Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen looked at the mountain of historical artifacts before him, and the initial joy of deciphering the history of the Clay Figure Civilization had completely dissipated. Wendy Burgan was ruthless—this was clearly an attempt to work him to death.

Still, this was a rare opportunity. With at least several thousand lost histories and historical imprints to analyze, even if only one out of every hundred proved valuable enough to convert into a time territory, he would end up with dozens of time territories.

As the saying goes, "a cunning rabbit has three burrows," but Rosen would now have dozens of safe havens.

Each time territory also came with unique residents. The strongest were Sequence 2, while even the weakest were Sequence 3. The faith these residents provided was enough to sustain the time territories and prevent them from being corrected by the flow of history over time.

Furthermore, his divine territory still had the Time Gravity trait, which allowed it to anchor itself into past timelines. By combining the time territories with his divine territory, the cost of maintaining these time territories was significantly reduced.

While deciphering lost histories brought enormous benefits, the sheer quantity was overwhelming.

Even with Rosen's conservative estimate, working nonstop without rest, it would take decades to finish deciphering them all.

Unwilling to handle this massive workload alone, Rosen shamelessly sought Wendy's help. As a Sequence 0 historian, she must have tools to make the job easier.

Soon, Wendy's spirit-world messenger delivered a special extraordinary artifact to him.

[Archaeological Magnifying Glass: Extraordinary Artifact]

[Grade: Sequence 2]

[Attributes: Greatly enhances the ability to decode historical artifacts.]

[Unique Trait: Historical Verification—Allows the user to verify the authenticity of historical records.]

After carefully studying the brass magnifying glass, Rosen's first impression was that Wendy had finally shown some kindness.

Typically, Sequence 2 extraordinary artifacts came with four to eight traits, but this one had only one.

However, just as "less is more," the Historical Verification trait was incredibly potent. For historians and archaeologists, it was nothing short of a divine tool.

The greatest fear when studying history was wasting time on false leads or incorrect assumptions. With this tool, he could immediately dismiss errors and focus on the correct paths.

Still, why would Wendy so generously part with such a priceless treasure? Rosen quickly deduced the reason: Wendy likely no longer needed it. She was probably close to fully mastering the Law of History, at which point tools like the Archaeological Magnifying Glass would become redundant.

With the magnifying glass in hand, Rosen's efficiency in decoding lost histories improved dramatically.

Even so, over the next thirty years, his divine avatar worked tirelessly day and night.

Meanwhile, Rosen's main body and self-portrait avatars were also busy. His main body focused on creating world-domain paintings, while the self-portrait avatars traveled across various continents, hunting spirit-world creatures and hoping to obtain another Sequence 3 soul gem.

Finally, when the last lost history had been decoded, Rosen quietly left the Historical Secret Realm.

After thirty years of relentless work, he was utterly drained. All he wanted now was to rest.

However, as he thought back on his achievements, Rosen couldn't help but feel that all the effort had been worth it.

He now had 66 time territories, precisely the maximum number his normal spiritual strength could sustain.

In addition, he had set aside over a hundred high-value historical imprints that he had not yet activated. The rest of the historical imprints had been crushed to obtain treasures, which were sold for spiritual crystals through the Main God Hall. Without this method of earning back his costs, the trillions of high-grade spiritual crystals required to condense the historical imprints would have been impossible to afford.

While his divine avatar had been busy, his main body had created over a thousand world-domain paintings.

At last, Rosen had achieved 10% mastery of the World Authority granted by the World Tree.

The first 9% had taken over a thousand paintings, but the final 1% alone required at least two thousand additional paintings. He had nearly exhausted his supply of time-attribute spiritual crystals, and if not for the Time Tower, which could gradually replenish them, he would have had to resort to purchasing more from external sources.

Finally, with 10% mastery achieved, Rosen understood why the last 1% had been so challenging.

The first 9% was simply gaining greater control over the World Tree's World Authority, but the final 1% was a qualitative leap—it meant gaining independent control over a part of the world itself.

Because the World Authority contains a vast number of rule authorities, the earlier stages of mastery, which only required control over Time and Space, were relatively smooth. However, the final 1% required extensive mastery over a variety of other rule authorities to push the World Authority's mastery to 10%.

Additionally, the World Authority Rosen controlled was shared from the World Tree. The World Tree was still just a sapling, unable to manifest the full power of the World Authority without the long-term coexistence and nourishment of numerous spiritual worlds. It wasn't until now that he finally accumulated enough strength to make this crucial breakthrough.

In the True Realm of the Ancient Gods, beneath the World Tree, Rosen activated his World Domain with a single thought.

He simultaneously activated the Lion King Domain of his Holy Lion Cloak, the Beast King Domain from the Hunter Sequence's Beast King skill, and the Life Domain from the life-focused spirit realm painting created by the Ancient Tree of Life. All three domains began to merge into the World Domain.

When the fusion was complete, the four domains formed one unified domain. The strength of this fusion far exceeded the simple stacking of four domains.

This was the greatest characteristic of the World Domain: it could perfectly integrate nearly all other domain abilities, maximizing their power while suppressing the domains of other demigods. With just this World Domain, Rosen was virtually unbeatable by any Sequence 3, unless they belonged to a Forbidden Sequence.

It took Rosen several days of practice before he could seamlessly merge multiple domains without delay.

Exhausted, he transported himself back to the Lord's Castle and fell into a deep sleep.

After several days of rest, Rosen finally felt like his energy had returned.

Over the next few months, he didn't focus on cultivation but instead traveled to various locations with Li Shiqing and Alicia. He owed them a lot after these decades of relentless effort, and he spent this time making up for it.

Since becoming mortal enemies with Chinon, Rosen had always appeared carefree, but the psychological pressure had been immense.

If he had a choice, would he really choose to live under someone else's identity, hiding in the Chaos Seas?

If he had a choice, would he willingly live every day on guard against Chinon's constant divination, forced to retreat into the Divine Library Room every time, racing against the clock to avoid being caught? Though it seemed like Chinon couldn't touch him, the truth was he couldn't do anything to Chinon either.

But now, with his time territories and the fact that Sonia Golden had advanced to Sequence 0 as a Painter over the past few decades, Rosen no longer needed to hide from Chinon.

Chinon would now have to think twice before making a move against him.

On this day, after making all necessary preparations, Rosen dropped his disguise and used Data Transmission to travel to the outskirts of God Painting City on the Eternal Continent.

He didn't have to wait long before Sonia's self-portrait avatar personally arrived to greet him.

With a flick of the divine brush in Sonia's hand, she casually drew a doorframe in mid-air.

She reached out and pushed it open, revealing the interior of God Painting City.

Rosen could also draw such doors out of thin air, but his method relied on Five-Dimensional Painting and the World Authority he controlled. Sonia, on the other hand, relied purely on the Laws of Painting. It was clear that after advancing to Sequence 0, she had already gained preliminary mastery of the Painter Sequence Tree.

Among Sequence 0 gods, there were significant differences in strength.

Those who had mastered the Sequence Tree formed from a law were far stronger than those who hadn't.

While most Sequence 0s held honorary positions in the World Government, this wasn't because the government withheld power from them. Instead, strength itself was the ultimate authority. The primary task of Sequence 0s was to focus on cultivation and strive to become True Gods so they could stand ready for battle when needed.

In contrast, Chinon, the Director of the Archaeological Research Institute, served a World Government agency directly under its authority.

Chinon couldn't even object to orders from the World Government.

The reason for this was that the Archaeologist Sequence Tree was in a half-dead state, leaving Chinon, a Sequence 0, fundamentally powerless. Chinon's deep reliance on the World Government was the only thing preventing the Historians' Association from outright suppressing him.

As long as Sonia intervened, Chinon would most likely stop pursuing him.

Rosen also knew a key secret: Sonia and Wendy shared an exceptionally close relationship.

Historical books needed both text and illustrations, but when it came to artwork and storytelling, historians were no match for professional novelists and painters. As a result, historians often forged close relationships with writers and painters to help them create illustrations or revise manuscripts when needed.

Years ago, Sonia had already been helping Wendy illustrate historical records.

Now that Sonia had become a Sequence 0 Painter and was in charge of the Painters' Association, while Wendy remained the leader of the Historians' Association, their relationship could only grow stronger. This meant the one who would soon find themselves in hot water was Chinon.

In Sonia's office at the Painters' Association

When Rosen walked in, he was surprised to see Wendy's divine avatar already sitting there, drinking.

Rosen immediately realized something: this time, it wasn't Sonia inviting Wendy to jointly pressure Chinon, but Wendy herself had sought out Sonia, intending to use him as bait to dig a trap for Chinon and teach him a lesson.

But how did Wendy know about his relationship with Sonia?

Rosen looked at Sonia in confusion, waiting for her explanation.

"You'll have to ask Daisy about that," Sonia said as she sat down next to Wendy and poured herself a glass of wine.

Hearing this, Rosen immediately understood. Daisy had a good relationship with Sonia, so good that when she was in trouble, she sought Sonia's help in taking in Annika, her third personality, as a student. Since Sonia and Wendy were also on good terms, it was likely that Daisy and Wendy were not strangers either.

"Daisy asked me to look out for you," Wendy said with a smile. "But over the years, I couldn't find a trace of you, so I didn't get to help much. Now that Sonia told me you've reappeared, I figure you must be quite unhappy with Chinon. Would you be interested in teaming up to give him a taste of his own medicine?"

"That depends on how big the risk is," Rosen said confidently as he took a seat opposite them.

Over the next two hours, Rosen and the two Sequence 0 goddesses jointly discussed and formulated a plan targeting Chinon.

Once the discussion ended, Rosen left alone to handle the preliminary preparations according to the plan.

"This little guy is quite special," Wendy murmured as she watched Rosen leave, leaning closer to Sonia.

"Of course he's special. If he weren't, how could he win my eternal devotion, or dare to act so confidently in front of us?" Sonia replied, somewhat unwillingly.

"This little guy reminds me of someone," Wendy said, her teeth grinding as she thought of Su Lei, the one who had once dug a massive pit for her to fall into.

Su Lei's silent departure from the History Sanctuary had caused an uproar among the higher-ups of the Historians' Association.

The History Sanctuary's greatest priority was security. Without that, many foreign True Gods would stop at nothing to target the sanctuary. The fact that Su Lei, a mere Sequence 3, had managed to leave silently meant the sanctuary's security had been compromised.

As a result, the Historians' Association had been in a state of chaos for months, scrambling to relocate the sanctuary, fill security gaps, and prevent similar incidents in the future. Additionally, they had to mobilize significant manpower to track down the suddenly missing Su Lei and determine what had happened.

If not for the frustration still simmering inside her, Wendy might not have been in the mood to trouble Chinon right now. After all, they couldn't kill him, and beating him lightly wouldn't be satisfying, while beating him heavily would be difficult to justify to the World Government. Fortunately, Rosen provided a convenient excuse to teach Chinon a lesson. However, after spending some time with Rosen, Wendy couldn't help but feel that he resembled Su Lei in some way.

Of course, this was merely a passing thought—she had no suspicion that the two were the same person. After all, how could Rosen, a Sequence 4 Painter, possibly also be Su Lei, a Sequence 3 Historian?

The news of Rosen's appearance in God Painting City quickly reached Chinon.

Chinon had gone to great lengths to deal with Rosen. Wherever Rosen had spent a significant amount of time, Chinon had stationed people to keep watch. At the slightest hint of Rosen's appearance, Chinon was prepared to personally strike him down.

Even though killing a hereditary duke would cause considerable trouble, Chinon was ready to pay the price.

Upon hearing that Rosen had appeared in God Painting City, Chinon quietly approached the area.

As long as he could confirm it was Rosen's true body, Chinon was willing to act, even in God Painting City. After all, Sonia had always been close to Wendy, and Chinon didn't mind further antagonizing Sonia.

At that moment, as Rosen wandered through God Painting City, he had no idea how determined Chinon was to kill him.

According to the original plan, Rosen's presence in God Painting City was meant only to attract Chinon's attention. The idea was that even if Chinon wanted to kill him, he wouldn't choose to do so in the city itself. Moreover, as the victim, the location where he was attacked needed to make it reasonable for Wendy and Sonia to intervene together.

The entire plan hinged on ensuring the World Government wouldn't see it as a deliberate trap set for Chinon.

Out of curiosity and provocation, Rosen activated the God-Hunting Magic Eye to observe Chinon's reaction.

But when he saw that Chinon had already infiltrated God Painting City, Rosen's expression darkened. He immediately used Eternal Heartlink to notify Sonia.

Plans often fail to keep up with changes. None of them had anticipated that Chinon would have the audacity to act so boldly.

If Chinon attacked him outside God Painting City, it could be framed as a personal grudge. But attempting to assassinate a Painter within God Painting City would provoke the entire Painter community's wrath.

To "hit someone without slapping their face," Chinon's actions would exact a price a hundred times greater than killing him outside the city.

On the flip side, this was also an opportunity. If Chinon dared to attempt murder in God Painting City, Sonia and Wendy could beat him half to death, and everyone would agree that Chinon deserved it for his reckless arrogance.

The only question now was whether Sonia and Wendy's true bodies could arrive in time.

Furthermore, a direct confrontation between three gods would place enormous pressure on God Painting City.

As soon as Sonia received the news, she immediately informed Wendy.

They quietly appeared inside a building near Rosen, waiting for Chinon to make the first move and attack him.

Rosen was feeling a bit nervous, but thankfully his Acting skill helped him maintain composure without revealing any flaws. He had already prepared himself for the possibility of dying once in the event of a sudden divine attack.

Of course, it was unlikely he would actually die—Chinon was far more likely to try to capture him alive in order to uncover his secrets.

However, despite waiting for a long time, Chinon still hadn't made a move.

Chinon stared at Rosen, hesitating. He had confirmed this was indeed Rosen's true body, but the brief probing he felt earlier instantly reminded him of the frequent sensations of being watched that he'd experienced over the years.

During that time, Chinon had suspected many people, including Rosen, Wendy, and others, yet he could never definitively determine the source of the probing.

Now Chinon was uncertain whether this sudden probing, coinciding with Rosen's appearance, might lead to unexpected complications.

With his powerful divine intuition and grasp of time authority, Chinon sensed something was off.

But to simply give up this opportunity—when would the next one come?

While Chinon hesitated, Rosen realized his attempt to provoke him might have startled the snake in its hole.

If he hadn't provoked Chinon, their entire plan to countertrap him would have turned into a joke.

Now all Rosen could do was pray that Chinon wouldn't hold back.

Determined to push Chinon further, Rosen walked toward a nearby painter.

This painter appeared to be sketching on the street, but his gaze had fallen on Rosen more than once. Clearly, this painter was one of Chinon's spies.

Rosen walked directly up behind the Sequence 5 painter, focusing the power of his Anti-Magic Sphere into his hand, and pressed it onto the painter's shoulder.

Seeing his spy discovered, Chinon finally lost his patience.

If Rosen knew that Chinon had eyes everywhere, the next time Rosen appeared, it might not even be his true body.

Chinon didn't want to miss this opportunity. Even in the worst-case scenario, he could afford the loss.

Chinon instantly appeared behind Rosen and activated his domain skill, pulling Rosen into his domain.

Rosen's sudden disappearance didn't even catch the attention of the surrounding crowd.

In the memories of nearly all the painters nearby, the scene of Rosen being present moments earlier had been completely erased.

The only ones unaffected were Sonia and Wendy. Sonia immediately used the Painter Sequence Ancient Tree to deploy her own domain, enveloping the entire city of God Painting.

All the painters, along with the city's buildings, were transported into the depths of Sonia's domain.

As Chinon prepared to leave, attempting to tear open the domain to escape, he suddenly saw both Wendy and Sonia appear. Though the two were merely divine avatars, their proximity to their true bodies on the Eternal Continent meant they could descend fully at almost any moment.

"You two set me up?" Chinon asked, suppressing his fury.

"Now, saying that makes no sense. A thief crying 'stop thief'—who are you trying to fool?" Sonia retorted coldly.

"Fine, let's see what you can do to me today," Chinon growled, preparing to kill Rosen first.

With Rosen suppressed by his domain, there was no chance for him to resist, and Chinon easily killed him.

But just as this happened, Rosen reappeared completely unharmed.

It was as though time had reversed. Just as Chinon prepared to strike again, Wendy had already acted. She pulled Rosen from a moment earlier in history back into the present, causing the Rosen in Chinon's domain to vanish and reappear beside Wendy.

With their justification solidified, Wendy and Sonia immediately launched an all-out assault on Chinon.

A battle between three gods who had torn away all pretense would never remain confined to God Painting City.

High above the Eternal Continent, their divine kingdoms clashed. Two divine kingdoms descended, forcefully establishing a pathway to Chinon's divine kingdom, pressing it into a defensive position.

This kind of conflict couldn't escape the notice of other gods. Soon, a True God from the World Government appeared.

However, the True God didn't immediately intervene. Internal conflicts among human gods were no small matter.

Without making an example of someone, other gods might follow suit. The authority and laws of the World Government would inevitably be questioned.

Thus, they let the battle play out. It was better to stop them only after a victor emerged.

At that point, the guilty party would face heavy punishment, ensuring a deterrent effect.

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