Lord: Sequence Master

In the Ancient God True Realm, the Glory Printing Factory established beneath the World Tree had been running steadily for several years.

Initially, after just one month of printing spiritual paintings, Rosen had already begun to feel overwhelmed. This was because, once his printed artworks were put on the market, no matter how many he produced afterward, they were always in short supply.

It was impossible for him to devote all his time solely to printing spiritual paintings. Thus, he sought out architects and engineers, commissioning them to design a supernatural structure specifically tailored for a printing factory.

These supernatural buildings could independently produce spiritual painting paper and spiritual ink. With these two resources secured, all that remained was to supply the Universal Printer with an endless stream of spiritual energy.

Rosen assigned this task to the Seven Sins Beasts, spiritual entities created through his Nen abilities. Because these beasts were born from his Nen abilities, they naturally carried compatible spiritual energy. Combined with the Gluttony Beast's ability to consume food and convert it into Nen energy, the eight beasts could endlessly supply the spiritual energy needed.

With this setup, the entire printing factory could operate fully automatically, producing two billion prints annually—enough to meet the demand of a population of 20 trillion. While it wasn't enough to satisfy the entire human world, it could comfortably supply several major empires.

Moreover, as the factory scaled back the distribution to individual empires year after year, the surplus production could then be allocated to other territories. For the moment, this was the absolute limit of what could be achieved. To fully supply the entire human world, Rosen estimated he would need to reach Sequence 0.

Although he wasn't yet a globally renowned artist, the fame Rosen had accumulated was already vast and seemingly endless. His two signature paintings, Bunny-Eared Chef and Farmyard Garden, had naturally grown from Sequence 4 to Sequence 2.

Now, Li Shiqing spent her days learning culinary skills from the bunny-eared chef, while Xuelun stayed home tending to the farm in Farmyard Garden.

These paintings were just a fraction of the story. The biggest beneficiary of Rosen's endeavors was the Glory Seal. Originally, it could enhance a character painting's attributes by 100%. Now, it provided a staggering 356% enhancement.

This meant that Manifestation of the Demon God, one of Rosen's most powerful paintings, had its strength boosted by an additional 265%.

Overall, the entire Nobility Sequence had seen at least a 20% increase in power, thanks to the massive influx of fame.

Such immense gains could not be attributed solely to the printing factory. Over the years, Rosen had also created numerous Sequence 3 spiritual paintings, even venturing into the realm of Sequence 3 spiritual realm paintings, which he completed several of. With his ever-growing fame, the difficulty of creating such works gradually diminished.

These Sequence 3 paintings were sent to noble auction houses in various countries, where their exceptional quality consistently fetched high prices. Consequently, Rosen's works became highly sought after among the supernatural elite, contributing to approximately 30% of his total fame.

This comparison revealed that fame among supernatural circles was far more effective than fame among ordinary people.

On this particular day, after completing his latest painting, Rosen checked the calendar. The centennial opening of the Mountain of Gods Caves was approaching.

The Mountain of Gods Caves featured statues of nearly all human demi-gods, sculpted by generations of artists from the Sculptor's Association. Once a person became a demi-god, they could request the Sculptor's Association to carve a statue for them in the caves.

If a demi-god were to die prematurely, the lingering spirituality within their statue might allow them to be reborn. Of course, the success rate was extraordinarily low—roughly one in a thousand. Even so, the Mountain of Gods Caves remained revered by all demi-gods.

After all, leaving a statue there posed no harm, and even a one-in-a-thousand chance at rebirth was better than nothing.

However, Rosen's purpose for visiting the Mountain of Gods Caves wasn't to leave a statue behind. Although he could easily hunt down Sequence 3 enemies, he himself was not yet a demi-god.

His true aim was the Divine Aesthetic lingering within the Mountain of Gods Caves. He hoped to leverage the unique environment of the caves to elevate and transform his Depiction Technique. He had already acquired the necessary materials for the enhancement through the Spirit Realm Deep Web.

The Mountain of Gods Caves served as the headquarters of the Sculptor's Association, much like the Secret Realm of History. It wasn't located on the Eternal Continent but instead resided in the Mountain of Gods Archipelago.

According to legend, the Mountain of Gods was once the center of the world. There had been a colossal peak there that pierced the heavens, akin to the mythical Buzhou Mountain from Earth's mythology. But one day, the Mountain of Gods mysteriously vanished, leaving behind only countless fragments of its stones suspended in midair.

These stone fragments, born from the Mountain of Gods, naturally carried extraordinary power.

Later, some unknown force caused these floating fragments to coalesce into numerous large and small floating mountains. Throughout history, every civilization that dominated the world's center sought to uncover the secrets hidden within these floating mountains.

The area within a radius of 30,000 miles around the remnants of the Mountain of Gods is shrouded in ferocious hurricanes. At their peak, even true gods struggle to traverse the layers of storms to reach the floating mountains. Only once every hundred years do the hurricanes vanish for a month.

During this time, countless demi-gods flock to explore these floating mountains. The Mountain of Gods Caves, managed by the Sculptor's Association, is located on one of these special floating mountains.

Through data transmission, Rosen arrived half a month early at the ashen-covered sea 30,000 miles from the Mountain of Gods. Using his alias, Richard Phoenix, he had already purchased a ticket on the Spirit Realm Deep Web.

Upon activating the ticket, a pirate ship sailing from the Spirit Realm appeared in the void moments later. This Sequence 2 pirate ship, over 100 meters long, was classified as an ultra-large vessel. Its structure resembled a soaring dragon in the sky, lacking sails but equipped with dragon-wing-like oars on either side. One of these wings lowered its tip toward Rosen.

Rosen leaped along the dragon wing a few times and boarded the pirate ship that had come to pick him up.

Despite being stationed 30,000 miles from the Mountain of Gods, this measurement only applied to the physical world. Once they entered within that range, the ship would immediately plunge into a unique space where reality and the Spirit Realm intertwined—a vast sea spanning 30 million square miles. Though the hurricanes had vanished, the journey remained rife with bizarre dangers.

Without the knowledge to avoid such perils, even demi-gods could perish en route. What's more, since the hurricanes only subsided for a month, and factoring in the time needed for the return journey, the actual time available to explore the floating mountains was less than half a month. Wasting even an hour in such circumstances was akin to a crime. As a result, a specialized profession emerged to navigate these treacherous waters: sea-faring knights.

Almost all of these knights were pirate captains, as no one knew the seas better than pirates.

Rosen had purchased the highest-class ticket, which granted him accommodation in the finest cabin aboard the Flying Dragon. From the outside, the cabin didn't appear particularly large, but its interior resembled a luxurious palace.

Attending to his needs were maids from various non-human races. They were tasked with ensuring Rosen's every comfort for the next 45 days.

The head maid, an angelic beauty with fair skin and a holy demeanor, approached Rosen cautiously while holding a folder. "Master, these are our life contracts," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

Rosen raised an eyebrow in mild surprise as he opened the folder. Inside were 30 life contracts along with one final contract—a Spirit God Pact. The life contracts included the 30 non-human maids as complimentary gifts, while the Spirit God Pact was a special agreement witnessed by a contract deity.

By signing the Spirit God Pact, Rosen would gain access to all the information the Flying Dragon held regarding the Mountain of Gods. The contract also ensured that any intelligence he learned could not be leaked to others.

Initially, Rosen had thought the ticket price was exorbitant, but now it seemed well worth the cost.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and Rosen found himself growing quite accustomed to this leisurely life. Then, one day, a pirate crew member came to inform him that the hurricanes surrounding the Mountain of Gods' seas were about to subside.

The highest-class ticket allowed passengers access to the ship's bow, and hundreds of guests were already gathering there in succession. They watched as the dragon-shaped prow cut through the ash and distorted space ahead.

Moments later, the Flying Dragon emerged into a calm sea, free of ash and hurricanes. Looking back, one could see a towering expanse of darkness connecting sky and sea. This distorted space devoured light, creating an eerie void.

Although the Flying Dragon was capable of flight, it quietly floated on the water in this region. However, its pace seemed sluggish; with a radius of 450 million miles, this enormous sea required much more than a month's journey for the ship to cross using conventional means.

At the bow, a group of pirates began dumping barrels of unknown creatures' innards into the water.

Hours later, a massive shadow rose beneath the sea, enveloping the Flying Dragon. A colossal fish, thousands of meters long, surfaced and swallowed both the ship and the surrounding innards in one gulp.

Yet, just as the fish closed its mouth, the dragon wings of the Flying Dragon radiated a golden light, shredding the massive creature into pieces.

By conventional logic, the ship, having torn apart the fish, should still be at the edge of the Mountain of Gods' sea. However, in reality, the dark, distorted void marking the region's periphery was now tens of millions of miles behind them.

The surrounding seawater was filled with countless strands of seaweed, which were now frantically wrapping around the shattered remains of the sea creature. It seemed that the moment the Flying Dragon tore the creature apart, these seaweeds, separated by millions of miles, had transported the sea creature's remains and the Flying Dragon into this new sea region.

Hundreds of pirates were busy tossing barrels into the sea. As the barrels touched the water, their surfaces dissolved, releasing a golden, mysterious oil that spread across the surface of the ocean.

The dragon-shaped prow of the ship exhaled what looked like a dragon's breath, igniting the oil and turning the sea into a fiery inferno. Countless seaweeds wriggled violently, burning to ash in the sea of flames. Eventually, as though unable to endure any longer, the Flying Dragon, along with the inferno, was enveloped by a wave of distorted spatial ripples. In the next instant, the ship reappeared millions of miles ahead, in yet another new sea region.

As the journey continued, Rosen witnessed an array of bizarre methods the ship used to traverse the area. At one point, the Flying Dragon was carried aloft by a colossal seabird for a stretch. Later, it veered away from the water entirely, gliding through an underground magma river. It even dove into the pitch-black depths of a lightless sea to navigate stealthily. Every mode of travel took advantage of the unique local lifeforms and environment of the Mountain of Gods' sea region.

Throughout the journey, the Flying Dragon rarely used extraordinary powers.

Rosen recalled the intelligence included with his ticket. It warned that outsiders who used extraordinary powers in the Mountain of Gods' sea region were far more likely to attract "Great Terrors" lurking within. No one knew what these terrors were because anyone who encountered them had died.

Not even true gods could survive their wrath. This was why pirate ships navigating this treacherous region relied on local forces to open safe routes.

After seven harrowing days, the Flying Dragon finally crossed the last stretch of ocean, arriving in a region where gravity behaved abnormally. Looking up, Rosen saw countless massive floating mountains suspended in the air.

At this point, the Flying Dragon shed its earlier caution, taking to the skies and quickly landing on the nearest floating mountain.

The mountain was barren, showing no signs of anything special.

This was expected. Most of the floating mountains closer to the sea were ordinary and unremarkable, often no more than rocky outcroppings. The further the mountains were from the sea, the more extraordinary they became—but with increased altitude came terrifying gravitational forces, and the mountains themselves grew increasingly perilous.

In half a month, all passengers would be required to return to the Flying Dragon for the journey home. The ship wouldn't wait a second longer, reserving a day to prepare for potential emergencies during the return trip.

By now, floating mountains up to an altitude of 85,000 miles from the sea had been thoroughly explored. Those with real value had long been claimed by powerful factions.

Using the route map provided by the Flying Dragon, Rosen located the path to the Mountain of Gods Caves. He unfurled the wings of the Feathered Serpent God and ascended into the sky, heading for the Caves. Within a few hours, he reached the entrance to the Mountain of Gods Caves.

At the moment, the entrance was still sealed, as the Sculptor's Association's ship had yet to arrive. The Flying Dragon was, after all, the fastest vessel traversing the Mountain of Gods' sea region. Only true gods could travel faster, but they had no reason to waste time at the Mountain of Gods Caves.

Rosen had no intention of waiting for someone to open the doors. After all, the Sculptor's Association wouldn't allow outsiders to cultivate here.

He pressed his hand against the stone door, and the Mysterious Study Room opened a portal directly on its surface.

Stepping inside the Mysterious Study Room, Rosen walked to the window. Through it, he could see the Mountain of Gods Caves beyond the stone door.

He sat down by the window and retrieved a pair of antlers from his Miracle Pouch.

These were the antlers of a Rainbow Deer. Its antler blood was one of the finest natural pigments in existence. Even an ordinary person using such pigment to paint could create works imbued with powerful divine resonance. The antlers were, without question, a top-tier legendary material for enhancing Drawing Technique.

Rosen ground the antlers into powder and summoned the Divine Brush, enveloping it in the fine dust.

The powdered antlers merged into the extraordinary essence within the Divine Brush, which, in turn, began to integrate the essence into Rosen's Drawing Technique. Simultaneously, he manipulated the extraordinary essence to absorb the divine resonance emanating from the Mountain of Gods Caves through the window.

A few hours later, Drawing Technique successfully evolved into a special skill.

[Drawing Technique: Using special pigments, you can create spiritual artworks that perfectly replicate the divine resonance of your subjects.]

[Divine Authority Trait: Contains the power of Mind Authority.]

[Divine Authority Trait: Spirit Source Regeneration—Divine resonance within the artwork has a chance to transform into spiritual essence.]

The evolution of Drawing Technique brought Rosen a level of joy on par with that of Glory Seal.

As a special skill, Drawing Technique no longer had levels, eliminating the need for further upgrades. Additionally, it now wielded Mind Authority and the Spirit Source Regeneration trait.

This unique regeneration trait likely originated from the Mountain of Gods Caves itself. The Caves allowed deceased demi-gods a one-in-a-thousand chance of revival through their statues, a feat seemingly tied to the floating mountain's Spirit Source Regeneration authority.

Typically, when painters used their works to create spiritual realms, the lifeforms within those realms were born from divine resonance transforming into spiritual essence, effectively "reviving." However, this process relied on the Spirit Realm. Without Spirit Source Regeneration, a painter would need divine power to achieve such revival independently.

With Spirit Source Regeneration now under his control, Rosen could revive life without relying on the Spirit Realm.

The difference between power stemming from one's own ability and power borrowed from external forces was profound.

Having fully accomplished his primary goal, Rosen decided to spend the remaining half-month exploring these floating mountains.

Rosen immediately took out the Miracle Treasure Maps, which ranged from Sequence 9 to Sequence 1, and began his exploration by ascending vertically after leaving the Mountain of Gods Caves. If there were any unclaimed treasures, the Miracle Treasure Map, which had transformed from the Apocalypse Treasure Map and was attuned to innate fortune, would surely react.

After the events with the Wolf Totem, his trust in the Miracle Treasure Map had increased significantly.

However, after several days of traversing tens of thousands of floating mountains, the Miracle Treasure Map showed no signs of activity.

"Valuable floating mountains can't possibly be that easy to find. If they were, how could earlier explorers have missed them?" he thought.

Objects that were already claimed, no matter how valuable, would not trigger the Miracle Treasure Map.

Finally, after reaching an altitude of 100,000 miles, one of the Sequence 2 Miracle Treasure Maps suddenly activated, generating a treasure map.

Following its guidance, Rosen quickly arrived at a floating mountain with a diameter of a few hundred meters. The mountain was gray in color and hidden by the surrounding larger floating mountains, making it extremely difficult to notice.

In the Mountain of Gods' sea region, recklessly releasing spiritual energy was dangerous, as it could trigger destructive forces lying dormant in the area. This made most searches reliant on physical senses rather than extraordinary detection methods.

Under such conditions, it was no wonder this small floating mountain had slipped through the cracks.

The moment Rosen stepped onto the mountain, the Miracle Treasure Map in his hand vanished.

The floating mountain silently cracked open, and a gray, hazy shard of bone fell from its core.

Rosen's quick reflexes allowed him to catch the shard just in time.

Taking out the archaeological magnifying glass he had swindled from Wendy, he began analyzing the palm-sized bone shard using historical analysis and his Miracle Pouch.

After careful examination, he confirmed it was a fragment of a true god's remains.

Over endless eons, the divine power within the shard had gradually dissipated, and its quality had degraded to Sequence 2.

"This is undoubtedly a treasure," Rosen thought. "Even at Sequence 2, its value rivals that of Sequence 1 materials."

But ultimately, it was just extraordinary material and couldn't compare to the Wolf Totem in significance.

"It seems the Miracle Treasure Map isn't infallible. The treasures it points to aren't guaranteed to have supreme value," Rosen mused.

Still, as it was a fragment of a true god's remains, he prepared to store it away. But just as he was about to do so, he felt the shard tremble slightly, as if resonating with some unseen presence.

This unexpected reaction made Rosen reconsider his initial plan.

Following the resonance emitted by the shard, Rosen soon located more buried bone fragments within nearby floating mountains.

Most of these fragments had turned to fossilized remains, with no trace of divine power left. Their quality had degraded so far that they didn't even meet Sequence 9 standards.

The fact that the true god's bones had eroded to mundane material was a testament to just how many eons had passed since their demise.

However, since these fragments resonated with the Sequence 2 bone shard, Rosen decided it was worth the time to collect them.

After two days of diligent searching, Rosen managed to gather enough fragments to piece together a complete humanoid skeleton.

The residual power within the Sequence 2 shard began to flow into the other bones, gradually fusing them into a unified structure.

In the end, the fragments coalesced into an intact humanoid skeleton of Sequence 9 quality.

After studying the skeleton for some time, Rosen found nothing particularly remarkable about it.

He even considered doing a good deed by burying it properly, but at that moment, a small bell materialized within the cranial cavity of the skeleton.

Rosen retrieved the bell and, using his Miracle Pouch for identification, discovered it was a Sequence 9 Miracle Treasure.

[Ancient God's Holy Bell: Miracle Treasure]

[Grade: Sequence 9]

[Miracle Attribute: The Ancient God's Holy Bell can record all special sounds.]

[Miracle Traits: Ancient God's Divine Sound, Unique In The World, Eternal and Indestructible.]

"A Miracle Treasure tied to an ancient god?" Rosen's heart skipped a beat.

The skeleton he had collected likely originated from a fallen true god of the Ancient God Sequence.

When gods perish, they often leave behind Miracle Treasures. This Ancient God's Holy Bell could have been created upon the god's death or might have been something the god carried in life, thus resonating with the complete skeleton.

However, regardless of its origins, why would a Miracle Treasure left by a true god be only Sequence 9?

Puzzled, Rosen began investigating the bell more closely.

The moment his spiritual energy refined the Ancient God's Holy Bell, its Miracle Attribute activated automatically.

The last sound recorded by the bell began reverberating within Rosen's consciousness.

It was a conversation between two voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

When he tried to concentrate and force himself to decipher the words, his sea of consciousness began to crack, as if on the verge of collapse.

(End of Chapter)