Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen used his spiritual energy to continuously infuse the Alchemy Fortress, refining this Sequence 9 extraordinary item until it was fully integrated with his Divine Territory.

Once he was about 100 meters away from the Sequence Tree, he activated the fortress. The small, palm-sized model rapidly expanded, growing into its full size—a towering fortress designed for defense and control.

The base was a massive circular metallic platform, supported by heavy columns that elevated the entire structure. Above the foundation were three layers: the castle's main hall, living quarters, and six floors of towers. The towers included a steam-powered tower for operations and a defensive tower capable of deploying an elemental barrier. The entire castle could rotate in mid-air, held up by its columns, while the foundation below turned slowly, allowing the fortress to rotate and target incoming threats.

The Sequence Tree was now well-guarded within the fortress, shielded by its towering walls and defensive mechanisms.

Rosen took out the control core—a miniature replica of the fortress, small enough to fit in his palm. By manipulating this model, he could control every aspect of the Alchemy Fortress.

The semi-floating, rotatable design of the fortress was chosen to provide optimal defense against sudden appearances of spiritual realm creatures. The rotation allowed for maximum coverage and positioning of defensive weaponry, should Rosen choose to install them in the future.

He also planned to construct alchemy walls around the base of the fortress, creating a secure area for cultivating valuable magical herbs. With the protection of both the alchemy walls and the fortress's elemental barrier, the herb fields would be safe from any damage, even in the event of an attack from creatures in the spiritual realm.

Next, Rosen used his domain lord powers to reshape the terrain of his Divine Territory. Though the overall size of the territory was limited by his current spiritual strength, he raised the land beneath the Alchemy Fortress to form a towering mountain. The mountain had terraces running down its slopes, and large caves connected by tunnels carved into its sides. These caves would serve as dwellings for future inhabitants, providing shelter during invasions, with tunnels leading to the safety of the fortress.

Rosen's Divine Territory now featured a central mountain, with a diameter of 1,500 meters. As his domain expanded in the future, the area at the base of the mountain would give rise to plains and other landscapes.

Satisfied with the layout, Rosen transported himself to the castle's grand hall. The hall, an impressive 20 meters in height and dozens of meters wide, housed the Sequence Tree at its center, continually protected by the fortress.

Ascending the staircases, Rosen explored the second floor, which contained more conventional living spaces with 5-meter ceilings. The upper levels housed 50 bedrooms, ranging from spacious suites to modest rooms, along with indoor pools, game rooms, gyms, and other facilities for recreation.

While inspecting the rooms, Rosen discovered a hidden chamber. This chamber was designed as a last resort in case spiritual realm creatures breached the fortress. Even if the fortress was destroyed and the Sequence Tree fell, causing Rosen immense spiritual damage, this secure chamber could offer a chance for survival.

Though his Alchemy Fortress was now complete, it lacked residents. Recruiting people to live in his Divine Territory presented a challenge. Few ordinary people would be willing to surrender their freedom to live under the control of a domain lord, especially in a place as prosperous as Blazing Shadow Royal City, where they could find other ways to make a living.

Despite its Sequence 9 classification, the size and capabilities of the fortress made it equivalent to a Sequence 7 structure in terms of defense. It could withstand an assault from a Sequence 7 creature for up to two hours, ensuring Rosen wouldn't need to replace the fortress until he advanced to Sequence 7 himself.

Rosen ventured into the Spiritual Realm Observation Tower, located at the back of the castle. The Alchemy Fortress he purchased wasn't just a standard domain fortress. Typically, Divine Territory lords were at least Sequence 6 and used Sequence 7 fortresses. Rosen's Sequence 9 fortress was more akin to a high-end portable tent used by Sequence 6 explorers venturing into the spiritual realm.

Despite its smaller scale, the fortress was equipped with advanced features, such as the elemental barrier and the Spiritual Realm Observation Tower.

Inside the observation tower, Rosen used an astronomical telescope to peer beyond the 900-meter boundary of his Divine Territory, extending his sight up to 8,100 meters.

For two hours, Rosen surveyed the area beyond his domain. He discovered that his domain was situated in a barren wasteland. No spiritual creatures roamed the area, which was unusual. Normally, spiritual creatures would populate the area surrounding a new domain. Given that Rosen was in the novice phase of his domain, the World Government would typically place him in a safe zone, but he couldn't help but feel that something was amiss.

Despite the odd lack of spiritual creatures, Rosen focused on organizing his new home.

The Alchemy Fortress came fully furnished, so Rosen began setting up his personal library, moving the books he had collected over time from his Mysterious Study Room. That space had limited shelving, and many of the books were stacked in corners.

Rosen loved reading, as it helped him better understand the world he found himself in. Although his collection wasn't vast, most of the books had been passed down through the Howard family. While many of them were ordinary and of little value, a few books on extraordinary creatures and plants were particularly useful.

While sorting the shelves, Rosen stumbled upon an unexpected find.

He picked up a seemingly ordinary book—a simple paperback novel with no spiritual properties. It was a fictional story about a group of pirates embarking on sea adventures, a genre so common in Blazing Shadow Duchy that it didn't stand out at all. The back cover showed a recent publication date, indicating it had been mass-produced.

What caught Rosen's attention wasn't the story itself but the Howard family crest imprinted on the inner cover.

Noble family crests weren't casually placed on books. For Rosen's family to leave their mark here, the book must have held significant importance.

Rosen sifted through his memories of young Rosen's parents, piecing together what little he knew. The Howard family had lost its ancestral spiritual domain before his parents' time, though they still had some wealth.

Both of young Rosen's parents had awakened spiritual abilities—his father as a novelist and his mother as a knight. They had provided a comfortable life for young Rosen until one day, they abruptly left and never returned.

From the Golden Tree of the Noble Sequence, Rosen knew that young Rosen's father had died, but his mother's fate was uncertain.

What had happened to cause them to leave so suddenly and die far from home? And why hadn't their enemies come after young Rosen?

Their departure seemed as if they had intended to return, but something catastrophic had befallen them, leading to their silent deaths.

Pondering these questions, Rosen flipped open the book. Given that the Howard family crest had been stamped here, there had to be more to this ordinary storybook than met the eye.

(End of Chapter)