Lord: Sequence Master

Eager to examine his latest creation, Rosen gazed at the painting he'd named "Haunted Carnival."

After advancing it to Sequence 6, the painting had not only acquired the Enigmatic Property but also evolved into a Spirit Realm Painting. His curiosity was piqued—what unique power did it possess now? Eager to examine his latest creation, Rosen gazed at the painting he'd named "Haunted Carnival."

After advancing it to Sequence 6, the painting had not only acquired the Enigmatic Property but had also evolved into a Spirit Realm Painting. His curiosity was piqued—what unique power did it possess now?

[Haunted Carnival: Enigmatic Spirit Realm Painting]

Level: Sequence 6

Range: One hundred miles

Enigmatic Attractions: Fright Manor, Mirror Maze, Enigmatic Circus, Pirate Ship of Skulls, Soul Carousel, Temporal Ferris Wheel, Bumper Cars of Doom, Gallows Trampoline, Tumbling Slides...

Enigmatic Traits: 1 Point

Examining the painting closely, Rosen realized it was only a partial manifestation. He needed to choose one attraction within the Haunted Carnival and use the Enigmatic Trait point to activate it.

Rosen casually chose to activate Fright Manor, and the painting immediately transformed. All other attractions dulled to grayscale, leaving only Fright Manor illuminated.

Merging his spirit with Fright Manor, Rosen sensed that he could use its Enigmatic Property to create a singular Enigmatic Rule within the manor. This rule would apply only within the painting and in the physical Fright Manor of the Virtual Haunted Carnival.

The Enigmatic Rule could be anything, no matter how outlandish.

Yet, the power of any rule he set would be limited by the strength of the Haunted Carnival itself.

After careful thought, Rosen established the rule for Fright Manor: All injuries sustained in Fright Manor will be mirrored onto the true body.

It was important to understand that, though the Haunted Carnival existed in reality, it only existed within the Virtual Realm.

From the outset, visitors to the Haunted Carnival had merely logged their consciousnesses into the virtual world.

In other words, the Haunted Carnival could only house the spiritual consciousness of intelligent beings.

Next, Rosen went to the Hunter Spirit Realm and called forth a death row convict detained for his Aura Abilities. He crafted a portrait of this prisoner, meticulously imbuing it with a copy of the man's spirit, making it seem indistinguishable from the original. With the spiritual infusion, the painted prisoner instantly came to life.

Rosen tossed the painted prisoner into Fright Manor, keeping an eye on the real prisoner before him.

Within minutes, the painted prisoner's brain was devoured by a ghostly figure in Fright Manor.

The moment his brain was eaten, the real prisoner's skull split open, his brain gone.

The injuries sustained by the painted prisoner in Fright Manor had indeed mirrored onto his original.

And this was just one Enigmatic Rule. With more rules added, Fright Manor could evolve into a deadly, inescapable zone for Transcendent beings.

Fully matured, the Enigmatic Painting skill of a Blazing Painter would undoubtedly surpass the Terror Painting of most Sequence 3 painters.

Rosen continued experimenting with the Haunted Carnival, eventually finding that Ashen Veil could merge with it.

Once Ashen Veil infected another's spirit, he could even pull their consciousness into the Haunted Carnival.

This sparked a thought—what if he recruited other painters to help him expand the Haunted Carnival?

Thanks to the Ashen Veil's unique attribute, One with Heaven and Earth, he had formed master-servant links with the Soul Canvases of 356,910 painters. His rapid Ashen Veil advancement was largely due to siphoning power from their Soul Canvases.

Given that the Haunted Carnival could merge with Soul Canvases, what if it could be shared across them?

This would enable all Soul Canvases to gain a special attack ability, and he could then use the work of countless painters to grow the Haunted Carnival far faster than if he tried alone.

With this in mind, Rosen entered the Void Gallery, then moved to the Divine Archive Room.

Switching the Ashen Veil to Soul Canvas, he began sharing the Haunted Carnival with all Sequence 4 and lower painters. Only lower sequences would be drawn to the Haunted Carnival; higher sequences didn't need it.

Yet sharing the Haunted Carnival through so many canvases drained Rosen's divine essence.

To reach more canvases, he relied on the Main God Computer's resources. Over the years, the Church of the Main God had spread successfully across the Hunter World, converting over ninety percent of its nearly ten billion people. The faith these followers generated continuously fueled the Main God Computer with divine essence.

After three days, nearly exhausting the Main God Computer's reserves, he had succeeded in linking 294,000 painters to the Haunted Carnival.

These numbers indicated that of humanity's painters, fewer than sixty thousand had reached Sequence 5 or higher.

Those at Sequence 4 or half-divinity were even rarer, perhaps fewer than ten thousand.

At the pinnacle—those who'd reached Sequence 1 over the past twenty millennia—could be counted on two hands.

Rosen could only imagine the waves these three days had stirred among the painters.

He was right; the painter circles had erupted with covert intrigue.

The sudden appearance of the Haunted Carnival in their Soul Canvas meant a sudden access to a powerful Curse Skill.

And the Haunted Carnival even provided tokens for participants. These tokens could be used to download Spirit Paintings from the Carnival's shop, while many artists discovered their stored Soul Paintings had been copied into this marketplace.

Some were so alarmed they destroyed their Soul Canvas abilities at great expense.

But more painters couldn't resist the opportunities these abilities offered.

Apart from Spirit Paintings, tokens could unlock an array of knowledge related to the Painter Sequence, allowing artists to reduce their advancement costs.

For most painters, the value of the Soul Canvas skill itself was too great to abandon.

Debate among painters settled on three theories to explain the Soul Canvas's strange evolution:

One painter's Soul Canvas evolved into a miracle skill, achieving One with Heaven and Earth and gaining control over other Soul Canvases.

A Sequence 1 painter had enhanced Soul Canvas with Divine Authority, affecting other Canvases to secure devotion from the Painter Sequence and elevate their own status.

The Painter Sequence itself had changed in some uncontrolled way.

Regardless of the cause, the issue needed to be addressed.

After three days of cooperative research among high-sequence painters, they found a way to mitigate the risk.

If the Soul Canvas might be controlled, they could attempt to detach it.

Rather than integrating the Canvas into their original bodies, they began embedding it in their Self-Portrait Clones.

That way, if any Canvas malfunctioned, it would only kill the clone.

With that issue resolved, more painters began earning tokens.

There were three ways to earn tokens: injecting high-quality spirit crystals into the Carnival, infusing negative spiritual energy, or drawing a spirit into the Carnival to curse and kill it, trapping its soul there.

Seeing painters rush to earn tokens, Rosen even created a bounty forum within the Carnival.

Painters could post tasks, with tokens as currency on the forum.

While physical transactions still required in-person exchanges, knowledge trading alone generated an impressive bounty.

As time passed, Haunted Carnival did not immediately advance to Sequence 5 as expected.

Instead, he gained one more Enigmatic Trait point, allowing him to illuminate another attraction and set a new Enigmatic Rule.

Rosen surmised that Haunted Carnival would only level up after all attractions were activated.

Also, each attraction could likely support only one Enigmatic Rule per level, meaning a maximum of seven rules per attraction at Sequence 0.

If his hypothesis was correct, Haunted Carnival's rules would grow stronger with each level.

Furthermore, since all attractions belonged to the Carnival, rules from different attractions might even synergize.

But he would have to fully unlock and advance the Haunted Carnival to Sequence 5 to verify.

After countless days in transit, the Feathered Serpent Fighter finally crossed millions of miles, reaching the Star Empire.

Rosen hadn't used teleportation arrays in the intermediary kingdoms to complete the journey faster, mainly because he'd been hunting Spirit World Beings along the way.

He collected a fair number of Sequence 7 Soul Gems, though Sequence 6 gems were rare, netting only one.

In all, he'd hunted over a hundred Spirit World creatures at Sequence 7 or above, with surprisingly low gem drop rates. The higher the creature's level, the fewer there were, which explained why even in twenty thousand years, the World Government had only secured one Sequence 1 Soul Gem.

If not, the World Government would undoubtedly have more than one Sequence 1 unit structure.

With the Sequence 6 Soul Gem in hand, he promptly reinforced Ashen Fortress.

With his Sequence Tree of Antiquity residing there, any defense was inadequate.

Arriving at the Star Empire, Rosen halted the hunt and returned to reality.

Checking his map, he saw that the nearest city was Mountain River City.

Two hours later, Rosen teleported from the Feathered Serpent Fighter's cockpit, hovering midair.

"A three-dimensional carved landscape painting…"

Rosen marveled at the sprawling city of Mountain River City.

It was a perfect square, precisely a thousand miles across each side.

The city itself rested upon a gigantic stone canvas, and from this colossal stone surface rose countless carved mountains, rivers, and skyscrapers in a breathtaking display.

It wasn't a man-made city but a city painted and carved by generations of Mountain River's painters.

Here, inked painting was merely a finishing touch—Relief Carving was the true medium.

Rosen was certain that Mountain River City itself was a Sequence 3 Spirit Realm Painting.

However, he had never studied Relief Carving, for it lacked the depth of sculpture and the refinement of traditional painting.

But since he was here, he was bound to learn something of value.

He noticed that people entered Mountain River City by flying overhead, vanishing upon reaching its boundaries.

Following their lead, Rosen and Alicia rode the Storm Thunderbird into Mountain River City.

Upon entry, they were transported directly to a bustling plaza before a grand building.

Nearby, a huge stone stele bore a set of rules for visitors to Mountain River City.

If not a painter, you could only tour and trade within the city's main district.

Access to other painters' private zones required permission. Some artists opened their zones for exhibitions and charged admission, though attendance was optional.

Finally, no violence was allowed within city limits—unless you could evade the Enforcers.

Mountain River City's rules were simple, and Rosen and Alicia quickly registered for temporary permits.

When the clerk learned that Rosen was a painter, he asked if Rosen would contribute one of his Spirit Paintings.

Depending on the painting's quality, the Mountain River City Painters Association would reciprocate with an equivalent gift.

Rosen agreed. After completing the registration, the clerk handed him a card.

Rosen saw that it was actually a painting—made using Relief Printing.

On the card was an image of a phone. With a bit of spiritual energy, the phone could materialize, allowing him to dial and connect anywhere within Mountain River City. Shortly after, an official city representative—at least a Sequence 5 painter—would reach out.

Rosen took Alicia's hand as they strolled through the city, pausing at nearly every building in admiration.

Every surface held an artwork, from towering buildings to city mountains, from stone benches on the roadside to the flowerbeds and trees. Every element was a painter's creation. Living here was like a paradise for any artist.

It was late into the night before they finally checked into their hotel, reluctant to end the day.

Early the next morning, the hotel reception called their room.

Rosen, still holding Alicia, sped through his morning routine within the Time Tower's accelerated timeflow, leaving Alicia to rest as he went alone to the lobby. Waiting for him was a young man in a tuxedo, drinking tea and perusing a magazine in the lounge.

"Hello, Duke Howard. A pleasure to meet you," the man said warmly, standing as Rosen approached and extending his hand.

"Hello, and you are?" Rosen shook his hand, prompting the man's introduction.

"Misia Dyson," he replied, calling over a server to see what Rosen would like to drink.

Rosen ordered a juice, and the two settled in the hotel lounge for a conversation.

Misia was a Sequence 5 painter, though his actual age far surpassed his youthful appearance.

With slim prospects of reaching Sequence 4, he had chosen to settle in Mountain River City, joining its painters' guild. His time was spent creating art, teaching lower-sequence painters, and occasionally meeting visiting artists.

His life was relaxed, nearly a retirement.

However, with the recent arrival of the Haunted Carnival in the painter circles, Misia had renewed hope for advancing his career.

So, he'd decided that today's hosting would be his last. Afterward, he would leave the comfort of Mountain River City and take one final shot.

Two centuries of quiet had made Misia apprehensive about venturing out.

Though it was their first meeting, he had much to say.

After thirty minutes of friendly chat, Misia led Rosen to a nearby boutique, seeking his opinion along the way.

The three-story building was entirely white, both inside and out, like a blank canvas.

This structure was Rosen's to decorate. Taking out his Divine Brush, he remotely controlled it, letting it fly and hover as it colored the building's exterior. Once the outer color was complete, he went inside and began painting outfits, one by one, as well as the shop assistants who would display them.

One by one, the attendants emerged from the wall paintings, bringing the newly painted clothes onto the shelves.

In a way, this boutique had become a miniature Spirit Realm Painting.

Each painted garment was a unique item, and nearly every shop in Mountain River City operated in a similar fashion.

After finishing, Rosen didn't stop there; he took out a large number of Time and Space Spirit Crystals.

Finally, he produced a golden apple leaf, transforming it into a canvas, and used sealing techniques to enclose the boutique within the painting, raising its rank from Sequence 7 to Sequence 5.

The resources he invested here were worth over fifty million Spirit Crystals.

Rosen had a straightforward goal: to exchange this painting for some of Mountain River City's rare painter skills.

Misia, upon inspection, was quite satisfied. This boutique would operate autonomously, with each garment sold as a Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 transcendent item. Production-focused Spirit Realm Paintings like this one were always in high demand in Mountain River City.

In return, Rosen received a list of rare skills the city possessed.

Some skills were freely available, others required a contract with a Spirit Deity to prevent dissemination, and others were directly transferrable through Skill Crystals, though some of these crystals required additional fees to acquire.

"Is this really available?" Rosen spotted an interesting skill and exchanged a crystal for it without hesitation.

It wasn't a painter's skill but rather an Assassin Skill Crystal.

Upon obtaining the crystal, he immediately began analyzing the spiritual runes comprising it.

It took months, even under the Time Tower's fivefold acceleration, to fully unravel the crystal's secrets.

Once fully analyzed, Rosen eagerly began his second Human Body Painting.

The first had been the Masquerade painting on his self-portrait clone; this time, he was painting Shattered Weaponry on himself.

Lying face-down on the sofa, his clone meticulously painted one rune after another onto his back.

Eventually, a pair of crossed Twin Daggers emerged, etched across his shoulder blades.

Finally, he fused the Shattered Weaponry skill crystal with his back, activating the painted skill.

[Shattered Weaponry: Break down any long-bonded spiritual weapon to increase personal damage output]

It was a deceptively simple skill, but one highly coveted among the Assassin Sequence.

And combined with the miracle-grade Twin Daggers that could continually regenerate, he could raise his attack power by several times during a burst.

Elated by this unexpected gain, Rosen prepared to explore other cities.

Still, he needed three painter skills he could be genuinely satisfied with.

Just as he was about to check out of the hotel, the receptionist handed him a letter that had arrived two months prior.

He had instructed the hotel not to disturb him for any reason while he was painting, which had delayed its delivery.

Opening the envelope, Rosen found a letter from Misia Dyson.

Though he'd enjoyed their chat, their relationship was brief, a single meeting. Perhaps it was an invitation to a social gathering? Yet the envelope didn't seem like an invitation.

He opened it and pulled out the letter.

Reading through the hurriedly scrawled words, his expression grew more somber.

During their talk a few months earlier, Misia had confided in him. Inspired by the Haunted Carnival, Misia planned to make one last push—either he'd advance to Sequence 4 and enjoy a few more centuries or perish in the attempt.

Misia had spoken with such conviction, and he had indeed followed through.

That day, after hosting him and completing his final task for the Mountain River City Painters Guild, Misia had ventured into a Spirit Realm he'd discovered long ago, bringing a few trusted friends for the expedition.

But trust is hard to judge, especially when great profit is at stake.

Misia's true body had perished within that Spirit Realm, leaving only his Self-Portrait Clone to pen the letter.

A painter's Self-Portrait Clone typically had two purposes.

The first was handling the dirty, dangerous tasks, aiding the painter by absorbing potential risks and aiding in combat.

The second was to serve as a vessel for the painter's memories should the original die, enabling them to continue living on in a limited capacity.

In rare cases, the clone might even awaken its own spirit, allowing the painter to live a second life.

Misia had chosen the latter, leaving his Self-Portrait Clone with his family.

Yet, unexpectedly, his clone began to disintegrate alongside his true body.

Before the clone was completely destroyed, Misia had managed to pen this letter. If Rosen lacked the strength, he advised forgetting the letter entirely; if Rosen was strong enough, Misia hinted he could avenge him and reap ample rewards in the process.

Rosen set the letter aside, thoughtful. Ordinary Spirit Realms aren't tempting enough.

And Misia's enemies aren't mine. Without a substantial benefit, he felt no obligation to take up the vendetta.

But this Spirit Realm was unique—a Sequence 3 Spirit Realm left by a half-divine painter.

Inside could be that painter's legacy, or at the very least, a Sequence 3 Spirit Realm Painting.

The thought stirred his interest.

After a final tour around Mountain River City, he followed the coordinates in the letter. He had already confirmed through Soul Canvas that Misia was truly dead, meaning this was unlikely to be a trap.

(Chapter End)

[Haunted Carnival: Enigmatic Spirit Realm Painting]

Level: Sequence 6

Range: One hundred miles

Enigmatic Attractions: Fright Manor, Mirror Maze, Enigmatic Circus, Pirate Ship of Skulls, Soul Carousel, Temporal Ferris Wheel, Bumper Cars of Doom, Gallows Trampoline, Tumbling Slides...

Enigmatic Traits: 1 Point

Examining the painting closely, Rosen realized it was only a partial manifestation. He needed to choose one attraction within the Haunted Carnival and use the Enigmatic Trait point to activate it.

Rosen casually chose to activate Fright Manor, and the painting immediately transformed. All other attractions dulled to grayscale, leaving only Fright Manor illuminated.

Merging his spirit with Fright Manor, Rosen sensed that he could use its Enigmatic Property to create a singular Enigmatic Rule within the manor. This rule would apply only within the painting and in the physical Fright Manor of the Virtual Haunted Carnival.

The Enigmatic Rule could be anything, no matter how outlandish.

Yet, the power of any rule he set would be limited by the strength of the Haunted Carnival itself.

After careful thought, Rosen established the rule for Fright Manor: All injuries sustained in Fright Manor will be mirrored onto the true body.

It was important to understand that, though the Haunted Carnival existed in reality, it only existed within the Virtual Realm.

From the outset, visitors to the Haunted Carnival had merely logged their consciousnesses into the virtual world.

In other words, the Haunted Carnival could only house the spiritual consciousness of intelligent beings.

Next, Rosen went to the Hunter Spirit Realm and called forth a death row convict detained for his Aura Abilities. He crafted a portrait of this prisoner, meticulously imbuing it with a copy of the man's spirit, making it seem indistinguishable from the original. With the spiritual infusion, the painted prisoner instantly came to life.

Rosen tossed the painted prisoner into Fright Manor, keeping an eye on the real prisoner before him.

Within minutes, the painted prisoner's brain was devoured by a ghostly figure in Fright Manor.

The moment his brain was eaten, the real prisoner's skull split open, his brain gone.

The injuries sustained by the painted prisoner in Fright Manor had indeed mirrored onto his original.

And this was just one Enigmatic Rule. With more rules added, Fright Manor could evolve into a deadly, inescapable zone for Transcendent beings.

Fully matured, the Enigmatic Painting skill of a Blazing Painter would undoubtedly surpass the Terror Painting of most Sequence 3 painters.

Rosen continued experimenting with the Haunted Carnival, eventually finding that Ashen Veil could merge with it.

Once Ashen Veil infected another's spirit, he could even pull their consciousness into the Haunted Carnival.

This sparked a thought—what if he recruited other painters to help him expand the Haunted Carnival?

Thanks to the Ashen Veil's unique attribute, One with Heaven and Earth, he had formed master-servant links with the Soul Canvases of 356,910 painters. His rapid Ashen Veil advancement was largely due to siphoning power from their Soul Canvases.

Given that the Haunted Carnival could merge with Soul Canvases, what if it could be shared across them?

This would enable all Soul Canvases to gain a special attack ability, and he could then use the work of countless painters to grow the Haunted Carnival far faster than if he tried alone.

With this in mind, Rosen entered the Void Gallery, then moved to the Divine Archive Room.

Switching the Ashen Veil to Soul Canvas, he began sharing the Haunted Carnival with all Sequence 4 and lower painters. Only lower sequences would be drawn to the Haunted Carnival; higher sequences didn't need it.

Yet sharing the Haunted Carnival through so many canvases drained Rosen's divine essence.

To reach more canvases, he relied on the Main God Computer's resources. Over the years, the Church of the Main God had spread successfully across the Hunter World, converting over ninety percent of its nearly ten billion people. The faith these followers generated continuously fueled the Main God Computer with divine essence.

After three days, nearly exhausting the Main God Computer's reserves, he had succeeded in linking 294,000 painters to the Haunted Carnival.

These numbers indicated that of humanity's painters, fewer than sixty thousand had reached Sequence 5 or higher.

Those at Sequence 4 or half-divinity were even rarer, perhaps fewer than ten thousand.

At the pinnacle—those who'd reached Sequence 1 over the past twenty millennia—could be counted on two hands.

Rosen could only imagine the waves these three days had stirred among the painters.

He was right; the painter circles had erupted with covert intrigue.

The sudden appearance of the Haunted Carnival in their Soul Canvas meant a sudden access to a powerful Curse Skill.

And the Haunted Carnival even provided tokens for participants. These tokens could be used to download Spirit Paintings from the Carnival's shop, while many artists discovered their stored Soul Paintings had been copied into this marketplace.

Some were so alarmed they destroyed their Soul Canvas abilities at great expense.

But more painters couldn't resist the opportunities these abilities offered.

Apart from Spirit Paintings, tokens could unlock an array of knowledge related to the Painter Sequence, allowing artists to reduce their advancement costs.

For most painters, the value of the Soul Canvas skill itself was too great to abandon.

Debate among painters settled on three theories to explain the Soul Canvas's strange evolution:

One painter's Soul Canvas evolved into a miracle skill, achieving One with Heaven and Earth and gaining control over other Soul Canvases.

A Sequence 1 painter had enhanced Soul Canvas with Divine Authority, affecting other Canvases to secure devotion from the Painter Sequence and elevate their own status.

The Painter Sequence itself had changed in some uncontrolled way.

Regardless of the cause, the issue needed to be addressed.

After three days of cooperative research among high-sequence painters, they found a way to mitigate the risk.

If the Soul Canvas might be controlled, they could attempt to detach it.

Rather than integrating the Canvas into their original bodies, they began embedding it in their Self-Portrait Clones.

That way, if any Canvas malfunctioned, it would only kill the clone.

With that issue resolved, more painters began earning tokens.

There were three ways to earn tokens: injecting high-quality spirit crystals into the Carnival, infusing negative spiritual energy, or drawing a spirit into the Carnival to curse and kill it, trapping its soul there.

Seeing painters rush to earn tokens, Rosen even created a bounty forum within the Carnival.

Painters could post tasks, with tokens as currency on the forum.

While physical transactions still required in-person exchanges, knowledge trading alone generated an impressive bounty.

As time passed, Haunted Carnival did not immediately advance to Sequence 5 as expected.

Instead, he gained one more Enigmatic Trait point, allowing him to illuminate another attraction and set a new Enigmatic Rule.

Rosen surmised that Haunted Carnival would only level up after all attractions were activated.

Also, each attraction could likely support only one Enigmatic Rule per level, meaning a maximum of seven rules per attraction at Sequence 0.

If his hypothesis was correct, Haunted Carnival's rules would grow stronger with each level.

Furthermore, since all attractions belonged to the Carnival, rules from different attractions might even synergize.

But he would have to fully unlock and advance the Haunted Carnival to Sequence 5 to verify.

After countless days in transit, the Feathered Serpent Fighter finally crossed millions of miles, reaching the Star Empire.

Rosen hadn't used teleportation arrays in the intermediary kingdoms to complete the journey faster, mainly because he'd been hunting Spirit World Beings along the way.

He collected a fair number of Sequence 7 Soul Gems, though Sequence 6 gems were rare, netting only one.

In all, he'd hunted over a hundred Spirit World creatures at Sequence 7 or above, with surprisingly low gem drop rates. The higher the creature's level, the fewer there were, which explained why even in twenty thousand years, the World Government had only secured one Sequence 1 Soul Gem.

If not, the World Government would undoubtedly have more than one Sequence 1 unit structure.

With the Sequence 6 Soul Gem in hand, he promptly reinforced Ashen Fortress.

With his Sequence Tree of Antiquity residing there, any defense was inadequate.

Arriving at the Star Empire, Rosen halted the hunt and returned to reality.

Checking his map, he saw that the nearest city was Mountain River City.

Two hours later, Rosen teleported from the Feathered Serpent Fighter's cockpit, hovering midair.

"A three-dimensional carved landscape painting…"

Rosen marveled at the sprawling city of Mountain River City.

It was a perfect square, precisely a thousand miles across each side.

The city itself rested upon a gigantic stone canvas, and from this colossal stone surface rose countless carved mountains, rivers, and skyscrapers in a breathtaking display.

It wasn't a man-made city but a city painted and carved by generations of Mountain River's painters.

Here, inked painting was merely a finishing touch—Relief Carving was the true medium.

Rosen was certain that Mountain River City itself was a Sequence 3 Spirit Realm Painting.

However, he had never studied Relief Carving, for it lacked the depth of sculpture and the refinement of traditional painting.

But since he was here, he was bound to learn something of value.

He noticed that people entered Mountain River City by flying overhead, vanishing upon reaching its boundaries.

Following their lead, Rosen and Alicia rode the Storm Thunderbird into Mountain River City.

Upon entry, they were transported directly to a bustling plaza before a grand building.

Nearby, a huge stone stele bore a set of rules for visitors to Mountain River City.

If not a painter, you could only tour and trade within the city's main district.

Access to other painters' private zones required permission. Some artists opened their zones for exhibitions and charged admission, though attendance was optional.

Finally, no violence was allowed within city limits—unless you could evade the Enforcers.

Mountain River City's rules were simple, and Rosen and Alicia quickly registered for temporary permits.

When the clerk learned that Rosen was a painter, he asked if Rosen would contribute one of his Spirit Paintings.

Depending on the painting's quality, the Mountain River City Painters Association would reciprocate with an equivalent gift.

Rosen agreed. After completing the registration, the clerk handed him a card.

Rosen saw that it was actually a painting—made using Relief Printing.

On the card was an image of a phone. With a bit of spiritual energy, the phone could materialize, allowing him to dial and connect anywhere within Mountain River City. Shortly after, an official city representative—at least a Sequence 5 painter—would reach out.

Rosen took Alicia's hand as they strolled through the city, pausing at nearly every building in admiration.

Every surface held an artwork, from towering buildings to city mountains, from stone benches on the roadside to the flowerbeds and trees. Every element was a painter's creation. Living here was like a paradise for any artist.

It was late into the night before they finally checked into their hotel, reluctant to end the day.

Early the next morning, the hotel reception called their room.

Rosen, still holding Alicia, sped through his morning routine within the Time Tower's accelerated timeflow, leaving Alicia to rest as he went alone to the lobby. Waiting for him was a young man in a tuxedo, drinking tea and perusing a magazine in the lounge.

"Hello, Duke Howard. A pleasure to meet you," the man said warmly, standing as Rosen approached and extending his hand.

"Hello, and you are?" Rosen shook his hand, prompting the man's introduction.

"Misia Dyson," he replied, calling over a server to see what Rosen would like to drink.

Rosen ordered a juice, and the two settled in the hotel lounge for a conversation.

Misia was a Sequence 5 painter, though his actual age far surpassed his youthful appearance.

With slim prospects of reaching Sequence 4, he had chosen to settle in Mountain River City, joining its painters' guild. His time was spent creating art, teaching lower-sequence painters, and occasionally meeting visiting artists.

His life was relaxed, nearly a retirement.

However, with the recent arrival of the Haunted Carnival in the painter circles, Misia had renewed hope for advancing his career.

So, he'd decided that today's hosting would be his last. Afterward, he would leave the comfort of Mountain River City and take one final shot.

Two centuries of quiet had made Misia apprehensive about venturing out.

Though it was their first meeting, he had much to say.

After thirty minutes of friendly chat, Misia led Rosen to a nearby boutique, seeking his opinion along the way.

The three-story building was entirely white, both inside and out, like a blank canvas.

This structure was Rosen's to decorate. Taking out his Divine Brush, he remotely controlled it, letting it fly and hover as it colored the building's exterior. Once the outer color was complete, he went inside and began painting outfits, one by one, as well as the shop assistants who would display them.

One by one, the attendants emerged from the wall paintings, bringing the newly painted clothes onto the shelves.

In a way, this boutique had become a miniature Spirit Realm Painting.

Each painted garment was a unique item, and nearly every shop in Mountain River City operated in a similar fashion.

After finishing, Rosen didn't stop there; he took out a large number of Time and Space Spirit Crystals.

Finally, he produced a golden apple leaf, transforming it into a canvas, and used sealing techniques to enclose the boutique within the painting, raising its rank from Sequence 7 to Sequence 5.

The resources he invested here were worth over fifty million Spirit Crystals.

Rosen had a straightforward goal: to exchange this painting for some of Mountain River City's rare painter skills.

Misia, upon inspection, was quite satisfied. This boutique would operate autonomously, with each garment sold as a Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 transcendent item. Production-focused Spirit Realm Paintings like this one were always in high demand in Mountain River City.

In return, Rosen received a list of rare skills the city possessed.

Some skills were freely available, others required a contract with a Spirit Deity to prevent dissemination, and others were directly transferrable through Skill Crystals, though some of these crystals required additional fees to acquire.

"Is this really available?" Rosen spotted an interesting skill and exchanged a crystal for it without hesitation.

It wasn't a painter's skill but rather an Assassin Skill Crystal.

Upon obtaining the crystal, he immediately began analyzing the spiritual runes comprising it.

It took months, even under the Time Tower's fivefold acceleration, to fully unravel the crystal's secrets.

Once fully analyzed, Rosen eagerly began his second Human Body Painting.

The first had been the Masquerade painting on his self-portrait clone; this time, he was painting Shattered Weaponry on himself.

Lying face-down on the sofa, his clone meticulously painted one rune after another onto his back.

Eventually, a pair of crossed Twin Daggers emerged, etched across his shoulder blades.

Finally, he fused the Shattered Weaponry skill crystal with his back, activating the painted skill.

[Shattered Weaponry: Break down any long-bonded spiritual weapon to increase personal damage output]

It was a deceptively simple skill, but one highly coveted among the Assassin Sequence.

And combined with the miracle-grade Twin Daggers that could continually regenerate, he could raise his attack power several times during a burst.

Elated by this unexpected gain, Rosen prepared to explore other cities.

Still, he needed three painter skills he could be genuinely satisfied with.

Just as he was about to check out of the hotel, the receptionist handed him a letter that had arrived two months prior.

He had instructed the hotel not to disturb him for any reason while he was painting, which had delayed its delivery.

Opening the envelope, Rosen found a letter from Misia Dyson.

Though he'd enjoyed their chat, their relationship was brief, a single meeting. Perhaps it was an invitation to a social gathering? Yet the envelope didn't seem like an invitation.

He opened it and pulled out the letter.

Reading through the hurriedly scrawled words, his expression grew more somber.

During their talk a few months earlier, Misia had confided in him. Inspired by the Haunted Carnival, Misia planned to make one last push—either he'd advance to Sequence 4 and enjoy a few more centuries or perish in the attempt.

Misia had spoken with such conviction, and he had indeed followed through.

That day, after hosting him and completing his final task for the Mountain River City Painters Guild, Misia had ventured into a Spirit Realm he'd discovered long ago, bringing a few trusted friends for the expedition.

But trust is hard to judge, especially when great profit is at stake.

Misia's true body had perished within that Spirit Realm, leaving only his Self-Portrait Clone to pen the letter.

A painter's Self-Portrait Clone typically had two purposes.

The first was handling the dirty, dangerous tasks, aiding the painter by absorbing potential risks and aiding in combat.

The second was to serve as a vessel for the painter's memories should the original die, enabling them to continue living on in a limited capacity.

In rare cases, the clone might even awaken its own spirit, allowing the painter to live a second life.

Misia had chosen the latter, leaving his Self-Portrait Clone with his family.

Yet, unexpectedly, his clone began to disintegrate alongside his true body.

Before the clone was completely destroyed, Misia had managed to pen this letter. If Rosen lacked the strength, he advised forgetting the letter entirely; if Rosen was strong enough, Misia hinted he could avenge him and reap ample rewards in the process.

Rosen set the letter aside, thoughtful. Ordinary Spirit Realms aren't tempting enough.

And Misia's enemies aren't mine. Without a substantial benefit, he felt no obligation to take up the vendetta.

But this Spirit Realm was unique—a Sequence 3 Spirit Realm left by a half-divine painter.

Inside could be that painter's legacy, or at the very least, a Sequence 3 Spirit Realm Painting.

The thought stirred his interest.

After a final tour around Mountain River City, he followed the coordinates in the letter. He had already confirmed through Soul Canvas that Misia was truly dead, meaning this was unlikely to be a trap.

(Chapter End)