In the half of the universe where the Blazing Heaven Star Palace was located, Rosen's interdimensional portals were practically smoking from overuse.
Of course, that was an exaggerated way of putting it—but in reality, it wasn't far off.
Each time a portal was opened, the Dark Sun Heavenly Eye would lock onto a supercluster. Then, Eternal Will would instantly descend, covering the area with the Creator's Domain, and finally, the space of the entire supercluster would be torn away and sealed into a dimensional scroll.
If he had a choice, Rosen wouldn't have acted so recklessly.
But he had no other option—someone was actively destroying the extraordinary stars that had been parasitized by the Dark Sun Heavenly Eye's projection.
Even though the Dark Sun Heavenly Eye had already awakened, and destroying all the polluted extraordinary stars wouldn't weaken it, its future growth would be hindered without them.
Moreover, his ability to recklessly plunder superclusters with the help of the Dark Sun Heavenly Eye depended on the Eternal Dark Sun Source constantly supplied by the billions of extraordinary stars parasitized by the Eye's projection.
As more and more extraordinary stars were destroyed, the rate at which his Eternal Dark Sun Source recovered would slow down dramatically.
Therefore, Rosen had to race against everyone else for time to strip and seal as many superclusters as possible.
Once those billions of extraordinary stars were all destroyed, the only way left to replenish the Eternal Dark Sun Source would be through the Dark Sun Source Seed. At that point, the cost of unleashing the full power of the Dark Sun Heavenly Eye would be too much to bear—he could no longer recklessly strip and seal superclusters at will.
After all, this was an Eternal Organ—an Eternal Organ originating from a Primordial Lifeform.
To use it freely without consequence, even at the level of an Immortal God-Demon, was simply impossible.
And the one behind the destruction of the extraordinary stars was none other than the Immortal Star Gods.
Soon after, not only did the Immortal God-Demons of the Blazing Heaven Star Palace take action, but even the Immortal God-Demons of the Chaotic Star Sea were forced to join in, because for the first time in countless ages, the Holy Temple—long absent from the world—sent two Eternal Lives to descend upon both the Blazing Heaven Star Palace and the Chaotic Star Sea.
Though they appeared only briefly before retreating back into the Sea of Universal Origin, no one dared defy the orders of the Holy Temple.
As a result, the entire universe began purging the polluted extraordinary stars.
During this period, Rosen was constantly subjected to all kinds of prophetic and tracking methods.
But all of them were blocked by the powers of the Time Source Seed and the Miracle Source Seed. With the Time Source Seed in his possession, even the Book of Fate and Fortune couldn't track his destiny. Therefore, all the various prophetic and search techniques proved completely useless.
It was only when someone lay in ambush that he occasionally had to use the Space Source Seed to escape.
In this way, Rosen exploited every loophole, and over the span of five years, managed to forcibly strip and seal tens of millions of superclusters.
That sounded like an enormous number, but the universe contained at least hundreds of billions of superclusters.
Though superclusters were massive on a cosmic scale, the starry sky of the universe itself was quite fragile. The total amount of matter in a supercluster wasn't actually that much when compressed—especially since the ones Rosen had been sealing were all from the outer rings of the universe, where the quality of matter was even worse.
It wasn't that Rosen didn't want to target the inner-ring superclusters near the Sea of Universal Origin—it was just that those places were strongholds of the Immortal God-Demons.
Not only would it be risky, but it was also far too easy to fall into someone's trap.
While the outer-ring superclusters were easier to strip and seal, it took several hundred of them just to equal a single Immortal World—and several hundred Immortal Worlds barely equaled one Eternal World. So even tens of millions of superclusters amounted to the mass of only a hundred to two hundred Eternal Worlds.
In terms of sheer mass, this was enough for Rosen's Eternal World to trigger a qualitative transformation in his Eternal Will.
But that was just a theoretical calculation. In reality, digesting that many superclusters wasn't easy.
Even with mastery of the Time and Space Source Seeds, it would take at least hundreds of thousands of years in real time for Rosen to fully integrate all these superclusters into his Immortal World.
Because the space and material quality of these superclusters was just too low.
Plenty of quantity, but no quality—and converting quantity into quality was no simple task.
It was akin to refining an enormous mass of ordinary steel—far below Sequence 9—until it reached the bare minimum threshold of a Great Divine level, just to be able to integrate it into an Immortal World. One could imagine how difficult such refinement would be.
After long contemplation, Rosen finally made up his mind: he would target the Blazing Heaven Supercluster.
The Blazing Heaven Furnace of Creation, that Eternal Sacred Artifact, would be of immense help to him in refining cosmic matter.
With the Ouroboros Twin-Ring Snake Bracelet in his possession, refining the Blazing Heaven Furnace of Creation would be a breeze.
But to take the Blazing Heaven Furnace of Creation from under the nose of the Blazing Heaven Star Palace was something not even an Eternal Life could accomplish.
Because the entire Blazing Heaven Furnace of Creation had already fused and locked into the Blazing Heaven Supercluster.
Even the Blazing Heaven Star Palace, this eternal transcendent structure, had already regarded the Blazing Heaven Furnace of Creation as its own core power source.
Thus, while refining the Blazing Heaven Furnace of Creation was simple, taking it away would be exceedingly difficult.
Rosen decided to refine the furnace but not take it with him.
He could hide deep within the Blazing Heaven Furnace, in the area where the Ouroboros Twin-Ring Snake Bracelet had once been located.
Then, using the darkness beneath the light, he could quietly refine the cosmic materials here.
It was important to note that refining the materials of each supercluster to the level of a Great Divine being, even if the Blazing Heaven Furnace could achieve this, would still consume an astronomical amount of Blazing Heaven Sacred Fire. Fortunately, the furnace's consumption could be shifted onto the Blazing Heaven Supercluster.
The extraordinary stars that had been transferred by the Immortal God-Demons would continually be drained by the Blazing Heaven Furnace.
Of course, this could work for a short period, but in the long run, it would definitely be noticed by the Blazing Heaven Star Palace.
If the Blazing Heaven Furnace's consumption far outweighed its output, how could the Immortal God-Demons of the Blazing Heaven Star Palace possibly ignore it?
Therefore, Rosen needed to find a bait—something that would make the Blazing Heaven Star Palace invest now for future profit.
After much thought, Rosen determined that the best bait would be the Blazing Heaven Sacred Serpent.
He would create an illusion for them, presenting the Blazing Heaven Furnace of Creation as absorbing the body of the Blazing Heaven Sacred Serpent, turning it into a semi-finished Eternal Sacred Artifact. Then, he would further enhance the illusion, making it appear as if it were a shared Eternal Sacred Artifact for all Immortal God-Demons, which would naturally make them want to see the Blazing Heaven Furnace become even stronger.
Deep within the Blazing Heaven Furnace, Rosen released the Blazing Heaven Sacred Serpent and manipulated the Blazing Heaven Soul Fire to merge with the furnace.
Since they shared the same origin, he easily used the Blazing Heaven Soul Fire and the Blazing Heaven Source Seed to refine this Eternal Sacred Artifact.
Rosen flipped through the Creator's Codex, and pages of dimensional scrolls fell from it.
These scrolls landed in the Blazing Heaven Soul Fire manipulated by the Sacred Serpent. The superclusters, which had been sealed in a lower-dimensional state, did not burn to ashes. Instead, within the flames, they reversed and transformed into the essence of their worlds. Meanwhile, the space that composed the supercluster began to contract and condense.
Rosen left a clone of the Yinglong (Responding Dragon) to ensure it could complete its task.
For the time being, the consumption was still small and wouldn't raise alarms at the Blazing Heaven Star Palace.
Rosen opened a portal and prepared to meet some familiar faces to retrieve more Miracle Source Seeds.
The Miracle Source Seed held by the Immortal Dawn was definitely out of reach, but the Miracle Source Seeds held by the Immortal Particles, the Old Fisherman, and the Immortal Star God were still on his list. No matter what, he needed to get his hands on them. Otherwise, facing the core Miracle Source Seed held by the Ancient Gods, he would certainly be at a great disadvantage in the future.
The Miracle Source Seed could interfere with fate to a certain extent. A complete Miracle Source Seed might even work better than the Time Source Seed.
However, a single Miracle Source Seed could never compare to the Time Source Seed. Otherwise, the fate of the Old Fisherman and his companions wouldn't have been discovered so many years in advance by the Ancient Gods through the Book of Fate. Likewise, a single Miracle Source Seed couldn't resist the time-based prophecy paintings generated by the Time Source Seed.
Rosen had already locked onto the location of the Old Fisherman and his group, but it wasn't until now that he had made up his mind to act.
He had realized that these former allies were far from simple.
By observing the Immortal Star Gods with the Creator's Eye, enhanced by the Time and Space Source Seeds, Rosen noticed that the Immortal Dawn was very likely a split incarnation of the Immortal Star God. The Immortal Particles' power was also much stronger than it had been when displayed deep within the Spirit Realm. Even the Old Fisherman showed no signs of weakness.
This made him begin to suspect—had the Old Fisherman and his companions already prepared for failure?
They must have known from the start that hunting down the Ancient God's avatar would certainly fail.
Coupled with the World Tree, which had never made an appearance, Rosen couldn't help but suspect that they had never treated him as an ally. Instead, they had been placating him to prevent him from interfering. Their true plans might never have been to hunt the Ancient God's avatar and split the spoils of the source seeds.
Because Rosen now knew that becoming an Eternal Lifeform wasn't something that could be achieved by simply plundering fragments of source seeds.
Thus, the idea of dividing and plundering fragments of source seeds was a lie. In truth, they had other motives.
And even if they died at the hands of the Ancient God's avatar, that didn't necessarily mean their true plans had failed.
Because the existence of the Book of Fate might have already alerted others in the universe.
Rosen's first target was the Old Fisherman, as, compared to the others, he was the easiest one to deal with.
After stepping out of the portal, Rosen gazed at the supercluster in the distance, emitting a faint purple glow across the cosmic starry sky.
The entire supercluster was enveloped by some unknown gaseous energy.
Rosen released the Ark of Doom, suppressing its power to the level of a Great Divine being.
Only then did he command the Ark of Doom, boldly entering the purple-glowing supercluster ahead.
Before the Ark of Doom could even get close, the Eternal Will of the Old Fisherman crossed the void and descended.
The Old Fisherman was somewhat surprised to see the Ark of Doom, amazed that Rosen had managed to find his way here.
Surviving at the hands of the Ancient God's avatar, Rosen's strength was far greater than they had estimated. Although they didn't know if he was coming with good or ill intentions this time, in their carefully managed purple-glowing supercluster, as long as Rosen wasn't an eternal being, he wouldn't be a threat.
The purple fog on either side parted, providing a safe passage for the Ark of Doom.
The Ark of Doom accelerated steadily, and several days later, it finally reached the deepest part of the purple-glowing supercluster. Here, there were no extraordinary star systems, only a sea floating in the void, spanning three trillion kilometers in diameter. Though the area wasn't vast, the sea was made up of a substance far superior to the Miracle Sea.
The closer one got to the inner layers of the sea, the denser the purple light became.
Floating on the islands in this sea were towering Dragon Grandfather giants, each one tens of thousands of meters tall.
As the ancestor of the Dragon Grandfather giants, the Old Fisherman had shrunk to a human size.
The moment the Ark of Doom landed in the purple-glowing sea, it was instantly relocated to the Purple Light Island by the Old Fisherman's spatial manipulation.
It was a small island, only about three thousand meters in diameter.
The island had a small hill, a tiny waterfall, a little stream, and a pond. The Old Fisherman had built a thatched hut by the pond, and was now resting against the hut's pillar with his fishing rod dangling down, eyeing Rosen, who was disembarking from the side of the island.
Rosen stepped on the sand beneath his feet, noticing that the sand was composed of extraordinary materials at the level of Immortal God-Demons.
The entire island was small, but it was more than enough to forge an Eternal Sacred Artifact.
No wonder the Old Fisherman was a reincarnation of an Eternal Lifeform—he certainly had plenty of good things at his disposal.
In comparison, the Immortal Tree was terribly impoverished.
But it was understandable. Relying on a single tree to travel the universe in search of resources was a tough task. Not all extraordinary beings were willing to live such a laborious life. All the resources the Old Fisherman had accumulated over countless years were now falling into Rosen's hands.
Rosen observed everything along the way, though many of the extraordinary materials were unfamiliar to him.
When he reached the thatched hut, he sat down on the ground and conjured a time-space fishing rod, casting the hook into the pond.
"You really aren't being polite, are you?" The Old Fisherman said, holding back his anger.
However, he regretted saying it immediately. This wasn't something he should have said.
He had been fishing for countless years, and his Eternal Will had long since tempered his heart to be as calm as still water, unperturbed by anything external.
Only three situations could make him lose control of his emotions.
The first was faked, so real that it even temporarily fooled him.
The second was the influence of an external force, someone using emotional manipulation on him.
The third and final possibility was that his calm, still heart was automatically disrupted by his Eternal Will, giving him a direct warning.
The first two possibilities could be ruled out, leaving only the third.
The Old Fisherman instantly realized that Rosen's arrival was no mere coincidence.
And that Rosen could indeed pose a threat to him, which was why his heart had reacted and triggered a warning.
The Old Fisherman decided to strike first, not giving Rosen the chance to ambush him.
Suddenly, a primordial beast appeared in the purple-glowing pond, biting onto the hook of Rosen's time-space fishing rod.
As the primordial beast crossed the void, following the hook and fishing line, it locked onto Rosen's position, instantly freezing him in place. At the same time, it dragged him toward the purple pond with overwhelming force. Meanwhile, the Old Fisherman swung his fishing rod, aiming the hook directly at Rosen's forehead.
Rosen's third eye, the Dark Sun Eye, instantly cracked open on his forehead, its gaze locking onto the Old Fisherman and the purple pond.
With the communication link severed between the primordial dark sea and the purple-glowing pond, the Old Fisherman's ambush failed. As the Dark Sun's radiance enveloped Purple Light Island, the Creator's domain expanded and covered the entire island, then, with the help of the Time-Space Source Seed, severed the connection between the island and the purple-glowing sea.
As the hook pierced into Rosen's Dark Sun Eye, the island was also enveloped in the eternal hell of the Creator's domain.
The Dark Sun Eye was pierced easily by the hook, and a drop of black blood stained the hook.
Even though the hook was part of an Eternal Sacred Artifact, it was still tainted by the power of the Dark Sun at that moment.
The connection between the hook's base and the fishing line snapped, and the Old Fisherman, with an unusually dark expression, retreated into the thatched hut. He took out a spare hook and attached it to the fishing line, while the hidden Eternal World inside his fish basket fused with the thatched hut, resisting the external pressure from the Eternal World.
(End of Chapter)