"It actually caused a miracle treasure to undergo changes…"
Rosen looked at the Dragon-Binding Rope's new attributes with lingering fear.
[Dragon-Binding Rope: Miracle Treasure]
[Level: Sequence 0 (True God)]
[Miracle Attribute: The Dragon-Binding Rope can suppress, seal, and enslave dragonkind.]
[Miracle Traits: Dragon-Slaying Set, Burrow Demon Dragon Transformation, Dark Sun Dragon Nest, One and Only in Heaven and Earth, Eternal and Indestructible.]
The original Azure Dragon Transformation had now become Burrow Demon Dragon Transformation. However, Rosen already had an Azure Dragon clone that could transform into an Azure Dragon, so he didn't need the Azure Dragon Transformation trait.
When he activated Burrow Demon Dragon Transformation, Rosen immediately turned into a terrifying and grotesque Burrow Demon Dragon. He gained all the abilities of a Sequence 0 Burrow Demon Dragon and even sensed the power of the Dark Sun from within the New World.
Rosen could clearly feel an endless darkness deep within the Burrow Demon Dragon's nest. However, he quickly ended the transformation because turning into a Burrow Demon Dragon would permanently erode his divine consciousness. If he wanted to avoid damage to his divine consciousness, he would have to endure the permanent erosion of his divine essence. Other than gaining access to the Dark Sun's power, there weren't many benefits to becoming a Burrow Demon Dragon.
Originally, the Dragon-Binding Rope could enslave ten thousand dragon souls. Now, the Ten Thousand Dragons Dance trait had transformed into Dark Sun Dragon Nest. Activating this trait allowed the rope to drain the life and spirit of its prey after capturing it, then create a Burrow Demon Dragon of up to Sequence 0. If five Sequence 0 Burrow Demon Dragons were gathered, sacrificing four of them could strengthen the fifth to True God level.
In a sense, the Dark Sun Dragon Nest was equivalent to a True God-level troop-building structure.
The changes to the Dragon-Binding Rope were irreversible, so Rosen decided to make the best of the situation. However, before he could continue using the rope to hunt and devour the remaining Sequence 0 Burrow Demon Dragons, the Mind Canvas automatically drew a prophetic painting that issued a warning. If he left the Mysterious Study Room at this moment, he would inevitably face a life-and-death crisis.
For him to sense such a threat, it had to be at least at the level of a Great True God. After ruling out all other possibilities, Rosen arrived at the only plausible explanation.
The Burrow Demon Dragons were unlikely to be naturally occurring creatures. Behind them likely stood a Great True God. However, the Great True God wasn't stationed in the Burrow Demon Dragon's nest, and Sequence 1 dragons weren't important enough to attract their attention—even their deaths wouldn't alarm the Great True God. But the disappearance of Sequence 0 Burrow Demon Dragons had already alerted the Great True God behind them.
Now, the Great True God was probably hiding in the Burrow Demon Dragon's nest, lying in wait. If Rosen continued capturing the dragons at this point, he would be caught red-handed.
Leaving was the best option, but Rosen still wanted to test the waters. He wanted to see which Great True God stood behind the Burrow Demon Dragons.
The Flesh Mother Nest quickly cloned a Burrow Demon Dragon that was only superficially identical. Rosen then took out the God Pigment transformed from the Burrow Demon Dragon's flesh and painted a layer of camouflage on the clone's surface. Even a Great True God wouldn't be able to see through this imposter at a glance.
Rosen transmitted the clone directly through the World Window. Once outside the Mysterious Study Room, the clone began to move cautiously.
Just as the clone was about to venture deep into the Burrow Demon Dragon's nest, the surrounding soil and rocks came to life, transforming into a middle-aged man with dragon horns on his head. With a single grasp, the space around the Burrow Demon Dragon shrank and fell into his hand.
The spatial anchor of the Mysterious Study Room had been transferred to the clone. Through the World Window, Rosen saw the true face of the Great True God outside.
At first glance, there was nothing remarkable about his appearance. After all, no portraits of Great True Gods from history had survived. Rosen immediately picked up his brush and began painting the Great True God outside the window. However, after painting for a while, the image on the canvas began to disappear as fast as he drew it. Even his memory couldn't retain the appearance of this Great True God.
Rosen opened the Hidden Brass Book and began drawing the Great True God's likeness directly inside the book. This time, the image didn't disappear. When he finished and looked out the window, the Great True God was no longer visible.
"The gap between a True God and a Great True God is this vast?" Rosen muttered, frowning as he closed the Hidden Brass Book.
He knew Great True Gods were powerful, but he had never personally encountered one. Relying solely on the fragmented memories of the Azure Dragon, he had underestimated their strength, mistakenly believing that a Great True God was only about ten times stronger than a True God. After all, a True God was roughly ten times stronger than a deity.
Moreover, historical records he knew of included at least two instances of True Gods ganging up to kill a Great True God. These had led him to misjudge the power of Great True Gods. He had thought that if he could kill True Gods, he would at least be able to protect himself against a Great True God, even if he couldn't defeat one. But now, he couldn't even remember the Great True God's appearance. The gap was far greater than he had imagined.
Rosen opened the Hidden Brass Book again and activated the unique pupil technique of the Ancient God's True Eye—Secrets Unveiled. Using known clues, this technique permanently consumed divine essence to uncover the secrets hidden behind those clues.
Rosen's divine essence was rapidly drained by the Ancient God's True Eye, nearly dropping him to Sequence 1 before the Secrets Unveiled effect stopped. He quickly recorded the secrets revealed by the technique and immediately took out the Flesh Secret Fruit and the Essence Oil Lamp to begin cultivating.
After half a month under a thousand-fold time acceleration, Rosen finally recovered. Opening the Hidden Brass Book, he saw that the permanent loss of 17 points of divine essence had yielded only a single sentence:
[Earth Demon Dragon, Forbidden True God, tasked with guarding the Ancient God's Black Cavity.]
"So, he's the legendary Earth Demon Dragon…" Rosen murmured with curiosity.
Rosen continued using the Secrets Unveiled ability, burning his divine essence to uncover more detailed information. Over the next few years, his divine essence fluctuated dozens of times.
Gradually, Rosen pieced together some information about Great True Gods. He had always wondered why there was so little information about them. Sometimes, even True Gods were described as "great" in historical records, leading to confusion between True Gods and Great True Gods.
Now, Rosen understood that beings above True Gods should more accurately be called Forbidden Divine Demons.
Forbidden Divine Demons are divided into two categories: Forbidden True Gods and Forbidden True Demons.
Forbidden True Gods are entities recognized by the main world. They have essentially sacrificed their freedom to obey the will of the world, and as a result, they are not rejected by the main world. All Forbidden True Gods are loyal servants of the main world, the World Will, and the Ancient Gods.
On the other hand, Forbidden True Demons are those who seek to break free from the main world. From the perspective of the World Will, a life born from the main world, constantly drawing resources from it to cultivate, yet refusing to submit to the World Will and instead attempting to escape or even harm the Ancient Gods—such beings deserve nothing but death.
If there were any transcendent beings in Rosen's Ancient God's True Realm who dared to rebel against him, he would annihilate them without hesitation. From the perspective of the World Will, Forbidden True Demons are indeed deserving of death.
However, from the perspective of the Forbidden True Demons themselves, their journey—from becoming transcendent beings to demigods, then True Gods, and finally surpassing True Gods—was never about bowing their heads to serve others or being kept like livestock, only to eventually become food for the awakening Ancient Gods.
So, the Forbidden True Demons are not wrong either. It's simply the law of the jungle—the strong prey on the weak.
Since ancient times, the number of Forbidden True Demons has far exceeded that of Forbidden True Gods.
All Forbidden Divine Demons share one common trait: they are not tolerated by the world. They cannot be spoken of, mentioned, or known. Because Forbidden Divine Demons have the power to threaten the World Will and the Ancient Gods, the Ancient Gods established fundamental rules to suppress all information related to them. Even the true title of "Forbidden Divine Demons" has been erased from history due to the Ancient Gods' decree of unknowability.
In the end, only the term "Great True God" remains, used to refer to beings above True Gods.
Through Secrets Unveiled, Rosen not only learned the truth about Forbidden Divine Demons but also gained basic information about the Ancient God's Black Cavity.
The Ancient Gods transformed their bodies into all things to create the main world, but this doesn't mean every part of their bodies was used. The most important organs were preserved to accumulate the foundation for the Ancient Gods' revival.
The Ancient God's Black Cavity is actually a section of the trachea used by the Ancient Gods for breathing. This trachea connects directly to the Old World. The power of the Dark Sun, after being purified by the Black Cavity, loses its corrupting ability. This is one of the key channels through which the Ancient Gods plunder the essence of the Old World.
The Earth Demon Dragon was originally the corpse of a True God-level dragon that died near the Ancient God's Black Cavity. After absorbing the purified essence of the Dark Sun, it was resurrected and eventually became a Forbidden True God.
The Ancient God's Black Cavity is a heavily guarded place. Without the strength of a True God, Rosen would never dare to return.
After returning to the Dragon Realm, Rosen sent envoys to invite the Infernal Blood Dragon and the Sun Dragon God. The invitations were sent in the morning, and by evening, the two guests had arrived at the palace of the Dragon Realm's Glorious Kingdom.
After the banquet, Rosen explained the purpose of his invitation to the two Dragon Gods.
To his surprise, both Dragon Gods looked uneasy.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to kill the Holy Light Dragon God?" Rosen asked, puzzled.
"It's not that we don't want to…" the Infernal Dragon God stammered.
Rosen immediately understood. If it wasn't that they didn't want to, then it must be that they didn't dare to kill the Holy Light Dragon God.
After all, even when beating a dog, one must consider its owner. The Holy Light Dragon God now had the World Government as its backer, and behind the World Government was likely a Great True God. Although the Dragon Clan could rely on the Dragon Realm to protect themselves, they didn't want to be trapped there forever.
Thus, the two Dragon Gods were reluctant to openly antagonize the World Government over the Holy Light Dragon God.
Children distinguish between right and wrong, while adults focus on interests. As for why they had attempted to assassinate the Holy Light Dragon God several times, it was merely a statement of attitude—to show that the Dragon Clan was not weak or easily bullied. They never actually intended to kill the Holy Light Dragon God, nor did they want to provoke retaliation from the World Government.
Their choice wasn't wrong. Not everyone had a Mysterious Study Room to fall back on like Rosen, making them fearless. If a Great True God came knocking, could the Dragon Realm withstand one or two attacks? What about ten or eight? If they failed to hold out, the entire Dragon Clan would become slaves of the World Government.
Realizing he had sought help from the wrong allies, Rosen immediately dropped the idea of teaming up to hunt the Holy Light Dragon God.
With the Dragon Clan out of the question, there were few left who would dare to strike a fatal blow against the Holy Light Dragon God. Rosen's first thought was the Abyssal World, a powerful force in the main world that had no fear of the World Government. However, the Abyssal World wasn't so easily manipulated, so Rosen needed to devise a plan to borrow a knife to kill.
...
Dragon God Empire, near Dragon God Mountain
Seeing Dragon God Mountain in person, Rosen could only describe the Holy Light Dragon God as "wealthy and reckless."
The lower half of Dragon God Mountain was made of gold, the middle half was constructed from spirit crystals, and the upper half was composed of divine crystals. The value of this mountain rivaled the accumulated wealth of the entire Dwarf Kingdom. Compared to the Holy Light Dragon God, the Infernal Blood Dragon and the Sun Dragon God were as poor as beggars.
The reason for such a vast disparity among Dragon Gods lay in the Holy Light Dragon God's mastery of a resurrection technique far superior to that of the Angel True Gods. As long as a True God hadn't been dead for too long, they could be resurrected. Of course, the Holy Light Dragon God didn't perform resurrections for free. The construction of Dragon God Mountain had likely drained the fortunes of countless True Gods.
...
Dragon Blood Forest, a perilous region in the Dragon God Continent
The Dragon Blood Forest was home to countless Dragon Blood Trees. This area had once been a battlefield between the Holy Light Dragon Clan and the Dragon Realm's Dragon Clan, where numerous pure-blooded dragons had perished. The Dragon Blood Trees, nourished by dragon blood, had a small chance of bearing fruit. These Dragon Blood Fruits were highly beneficial to young dragons.
Whenever a pure-blooded dragon gave birth to a youngling, they would come to the Dragon Blood Forest in search of Dragon Blood Fruits. Although the forest was filled with dangerous ghost dragons, the threat wasn't significant for pure-blooded dragons.
However, recently, all pure-blooded dragons who ventured deep into the Dragon Blood Forest had gone missing. No traces of them were found—alive or dead. This quickly drew the attention of the Dragon God Empire's upper echelons, who launched an investigation.
Yet, regardless of their strength, everyone who entered the forest disappeared without exception. Even a Sequence 0 Holy Light Dragon went missing, finally alerting the Holy Light Dragon God, who had been busy refining the Dragon-Binding Rope in his lair atop Dragon God Mountain.
After obtaining the technique to refine the Dragon-Binding Rope, the Holy Light Dragon God had devoted himself entirely to its creation. He was waiting for the day the rope would be completed, so he could invade the Dragon Realm and enslave the two Dragon Gods. Only by monopolizing the Dragon Realm would he have a chance to become a Great True God.
Now, being forced to pause his work left him somewhat displeased.
Transforming his dragon body into light, the Holy Light Dragon God arrived at the Dragon Blood Forest in an instant. Holy light swept through the area, capturing a pure-blooded dragon from the outskirts. Following the trail of the missing dragons, he soon discovered a deeply hidden spirit realm.
The Holy Light Dragon God discovered a tree within the spirit realm, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of pure-blooded dragons. Although he couldn't identify the type of tree, he was certain it was at the True God level. Moreover, this tree actually wielded the power of space-time laws.
Countless True Gods had attempted to master space-time laws, but all had failed. Some laws were simply not permitted by the main world to be controlled by intelligent beings. Instead, certain transcendent plants at the True God level naturally possessed abilities that intelligent lifeforms could never achieve.
The Holy Light Dragon God's first thought was to claim this tree for himself. Carefully, he extracted the entire spirit realm and brought it back to Dragon God Mountain.
At the same time, deep in the first layer of the Abyss, Anatole sensed something. Over the years, the remnants of the World Tree had been continuously losing their essence to some kind of curse. Although the curse had been sealed, the essence was still leaking away at a slow rate.
The losses after the sealing were negligible, but the persistent nature of the curse was utterly repulsive. However, when attempting to trace the curse, Anatole could only determine that it was related to humans—nothing more.
But this time, the thief seemed to have slipped up.
The remnants of the World Tree resonated with something of the same origin. Following this lead, Anatole quickly pinpointed the thief's location: Dragon God Mountain in the Dragon God Empire.
After having no clues for so long, the sudden appearance of this lead made Anatole wary. He knew it could very well be a trap, possibly set by someone with a grudge against the Holy Light Dragon God. However, the Abyss feared no traps. Even if someone was trying to borrow a knife to kill, as long as the target was on Dragon God Mountain, there would be no escape this time.
...
At the base of Dragon God Mountain, young pure-blooded dragons wagged their tails as they piled gold ore at the foot of the mountain. Ordinary gold ore, when placed near Dragon God Mountain, would transform into pure gold. For young dragons, who had yet to outgrow their innate love for treasures like gold, this was a delightful activity.
Suddenly, the eternally bright Dragon God Mountain was plunged into darkness.
The pure-blooded dragons living at the base of the mountain had never seen darkness in their lives. Now, faced with the sudden blackout, they curiously gazed at the dark sky. Unlike the naive young dragons, all the adult pure-blooded dragons took to the air, circling Dragon God Mountain in a protective formation.
The Holy Light Dragon God, who had been intently studying the Space-Time Divine Tree, immediately noticed something was wrong and prepared to call for reinforcements. However, his calls for help failed—all his connections to the outside world had been severed.
Unable to call for help, the Holy Light Dragon God had no choice but to save himself. He soared into the air, confronting the Abyssal Lords lurking in the darkness.
Seeing dozens of Abyssal Lords lined up in the void, the Holy Light Dragon God instantly felt hopeless.
Without hesitation, the Holy Light Dragon God's blood began to boil. His dragon body burned with holy light, and even his dragon soul and dragon core disintegrated, merging into the light. Finally, his divine spark and divine essence began to transform into pure holy light.
The Holy Light Dragon God was going all out, even at the risk of complete annihilation.
Such madness and decisiveness even caught Rosen off guard.
Rosen had no choice but to activate the Dragon-Binding Rope ahead of schedule. The rope transformed into a Sequence 0 Burrow Demon Dragon and fired a dark beam from below, striking the Holy Light Dragon God and momentarily sealing his transcendent powers.
Although the Holy Light Dragon God quickly broke free from the seal, the Abyssal Lords in the void weren't just spectators. Dozens of True God-level skills were unleashed simultaneously, landing on the Holy Light Dragon God.
Weakening, suppression, binding—every kind of skill was used. With dozens of True Gods围攻 a single target, the Holy Light Dragon God had no chance to resist. Just as the Abyssal Lords were about to capture him alive, the Dragon-Binding Rope flashed through the void and ensnared the Holy Light Dragon God.
With the combined suppression and weakening from the dozens of Abyssal Lords, the Holy Light Dragon God couldn't break free from the rope's seal. He was dragged into Rosen's divine territory by a fleeting spatial domain and disappeared.
Almost the moment the Holy Light Dragon God vanished, several Abyssal Lords appeared at the summit of Dragon God Mountain.
Through the World Window, Rosen altered the spatial anchor of the Mysterious Study Room and prepared to leave.
The Abyss had truly gone all out this time. The dark shroud enveloping Dragon God Mountain was undoubtedly a treasure at the level of a Great True God. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Abyssal Lords, who were only at the deity level, to unleash True God-level power so far from the Abyss and on Dragon God Continent. It also wouldn't have been possible for them to overwhelm the Holy Light Dragon God in a single coordinated attack, allowing Rosen to seize him with the Dragon-Binding Rope.
The Abyssal Lords hadn't stopped the rope from capturing the Holy Light Dragon God because they hoped to follow the trail and find Rosen. However, Anatole had underestimated the Mysterious Study Room. Even at such close range, they couldn't detect him.
The dark shroud sealing Dragon God Mountain also couldn't stop the Mysterious Study Room from leaving.
(End of Chapter)