Teacher · Spacetime Nightmare Beast (Thanks to Sun Jianpeng for the recommendation vote)

The spacecraft slowly descended into Mieza Star.

The others dispersed according to their arrangements. Demon Snail handed Golden Horn and Scorpio over to a Sector Lord-level member of the Fox Race who had come to receive them, gave a few brief instructions, then hurried away.

The Fox Race woman wore a gray robe. Her features were kind, and fine lines creased the corners of her eyes, making her seem like an elder weathered by time.

"Hello, I'm Aunt Fox, the chief steward for Mieza Star's Yellow-level Stellar-level geniuses. From now on, I'll be responsible for arranging all your affairs." She smiled as she assessed the two of them. "Come on. I'll take you to your residence first."

Golden Horn and Scorpio followed behind her, flying over one cluster of buildings after another.

Golden Horn looked around as they traveled. This planet was not as technologically advanced as he had imagined. Its surface was covered in weapons, yet there were still many open spaces. It seemed to have been modified internally as well, with secret patterns reinforcing the entire planet.

Before long, they arrived at the foot of a stretch of artificial mountains. The mountains were not tall, but they rolled continuously into the distance. Nearly a hundred residences were scattered around the foothills. Each was an independent stone structure, simple in design and not especially large, but spaced far apart, clearly to prevent people from disturbing one another during cultivation.

Aunt Fox pointed at one of them. "Silver Horn, this will be where you live and cultivate in the future. The one beside it belongs to Scorpio."

Golden Horn nodded and examined his new home. Stone walls, a stone door, stone windows—there were no unnecessary decorations. However, there was a flat training ground before the entrance, large enough for him to move freely.

"The other residences of the same design around here are occupied by other Yellow-level geniuses. Remember, don't wander into them without permission." Aunt Fox's tone grew more serious. "There is competition among geniuses, and some even hate each other. You've just arrived, so keeping a low profile won't hurt."

Golden Horn nodded inwardly and silently remembered her words.

"You will be assigned a ninth-rank Sector Lord as your teacher. As for who it is, you'll find out when the time comes." Aunt Fox continued, "Your intelligent terminal is connected to the internal network, where you can browse and exchange for various secret techniques and cultivation resources. What you choose to learn is up to you."

She paused. "There are also missions. Most are combat missions that require you to go to the front lines and fight the Qiu Shi Race. The details are all on the terminal."

"I've also sent you some public information on the other geniuses. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Look through it when you have time."

Aunt Fox pointed toward a slightly larger house in the distance. "It's your first day here, so you can rest for the day. I live over there. Contact me if you need anything."

With that, she left.

Golden Horn entered the stone house and looked around.

The furnishings inside were extremely simple: a stone bed, a stone table, a stone chair, and a crystal screen embedded in the wall. This was the treatment given to core members of the Monster Hunting Hall? They couldn't even arrange a few hundred servants?

He recalled what Tian Hua World Lord had said: the Monster Hunting Hall did not want to nurture flowers in a greenhouse, but overlords who had carved their way out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Looks like being a genius here isn't all that comfortable either," Golden Horn muttered.

He sat in the stone chair, activated his intelligent terminal, and began browsing through the information.

Following Tian Hua World Lord's advice, he needed to comprehend the Space Domain to the fourth layer within three years, then participate in the Ranking Tournament. The transition from the Domain third layer to the fourth was a hurdle. If he failed to cross it, others his age would leave him behind.

His goal was to enter the ranks of Profound-tier geniuses.

Golden Horn opened the information Aunt Fox had sent him and gave it a rough scan.

Among the Yellow-level geniuses, most had cultivated longer than he had. Most were at the Domain third layer, while the best had reached the fourth and had hopes of challenging the Profound-tier geniuses. The longest-serving had honed themselves at the Stellar level for over a century. It was not that no one wanted to remain longer, but the Monster Hunting Hall had a strict rule: anyone who failed to break through after a hundred years would be directly demoted. Profound-level geniuses would be demoted to Yellow level, while Yellow-level geniuses would be reduced to ordinary members.

At the Universe level, one could remain for up to five hundred years; at the Sector Lord level, two thousand years; and at the World Lord level, five thousand years.

Golden Horn frowned when he saw a note at the end of the information:

"The Demon Race faces enormous pressure to survive and has no choice but to shorten the growth period of its geniuses. If everyone stubbornly remained at a single realm, who would resist when foreign enemies invaded? Perhaps when the Demon Race becomes a peak civilization in the future and the pressure of survival is greatly reduced, geniuses will have more time to temper their foundations."

Golden Horn fell silent for a moment, closed the information, and opened the Contribution Points marketplace.

He had ten thousand Contribution Points. It was not a great deal, but it was not a small amount either.

There were several times more items available in the marketplace than he had seen when he was an ordinary member. Secret techniques, weapons, armor, rare metals, recovery potions, and even Mu Ya Crystals—one crystal alone cost five thousand Contribution Points.

Golden Horn did not rush to spend them. His current fighting style was too limited, relying entirely on claw attacks and teleportation. He had no decent weapon and no long-range means of attack. As for which path he should take, he had yet to decide.

"I'll wait until I meet my teacher." He closed the marketplace and shut his eyes to regulate his breathing.

Early the next morning, a vast aura pressed down from the horizon.

Golden Horn's eyes snapped open, and he rushed out of the stone house.

A massive beast was slowly descending from the sky.

It was nearly a hundred meters long, its entire body covered in heavy dark-silver scales. Each scale gleamed with a cold luster, with secret patterns of space and time faintly flowing across them. Its four thick hoofed claws stepped upon the void, and every step seemed to shatter space itself, sending ripples spreading outward.

Most terrifying of all were the two heads on its shoulders.

The head on the left had gleaming golden vertical pupils that seemed capable of tearing apart the void. The head on the right had silver eyes as deep as an abyss, as though they could freeze time. When both pairs of eyes opened, the golden Space Law and silver Time Law intertwined into a terrifying domain, making even the surrounding air turn viscous.

A Spacetime Nightmare Beast—one of the Demon Race's Twelve Imperial Races!

They reached the Sector Lord level upon adulthood, possessed a genetic level eight times higher than normal, and were natural masters of space and time.

Golden Horn's pupils contracted slightly. He had not expected his teacher to come from this race.

The massive beast landed on the ground, its body rapidly shrinking into a roughly three-meter-tall humanoid form. Yet its two heads remained, radiating suffocating pressure.

Its gaze swept over Golden Horn, cold and indifferent, carrying the unique arrogance of an imperial race.

"You're Silver Horn?" The golden-eyed head on the left spoke, its voice deep and resonant. "I am Yan Chen, a Sector Lord of the Spacetime Nightmare Beast Race. From today until the end of the Ranking Tournament, I will be your teacher."

Golden Horn bowed. "Greetings, Teacher."

Yan Chen nodded slightly, looking him over from head to toe. A trace of scrutiny flashed through his eyes. "I heard your talent in space is fairly good. Show me."

Golden Horn did not dare neglect the request.

His body flashed, splitting into dozens of afterimages as he teleported randomly within a range of several dozen meters, shifting left and right, forward and back, his trajectory strange and unpredictable.

This was the limit of what he could currently achieve—using the Arc Light principle of Absolute Space to teleport continuously in a short period of time and create the illusion of duplicates.

Yan Chen took only one glance before frowning.

"Flashy nonsense." He snorted coldly. "Attack me."

Golden Horn froze. "Teacher, please be careful."

"Heh."

Yan Chen let out a disdainful sneer.