"Stop running. Hand over the artificial sun, and I'll let you go..."
The Cosmic Holy Emperor spoke helplessly, forced to compromise.
At the level of Forbidden Gods and Demons, they rarely resorted to outright confrontation.
Because fighting to the death was a lose-lose situation. A minor skirmish would only waste their essence with little gain, while a true life-or-death battle would attract other Forbidden Gods and Demons like bloodthirsty sharks, waiting to pounce. Thus, on the surface, all Forbidden Gods and Demons maintained an uneasy peace.
The Cosmic Holy Emperor had no idea who was targeting it this time, daring to break this unspoken rule so blatantly.
A Great True God would never only have defensive means without any way to retaliate.
So, in the Cosmic Holy Emperor's view, this mysterious Great True God who had stolen the artificial sun must be a familiar face in disguise. It didn't dare retaliate for fear of being exposed, which would invite reciprocal destruction of its own Holy Court.
But after half a day of pursuit, the enemy had fled into a Dark Sun Forbidden Zone, leaving the Cosmic Holy Emperor baffled.
Stealing the artificial sun was understandable—but venturing deep into a Dark Sun Forbidden Zone? Was it tired of living?
Or had some Great True God discovered the secrets hidden in the depths of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone and found a way to survive?
Rosen ignored the Cosmic Holy Emperor and continued forward, disappearing into the darkness.
However, the moment he shook off the Cosmic Holy Emperor, he had already retreated into the Mysterious Study Room. What remained outside was the Dark Sun Slime, which had transformed into him using Eternal Shapeshifting. Soon, the Dark Sun Slime reached the deepest part of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone.
To his surprise, there was nothing but darkness—no visible threats at all.
Even the Apocalypse Eye couldn't penetrate the depths of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone. If even Great True Gods dared not enter, the dangers here clearly surpassed imagination. According to the Primordial Holy Emperor, the depths of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone held unknown perils capable of killing even Forbidden Gods and Demons.
If the Cosmic Holy Emperor hadn't pursued him so relentlessly, Rosen wouldn't have come here now.
But since he was already here, he might as well explore properly.
As far as he knew, all known Dark Sun Servants would not actively attack the Dark Sun Slime.
Rosen manipulated the Dark Sun Slime to circle the area but found no signs of danger.
He turned to leave—yet still encountered no obstacles.
Soon, he spotted the Cosmic Holy Emperor again and, in a moment of panic, turned back toward the depths of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone.
Seeing this, the Cosmic Holy Emperor immediately pieced everything together.
Where there was a spear, there was a shield—nothing in this world was truly invincible.
The power of the Dark Sun was terrifying, but it couldn't be without a counter.
Sunlight could dispel darkness, and the power of the Ancient Gods was no weaker than the Dark Sun.
So, in the Cosmic Holy Emperor's view, this "old acquaintance" who had stolen the artificial sun must have uncovered the secrets of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone, gaining a method to move safely within it—hence its retreat into the depths.
But why return the same way?
The only explanation the Cosmic Holy Emperor could think of was that this "old acquaintance" wanted it to know that it could traverse the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone safely.
But for what purpose? The Cosmic Holy Emperor couldn't fathom it.
At this point, Rosen had completely stopped worrying about the Cosmic Holy Emperor.
He cut straight through the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone, planning to exit from the other side.
Originally, he had intended to provoke the Cosmic Holy Emperor, hoping to lure it deeper—preferably into triggering the dangers of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone. But to his surprise, the danger had already latched onto the Cosmic Holy Emperor.
In that brief moment, Rosen had seen what the danger was.
His Apocalypse Eye pierced through the outer darkness of the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone, revealing a small black sun hovering above the Cosmic Holy Emperor's head.
Yet, the Cosmic Holy Emperor remained completely unaware.
Now, the Apocalypse Eye could no longer see the Cosmic Holy Emperor. Only after leaving the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone did Rosen finally relax.
Several days later, the Apocalypse Eye spotted the Cosmic Holy Emperor again—this time, barely escaping the Dark Sun Forbidden Zone in a wretched state.
Now, only its soul remained; its body had completely vanished.
Clearly, the Cosmic Holy Emperor had nearly died inside.
Rosen considered taking advantage of its weakened state, but the Apocalypse Eye detected the Ten Thousand Paths Holy Emperor waiting nearby for reinforcement.
Evidently, after losing contact with its true body, the Cosmic Holy Emperor's Avatar had called for help.
With no opportunity to strike, Rosen could only leave regretfully.
As he departed, the Apocalypse Eye revealed the near-collapse of the Cosmic Holy Court.
Of its once-trillions-strong population, less than a tenth remained. The rest had been corrupted by the Dark Sun's power, turned into Dark Sun Servants, and slaughtered each other, spawning endless Dark Sun Children—even Dark Sun Nests had begun to form.
If no one purged these Dark Sun Servants, the former Cosmic Holy Court would eventually become a new Dark Sun Forbidden Zone.
But the Cosmic Holy Emperor was powerless now, and the Ten Thousand Paths Holy Emperor might not be willing to expend great effort to help.
Most likely, the Cosmic Holy Emperor would relocate with the remaining tenth of its population and rebuild its Holy Court elsewhere.
At most, it would take a thousand years for the lost population to recover.
In the Mysterious Study Room, Rosen took out the Hunter's Map and saw that his Hunter Points had exceeded one million.
Arriving at his divine territory, he found the artificial sun now tightly bound by the Ancient God's Shackles. No matter how fiercely it struggled, it couldn't escape the Law of Origin's energy seal or the Law of Space-Time's forcible confinement. Of course, the most critical factor was the Golden Crow Starship working in tandem with the Radiant Lighthouse to suppress the Solar Divine Flames.
When Rosen had first observed the Cosmic Holy Emperor with his Apocalypse Eye, he had already set his sights on this artificial sun.
This technological marvel of a supernatural artifact possessed only two abilities:
The first was the power to burn all matter into Solar Essence.
The second was the ability to control Solar Divine Flames, releasing boundless light and heat.
Beyond these, the artificial sun had no other capabilities.
It wasn't that the Cosmic Holy Emperor hadn't wanted to grant it more powers—it simply lacked the means. The Old World had been exploited for too long, and Great True God-level supernatural resources had long been exhausted.
While True God-level resources could still be obtained by destroying Dark Sun Nests, Great True God-level resources were only found in the Dark Sun Forbidden Zones—places the Cosmic Holy Emperor dared not approach. As a result, the artificial sun had ended up as a half-baked supernatural artifact.
Rosen planned to dismantle the artificial sun and use its Solar Essence to repair the Sun Golden Wheel. However, he would have to wait until the Dwarf King of the Earth recovered. For now, he could only seal it away.
After several days of work, Rosen finally managed to imprison the artificial sun within a painting.
As he had predicted, the Ten Thousand Paths Holy Emperor didn't help the Cosmic Holy Emperor reclaim the lost territory of the Cosmic Holy Court. Instead, it merely assisted in stripping the Solar Essence from the seven Celestial Empires and helped the Cosmic Holy Emperor relocate and rebuild a smaller Holy Court elsewhere.
For now, Rosen had no intention of stirring up more trouble. He didn't want to become a target for all.
His Hunter Points were more than sufficient for various experiments.
The Hunter's Map granted points for all human killings carried out by its holder, and during this period, the abilities of the deceased who contributed points could be exchanged.
Rosen spent 10,000 Hunter Points and, almost instantly, mastered the Law of Wealth.
Like the Dwarf King of the Earth, the Coin True God had already been parasitized and replaced by a Soul Doppelgänger. Strictly speaking, the Coin True God was dead, fulfilling the Hunter's Map's exchange conditions.
The fact that he could directly exchange for a Law left Rosen uneasy.
The Hunter's Map was merely a True God-level miracle treasure—how could it allow the instantaneous mastery of Laws?
He had assumed that, at best, the map could exchange for supernatural materials containing the Law of Wealth or seeds of the Wealth Authority that could evolve into the Law. The idea of directly mastering a Law had never crossed his mind.
Yet, the reality was that he had mastered it—instantly and perfectly integrated it into his simulated divine core.
Rosen continued exchanging, soon acquiring all the abilities of the Coin True God: from the various skills of the Merchant Sequence to the Golden Griffon supernatural bloodline, and even the Conceptual Trade ability.
However, after the exchange, he discovered that the Coin True God, now replaced by the Soul Doppelgänger, had lost these abilities.
Moreover, while Rosen could use the exchanged abilities, this didn't mean he truly mastered them. For instance, he had no idea about the spiritual rune compositions of the Merchant Sequence skills.
To fully master these exchanged abilities, it would take him thousands of years of study.
Rosen summoned the Golden Divine Ox and attempted to transfer these abilities to it through the pet contract.
The transfer succeeded completely. The Golden Divine Ox advanced from a Sequence 0 Merchant to the only True God Merchant in existence.
By exchanging abilities and transferring them to his pets, Rosen could theoretically strengthen each of them into True Gods.
Checking his remaining Hunter Points, he still had over 800,000.
But there was nothing left worth exchanging. The abilities obtained from the Coin True God could only be exchanged once. Strictly speaking, the Hunter's Map's exchange function was more akin to an equivalent trade rather than conjuring abilities out of thin air.
This meant that to obtain high-quality exchanges, he needed to target suitable high-end prey.
As for ordinary humanoid prey, they could only provide Hunter Points at best.
In the Old World, Great True Gods were unkillable, and divine position holders were all bark and no bite. To find worthy prey, Rosen would have to return to the New World. Fortunately, with the Miracle Stone Golem, he now had the confidence to escape even if he encountered the Earthbound Abyssal Dragon.
But before leaving, he couldn't overlook the countless Dark Sun Servants infesting the ruins of the Cosmic Holy Court.
Hunting them all down would yield at least another million Hunter Points.
Using data transmission to approach covertly, Rosen began sniping the swarms of Dark Sun Servants from behind a window.
The Apocalypse Eye locked onto them from a god-like perspective, while the miracle trait Void Eye generated micro-wormholes. Bullets fired through these wormholes made it impossible to trace their trajectory back to Rosen, allowing him to massacre the Dark Sun Servants from the shadows.
Years passed in the blink of an eye, and the Dark Sun Servants were nearly wiped out. Then, one day, Rosen suddenly stopped.
Not because he was tired—but because someone was invading the Main God Network.
Over the years, many Great True Gods had attempted to breach the network, with the Cosmic Holy Emperor being the most persistent.
But this time, the intrusion was ten times more efficient than even the Cosmic Holy Emperor's attempts.
Rosen immediately launched a counter-invasion, soon uncovering an underground civilization he had never detected before.
The underground world's major Holy Courts were all interconnected; finding one meant gaining access to all. After all, they were allies against the Dark Sun.
But this newly discovered underground civilization had deliberately avoided all Holy Courts.
Even when consulting the Primordial Holy Emperor, Rosen had never heard mention of such a civilization existing in the depths of the underground world.
At first, the Main God Computer's counter-invasion proceeded smoothly—but soon, it was suppressed by the enemy.
The invader traced the connection backward, penetrating all the way to the exterior of the Mysterious Study Room before being halted.
Had it not been for the Mysterious Study Room's isolation, Rosen suspected this underground civilization might have forcibly hacked into the Main God Computer.
Even the Cosmic Holy Emperor, with its technology-centric civilization, couldn't achieve this. After much deliberation, only one possibility remained:
"Could it be... the Main God Civilization?"
The thought flashed through Rosen's mind.
Apart from the Main God Civilization that created the Main God Computer, who else could trace back through the Main God Network to invade and suppress the system?
He had lost control of the Main God Network, but the authority over the Law of Origin remained in Rosen's hands.
This meant he could still use the Main God Network for data transmission, but gathering intelligence through it was now impossible.
In an instant, Rosen data-transmitted to a location near the mysterious underground civilization.
This was an isolated underground world, completely sealed off from the outside—no wonder other Great True Gods had never discovered it.
The isolated underground world was tiny, spanning only a few thousand miles.
Yet, embedded extravagantly in the surrounding earth and rocks was a layer of Solar Essence. The cumulative amount could easily sustain three Holy Courts, yet it was used merely to encase this small space.
The Solar Essence's power was so concentrated that even Dark Sun Nests dared not approach this underground realm.
Rosen's arrival via the Main God Network had already alerted the master of this place.
Through the Apocalypse Eye, he saw that this underground space contained only a single city—empty, devoid of living beings.
At the city's center floated a luminous sphere, radiating terrifying divine fluctuations.
After relentless Apocalypse Eye analysis, Rosen finally identified the sphere's identity.
Main God—this sphere actually called itself the Main God?
Years of further analysis revealed the truth:
This sphere was an intelligent lifeform birthed from the Main God Computer, equivalent to the Main God System at its peak.
If fused with it, the Main God Computer could temporarily restore itself to Great True God level.
But the Main God Computer would inevitably go out of control, because this sphere had its own intelligence—it was already a living Great True God.
Moreover, it carried a mission left by the Main God Civilization:
After merging with the Main God Computer, its first act would be to kill whoever controlled the system.
For now, Rosen had no way to deal with this Great Luminous Sphere.
Since this place was isolated, the Law of Origin had never extended here.
The Great Luminous Sphere periodically awakened to scan the outside world, which was how it discovered the Main God Network and attempted to locate the Main God Computer.
Had it not been for the Mysterious Study Room, Rosen would have surely lost control of the Main God Computer this time.
The Apocalypse Eye continued exploring the city left by the Main God Civilization, soon uncovering more valuable information.
This city had once been populated, but its inhabitants eventually abandoned physical life, merging their souls and consciousness into a virtual world created by the Great Luminous Sphere—where they presumably still lived peacefully.
However, not everyone had willingly given up reality for the virtual world. Some resisted.
Rosen found several diaries recording crucial information:
The Main God Civilization had successfully survived the Tenth Cataclysm.
Unless the Ancient Gods awakened, the World Will could no longer threaten them.
Yet the Ancient Gods couldn't awaken casually, so the World Will could only expel the Main God Civilization, offering them a chance to leave the New World.
But the Main God Civilization refused to accept exile.
They left behind contingencies—including the Main God Computer.
However, the Main God Computer was later stolen mysteriously.
Had it not been for the intelligent lifeform (the Great Luminous Sphere) that remained, this contingency plan would have collapsed long ago.
The mass migration into the virtual world was ultimately due to the depletion of supernatural resources, leaving no means for cultivation.
"So a Tenth Cataclysm Civilization truly did emerge..." Rosen murmured in awe.
The diary revealed the true origins of the Main God Computer.
But then—who could have stolen it without a trace?
This question remained unanswered for now.
However, Rosen learned that the Great Luminous Sphere wasn't as formidable as he'd feared.
It was a Great True God-level intelligent lifeform, but without the Main God Computer, its power was severely limited.
Only by reintegrating with the Main God Computer could it regain the strength to overthrow Rosen.
If denied that opportunity, the Great Luminous Sphere was merely an intimidating facade—its true power capped at the True God level.
Rosen fused with the Golden Divine Ox and attempted to Conceptual Trade with the Great Luminous Sphere.
It failed.
The success of Conceptual Trade depended on wealth.
Unless he offered enough to "buy" the Great Luminous Sphere, he couldn't control it through trade.
If he couldn't control it, he would force it to submit.
Leaving the Mysterious Study Room, Rosen went to the underground space's boundary and began excavating the Solar Essence embedded in the rocks.
The Great Luminous Sphere immediately manifested energy-based deities—even several energy-formed True Gods—to stop him.
The diary hadn't mentioned this ability.
But Rosen could still manage.
He fused with the Miracle Stone Golem to block these energy lifeforms, buying time for the Golden Divine Ox to dig out more Solar Essence.
Facing several True Gods and hundreds of deities (even as energy constructs), their combat prowess far surpassed that of divine position holders.
In a direct clash, Rosen was overwhelmed and could only rely on the Miracle Stone Golem's Primordial Stone Law to barely defend.
But the battle caused destruction—soon, the entire underground space collapsed.
As more Solar Essence was removed, the Dark Sun's power began seeping in relentlessly.
Rosen feared no corruption, but the Great Luminous Sphere had to conjure miniature energy suns to repel the darkness.
This was unsustainable.
Yet the Great Luminous Sphere couldn't even move.
After losing the Main God Computer, it had built a new host body within the city.
Abandoning it now would only hasten its demise.
(End of Chapter)