Lord: Sequence Master

"One general's success lies upon the bones of thousands..."

Rosen silently etched the Duke of Blazing Shadow's name into his mental notebook.

He couldn't challenge the Duke for now, but in the future, there would be a reckoning.

Viscount Redstone's Mansion, Captain of the Black Shark, and now Duke of Blazing Shadow—without realizing it, Rosen's hunting list had grown to include three targets.

After resting for a day in the spiritual realm of the Artist's Guild, Rosen decided to pay a visit to Madam Fam. Now that he had reached Sequence 8, he realized how little he knew about the high-level knowledge of both Artists and Hunters at this level.

However, his visit didn't go smoothly. Rosen didn't meet Madam Fam in person.

It turned out that she was in the midst of painting a spirit realm artwork. This wasn't her first attempt—if she succeeded, she would advance to Sequence 6 as an Artist. Unfortunately, her previous attempts had all ended in failure.

Creating such a spirit realm artwork required a tremendous amount of resources, so she couldn't spare the time to meet with him.

Instead, Rosen was greeted by a self-portrait of Madam Fam, from which he purchased a skill book.

Looking at the thick, one-foot-tall tome, Rosen felt dizzy before he even opened it.

It took him a full half month to finish reading the Void Gallery Construction Manual.

Every Sequence 8 Artist must master three critical skills:

Void Gallery

Void Sketchbook

Self-Portrait

The Void Gallery is somewhat akin to a Divine Domain and, when combined with the Noble Sequence, can become a territory structure within a Divine Domain. Once built, the gallery stores the Artist's spiritual artworks, significantly slowing down their spiritual decay. It can also serve as a safe void refuge for the Artist and is essential for creating spirit realm artworks in the future.

The Void Sketchbook is both a skill and a unique supernatural artifact exclusive to Artists. With the sketchbook, Artists can store their spiritual artworks within and reuse them indefinitely. For example, if you draw a hamburger in your sketchbook, you can manifest it repeatedly as long as you have spiritual energy.

An Artist only gains true combat power equivalent to other Sequences once they possess a Void Sketchbook.

Lastly, the Self-Portrait skill allows Artists to create avatars. The Artist can hide within their Void Gallery, while their Self-Portrait wields the Void Sketchbook to fight on their behalf. To kill an Artist, you must first destroy their Self-Portrait.

Right now, Rosen needed to prioritize building his Void Gallery before moving on to the Void Sketchbook and Self-Portrait.

Both the Void Gallery and Void Sketchbook required external resources and help to master fully.

After reading the Void Gallery Construction Manual, Rosen immediately applied to the Artist's Guild to build his gallery. He soon received a response, along with a price list that made him break into a cold sweat.

Artists themselves didn't have the ability to construct their galleries. They had to seek help from Architects, a branch of the Artist Sequence. There were various plans available for constructing a Void Gallery, with the quality differing based on price.

The construction options were divided into three tiers:

Basic tier: Costs 100,000 spiritual crystals—essentially a beggar's version of the gallery.

Mid-tier: Costs 1 million spiritual crystals—the most common choice among Artists.

High-tier: Costs 10 million spiritual crystals—this version dramatically increases an Artist's chances of advancing to Sequence 6.

Of course, Rosen wanted the best. However, even selling everything he owned wouldn't get him close to that amount. Yet, the allure of the best option was undeniable; how could he settle for less?

At this moment, Rosen finally understood the phrase, "No money, no art." While the Artist Sequence might seem inexpensive at Sequence 9, reaching Sequence 8 was an entirely different story. It was no wonder some Artists stayed stuck at Sequence 8 into their thirties or forties—not because of a lack of talent, but because they simply didn't have the wealth to move forward.

Rosen's mind swirled with thoughts on how to make money. But earning 10 million spiritual crystals was no easy task. The wealth he had gained during the Spiral Sea Battle, amounting to 2 to 3 million spiritual crystals, had mostly been spent by now, despite the lucky windfall.

Speaking of the Spiral Sea Battle, the first thought that popped into Rosen's mind was the Gray Rat Patriarch.

A starving camel is still bigger than a horse, let alone a Sequence 3 Demi-god. The Gray Rat Patriarch was especially skilled at leaving himself escape routes. The idea that he hadn't left any treasures behind seemed absurd.

In the Divine Beast Pen within his Divine Domain, Rosen observed three different habitats:

An ocean for sea rats and blade sharks.

A jungle where the Nightmare Slime resided.

A grassland, home to the Gray Rat Patriarch.

At that moment, the Gray Rat Patriarch was cooking a young sea rat over a fire.

Although the grassland seemed vast, its actual area was only a few thousand square meters. The rest was an illusion created by the Divine Beast Pen. Rosen teleported right in front of the Patriarch, startling him into hiding the sea rat behind his back.

"Let's not beat around the bush. We both have our needs, so let's get straight to the point," Rosen said, conjuring a chair using his Mental Canvas and sitting down.

"Make me one too!" the Gray Rat Patriarch squeaked while finishing off the sea rat.

Rosen obliged, manifesting half a chair. The Gray Rat Patriarch stared in awe at the conjured chair, his eyes filled with both envy and admiration. Humans were truly terrifying creatures, capable of instilling fear in the hearts of even the most ancient beings.

"I'll lay out my conditions first," the Gray Rat Patriarch said after hopping onto the chair. "I have the experience of a Demi-god, but I've died twice, and my remaining power is weak. The only way I can survive now is to become your pet. In return, you'll gain access to my knowledge and all the treasures I once collected."

"I don't mind taking you as a pet, but I don't trust you," Rosen responded.

The Patriarch bristled with indignation. A Demi-god, reduced to becoming the pet of a Sequence 8 human, and still this human had the nerve to question his loyalty! He was being asked to find a way to allay this human's concerns after offering up his treasure troves.

No wonder humanity had grown so powerful—humans were ruthless and shameless, always exploiting others.

But the Patriarch knew he had no better options, so he thought for a long time before finally proposing a solution.

"Have you heard of the Spirit of Contracts?" the Gray Rat Patriarch asked.

"No, I haven't," Rosen replied.

"Well, it's a long story, but strictly speaking, the Spirit of Contracts originated from your kind..."

The Gray Rat Patriarch began to explain the deep relationship between humans and the Spirit of Contracts.

(End of Chapter)