25 points to 30.

Next, his Self-Portrait Clone, utilizing the Greed ability, absorbed the supernatural bloodline of the Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent God) from Sequence 3, gaining the ability to transform into this divine being. However, only the clone could transform—Rosen's true self couldn't.

Lastly, Rosen obtained the Resurrection Pyramid and full control over the current Spirit Realm Painting.

However, the most valuable gain was the knowledge and skills related to the Painter Sequence, extracted from Baal's great-uncle's memories. Armed with this information, Rosen could begin honing his skills further.

He decided to leave the Spirit Realm Painting to Baal and his sister and assist Baal in recovering his damaged spirituality. As for the spiritual essence and Quetzalcoatl's supernatural bloodline, Rosen considered it fair to keep those for himself—it was part of the original agreement that any findings related to the Painter Sequence would belong to him.

Curious about the transformation, Rosen shifted into the form of the Quetzalcoatl. His body morphed into a giant, golden-feathered serpent with wings.

In this form, he stretched at least 20 meters long, with a wingspan of about 10 meters.

Through the Quetzalcoatl's supernatural bloodline, Rosen quickly grasped the properties of his transformation:

Quetzalcoatl: Divine Lifeform

Level: Sequence 7

Profession: Quetzalcoatl Sequence

Divinity: 36

Pseudo-Divine Authorities: Morning Star, Harvest, and Culture Authorities

"Hiss!" Rosen inhaled sharply, and the temperature in the pyramid plummeted.

The most striking aspect of the Quetzalcoatl form was that, unlike other beings at Sequence 7, it already possessed divinity instead of mere spirituality. Moreover, like Rosen, its spiritual capacity maxed out at 12 points per sequence.

The Quetzalcoatl had no innate skills, but it wielded three pseudo-divine authorities gained from Sequence 9 to Sequence 7.

Intrigued, Rosen summoned Gray Mouse, who, upon seeing Rosen's transformation, was initially startled but quickly composed itself to offer an explanation.

Certain supernatural beings, particularly offspring of Sequence 0 gods, were born with exceptional powers. The Quetzalcoatl's bloodline, Rosen learned, must have descended from a parent who had reached Sequence 0.

That explained why its spirituality had evolved into divinity, with each sequence level boasting a maximum of 12 points in spiritual capacity.

Moreover, god-like entities possess pseudo-divine authorities, fragments of true divine power that only a few demi-gods can wield.

Gray Mouse elaborated: all supernatural skills ultimately trace back to Divine Authorities at Sequence 0. For instance:

Water-related skills come from the Water's Divine Authority.

Hunter sequences stem from the Hunting Divine Authority.

Knight sequences trace back to the Riding Divine Authority.

Even in its prime, Gray Mouse had only obtained the Pseudo-Rat God Authority.

Despite the Quetzalcoatl's divine power, the strength of its authorities still depended on its spiritual capacity. With its 36 points of divinity, the Quetzalcoatl's pseudo-divine authorities had the force of a Level 6 supernatural skill powered by 48 points of spirituality, meaning that in Quetzalcoatl form, Rosen could easily challenge the strongest Sequence 6 beings.

Such was the power of a god's offspring—though this form belonged to Rosen's Self-Portrait Clone and not to his true self.

After testing the three pseudo-divine authorities, Rosen was thoroughly impressed:

Morning Star Authority controlled metal and light, excellent for both offense and defense.

Harvest Authority controlled plant growth, shortening growth cycles and increasing supernatural plant yields within Rosen's Divine Domain.

Culture Authority significantly enhanced Rosen's learning ability, almost to a miraculous degree.

While he could only tap into part of the Quetzalcoatl's immense power for now, Rosen envied the strength it offered. After some contemplation, he devised a plan: he would make the Quetzalcoatl his third pet.

Having previously created Nightmare Slime by splitting a portion of his own spirituality, Rosen believed he could use the Nightmare Chain to bind the Quetzalcoatl as his pet, allowing him to share its power.

Rosen entered the pyramid, activated the Nightmare Chain, and conjured a Divine Beast Seal. The seal easily integrated into the Self-Portrait Clone, eventually binding with the Quetzalcoatl's supernatural essence.

Through the Nightmare Chain, Rosen now fully experienced the terrifying power of the Quetzalcoatl. Although the clone couldn't use its noble, painter, or hunter sequence abilities in Quetzalcoatl form, Rosen could combine the Quetzalcoatl's strength with his other sequences by sharing its power.

He retracted the Self-Portrait Clone and partially transformed, sprouting Quetzalcoatl's wings on his back. In this form, Rosen could only use one pseudo-divine authority at a time, but with a Beast Hunter transformation at Sequence 6, he would be able to fully harness the Quetzalcoatl's abilities even in partial form.

Rosen then flew to the top of the pyramid to inspect the corpse of the Feathered Serpent God. As expected, the corpse was nothing more than an empty shell, its supernatural essence long drained. Still, the body remained high-quality material for crafting supernatural armor, and Rosen stored it away for future use.

Finally, Rosen opened the pyramid's stone doors and handed the still-sleeping Nia over to Baal.

Several hours later, Baal learned of the events that transpired inside the pyramid. Rather than regretting the lost chance to inherit the Quetzalcoatl bloodline, Baal was simply relieved that Nia was unharmed.

In the days that followed, Rosen helped Baal take control of the Spirit Realm Painting. Though it contained over a million mummies, killing them provided only a fraction of the spiritual crystals they were worth—likely totaling a hundred million at most. Normally, they would be worth billions, but the mummies consumed resources, weakening them significantly over time.

By the end, many of these mummies had become as feeble as slimes of the same level, making them useless to keep or kill.

Fortunately, there was still the Mummy Nest, capable of producing healthy new mummies continuously. Once Baal reached Sequence 7, he could even attempt to transform the entire Spirit Realm into a Divine Domain. Neither he nor Nia would need to venture out for Mystic Realm adventures anymore—cultivating at home by killing mummies daily would suffice.

A few days later, Rosen spent tens of millions in spiritual energy to heal Baal's spiritual injuries.

"I suggest you both leave the Dungeon Kingdom," Rosen advised before they parted ways.

Nia was puzzled and initially resisted the idea, but Baal placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

"Thank you," Baal said sincerely, understanding Rosen's warning.

Though Nia was sharp, her life experiences were limited, shielded by Baal's protective care. Coming from a fallen hereditary noble family, flaunting their newfound wealth in the Dungeon Kingdom would attract unseen predators. Not everyone would respect contracts when tempted by a Spirit Realm painting of such immense value.

At the Spirit World Station, Rosen bid the siblings farewell, ready to process the rewards from this adventure.

The most obvious prize was the power of the Feathered Serpent, but the hidden gem was the lifetime of knowledge from a Sequence 6 painter.

For a Sequence 7 painter, advancing to Sequence 6 required one thing: creating a Mystic Realm Painting.

All three core skills of a Sequence 7 painter served this ultimate goal.

First, it's essential to understand that Mystic Realm Paintings don't come out of thin air. Even if you handed a Sequence 1 painter an ordinary brush and paper, and prohibited the use of spirituality or supernatural powers, they could paint for the rest of their life and still never produce even the weakest spiritual painting.

The creation of spiritual paintings is a means to maximize the value of resources.

To give an example: if a demigod with pseudo-divine authority over space wanted to create a Mystic Realm, it would consume resources worth around ten million spiritual crystals. However, if a painter created a Mystic Realm painting of the same size, it would require only about five million spiritual crystals.

Thus, while Mystic Realm Paintings may not be the strongest way to create Mystic Realms, they are undoubtedly the least costly.

Rosen carefully reviewed the process of creating a Mystic Realm painting, which involves three steps:

First, complete a spiritual painting that includes space. At his current level, Rosen had mostly been creating these types of paintings.

Next, gather all the necessary resources for creating the Mystic Realm and merge them into the painting.

These two steps aren't particularly difficult—any painter skilled in Spatial Painting can achieve them.

The real challenge lies in the final step: bringing both the world and the life within the painting to life in a true sense.

To animate the world, the framework must be stable. For example, if you paint a town on a volcano's slopes, the town would be destroyed by lava unless there is something within the painting that can withstand the volcanic destruction—like a wizard's tower. If it can survive, the Mystic Realm will not collapse and may even produce additional supernatural resources related to the volcano.

While bringing the world to life is somewhat straightforward, bringing life itself to life is something only a Sequence 0 can achieve.

Creating eternal life is a divine power unique to gods.

For a Sequence 6 painter, the life forms within the painting aren't created from nothing—they are drawn from the Spirit World. These beings existed at some point in history, though often obscure, with no written records. Their traces remain in the Spirit World, and painters capture these traces to bring life into their Mystic Realm paintings.

At Sequence 7, the Finishing Touch skill is critical for all painters.

The other two essential skills for Mystic Realm creation typically involve spatial and sealing abilities. Since Rosen already possessed both traits, he had a wide range of options for new skills.

After reflecting for several days, Rosen decided to first master Rune Painting, a Sequence 7 skill for painters. Although technically a Sequence 6 skill, some painting techniques don't have strict sequence limits. If a painter has the necessary ability, even a Sequence 7 can learn Sequence 4 skills.

However, this is often not worth the effort. Mastering such skills is highly challenging, and without the required strength, they can't be used effectively.

If Rosen didn't have his vast knowledge and the Cultural Divine Authority, he wouldn't have dared attempt to learn Rune Painting so early.

Rune Painting isn't the same as Taoist Talisman Painting; it involves painting various spiritual runes with a brush.

The Void Gallery already contained many low-level spiritual runes, but they were basic and unrefined. Mastering Rune Painting would greatly enhance the power of spiritual paintings while significantly reducing the cost of creating Mystic Realm Paintings.

This skill has no defined levels—it's easy to learn but infinitely challenging to master, with no end to how far it can go.

Rosen began by learning the Light spiritual rune, aided by his Light and Shadow Mastery skill and Morning Star Divine Authority. Within half a day, he had fully mastered this rune.

Rosen took a sheet of ordinary paper and quickly painted a glowing lamp. At first glance, it appeared to be just an ordinary lamp, but hidden within the painting was the Light rune.

Rosen reached into the painting, pulled out the lamp, and smiled in satisfaction, sensing its properties.

Creating this painting required only a minimal amount of spiritual energy.

Normally, the lamp would need electricity and would last for about a month. But with the Light rune embedded in the painting, the lamp could glow without electricity and last at least a year.

This was the power of Rune Painting—a tenfold boost at minimum, with no upper limit to its potential.

There are thousands of commonly used spiritual runes, not to mention the countless secret ones kept hidden by individuals. It's no wonder that Sequence 6 painters typically consider mastering this skill.

Rosen spent half a year in a Dungeon Kingdom hotel, mastering a few dozen commonly used spiritual runes.

[Rune Painting]: Can infuse spiritual runes into spiritual paintings

[Number of Runes Mastered]: 55

In that time, Rosen mastered 55 runes, including a full month of one-on-one guidance from a Sequence 6 private tutor.

For the remaining four months, Rosen focused on mastering the Space and Time runes, the two most critical for creating Mystic Realms.

Mastering these runes would significantly reduce the difficulty of painting a Mystic Realm.

(End of Chapter)