Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen looked at Gavin, who was sitting across from him, but did not immediately agree to his request.

According to Gavin's research, while the Tree of Life had been cut down, its divine essence had transferred its heartwood and used it to construct a sealed space. Originally, this seal should have been flawless—any true god who tried to force their way in would trigger the slumbering divine essence of the Tree of Life, resulting in mutual destruction.

However, in order to dispel the curse afflicting it, the Tree of Life had no choice but to expel the stripped curse beyond the seal. This expulsion was what created the Desert of Death, as well as Oasis City, where life and curses intertwined.

At the same time, this caused a tiny flaw in the otherwise perfect seal. Anyone above Sequence 3 could not enter, but ordinary Sequence 3 beings who entered were guaranteed to die. Gavin himself had once ventured inside, only to be afflicted by a significantly weakened version of the curse.

To remove the curse, he had to reenter the sealed space.

If there were no benefits in it for him, Rosen wouldn't have even entertained Gavin's request.

The fact that he hadn't outright refused simply meant he was weighing whether the potential rewards outweighed the risks.

The heartwood of the Tree of Life would undoubtedly be a powerful nourishment for the World Tree. The divine core and divine essence of the Tree of Life were also immensely valuable. And as for the curse that had nearly killed the Tree of Life—Rosen found that intriguing as well.

As long as he could confirm that Gavin was telling the truth and not hiding anything, he was very willing to cooperate.

The sealed space couldn't be entered at just any time—it had to be during a specific event.

Once a year, Oasis City would enter a full lockdown, and for an entire week, no one could leave or enter. During this time, all demigods in the city would combine their domains and activate a grand magic formation to withstand the Death Black Sandstorm, a week-long catastrophe.

This was the most terrifying sandstorm imaginable—it carried not only sand and dust but also countless wailing souls and curses.

Even a Sequence 1 being caught in it would have no chance of survival.

This sandstorm was, in truth, the moment when the slumbering Tree of Life expelled its accumulated curse energy into the outside world.

To enter the sealed space, one had to move against the storm, following it to its source. There, they would find the rift in the seal.

But they had to escape within a week.

Failing to do so meant being trapped inside for an entire year.

The last time Gavin had entered, he had barely managed to make it to the edge of the sealed space, but even that had left him cursed, draining his lifespan at an uncontrollable rate.

And that was without even reaching the heartwood of the Tree of Life.

Once he escaped, he had exhausted every possible method, but none could rid him of the curse.

For centuries, he had clung to life, desperately searching for a demigod who, despite being Sequence 3, possessed the combat power of a Sequence 1.

However, there was now a problem—Rosen was no longer the Sequence 3 that Gavin had initially hoped for.

He was already a Sequence 2, which meant he could not enter the sealed space.

The only way around this was to artificially lower his transcendent sequence from Sequence 2 back to Sequence 3.

For most people, dropping their sequence level meant an almost impossible climb back up.

In fact, for many, a sequence drop could irreparably damage their transcendent essence.

But none of that was an issue for Rosen.

With the God-Hunting Magic Eye's Secret Insight, he could temporarily suppress his divine intensity without harm.

His Ancient God Relic, which granted +9 divine intensity, would protect his transcendent essence from any damage caused by the sequence drop.

He also had the Primordial Oil Lamp and the Flesh Arcane Fruit, which could restore the lost divine intensity in a short amount of time.

But there were still a few months before the Death Black Sandstorm arrived, and Rosen had no intention of wasting that time.

After all, the Tree of Life was an unexpected surprise—his true goal was the Demon Hunters.

After bidding farewell to the insistent Gavin, Rosen checked into the Oasis Hotel in Oasis City.

He then spent a few days issuing bounties and gathering intelligence through various channels.

Of course, he could have simply asked Gavin directly, but he wasn't fully convinced that Gavin's information could be trusted.

Since he wasn't digging into any particularly secret matters, it didn't take long before he found a lead—there was a demigod known as Duke Old Morrison, who had settled in Oasis City.

According to the information, Duke Morrison had once excavated a relic in the Desert of Death and unearthed a transcendent artifact crafted from the head of a Demon Hunter.

Demon Hunters, after all, absorbed the power of Abyssal Demons and could transform into demons themselves.

But in doing so, some lost control and fell, becoming true demons.

Such fallen Demon Hunters were typically slain by their own kind and turned into various transcendent artifacts.

With relative ease, Rosen obtained the precise location of that elven ruin.

In truth, the Desert of Death had been around for countless millennia.

Both the Giants and Humans had gone through wave after wave of excavation, and any ruins or treasures that were easy to find had long since been claimed.

Most people now ventured into the desert in search of newly formed resources—such as transcendent materials infused with death or curse attributes.

Coming across an undiscovered elven ruin was more of an unexpected bonus.

Half a month later, Rosen arrived at the ruins in the midst of a sky-darkening sandstorm.

The site had already been picked clean—every artifact and resource had been taken.

Naturally, the sands of the Desert of Death had once again buried the site.

Rosen released all of his Golden Mummies, ordering them to clear the surrounding area of sand.

One sandstorm vortex after another roared through the landscape, steadily siphoning away the layers of sand.

Soon, a massive hundred-mile-wide sand pit had formed.

At its borders, countless sandstorm vortices whirled violently, preventing the Death Black Sandstorm from invading.

But within the pit itself, not a single grain of sand stirred.

However, the thick sandstorm and the ever-present Ashen Mist still blocked out the sun, leaving the pit shrouded in pitch-black darkness.

Rosen summoned the Brilliant Lighthouse, which quickly transformed into a Solar Jellyfish.

Its countless trailing tendrils pulsed with golden light, illuminating the entire pit.

Some of the Golden Mummies carefully sifted through the sand at the bottom, revealing the ancient elven ruins buried deep beneath the desert.

However, what emerged was little more than a network of old foundations—even the broken remains of buildings had almost completely vanished.

Any structure that had managed to survive for millennia likely contained some level of transcendent material in its construction.

Rosen himself had no use for such materials, but other demigods certainly did.

Many had likely torn down the ruins and hauled the salvaged materials back to their divine domains, extracting whatever transcendent components they could.

They had quite literally scoured the site down to the bedrock.

Rosen had come merely to see if anything had been overlooked.

After all, Demon Hunters had never been particularly welcomed by the Elves.

But to suppress the Abyssal corruption within them, they needed the power of the World Tree and thus could not stray too far from it.

As a result, Demon Hunters typically lived within the subdimensional spaces attached to the World Tree.

Yet according to all past excavations, no such subdimensional space had ever been found at this ruin.

That likely meant that, with the World Tree's death and the passage of countless years, those attached spaces had long since collapsed.

Still, there was a small chance that such a space remained hidden.

Rosen expanded his World Domain, channeling a fraction of the World Tree's power to manifest a trace of World Law.

Instantly, his perception locked onto a set of coordinates.

His domain tore open a rift in space, its tendrils stretching inward.

As expected, there was a hidden space that had gone undiscovered. Without mastery over space laws, it would have been nearly impossible to detect.

Under the coverage of his World Domain, the entire space became completely visible to Rosen.

It wasn't large—only a few dozen miles in radius—and its edges were already in a state of collapse.

Clearly, this space had been slowly crumbling for many years, leaving only the core area relatively stable.

Normally, a collapsing space would generate significant spatial disturbances—there was no way that the demigods who had excavated the ruins could have failed to notice it.

Rosen carefully extended his senses, quickly locking onto the Abyssal Altar at the center of the space.

It was an altar used to summon Abyssal Demons—designed specifically to train low-sequence Demon Hunters.

Encircling the altar was the withered husk of an Ancient War Tree, and around that tree lay the rotting remains of wooden cabins.

The largest of these dilapidated cabins emitted a faint, hazy, semi-transparent black glow.

With his World Domain enveloping the space, Rosen immediately flickered through the void, appearing before the ruined cabin.

His divine perception swept over the structure, lifting the decayed remains into the air.

Taking a few steps forward, he picked up a black skull.

Its surface was smooth and glossy like jade, and when he touched it, it felt as soft and supple as a child's skin.

Embedded in the forehead was a transparent gemstone, while a pair of curved, ram-like demon horns protruded from the top.

And clamped between its teeth—was a scarred and battered dagger.

After carefully analyzing it, Rosen identified the skull as belonging to a peak demigod Demon Hunter.

At that time, the Potion Sequence had not yet been developed, so a peak demigod was roughly equivalent to a Sequence 1 peak-tier transcendent.

As for the transparent gemstone in its forehead, it was none other than the Soul-Cleansing Stone—a gemstone of Sequence 0 caliber, capable of suppressing and purifying spiritual corruption.

The demon horns on the skull?

They had belonged to an Abyssal Lord—specifically, a Mind Enchanting Demon that had ascended to Abyssal Lord status.

Though only a Sequence 0 entity, faint traces of its aura still lingered in the horns.

Not only could they intimidate Abyssal Demons, but they could also release a bewitching radiance that clouded the mind.

It became clear to Rosen—this space had been noticed before, but those who encountered it had likely been affected by the residual enchantment and subconsciously ignored it.

Finally, there was the dagger clenched between the skull's teeth.

It was an Initiation Dagger—a ceremonial blade used in the Demon Hunter's initiation ritual.

Inside the dagger, Rosen could sense an entirely intact Demon Hunter inheritance.

This entire set—the skull, the gemstone, the demon horns, and the dagger—was meant to train and initiate new Demon Hunters.

If an Elf wished to become a Demon Hunter, they would first need to spiritualize the skull and merge it with their own.

From there, they would endure the mental influence of the Mind Enchanting Demon's lingering aura, repeatedly using the Soul-Cleansing Stone to resist and purge the corruption—slowly tempering their will.

Once their mind was strong enough to withstand the backlash of an Abyssal Demon, they would proceed to the next step: using the Abyssal Altar to summon an Abyssal Demon.

Then, they would drive the Initiation Dagger through their own heart, devouring the demon's bloodline and merging it with their own.

The demon's corpse would then be used to craft a Demon Hunter-exclusive transcendent artifact—allowing them to successfully seize the demon's power and gain the ability to transform into an Abyssal Demon.

With this entire set in hand, Rosen realized that his Wood Elves in the Primordial God Realm could now become Demon Hunters.

This was an excellent find—just not exactly what he was looking for.

What he truly needed was something related to Hell's Devils—a transcendent Devil's Contract steeped in powerful curses.

Still, as he delved deeper into the Initiation Dagger's inherited knowledge, Rosen uncovered a shocking truth—one that completely overturned the world's understanding of Demon Hunters.

Most people assumed that Demon Hunters only stole power from Abyssal Demons.

After all, they could transform into demons, so it was a reasonable conclusion.

But in reality, that wasn't the case. Demon Hunters seized power from Abyssal Demons at the bloodline level, while at the soul level, they stole power from Hell's Devils. By using the forces of Abyssal Demons and Hell's Devils to counterbalance one another, they were able to maintain control. This was the true reason why Demon Hunters were so effective at hunting devils.

As for the Elves, who revered nature—why would they actively seek out the power of the Abyss and Hell?

It wasn't simply because they were enemies. The true reason was that Demon Hunters existed to preserve order.

The Abyss and Hell were like malignant tumors to the Main World, so slaying demons and devils was equivalent to maintaining the natural order of the world.

Rosen pondered this. Why would the Elves, of all races, concern themselves with maintaining the world's order?

And if preserving order should have earned them merit in the eyes of the world, then why did the Elves suffer such a crushing defeat at the hands of the Giants?

Under normal circumstances, the Giants should never have been able to completely defeat the Elves.

After all, the Life Mother Tree was a True God-level entity. Though it wasn't skilled in destruction or killing, its vitality and defenses were widely acknowledged as the strongest among True Gods.

No ordinary battle with a few True Gods could possibly threaten the Life Mother Tree's survival.

If the Giants had managed to kill the Life Mother Tree, then at least some of their True Gods should have perished with it.

Yet, to this day, the fall of the Life Mother Tree remained an unsolved mystery.

Rosen examined the space but found no traces of a Devil's Contract. With a tinge of regret, he collected the Abyssal Altar and prepared to leave.

This space had only remained intact for so long because the Abyssal Altar had stabilized and anchored it.

Now that the altar was gone, the entire space rapidly collapsed, reaching the end of its lifespan.

Everything within was crushed into dust, broken down into its most fundamental elements, and reabsorbed into the Main World.

Watching this, Rosen felt a spark of realization.

Perhaps he finally understood why the Life Mother Tree had fallen.

To the Main World, the continued existence of the Life Mother Tree was a disruption to the natural order.

Demon Hunters existed to preserve that order, using their deeds to counterbalance the Life Mother Tree's impact on the world's equilibrium.

Although the Main World was vast, it had limits—both in size and resources.

There was only so much life the world could sustain.

Just as gods nurtured their followers, the world nurtured all living beings.

Gods reaped the faith of their believers. The world, in turn, reaped the insights and refinements that transcendent beings brought to its laws and principles.

After all, laws and principles were not static.

For example, in the beginning, there had been no Painting Law. But as painting emerged, the rules of painting took shape. And as more and more painters appeared, the Painting Law was eventually born with the aid of the World Tree.

In this way, all beings contributed to the growth of the Main World's laws and principles.

This was why transcendents existed.

This was why Gods and True Gods were allowed to be born.

The Main World welcomed Gods and True Gods—the more, the better.

While alive, they benefited from the world's nurturing. When they died, everything they had accumulated returned to the world as nourishment for its growth.

The so-called Era of Civilization Cataclysms was, in reality, just the world's way of butchering its cattle and sheep.

As for Great True Gods, they were different.

They could sever their ties with the Main World.

And once they reached that point, they became threats to the world itself.

The Abyss and Hell had already grown into existential threats to the Main World.

The world could not tolerate Great True Gods, and in turn, Great True Gods coveted the power of the Ancient Gods.

The two sides could not coexist—this was the true reason why Great True Gods had vanished from history.

Although the Life Mother Tree was not a Great True God, it had already come very close to becoming one.

Plants rarely gave birth to life, but once they did, their innate potential was incredibly strong. The Life Mother Tree, a True God-level entity, had once been hailed as the True God closest to ascending to Great True God status. It was very possible that the Life Mother Tree had already been attempting to transcend into a Great True God.

That was why it disrupted the natural order.

That was why Demon Hunters were needed to counterbalance its existence.

That was why the Giants cut it down.

But the true force behind the Life Mother Tree's destruction was not the Giants.

It was the will of the Main World itself.

After returning to Oasis City, Rosen began systematically tracking down the relics excavated from that ancient site.

The hidden dimension where the Demon Hunters had once lived contained only artifacts related to Abyssal Demons—there was nothing connected to Hell's Devils.

That was clearly unnatural.

Which meant that any devil-related artifacts had likely been lost during the collapse of that space, scattering somewhere beyond.

But before Rosen could investigate further, he discovered that someone had been waiting for him at the Oasis Hotel for several days.

The person was a middle-aged man who looked somewhat uneasy—but despite his aged appearance, his actual age was only in his teens.

His prematurely aged features were the result of rapid life force depletion.

This young man had learned of Rosen's existence, and despite his feeble Sequence 9 strength, he had recklessly ventured onto the streets of Oasis City, enduring a drastic loss of lifespan along the way.

By the time he finally staggered into the Oasis Hotel, he had already aged from a youth to a middle-aged man.

With a single glance, Rosen used his mind-reading ability to grasp the boy's purpose.

He had come to sell information.

Rosen had placed a high-paying bounty for any intel related to Demon Hunters and devils.

Because the price was so generous, the bounty had spread far and wide throughout Oasis City.

The young man's name was Xavier Morrison.

He was born in Oasis City, and his ancestors had been among the half-gods who had retired there.

One of those ancestors had been the original discoverer of the elven ruins Rosen was investigating.

That same ancestor—Duke Morrison—had also been the previous owner of the Demon Hunter skull artifact.

However, upon obtaining the relic, the old Duke had quickly sold it through the Spirit Web.

If the artifact had still been in his possession, Rosen would have long since tracked him down to purchase it.

The reason Xavier had sought Rosen out was because he had uncovered a deep secret within his own family.

His direct lineage had been secretly worshipping Hell's Devils.

Among humans, even publicly worshipping gods was forbidden, let alone openly worshipping devils.

If such a thing were exposed, the entire Morrison family would be eradicated.

If Xavier had been well-treated within his family, he might have buried the secret and pretended not to know.

But as an outcast within the Morrison household—an orphan whose parents had died when he was a child—he felt zero attachment to his family.

And so, in a moment of reckless impulse, he rushed to the Oasis Hotel, hoping to sell information about the devils for a good price so he could flee Oasis City.

Xavier steadied himself and opened his mouth to reveal his family's secret.

But the instant he tried to speak, his entire body suddenly erupted into flames of Hellfire.

Without hesitation, Rosen instantly unleashed his World Domain, completely enveloping Xavier.

Then, he summoned a Sequence 2 Angelic Soldier.

Under the power of Resurrection Magic, Xavier—who had already burned to death—was brought back to life.

Even his drained lifespan had been restored, transforming him back into a teenager.

Having died once, Xavier now sat there trembling, too terrified to say a single word.

"You have a curse embedded in your bloodline," Rosen said as he dismissed the angel. "I've already purified it for you. You don't need to tell me the information you wanted to sell—I've already learned it myself. I'll arrange for you to leave Oasis City and give you some spiritual essence crystals."

"Th-Thank you, Lord Half-God…"

Xavier, overwhelmed with shock and gratitude, was on the verge of tears.

After ensuring Xavier's departure, Rosen turned his attention to infiltrating Duke Morrison's divine domain.

A human-born half-god—worshipping a long-extinct Hell's Devil in secret?

It seemed that when the old Duke had explored those ruins years ago, he hadn't just discovered the Demon Hunter skull artifact.

He had also uncovered something related to the devils.

Perhaps he had been corrupted by the devils' power.

Or perhaps he had willingly chosen to serve them for his own personal gain.

Either way, it was time to find out.