Lord: Sequence Master

As Rosen was about to take a closer look at the corpse of the Great True God, he suddenly noticed its eyelid twitch.

A chilling sense of dread washed over him, more terrifying than anything he had ever experienced. Without hesitation, he immediately dispersed the projection of his God-Hunting Eye.

Even while inside the Mysterious Study Room, he could distinctly feel his memories beginning to fade.

Rosen quickly pulled out the Secret Brass Book and recorded everything he had just seen in words and drawings.

The moment the records were completed, that strange feeling of forgetfulness vanished. Now, unless he closed the Secret Brass Book, he wouldn't lose those memories again.

This was only possible because of the Mysterious Study Room isolating him. If he had been outside, his memory would have been erased in an instant, giving him no time to react.

No wonder the Hunter Pioneer had no recollection of anything beyond the outer region of the Old Continent.

Rosen activated his Ancient God's True Eye and used Secret Gaze to attempt uncovering the mysteries of the Old Continent with the clues he had.

The result? The required divine essence far exceeded his maximum limit of 91 points.

This meant that with his current Sequence 3 strength, he was entirely unqualified to know the secrets of the Old Continent.

Closing the Secret Brass Book, he decided to stop thinking about the mid and inner regions of the Old Continent for now.

With the Ashen Emblem, he finally had a powerful relic that could aid him. Instead of fixating on mysteries far beyond his capabilities, it was more practical to sweep through the outer region, seizing all the benefits he could. When his strength grew, his journey would naturally take him deeper into the Old Continent.

The Ashen Eye allowed him to see through the obstructing ashes, but it couldn't detect Spirit Realm Fragments.

After some thought, Rosen ultimately decided to head to the depths of the desert.

According to the Hunter Pioneer's memories, the Spirit Realm Fragment he had desperately fled toward was located at the center of the desert.

However, he had no idea what lay inside.

He had sent several tamed magical beasts to scout ahead, but none of them ever returned. The complete lack of information made him realize the extreme danger of that place, which was why he had pinned his last hopes on reaching it.

Rosen released thousands of Sequence 4 Abyss Shadowfiends from his Divine Domain, scattering them across the outer region of the Old Continent.

The Old Continent had a strict limit—only ten thousand demi-gods could explore it at any given time.

There had to be a reason for this restriction that he wasn't aware of.

Thus, even though his Sequence 3 domain troops could fight within his Divine Domain, they absolutely couldn't leave its confines.

Only Sequence 4 units could be sent out. But in a land where demi-gods were everywhere, they wouldn't last long on their own.

Previously, he had only deployed a handful of them for scouting. Large-scale operations were simply out of the question.

But now, things were different.

With the Ashen Emblem, he could use an omniscient perspective to remotely command his Abyss Shadowfiends, guiding them to avoid danger while seeking treasures across the Old Continent's outskirts.

There would inevitably be some casualties, but the rewards would outweigh the losses.

Rosen left the operation in the hands of Magic Eye Intelligent Life and then set out for the depths of the desert.

The desert wasn't shrouded in ash, but it was constantly ravaged by blinding sandstorms.

Sandstorms were classified as a natural disaster—and Disaster Apostles excelled at controlling disasters.

With the sandstorm as his cover, Rosen easily bypassed the lurking threats beneath the dunes.

Finally, at the heart of the desert, he sensed the unmistakable aura of the Spirit Realm.

Having prepared in advance, his Dragonborn Clone activated divine perception and stepped into the Spirit Realm Fragment.

The moment Rosen stepped into the Spirit Realm, he lost all sense of his true body's condition.

However, in the next instant, their severed connection was restored.

This was because his true body had activated the God-Hunting Eye, using its observation abilities to reestablish contact with his Dragonborn Clone.

This way, even if his clone perished within the Spirit Realm Fragment, he could at least transmit crucial information to his main body before dying.

Rosen scanned his surroundings.

Everywhere he looked, an endless golden desert stretched beyond the horizon.

It was a literal golden desert—not one made of ordinary sand, but of pure gold. Under the sunlight, the entire expanse shimmered with golden brilliance.

In the distant depths of the desert, a vaguely visible pyramid loomed on the horizon.

This environment… I feel like I've read about it somewhere before…

Outside, his true body immediately flipped open the Eternal Chronicle and searched for related entries.

Found it—The legendary Golden Pharaoh, the sole True God of the now-extinct Pharaoh Civilization…

Rosen attempted to leave the golden desert and return to the real-world desert, only to find that—while entering had been effortless—exiting was impossible.

This entire Spirit Realm Fragment had been completely transformed into the Golden Pharaoh's Divine Kingdom.

A Divine Kingdom belonging to a True God—breaking out through sheer force was far easier said than done.

Under the dazzling radiance of divine golden light, a procession of mummies wrapped in golden burial cloths emerged from the distant pyramid.

Leading them was a god, while the ten figures following behind were all peak demi-gods.

No hostility? Rosen's pupils narrowed slightly.

Such an imposing formation without hostile intent… they couldn't possibly be here to welcome him, could they?

But that was exactly the case—these golden mummies were here to welcome him.

After leaving the Golden Pyramid, they summoned a massive golden warship, which sailed smoothly across the desert toward Rosen. As it reached him, a golden staircase extended from the ship's side, bridging the gap between them.

"Honored guest, the great Golden Pharaoh invites you to the Golden Divine Palace as a guest."

The mummy god at the lead spoke with deep reverence.

Rosen didn't hesitate and stepped onto the golden warship.

At worst, he would simply lose a clone.

After all, as long as his Spiritual Painting remained intact, even if his Painted Clone perished, he could easily recreate it.

The Golden Pyramid towered over a thousand miles high. Its core was completely hollow, with an enormous golden scepter piercing straight through its center. The pyramid's interior was lined with tiered terraces, each layer forming a city composed entirely of tombs.

As the golden warship approached the golden scepter, it ascended vertically, swiftly reaching the pyramid's peak.

There, a grand floating palace awaited—the Golden Divine Palace.

Golden mummies stood guard at every entrance, but within the palace, all the attendants were living humans.

Guided by the mummy god, Rosen entered the great hall and saw the Golden Pharaoh, indulging in wine and revelry.

With a casual wave of his hand, the Pharaoh dismissed the musicians, dancers, and even the golden mummy guards.

Then, he set down his wine cup and looked directly at Rosen.

"Do you know why the Spirit Realm was created?"

Rosen hesitated for a moment before replying, "The mental world of the Ancient Gods?"

"More precisely—the Sea of Consciousness of the Ancient Gods…"

The Golden Pharaoh affirmed, "The Main World is the transformed body of the Ancient God, the Spirit Realm is its transformed Sea of Consciousness, and the Abyss of the Spirit Realm is its transformed Soul. You possess the Ancient God Sequence—take a guess, what did the Ancient God's Spiritual Source transform into?"

"The Ancient God's Spiritual Source… I really have no idea."

Rosen pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"You and I are the Spiritual Source of the Ancient God."

The Golden Pharaoh revealed a shocking truth that Rosen found almost impossible to believe.

You and I—this clearly didn't just refer to himself and the Golden Pharaoh.

If the Golden Pharaoh's words were to be taken literally, then you and I referred to all life in the Main World.

If that were the case, then wouldn't that mean every living being in the Main World was merely a fragmented avatar of the Ancient God's Spiritual Source?

"Don't overthink it…"

The Golden Pharaoh laughed heartily. "You and I are the Ancient God, but you are you, and I am me. We have our own independent lives, our own sense of self. The vast majority of the Ancient God's Spiritual Source transformed into the Spiritual Source of all living beings, while a smaller portion transformed into the World's Will to maintain the stability of the Main World."

"Then… can the Ancient God still be revived?"

Rosen asked the question that worried him the most.

"Of course it can!"

The Golden Pharaoh put away his laughter, his expression turning solemn.

"The previous Ancient God Era ended precisely because the Ancient God fully awakened. When the World's Will deems that the Ancient God must awaken, it will sacrifice all life in the Main World, reclaim the Spiritual Source, and reassemble the Ancient God's true consciousness."

"Faced with such an apocalyptic calamity, even True Gods have no means of resisting."

"Only Great True Gods have three possible ways to escape this fate."

"The first is to create an entirely independent world—such as Dragon Realm or the Abyssal World. However, this method has its flaws. While this can prevent their Spiritual Source from being reclaimed by the Ancient God, there is no guarantee that the awakened Ancient God will spare those Great True Gods who took this route."

"The second path, of course, is simply to leave the Main World entirely and escape the apocalyptic threat brought by the Ancient God's awakening."

"The final path… well, you can probably guess it yourself."

"Killing the World's Will of the Main World directly?"

Rosen asked, filling in the blank.

"Out of the three paths, only the second has ever seen success…"

The Golden Pharaoh sighed. "As for the third path—those Great True Gods who fled the Main World and grew even stronger outside eventually attempted to return and kill the Ancient God once and for all. They have tried this several times—all ended in failure."

"Then why are you telling me all this?"

Rosen asked directly.

"I want to invest in you."

The Golden Pharaoh replied sincerely.

"I have died once before."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that I was revived through the Spirit Realm—no matter how real we Spirit Realm beings seem, our essence is still spiritual. Fully converting into material form and perfectly integrating into the physical world is extremely difficult."

"And the stronger a being is, the harder it is to leave the Spirit Realm after revival."

"Right now, I can't even leave this Spirit Realm Fragment for long. The only part of the real world I can influence… is the desert outside."

"If things continue like this, once the war between Great True Gods and the World's Will erupts again, my only fate will be to become cannon fodder for the World's Will. If I want to escape this impossible dilemma, I need a Great True God to protect me."

"You think I can become a Great True God?"

Rosen asked in surprise.

"You're only Sequence 3 and you've already hunted down that Hunter Pioneer. You shouldn't be so modest."

The Golden Pharaoh sighed with genuine admiration.

"So, how exactly do you plan to invest in me?"

Rosen asked, half-believing, half-doubtful.

"I'll give you everything."

The Golden Pharaoh said without hesitation.

Over the next few months, Rosen truly witnessed the extent of the Golden Pharaoh's resolve.

Two Sequence 0 and a hundred Sequence 1 Golden Mummies lined up before him, offering themselves up for slaughter.

Rosen directly obtained two Sequence 2 Soul Gems and eight Sequence 3 Soul Gems, enough to upgrade all his Territory Buildings to Sequence 3 and still have one left over. The only pity was that the two Sequence 0 did not drop any Miracle Artifacts upon death.

The reason was simple—these two Sequence 0 were, strictly speaking, Sub-Gods of the Golden Pharaoh.

They could only maintain Sequence 0 power within the Golden Pharaoh's Divine Kingdom—once outside, at best, they were just half-step Limit-Breaking Sequence 1s.

Aside from the free Soul Gems, the Golden Pharaoh also revealed to Rosen everything he knew about True Gods and Great True Gods.

And before Rosen left, the Golden Pharaoh gifted him a Sequence 2 Golden Mummy Barracks.

As for more treasures, the Golden Pharaoh had none left.

When he was revived inside this Spirit Realm Fragment, he had nothing on him—his wealth from his previous life had already been divided among the True Gods who had killed him. Everything he had just handed over to Rosen was the sum of thousands of years of accumulation.

The Golden Pharaoh watched as Rosen departed, let out a regretful sigh, then turned and returned to the Golden Divine Palace to prepare for another long slumber.

If Rosen's true body had come, the Golden Pharaoh would have definitely tried to capture him alive.

But since it was just a clone, he had already foreseen whether he could use the clone to capture Rosen's true body.

The answer had left him deeply disappointed—his foresight couldn't produce a clear result.

Without absolute certainty in capturing Rosen, he could only choose another, more uncertain path—to gamble on Rosen's future based on his own judgment, to trust that Rosen would not go back on his word.

Rosen didn't fully relax until his Azure Dragon Clone returned to the Mysterious Study Room.

He flipped open the Secret Brass Tome and recorded some of the classified secrets inside.

As a True God who had lived for tens of thousands of years, the Golden Pharaoh had come into contact with countless divine-level secrets.

Yet even the Golden Pharaoh had no idea what was going on with the Great True God's corpse in the Old Continent.

After all, twenty thousand years ago, the Golden Pharaoh had already been dead for who knows how long.

However, the Golden Pharaoh did suggest one possibility—

A Great True God isn't necessarily immortal. A sufficient number of True Gods could indeed slay one.

But if a Great True God's body remained intact after death, it could only mean one thing—

The Great True God willingly left behind its own corpse.

According to the Golden Pharaoh, the Old Continent was the strongest foothold of the World's Will in the Material World.

This led to a possibility—perhaps a Great True God had offered up their own corpse to seal and suppress the World's Will.

Then, Ash was used to further seal the Great True God's corpse.

The Spirit Realm Fragments within the Old Continent were very likely a product of the World's Will.

This was precisely what made the Golden Pharaoh deeply uneasy—the World's Will had the power to annihilate all living beings in the Main World.

A Great True God's corpse alone could never seal it forever.

The constant emergence of Spirit Realm Fragments was a sign that the World's Will's power was leaking out.

And if the World's Will could create Spirit Realm Fragments…

…even reviving an existence like the Golden Pharaoh…

Then the Golden Pharaoh deeply suspected that the World's Will held control over his life and even his actions.

If that day ever came, the Golden Pharaoh might become nothing more than a puppet of the World's Will.

It was precisely because of this helplessness that the Golden Pharaoh had lowered his status so much, betting his own future on Rosen—a mere Sequence 3.

Because aside from Rosen, the Golden Pharaoh simply could not find a better investment.

During his months at the Golden Divine Palace, Rosen had actually gained another invisible benefit—

He had personally witnessed what kind of power a True God possessed.

And this wasn't even the Golden Pharaoh at his peak.

Even among True Gods, the Golden Pharaoh had only been mid-tier in terms of power.

Yet even so, after receiving guidance from the Golden Pharaoh, Rosen's foundation at Sequence 3 had already accumulated to the absolute limit.

Thus, he was now ready to find a suitable place to advance to Sequence 2 without relying on the Golden Sequence Tree.

According to the Golden Pharaoh's analysis, the Nine Sequence Trees established by the World Government were indeed powerful.

But the more one relied on them, the deeper the connection between one's Extraordinary Sequence and these Nine Sequence Trees would become.

Before Sequence 3, there was no other choice.

But after Sequence 3, it was best to find a way to break free.

Rosen wasn't worried about the Painter Sequence—after all, he controlled the Painting Sequence Tree.

As for the Noble Sequence, that was even easier—

His Divine Domain had already fused with the Ancient God Sequence's Ancient God Origin Realm.

He also commanded the Creation Divine Authority of the Azure Dragon.

And through repeated uses of Tenfold Annihilation & Return to Origin, his Noble Sequence was the least of his concerns.

Even when advancing the Noble Sequence, he could still exploit the Noble Sequence Tree.

After draining it of benefits, all he had to do was trigger Tenfold Annihilation—

All ties to the Noble Sequence Tree would be severed instantly.

However, the Hunter Sequence would be much harder to cut off from the Hunter Sequence Tree.

If possible, he would sever the connection entirely.

If that wasn't possible, then he had to usurp it.

As long as he became the Hunting True God and claimed the Hunting Law,

He could directly seize control over the Hunter Sequence Tree—

And he would no longer need to fear any hidden dangers behind it.

In fact, he could even use the Hunter Sequence Tree to command all Hunters.

During the months Rosen spent as a guest at the Golden Divine Palace, more than half of the Abyssal Shadow Demons he had dispersed were lost.

But the gains far outweighed the losses.

By now, he had practically claimed all the easy-to-get benefits in the Old Continent's Outer Perimeter.

The remaining opportunities were too dangerous and not easy to acquire.

Since he was no longer lacking in resources, staying any longer would just be pointless greed.

However, before leaving, he still had one last goal—

To acquire the core ingredients for the Hunter Sequence 2 Potion in the Old Continent.

The Hunter Sequence's Sequence 2 branches were numerous—he had learned as much from the Hunter True God's memories.

At Sequence 3, he had chosen the Avenger Hunter path.

After careful deliberation, at Sequence 2, he had decided to advance into the Criminal Hunter branch.

If Fugitive Hunters were best at tracking and capturing criminals—

Then Criminal Hunters were best at destroying order itself.

By logic, such an Extraordinary Sequence should have been rejected by the World Government, which revered order.

But in reality, humans had far too many enemies.

While disrupting human society was forbidden,

Disrupting enemy civilizations was encouraged.

Every high-rank Criminal Hunter had the blood and tears of countless foreign races on their hands.

A normal Criminal Hunter started from Sequence 9, gradually escalating in destroying order.

But Rosen wanted to skip ahead and directly obtain the core ability of a Criminal Hunter—

And not just any version—he wanted the enhanced Sequence 2 version.

That meant the Potion's core material had to come from a True God-tier Extraordinary material that embodied the power of disrupting order.

Only by using such a core ingredient could he minimize the Hunter Sequence Tree's influence over him.

And if he ever intended to usurp the Hunter Sequence Tree,

He needed to ensure that his Hunter Sequence wouldn't be restricted by the Hunting Law.

(End of Chapter)