Lord: Sequence Master

The Bloodthirsty Frenzy Shark, at its peak, could reach Sequence 4, making it a minor overlord in the deep sea.

The Sea Shark, captained by Marissa, while only a Sequence 6 vessel, had integrated a Sequence 4 Bloodthirsty Shark bone into its steam furnace, allowing it to release the aura of a Sequence 4 creature. This meant that unless they were unlucky enough to encounter another Sequence 4 extraordinary sea beast, the Sea Shark could navigate the deep seas unimpeded.

However, even in the vast depths of the ocean, knowing the general area was one thing, but finding a hidden treasure was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

Soon, Marissa activated the innate ability of an Ocean Hunter, Deep Sea Mirage. This skill not only further concealed the Sea Shark but also enhanced its ability to detect spiritual materials in the deep sea.

Despite searching for half a day, the Sea Shark found nothing.

Meanwhile, Rosen had already locked onto the target using a spiritual painting of the ocean floor he held in his hand.

The mysterious skull had undoubtedly reached the quality of a demigod artifact, far beyond what Marissa's Sequence 6 abilities could easily detect.

Rosen, using the guidance of Gray Mouse's fate divination, had only been able to sense a general direction and a hazy image of the area. He used this image to create a spiritual painting and compared it to what he saw on the ocean floor.

After spending hours following the Sea Shark's search, Rosen finally located an exact match to the scene depicted in his painting.

He then released the Nightmare Slime, which slowly merged into the water and sank toward the ocean floor. Once it reached the location, it began to consume everything in sight.

As the Nightmare Slime devoured sea mud and coral, it eventually ingested a fragment of the skull.

Rosen knew he had found the right spot. He gathered all his spiritual energy into his arm, braving the crushing deep-sea pressure as he extended his hand out of the Mysterious Study's window, tossing a series of painted depth charges toward the Sea Shark.

The charges, compressed by the immense water pressure, clung to the Sea Shark before detonating.

Caught off guard, the Sea Shark's first reaction wasn't to retaliate but to immediately retreat.

In these treacherous waters, when an attack came without their radar picking up a trace of the enemy, it meant the adversary's concealment abilities were superior. Being ambushed in such a region indicated that the attacker had likely set a long-standing trap.

In this situation, if the enemy was more powerful than them, a slow retreat could mean a watery grave.

Anyone who survived long at sea knew to temper their anger with caution.

You only fought if you could win, and if the benefits outweighed the risks.

Recklessly fighting to the death wasn't for seasoned sailors; it was something only fools or movie villains did.

As the Sea Shark ascended to the surface in search of the hidden assailant, the Nightmare Slime went on a feeding frenzy on the seabed.

The Nightmare Slime, once only palm-sized, had grown immensely over the years, now capable of expanding to a diameter of dozens of meters. Fully unleashed, it could devour everything within a radius of tens of meters in a single gulp.

In less than half an hour, the Nightmare Slime had scoured and devoured everything within a kilometer radius of the seabed.

All undigested materials were stored in Rosen's scavenger space.

One by one, Rosen collected the fragments, which, when pieced together, perfectly matched the broken parts of the mysterious skull.

This meant that he had gathered all the fragments, leaving Dragon Song and Sea Shark with nothing.

The Sea Shark, unable to find any trace of its attacker, contacted the Dragon Song through the spirit world.

The Dragon Song, which had been leisurely sailing, began to pick up speed. However, even when it arrived at the designated area, there was nothing to be found.

Rosen, controlling his painting avatar, pretended to dive into the sea to search. But upon seeing the thoroughly excavated seabed, his expression darkened.

In the end, Anil could only begrudgingly sail Rosen back to the Blue Whale Kingdom, all while enduring Rosen's displeased gaze.

Once home, Rosen immediately gave the Dragon Song a negative review on the guild's website. Afterward, he inspected the skull fragments to see if they still had the perceptive-enhancing effects of the complete skull.

To his disappointment, the fragments had no effect on his five senses, but they still enhanced his sixth sense, albeit at a much slower rate.

However, this wasn't an issue. While the complete skull could awaken the sixth sense in ten hours, the fragments could do so in a hundred days. Since his spiritual energy was still four points away from reaching 24, he had ample time to bring his extraordinary five senses to Level 3.

If he used Gluttony to directly consume the fragments, the benefits to his sixth sense would likely be even greater.

Since obtaining the fragments hadn't been too difficult, Rosen didn't hesitate.

He fed the fragments to his Gluttony Beast, then resumed his daily routine of painting spiritual artworks.

From extraordinary sea beasts to the various extraordinary ships he had seen, to the many human extraordinaries and even the wonders of the sea, Rosen painted them all and stored them in his Void Sketchbook.

He didn't just stay cooped up in his Void Gallery; he frequently visited other noble painters for exchanges and lessons, subtly improving his technique over time.

When painting tired him out, he ventured into spiritual realms for quick earnings.

Although not every spiritual realm yielded large amounts of spiritual crystals, his portable divine territory allowed even small contributions from each citizen to accumulate, ensuring his divine territory remained in positive balance.

Time passed swiftly, and two years went by in the blink of an eye.

Rosen had thoroughly enjoyed these past two years. The first four years had been filled with danger or spent obsessively painting self-portraits. It was only in these two years that he had truly settled into this new world he had crossed into.

His manners, his way of interacting with others—all had changed dramatically from the person he once was.

Unbeknownst to him, Rosen's time spent painting gradually decreased.

Without realizing it, Rosen became more passionate about attending noble balls.

Slowly, Rosen had perfectly inherited young Rosen's expertise in horse riding and had successfully ingratiated himself with many ladies of the Blue Whale Kingdom.

But then, one day, the Gluttony Beast, forgotten in the Mysterious Study, finally finished digesting the skull fragments.

In that instant, the extraordinary five senses Rosen had suppressed for two years could no longer be held back.

His sixth sense fully awakened, and his extraordinary five senses were elevated to Level 3.

[Extraordinary Five Senses Level 3]:

Greatly enhances the hunter's five basic senses, improving their spiritual perception. The hunter can freely increase or decrease their own five senses or those of a single enemy, and can significantly reduce the effects of sensory debuffs.

[Enhanced Trait: Sixth Sense] – Fully awakened, granting the hunter extraordinary intuition.

When his extraordinary intuition came to fruition, Rosen sat in the Mysterious Study for a full day in silence.

Through his intuition, he clearly realized he had regressed.

Though his spiritual energy had grown to 23 points, his basic skills as a hunter—stealth, tracking, shooting accuracy, body control, and even his ability to multitask—had all declined compared to two years ago.

At some point, while swinging on a swing with a noblewoman, he had stopped multitasking because it was too tiring.

From that day on, it seemed like he had never resumed his multitasking training.

It was only now that Rosen truly understood what it meant to be "born of hardship, perishing in comfort."

Everyone desired a life of peace and enjoyment; if they could lie down and enjoy life, few would choose to toil away.

However, over time, a person's spiritual vitality would inevitably fade if they indulged too much.

Many nobles couldn't progress not because they lacked talent, but because they were lulled into complacency, forgetting about their cultivation, just as he had.

Rosen might never have realized this if his sixth sense hadn't awakened, granting him the clarity to see the issue.

With his current strength, even if he continued to live in luxury, he was confident he could reach Sequence 4.

He would have a lifespan of at least a thousand years, enough to enjoy a millennium of luxury.

But after a thousand years, he would inevitably turn to dust and bones.

Though Rosen wasn't entirely opposed to that lifestyle, his intuition screamed that following that path would only lead to death.

The Mysterious Study hadn't recognized him as its master for no reason. There had to be a purpose for bringing him to this world and for a boy named Rosen to have an identical appearance and name.

Coupled with the mysterious spiritual realm that had caused young Rosen's parents' death, Rosen suspected that if he chose to indulge in luxury, he might not live long enough to die of natural causes.

Sighing, Rosen spent a long time in thought before drafting a training plan for himself.

He would paint during the day, and at night, he would visit Yorknew City to devour nightmares.

For five days each week, he would be unwavering in his discipline. On Saturdays and Sundays, he could relax and go exploring or visit spiritual realms.

Whether it was hunting in a spiritual realm or simply sketching landscapes, both would allow him to enjoy life while also staying sharp.

Once the routine became a habit, perhaps the balance would come naturally.

In the next half-month, Rosen gradually regained his peak form as a hunter from two years ago.

As for his Painter Sequence, those two years hadn't been wasted.

Though his mental fortitude had weakened, his experiences had grown richer. For a painter, the more one had seen, the more material there was to draw from.

Especially since Rosen specialized in portraiture, and over the past two years, he had spent plenty of time charming noblewomen through the artistic portraits he drew for them, building rapport.

If he were solely pursuing a career as a painter, enjoying life wouldn't have hindered his progress.

However, as a hunter, Rosen was destined to hunt, and hunting was never easy.

At Sequence 9, the final bit of spiritual energy triggered his extraordinary bloodline.

At Sequence 8, the same was true—the last point of spiritual energy required further activation of his extraordinary bloodline.

There were many ways to achieve this, but the simplest would be to use a Sequence 7 Slime bloodline to stimulate his Sequence 8 Nightmare Slime bloodline.

But Sequence 7 Slimes were hard to come by, so after some thought, Rosen decided to use a different method.

One evening, Rosen rode a carriage to Countess Susan's manor.

Not all nobles succumbed to indulgence; some were still driven to improve, continuously entering spiritual realms to grow stronger and striving to earn more merits to advance their noble titles.

However, such ambition often leads to two outcomes: success or death.

If a nobleman had heirs, his title would pass on. But if he died childless, his widow would inherit the title—though the inheritance would last only one generation, and the next heir had to come from her late husband's family unless they had no surviving members. Only then could her children inherit the title, albeit at a lower rank.

Susan was a resourceful woman who had inherited her late husband's title of Countess. However, she could only hold the title for one generation, and it would have to pass to a blood relative from her late husband's family unless none remained.

Susan's deceased husband's family had also left behind a spiritual realm that was quite unique.

It was this spiritual realm that Rosen coveted. Of course, he wasn't going to sacrifice himself in the process.

After all, from any perspective, Susan was a seductive and alluring woman.

"You've arrived…" Susan personally welcomed Rosen into the castle's master bedroom.

That night, Rosen worked so hard that his waist was nearly broken, but he successfully convinced Susan to grant him access to the spiritual realm.

It wasn't that she was stingy, but rather that she feared he might die inside that realm.

After all, her late husband had entered it and never returned.

"Don't worry, I have the Void Gallery to protect me. You know how strong my survival abilities are," Rosen reassured her, gently playing with Susan's golden locks.

Susan remained concerned, though she knew she couldn't stop Rosen from going once he had made up his mind.

She couldn't abandon her title to follow Rosen, and Rosen would never give up his own title to be with her.

Thus, they were destined to remain lovers, and loving too deeply would only hasten their eventual separation.

The following morning, after finishing his morning exercise, Susan, supporting herself against the wall, led Rosen deep into the castle.

There, within a blood pool, stood a statue.

Susan retrieved her noble emblem, infused it with spiritual energy, and placed it on the back of Rosen's hand. A searing heat spread from the emblem, burning into his skin.

The smell of charred flesh filled the air as the emblem of a rose was branded onto the back of his hand.

Without saying a word, Susan quietly left.

Perhaps she feared that if she repeated the words she had once spoken to her late husband, they would once again lead to a heartbreaking tragedy.

Rosen approached the vampire statue, raising the hand marked with the rose emblem toward its mouth.

The statue seemed to come alive, biting into the back of his hand and draining his blood.

However, when the statue sensed the emblem's power, it stopped feeding.

Rosen retrieved his nearly mummified arm, and from the statue's mouth emerged a vortex of blood.

Without resisting the vortex's pull, Rosen was soon drawn into the statue and transported to the spiritual realm within.

When the teleportation ended, Rosen found himself standing in a medieval-style city.

Recalling everything he had read about this spiritual realm, Rosen activated his Angel's Blessing, summoning the angel beast to heal his right arm.

As his arm recovered, Rosen reviewed the details of the realm.

[Bloodline Glory: Legacy Spiritual Realm]

Level: Sequence 4

Description: Lake City, under the rule of the Church of Life, is prosperous and peaceful. Yet, each night, people disappear, and by day, they are forgotten. One of your only remaining relatives has disappeared, but you have not forgotten her...

Rosen extended his left hand, projecting his Mind Canvas through his eyes into his palm. The canvas manifested as a mirror in his hand, revealing that his appearance had changed into that of a dark and brooding young man.

Legacy spiritual realms were a unique kind of realm.

These realms were tied to a family's origin, and outsiders who entered couldn't act freely. Instead, they were assigned a new identity, one that substituted for an ancestor, and were made to relive their ancestor's story. During this process, they would inherit the ancestor's legacy.

Generally, legacy spiritual realms held little significance for outsiders.

The legacies they offered were only truly valuable to those who shared the matching bloodline.

However, the Bloodline Glory realm was exceptional. The Simmons family's ancestor had obtained the extraordinary vampire bloodline in Lake City.

A secret treasure, the Fallen God's Blood, was held by the vampires in this city, and it was said to benefit nearly all extraordinary bloodlines.

For this reason, many nobles from the Blue Whale Kingdom made pilgrimages to this legacy realm.

Since the spiritual realm needed time to recover after being used, each entry cost 5 million spiritual crystals.

Rosen had entered for free, earning him a considerable favor.

As he stepped through the city gates, a flood of memories, spanning at least twenty years, filled his mind.

These memories even muddled his spiritual energy, embedding within him some of the emotions this new identity held toward his sister.

This was an unavoidable aspect of legacy spiritual realms. However, once he left the realm, his spiritual energy would naturally return to its pure state.

With experience, Rosen quickly digested these memories, gaining a rough understanding of what he needed to do next.

He was now Shiree Simmons, and he had a sister named Fara Simmons.

The siblings were orphans, and Shiree had personally raised Fara, taking on the role of both brother and father. The bond between them was deep, but the day before, Fara had mysteriously disappeared. Everyone in the city had forgotten her, except Shiree.

Given that this legacy realm had existed for over 20,000 years, the Simmons family should have already uncovered all the details about the realm's story.

Yet, the family had left no information about the realm's plot, allowing each successor to enter and play their role freely. The only explanation was that knowing the truth might hinder one's success, while ignorance could prevent unforeseen dangers.

"Church of Life…"

Deep in thought, Rosen made his way toward the cathedral.

The Church of Life was the ruling power in Lake City, worshiping the benevolent goddess of life.

Before the World Government was established over 20,000 years ago, humanity was scattered, and many factions worshiped different deities.

Most of these were foreign gods, though there were a few human gods.

According to Shiree's memories, the Goddess of Life was a human god.

But that didn't seem likely. After the World Government was established, it abolished religious devotion to the gods, redirecting faith toward loyalty, reverence, and hope. However, it didn't exterminate human gods completely.

If the Goddess of Life were truly a human god, she would have been mentioned in the texts about human gods.

Thus, the Goddess of Life was likely a false god, possibly a vampire in disguise.

The people who disappeared from Lake City were either used as blood food or transformed into vampires. The city's surface-level prosperity masked the truth—beneath it lay countless forgotten victims.

The Simmons family's ancestor, Shiree, had likely gained his vampire bloodline while searching for his sister.

According to Shiree's memories, his next move would be to leave the city early and gather roses—flowers beloved by the Goddess of Life—before heading to the cathedral to seek the goddess's aid in finding his sister.

Rosen hesitated, unsure if he should continue to the cathedral.

Going there was likely the correct plot path.

But it could also be a trap. If something had happened in the original story that caused Shiree to change his mind, but Rosen blindly followed the path to the cathedral, it could lead him astray, possibly even to his death.

So, to go or not to go—that was the question.

(End of the Chapter)