Lord: Sequence Master

Aurora Continent, Rainbow City of Aurora Empire.

Rosen's self-portrait clone arrived quietly through data transmission. His clone did not share Farah's abilities, but the original body, which remained in the mysterious study, did share those abilities. In this way, he could unilaterally sense the location of the Holy Grail King, while the Holy Grail King remained unaware of him in the study.

Upon arriving in Rainbow City, Rosen began searching for information about Mogaro through the Aurora Empire's virtual network.

Mogaro, who had no information about his existence in the deep web of the spiritual world, was a well-known painter in Rainbow City. However, his sequence level displayed to the public was only Sequence 6. For many years, he had been trading spiritual paintings for Rainbow Aurora, a supernatural resource unique to the city.

Like the Eternal Continent, the Aurora Continent was one of the few worlds not covered in ashes. The Eternal Continent was located deep in the spiritual world and protected by countless gods and true gods, so it did not need to be covered in ashes. As for the Aurora Continent, it was shielded by the Sky Realm, a Sequence 0 miracle treasure.

The various auroras that filled the sky were essentially all derivatives of the Sky Realm. The primary function of the rainbow aurora was to suppress curses. Because of this effect, rainbow auroras were incredibly valuable.

Suppress the curse! Rosen thought to himself as he left Rainbow City, a new resolve forming in his mind.

Though the Rainbow Aurora was a specialty of Rainbow City, its origin lay not within the urban area, but rather in the Cliff Waterfall, thousands of miles away. The cliff was part of the towering Rainbow Mountain, and the waterfall fell from the cliff's summit, feeding into a deep pool below. Beneath the surface of the pool, rainbow clams produced rainbow pearls.

These rainbow pearls were the only means to capture the rainbow aurora. Whoever controlled the rainbow pearls controlled the rainbow auroras. Therefore, the cultivation of rainbow clams was monopolized by the hereditary Duke Hal Wilkins of Rainbow City. The Wilkins family sold Rainbow Aurora, which allowed them to cultivate a Sequence 2.

That was the case many years ago, with the Duke of Wilkins now long passed. His bloodline had been passed down for five generations, and despite this, the family maintained close connections with the Sequence 2, whose ancestors relied on the profits of the Rainbow Aurora.

The Wilkins family protected the few remaining rainbow clams with strict care, but for dead rainbow clams, their protection was less stringent.

Rosen used the Void Shadow to sneak into the underwater farm deep within the waterfall and found the rainbow clams that had been turned into specimens. After extracting a bit of dried flesh and blood, he began using the world gene bank to crack their genetic map of life.

The cracked data was sent back to Paradise Pharmaceuticals, where the rainbow clam was quickly cloned. However, since the generation of rainbow pearls required special environmental conditions, the cloned rainbow clams would not produce pearls. Rosen could only send a large number of these cloned rainbow clams to the bottom of the pool, hiding them there.

With the help of the Void Shadow world, he simulated the environment of a deep pool and began absorbing the water slowly. Sure enough, the special substances within the lake water prompted the rainbow clams to start breeding rainbow pearls.

The life genes of these clams had been modified by Paradise Pharmaceuticals to speed up pearl production. In just one year, Rosen was confident he could harvest a large number of rainbow pearls. By then, he would have a monopoly on the rainbow aurora.

There were, in fact, quite a few rainbow auroras formed by the Cliff Waterfall. However, the number of rainbow clams was small—only six remained—and their pearl output was too scarce to collect all the auroras. The auroras that were not integrated into the rainbow clams had no effect in suppressing curses.

Once Rosen collected all the rainbow auroras using his vast supply of rainbow pearls, the auroras that Mogaro needed would be in short supply. Without the rainbow aurora to suppress his curse, Mogaro, who had been living in seclusion in Rainbow City, would be forced to act.

Rosen considered the possibility that Mogaro might know of his plan through predictive paintings. But it doesn't matter, he mused. I've already cast the Lucky Heart Lock's wish-fulfilling power. Whatever I want to do during this period will go smoothly. No matter how Mogaro draws his predictive paintings, he will not discover that I've come to Rainbow City.

A year would pass before Rosen could gather a large number of rainbow pearls, and he had no intention of wasting that time. Through Sonya, a newly promoted Sequence 0 painter, Rosen learned of a special opportunity for painters. With a year's time, he was sure he could seize it.

Following Sonya's instructions via data transmission, Rosen traveled to the coast of the Altai continent in the human world. Alicia was in the process of being promoted to Sequence 4, so Rosen did not plan to disturb her.

The storm thunderbird flew through the sky but could not reach Rosen's destination. He opened the Void Album and quickly sketched an extraordinary pirate ship named the Abyss, a ship capable of diving into the sea. This ship had been copied from Clement's own pirate ship, so Rosen summoned Clement to pilot it.

Under Clement's control, the Abyss moved away from the Altai continent's coast and headed toward the depths of the sea.

Days later, the Abyss came to a stop in the endless ocean. There were no reference objects nearby, and this area of the sea was far from any known shipping routes, meaning few extraordinary ships would pass through. Even if one did, it would not attract attention, as no Sequence-level painter was on board.

Rosen repositioned the spatial coordinates, and the Abyss immediately headed straight towards the designated point. Suddenly, a thick fog engulfed the ship, and in the blink of an eye, they had arrived near a small island.

At the only dock on the island, dozens of fishermen unloading fish looked at the approaching Abyss with a mix of fear and curiosity. Their island was isolated from the world, and this was the first time they had ever seen outsiders, especially aboard a massive ship that seemed to radiate a terrifying aura. If their humble fishing boats had passed by, they would have been overturned by the ship's sheer force. This newcomer must be a legendary figure, someone far more significant than even the mayor.

"Prepare for a carpet bombardment, but lower the intensity of the attack and play slowly," Rosen instructed calmly as he gazed at the island ahead.

Clement immediately took control of the Abyss's main gun, locking onto the island while doing his best to suppress the damage caused by the weapon. Though the Abyss was essentially a knockoff of a legendary ship, its power was formidable, easily rivaling that of a Sequence 6 extraordinary ship. A single shot could obliterate an area several miles wide, but under Clement's careful handling, the main gun only destroyed a fishing boat at the dock, killing several fishermen who had no time to flee.

Over the next few hours, Clement piloted the Abyss, relentlessly carpet-bombing the island. The fishermen, panicked, fled in every direction, and the island's aged artillery systems fired back, though they were utterly ineffective against the Abyss. With every attempt to escape on fishing boats, Rosen's ship swiftly sunk them, leaving the entire island littered with corpses and devoid of a single living soul.

"Almost…" Rosen murmured, his God-hunting Eye observing the entire island from a godlike perspective. The people and structures gradually faded from view. Soon, a dense fog descended upon the sea, and an identical, untouched island reappeared, complete with a bustling town pier and a population of over ten thousand.

"This is it. It's not the time reset like the five-dimensional painting…" Rosen frowned, noting the peculiar situation.

He had been tipped off about this place by Sonya, and whether or not he could seize the hidden opportunity here depended entirely on his abilities. The island's continuous rebirth despite his repeated destruction made it clear that something extraordinary was at work.

Rosen ordered Clement to continue the bombardment, ensuring that every living thing on the island was destroyed once again. He sent his self-portrait clone into the island and even manipulated the shadow demon to possess the shadows of the island's inhabitants. He also used his five-dimensional painting to perceive the surrounding time and space, testing various methods to uncover the island's secrets. After several attempts, he finally understood the island's true nature.

At its core, painting was originally an art of copying nature. No matter how realistic the copy, it could never compare to the true beauty of nature captured in a photograph. Over time, however, the art of painting evolved, shifting from mere replication to re-creation. Painters began to incorporate their understanding of nature into their works, transforming and altering the world they saw, particularly in abstract art. Yet, the original copies still held value, even if their role shifted.

The self-portrait clone was a pinnacle of this copy technique. But there was another school of thought, one that focused on sealing real nature within the painting itself. This concept gave birth to a special painting skill, where the painter would first copy nature, and as the copy became indistinguishable from the real thing, they would seal the essence of nature within the painting. Once sealed, the painter could release the nature they had captured, integrating it into the surrounding environment.

Rosen's mastery of five-dimensional painting was an extension of this concept, allowing him to manipulate time and space itself. Therefore, he wasn't fooled by the apparent reality of the island. It was, in fact, part of a painting. No matter how many times it was destroyed, as long as the hidden painting remained intact, the island would continually regenerate.

But this alone wouldn't make it a significant opportunity, especially not for Sonya, a Sequence 0 painter. The skill of sealing nature within a painting was rare, but not unique. Few painters were willing to pursue it, as once the painting was integrated into the natural world, it could never be moved again.

Rosen continued to observe as the island was reborn. He then prepared to enter it, determined to locate the special sealed painting that had blended so thoroughly with the island's natural environment. It didn't take long before he found it, hanging on the wall of the mayor's house. The painting was bound to the island, unable to be removed or relocated.

Rosen's eyes narrowed as he looked at the signature in the lower right corner of the painting. Carlo Garner. This name was known to every painter.

Carlo Garner was the founder of the Painter Sequence, the first Sequence 1 painter in human history. It was Carlo who had been slain by the top leaders of the Painters Association at all costs. Eventually, his Kingdom of God was absorbed by the ancient tree of the Painting Sequence, leaving Sonya, who had obtained the ancient tree, with knowledge of this hidden place.

It was clear now—Carlo Garner's true legacy likely resided on this island.

Rosen soon encountered a fisherman's child, and to his shock, the child's name was Carlo Garner. This revealed that Carlo had somehow reversed the time on the island to recreate his childhood, then sealed both the island and his younger self within a painting. The Carlo Garner in this painting was immortal, and the Carlo Garner of the future would never truly die.

Despite his Kingdom of God and the Ancient Sequence Tree being devoured, Carlo Garner was far from defeated. The top leaders of the Painters Association had gone to great lengths to eliminate him, but they had failed to completely destroy him.

Rosen acted swiftly. He released the Seven Deadly Sins, allowing them to infect everyone on the island, especially Carlo Garner.

Then, relying on the demon's gluttony and greed, it gradually took control of the painting on the island. It took him more than half a year to master this special sealed painting called Carlo's Childhood.

While Rosen completely devoured the painting with gluttony, he also gained two benefits. First, his own extraordinary source of artistry was strengthened by the fusion of a special power in the painting. The other benefit was that he gained the Time Sealing Technique.

If Rosen is not mistaken, this special power should be the power of luck. It is a kind of luck that belongs exclusively to painters. This special luck brings infinite benefits to painters, and as a result, his supernatural essence was strengthened, allowing him to master Sequence 3 skills even at Sequence 4.

However, Rosen did not have the energy to learn new skills for the time being. He needed to master the Time Sealing Technique he had just acquired as soon as possible.

[Time Sealing Technique: intercepting a time segment and sealing it in the painting, making the time segment in the painting constant and unchanged.]

At first glance, it resembled a spiritual painting. The mainstream painting method of spiritual realm paintings involves incorporating historical traces captured from the depths of the spiritual world into the painting through careful finishing touches. But since it is history, it is naturally a thing of the past.

As for the Time Sealing Technique, the time segment captured can be from either the past or the future. Creating historical traces is not an easy task, as it is difficult to generate them without leaving behind history. However, a fragment of time can be captured as long as it exists.

For instance, if Rosen captured a certain period of his past and sealed it in a painting, such as the few days when he had just traveled to Red Stone City, he could seal that period in the painting. As long as the painting was not destroyed, Rosen would not truly die. He could also capture fragments of time in the future and make that future impossible to tamper with.

The future is not static. If one has the ability to predict the future, there is naturally the possibility of changing it. However, with the Time Sealing Technique, a fragment of future time could be captured and sealed into a painting, and the future corresponding to that fragment would become constant. No matter what actions are taken, the future cannot be changed unless the painting is destroyed.

Therefore, the Time Sealing Technique is a terrifying painter skill. Its level is only Sequence 3, but its potential has no upper limit. The low learning level is simply because the Time Sealing Technique is easy to learn but difficult to master.

The essence of Time Sealing is interception and sealing, meaning the grasp of time is not particularly strong. To fully exert the power of the Time Sealing Technique, one must master the authority of time and the power of time itself. The stronger the means of mastering time, the stronger the Time Sealing Technique will be.

The only weakness of the Time Sealing Technique is that once sealed, you can no longer move. As a result, the painting containing the time-sealed technique must be hidden well, as it could be stolen at any moment.

But this is no longer a weakness for Rosen. Thanks to his divine territory, the painting containing the Time Sealing Technique can be integrated into the divine territory.

In the era when Carlo Garner created the Painter Sequence, the Noble Sequence had not yet been born. The painters of that era had no way to obtain the prototype of the Kingdom of God, such as the Divine Territory, in advance. They had to reach Sequence 1 and slowly capture ready-made small worlds to transform and strengthen them. Carlo Garner only started to own the semi-finished Kingdom of God at Sequence 1, so this painting must have been drawn before Sequence 1.

Rosen traveled to the Blazing Shadow King City through data transmission, then returned to Red Stone City at the fastest speed. He spread out a canvas and began to continuously inject his own spirituality, which he had transformed into divinity through the blood of the ancient gods.

Then, using divine power, he covered the entire Red Stone City through the Time Sealing Technique integrated into the canvas.

An identical Red Stone City appeared in the painting. The Red Stone City in the painting came alive and began to reverse time continuously, finally reversing back to the time when Rosen had just traveled to Red Stone City. He then began to intercept time fragments using the Time Sealing Technique.

The limit of Rosen's divine strength is 71 points, 10 points a day, and he captured seven days of time. Then, he picked up the magic brush and drew the Red Stone City of many years ago. Finally, the time fragment and the painting were fused and sealed.

After the fusion, Rosen brought the painting to the Divine Realm and released the fused and sealed time fragment in the painting. Immediately, a Red Stone City from a timeline many years ago appeared in a corner of the Divine Realm. This Red Stone City had a cycle of seven days, and after every seven days, it would return to the first day.

Rosen looked at himself in this city and felt a complicated feeling in his heart. He sealed this period of time in the divine territory. In fact, he could not make use of the value of this period of time unless it had been destroyed, and he would not have died completely now. However, he did not care about this value in the first place. What mattered to him was the additional value.

Some beings that control time, although they cannot truly travel through time, can change the past and present through time. For example, Rosen could travel through time and kill his past self when he was only Sequence 9 in Red Stone City, and then it would affect the present, causing him, now at Sequence 4, to die directly.

Now, with this period of time sealed in a painting and placed in the Divine Realm, anyone who has mastered such means would have no way of attacking his past self when he was weaker and killing him now. This is another hidden function of the Time Sealing Technique.

Through this actual use of the Time Sealing Technique, Rosen also discovered that time fragments are not just limited to the past and the future. In fact, even the present time segment can be used, and it is easier to seal the present time segment.

This new discovery made Rosen more confident about capturing the Holy Grail King Mogaro alive.

(End of chapter)