Lord: Sequence Master

At the giant dragon castle, Rosen looked at the failed synthesis of a Sequence 4 Ashen Bee in his hands and sighed.

Under normal circumstances, combining two low-sequence Ashen Bees to synthesize a higher-sequence one wasn't particularly difficult. However, Sequence 4 was the limit because Sequence 3 inevitably involved rule authorities. Even miracle synthesis couldn't conjure rule authorities out of thin air during the process, so he could only try other synthesis methods.

The alternative was to use a Sequence 3 transcendent resource containing rule authority and combine it with the Sequence 4 Ashen Bee.

If the synthesis succeeded, theoretically, the Ashen Bee could gain rule authority. However, if rule authorities were so easy to obtain, Rosen would have already synthesized a large number of treasures containing rule authorities to merge with himself.

Miracle synthesis was indeed powerful, but it wasn't omnipotent.

Rosen had already tried synthesis hundreds of times, yet he hadn't succeeded once. But aside from this method, he couldn't think of any other way to create a Sequence 3 Ashen Bee.

Without a Sequence 3 Ashen Bee, how could he perfectly enhance Ashen Armor Breaker? Rosen shook his head, not expecting that what had once been the easiest skill to upgrade would now become the biggest obstacle to his advancement to Sequence 3.

Casually summoning the Void Sketchbook, he quickly completed a Time Prophecy Painting.

The painting depicted a flame—Miracle Ember.

This wasn't the first time he'd drawn a Time Prophecy Painting, but despite his research into Miracle Ember, he had made no progress.

He had wondered whether raising his luck to the level of a True God would increase the success rate of miracle synthesis. However, after all these years, he was starting to give up on the idea of enhancing his luck to a True God level.

He had discovered that relying solely on the Miracle Ember's Miracle Trait: Destiny Balance could only strengthen his luck to Sequence 0. To go beyond that would likely require the power of Civilization's Ember, as it was one of the conditions for gods to ascend to True God status.

But accessing Civilization's Ember was easier said than done. The nearest opportunity would be in three hundred years.

Rosen could wait decades—after all, at Sequence 4, he was still very young. But waiting hundreds of years? He didn't have the patience for that.

Putting away the Void Sketchbook, Rosen instead summoned the Eternal Chronicle and flipped through it.

As he read, his attention was drawn to a newly added segment of text.

The Miracle Trait: Historical Record of the Eternal Chronicle could automatically record everything Rosen had seen or known, transforming it into segments of history. If the recorded history was incomplete, the Eternal Chronicle would gradually fill in the gaps on its own.

Thus, every day, the Eternal Chronicle would add new content as it self-completed.

Today's addition appeared to be related to the history of the dragon race.

Rosen had replaced the bodies of thousands of pure-blood dragons with Flesh Avatars, secretly enslaving them in the process. He hadn't wasted the knowledge contained in their inherited bloodlines either. By reflecting it onto the Mind Canvas, he had recorded it all into the Eternal Chronicle.

This particular segment came from a Sequence 5 Wisdom Dragon, a rare and high-ranking dragon species.

Wisdom Dragons held a high status among the dragon race, with every one of them capable of becoming a top-tier arcanist.

Moreover, Wisdom Dragons had once been under the protection of a True God—the God of Wisdom Dragons, though that god had fallen.

Judging by the timeline, however, the revival of the God of Wisdom Dragons was likely to occur within the next few centuries.

True Gods could bind themselves to Civilization's Ember. In theory, as long as the Civilization's Ember of the dragon race hadn't been extinguished, the True Gods of the dragon race could never truly perish.

Of course, the cost of revival for such beings was terrifying. If the preparations for revival made before death were insufficient, the process would depend on whether other Dragon Gods were willing to assist.

Because this Wisdom Dragon was a descendant of the God of Wisdom Dragons, its bloodline inheritance was extremely valuable.

The inheritance included several secrets about the Dragon Realm. However, since the dragon was only Sequence 5, its inherited bloodline memories were limited.

Fortunately, with the Eternal Chronicle filling in the gaps, Rosen was able to uncover the secrets he had been searching for.

According to legend, the Dragon Realm wasn't a world created by the dragon race.

It was a world they had stumbled upon and claimed. Initially, the dragons only possessed Dragon Crystals, not Dragon Orbs. However, after the dragons occupied the Dragon Realm, a very small number of dragons began to develop Dragon Orbs, which were far more powerful than Dragon Crystals.

All dragons that developed Dragon Orbs would enter a special secret realm within the Dragon Realm.

"Dragon Realm… Dragon Orbs… special secret realm…" Rosen murmured, falling into deep thought.

Back when he first encountered the Fairy Dragon Orb, Rosen had found it strange, as dragons should naturally possess Dragon Crystals, not Dragon Orbs.

But now, combined with what he knew about the Nine Tribulations Civilization and the Primordial Spirit Civilization, the dragons of the Primordial Spirit Civilization weren't the crystal-condensing giant dragons of today. They were Yinglongs and Shenlongs—dragons that condensed Dragon Orbs instead of Dragon Crystals.

Yinglongs were also winged dragons, but their wings were feathered. Could it be that the Dragon Realm was a world established by the dragons of the First Age of the Old Gods?

If it had been created in the present era, there would be no need for the dragons to keep things so secretive.

Furthermore, as an independent world existing outside the main world, the Dragon Realm was far weaker than the Abyss.

The Abyss had 99 Abyss Lords, with more than a dozen of them being True Gods on the surface.

This didn't even include the Abyss Will, a terrifying entity capable of making all the Abyss Lords bow in submission without resistance.

Although no one had ever heard of the Abyss Will possessing intelligence or being a complete lifeform, if such a being truly was a surviving powerhouse from the Old God Civilization, it would undoubtedly be at the level of a Great True God at the very least.

On the other hand, the Dragon Realm, at its peak, had five True Gods, but now only two remained.

Additionally, there was no equivalent to the Abyss Will, so in every respect, the Dragon Realm wasn't particularly powerful.

If the Dragon Realm originated in the First Age of the Old Gods, and if the Abyss's creator was still alive while the Dragon Realm's creator had already perished, the vast disparity between the two worlds, both independent of the main world, would make sense.

Whether this theory was correct or not, Rosen would likely need to enter that special secret realm to find out.

However, entering it required transforming a Dragon Crystal into a Dragon Orb.

This sounded simple, but if it were truly that easy, all dragons would have Dragon Orbs by now.

While the Old God Civilization's World Gene Pool was powerful, it didn't include the genetic blueprints of extraordinary lifeforms like Yinglongs and Phoenixes. At most, it contained the bloodlines of giant dragons and undead birds. Thus, relying on the World Gene Pool to obtain a Dragon Orb was impossible.

Rosen decided to leverage his connections and used the Lord's Power Ring to contact every dragon lord he knew.

To his disappointment, some dragon lords didn't even know about the existence of Dragon Orbs.

Those who did know hadn't managed to obtain Dragon Orbs themselves, let alone provide Rosen with any useful leads.

The only valuable piece of information he uncovered was this: any dragon that obtained a Dragon Orb, no matter how low-ranking or untalented, would experience an explosive growth in potential. As long as they survived, without exception, they could grow to Sequence 1.

Survival was the key, as dragons who obtained Dragon Orbs had an incredibly high mortality rate.

No one knew how they died, but Rosen suspected they perished within that mysterious secret realm.

For the next few months, Rosen's mind was consumed with thoughts of Dragon Orbs.

Despite the Little Dragoness doing everything she could to cooperate with him, he still hadn't figured out how to transform a Dragon Crystal into a Dragon Orb.

Still, he made some progress: he realized he might be able to use the Little Dragoness's Dragon Orb.

The Little Dragoness's Dragon Orb was, in fact, the Fairy Dragon Orb itself. Since the Fairy Dragon Orb was a miracle treasure that Rosen had refined and claimed as his own, and the Little Dragoness was his pet, he had always been able to perfectly control the Fairy Dragon Orb.

If he transformed his Old God body into the Little Dragoness, could he meet the qualifications to enter the special secret realm?

After making all the necessary preparations, Rosen decided to test his theory at the giant dragon castle.

The moment he transformed into the Fairy Dragon and absorbed the Fairy Dragon Orb into his body, he vanished from the giant dragon castle without a sound.

When the teleportation ended, he found himself in a place that filled him with instinctive dread at first glance.

In the sky hung a dragon that resembled a giant dragon but was undoubtedly a Yinglong.

Upon closer inspection, Rosen saw that the Yinglong's heart was impaled by a towering wooden stake that stretched thousands of miles into the sky, leaving the Yinglong's corpse suspended in the air.

The Yinglong's massive wings, fully extended without sagging, were adorned with multicolored feathers that hung down like ropes. These feather ropes were woven into nooses, from which tens of thousands of Shenlongs were hanged.

The flesh of the Shenlongs had completely dried out, and their once-brilliant dragon scales had faded, now dull and lifeless like ordinary matter.

Careful observation revealed that these dried corpses had all died in extreme agony.

Rosen cautiously approached the wooden stake impaling the Yinglong. As he got closer, he discovered that the stake was on the verge of rotting. At its base was a blood pool, now dried up, leaving behind a pile of shattered Dragon Orb fragments.

In that instant, Rosen realized what this place was—a slaughterhouse.

It seemed that all the Dragon Orbs of the Shenlongs had been forcibly extracted and placed into the blood pool, while the Shenlongs suspended in mid-air likely weren't hanged to death but rather drained of their blood until they died completely.

At that moment, Rosen suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of terror.

He instinctively looked up to see a rope woven from Yinglong feathers descending from the sky. Everything else in the area had decayed, yet this feather rope had not. Before he could evade, the rope had already looped around his neck, lifting him into the air.

The feather rope seemed alive, tearing through the arteries in his neck and burrowing toward his heart.

As the rope constricted, it began pulling his soul and spiritual core out of his body bit by bit.

If my soul leaves my body, I'm dead for sure, he realized instinctively.

In this life-or-death moment, Rosen could no longer maintain his disguise.

He immediately deactivated his transformation and activated his Old God body. At the same time, he triggered his Old God Heart Aperture. His body swelled rapidly as his hands gripped the feather rope around his neck, attempting to pry it loose. In the end, he even resorted to using his ultimate trump card.

Inside Yunmeng Cave Heaven, Rosen could temporarily wield Sequence 0-level power through Yunmeng's cave master.

However, the laws of Yunmeng were not acknowledged by the main world of the Second Age Old Gods. Outside Yunmeng Cave Heaven, such power was useless.

But if he unfolded his World Domain and used it to isolate Yunmeng Cave Heaven from the main world, he could temporarily use Yunmeng's laws within the domain. Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming strength of Sequence 0 Yunmeng laws, his World Domain could only sustain it for the duration of a single breath before collapsing under the pressure.

Just as Rosen prepared to use that single breath of time to forcibly break free from the feather rope, something unexpected happened.

The previously relentless feather rope suddenly relaxed and then shrank into a colorful cord about three feet long, falling into his hand. To his surprise, it didn't even require him to refine it—the cord instantly recognized him as its master.

[Dragon-Binding Rope: Miracle Treasure]

[Level: Sequence 3 (True God)]

[Miracle Attribute: The Dragon-Binding Rope can suppress, seal, and enslave dragons.]

[Miracle Traits: Dragon-Slaying Noose, Yinglong Transformation, Ten Thousand Dragons Dance, Unique Under Heaven, Eternal and Indestructible.]

Rosen was utterly confused. How did this thing suddenly recognize me as its master?

After a careful examination, he discovered that the Dragon-Binding Rope, like Yunmeng Cave Heaven, seemed to be a creation of the Primordial Spirit Immortal Dao.

It was highly likely that during the previous Old God Age, it was the Primordial Spirit Immortal Dao that had killed the Yinglong and slaughtered the Shenlongs.

However, based on the fragmented memories he had obtained from ancient humans and immortals, Rosen knew that while humans and dragons often clashed over resources, their overall relationship was relatively amicable. Furthermore, the dragon race was incredibly powerful, so for the humans of the Primordial Spirit Immortal Dao civilization to exterminate them wouldn't have been easy.

After familiarizing himself with the Dragon-Binding Rope, Rosen confirmed that it was undoubtedly a nemesis of the dragon race.

Like the Dragonblood Flask, it didn't discriminate by bloodline. As long as "dragon" was part of a creature's name, the Dragon-Binding Rope could completely suppress it.

When the Dragon-Slaying Noose was activated, it could instantly kill any dragon of the same Sequence. Yinglong Transformation allowed Rosen to transform into a Sequence 3 Yinglong. Finally, Ten Thousand Dragons Dance allowed the Dragon-Binding Rope to imprison the dragon souls of all dragons it killed, with a maximum capacity of 10,000 dragon souls for enslavement.

This Dragon-Binding Rope was likely the reason for the high mortality rate among giant dragons attempting to obtain Dragon Orbs.

However, there were no dragon souls within the Dragon-Binding Rope, nor did Rosen find the corpses of giant dragons.

Clearly, the dangers here extended beyond the Dragon-Binding Rope. With this in mind, Rosen cautiously continued his exploration.

He attempted to touch the dried Shenlong corpses, but even a slight breath turned them to dust.

He tried interacting with the other feather ropes, but they too disintegrated into dust.

Finally, he boldly approached the Yinglong. The Yinglong didn't crumble into dust, but its body turned into wood shavings.

This led Rosen to suspect that the Yinglong he saw might not have been real flesh but rather some kind of wooden construct.

Finally, he tried touching the wooden stake that had impaled the Yinglong. The surface of the stake also crumbled, but at its base, Rosen found a Dragon Orb that had not yet decayed.

As he held it, fragmented memories began flashing through his mind.

Though the memories were incomplete, Rosen was able to piece together a rough understanding of what had happened.

The dragon race had been rejected by heaven and earth, with more and more dragons succumbing to the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.

In response, the Yinglong sought out the celestial immortals of the Primordial Spirit Immortal Dao and, together, they forged two dragon-killing artifacts: the Dragon-Binding Rope and the Dragon-Suppressing Stake.

Using the Dragon-Binding Rope, the Primordial Spirit Immortal Dao hanged and slaughtered all adult Shenlongs, while the Dragon-Suppressing Stake impaled the celestial Yinglong. Throughout the process, the dragons were left unable to live or die peacefully, and it was through their hatred, blood, souls, and Dragon Orbs, as well as the Yinglong's demise, that the independent Dragon Realm was ultimately created, existing beyond the boundaries of heaven and earth.

When gods fall, miracles are bound to appear. Similarly, when immortals and celestial beings fall, miracles will also emerge.

Normally, these miracles take the form of miracle treasures. However, miracles can manifest in many forms: miracle treasures, miracle lifeforms, miracle laws, miracle structures, or even miracle worlds. The Yinglong used its own life and the sacrifice of all adult Shenlongs to transform the Dragon Realm into a miracle world that is singular, eternal, and indestructible.

As long as the Dragon Realm exists, the dragon race will endure. All dragons can share in the fortune of their kind, and every dragon holds the right to inherit the Dragon Realm.

However, the Yinglong foresaw one thing: heaven and earth would never permit the continued existence of dragons.

Even if young dragons were left behind, there was no guarantee they would survive.

Thus, the Dragon Realm served another purpose—it would naturally nurture the bloodlines of the dragon race, automatically selecting creatures with the potential to transform into dragons. These creatures would absorb the dragon bloodline, form Dragon Orbs, and take steps toward becoming true dragons.

Currently, the Dragon Orbs within the dragons of the Dragon Realm had been created in this way.

Originally, the dragons who obtained Dragon Orbs could come to this place and easily acquire the Yinglong's remaining Dragon Orb.

However, the Yinglong hadn't anticipated that the Dragon-Binding Rope, which should have been destroyed, would instead become a miracle treasure.

Since the dragon bloodline can only be obtained before Sequence 4, and the formation of Dragon Orbs is only possible when advancing from Sequence 4 to Sequence 3, the strongest dragons that entered this place would be Sequence 3.

For those dragons, they either died at the hands of the Dragon-Binding Rope, becoming nourishment for the Dragon Realm, or barely managed to escape.

Because dragons only have one chance to enter this place upon acquiring a Dragon Orb, the Yinglong's Dragon Orb remained untouched until now.

Rosen carefully stored the Yinglong's Dragon Orb, which had fallen from the level of a Great True God to Sequence 3.

Even though it was no longer a miracle treasure with the potential for recovery, its value remained unparalleled.

The Dragon Orb contained a drop of the Yinglong's origin bloodline, and it also served as the key to controlling the Dragon Realm.

Rosen didn't even need to become a True God—merely reaching the level of a god would allow him to completely control the Dragon Realm.

At that point, even the True Gods of the dragon race might not be able to escape the Dragon Realm alive.

Although Rosen couldn't fully control the Dragon Realm yet, the Dragon Orb allowed him partial control over the dragon race's Civilization's Ember.

In order to control the Dragon Realm, the dragons had merged their entire Civilization's Ember into it.

The True Gods of the dragon race likely knew the Dragon Realm was a miracle world, so they bound their Civilization's Ember to it. This ensured that as long as the Dragon Realm endured, the dragon race would not perish—unless one day, even the giant dragons were rejected by heaven and earth. But that day still seemed far off.

Through the fragmented memories left behind by the Yinglong, Rosen uncovered a secret about the Nine Tribulations Civilization.

In every civilization, the tenth tribulation marked the ultimate trial. If it couldn't be overcome, even Great True Gods would fall.

However, if the civilization succeeded in overcoming the tribulation, the Tenth Tribulation Civilization would transcend the three realms of heaven, earth, and man.

If the Yinglong believed that the Nine Tribulations Civilization could transcend the three realms after passing the final tribulation, it must mean that there had been previous successes. This suggested that not all of the Nine Tribulations Civilization had been destroyed—some may have successfully transcended the main world.

However, this knowledge was still far removed from Rosen's current situation, and the Yinglong's memories didn't contain detailed records.

The Yinglong's rejection by heaven and earth didn't just affect its life—it even prevented its memories from being preserved. Most of the forbidden memories had been intentionally erased by the Yinglong, rather than being lost due to the Dragon Orb's degradation.

In truth, if the Yinglong had wanted to leave behind more memories, it likely could have.

The fact that the Nine Tribulations Civilization could transcend the main world after overcoming the tenth tribulation was itself a memory that defied the rules of heaven and earth.

However, the more one knew about such forbidden knowledge, the greater the danger, so the Yinglong had erased almost all of it.

The Yinglong even left behind a special Forgetting Curse. This curse would cause anyone leaving the Dragon Realm to instantly forget the secret of the Nine Tribulations Civilization's transcendence, only to remember it again upon returning to the Dragon Realm.

Once Rosen fully refined and controlled the Dragon Realm, the Forgetting Curse would lose its purpose.

(End of Chapter)