First Lesson (Thanks for Blue Aurora Slash's Recommendation Ticket!)

Golden Horn took a deep breath and instantly appeared behind Yan Chen, his claws shooting out.

Before they could touch Yan Chen's scales, Yan Chen's body swayed slightly, as if he had merely shifted his shoulder carelessly. A gentle yet irresistible force struck him, sending Golden Horn flying. He rolled twice ten meters away before scrambling to his feet, covered in dust.

Yan Chen had not even moved his feet.

Golden Horn refused to accept this. He teleported again and attacked from Yan Chen's side. This time, he was faster and more concealed.

The result was the same. Yan Chen merely shifted his body, and Golden Horn was sent flying again.

A hundred clones, emerge!

Golden Horn gritted his teeth and pushed "Absolute Space" to its limit. More than a hundred silver figures lunged at Yan Chen from every direction, each carrying genuine killing intent. For a moment, silver claws flashed across the sky as the air was torn apart with piercing shrieks.

Yan Chen's brow twitched slightly.

A glimmer flashed through his left golden eye.

In that instant, Golden Horn felt his connection to space being forcibly severed. The space that had once felt as natural as water to a fish suddenly became an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron. All his clones collapsed, leaving only his true body standing alone, unable to move.

What kind of technique was this? Golden Horn was horrified.

"Too weak." Yan Chen withdrew his gaze. His tone was calm, yet his words stabbed into Golden Horn's heart like blades. "You only know the crudest use of your talent. Your understanding of Space Law is laughably shallow."

Golden Horn stood there in a daze. He had never considered himself weak. His Void Beast clone possessed a genetic level 300 times greater, his spatial talent defied the heavens, and he had mastered the first level of "Absolute Space." He had won battle after battle in the dueling arena; calling himself invincible among those of the same level would not have been an exaggeration.

Yet now, Yan Chen had only needed a single glance to leave him unable even to move. He had not even deliberately attacked him.

The gap was actually this vast.

"What? Not convinced?" Yan Chen stared at him, a cold smile curling across his lips. "You think beating a few mediocre fools in the dueling arena makes you a genius? On the frontier battlefield, I've seen no fewer than eighty or a hundred people like you. How many of them survived?"

Golden Horn said nothing.

Yan Chen's smile faded, and his tone became serious. "Your talent is decent, but you've gone down the wrong path. Space Law isn't for showing off tricks. It's for killing. Starting today, I'll teach you what the true path of space is."

Next, Yan Chen began with the most basic concept of Space Law: "fluctuations."

His voice was unhurried, yet it was like a key, gradually unlocking the knots in Golden Horn's understanding. Before, Golden Horn only knew how to teleport and how to create clones. He had never understood the principles behind those abilities—the frequency of spatial fluctuations, the nodes of coordinate anchoring, the law resonance during severing...

It was like someone who could drive a car but had no idea how the engine worked. What Yan Chen taught him was precisely the structure of that engine.

When Yan Chen explained that "the essence of spatial severing is using law resonance to tear apart nodes," Golden Horn's mind shook violently. So that was it!

He closed his eyes and pondered in silence for a long time. Yan Chen did not urge him on. He simply stood nearby with his hands behind his back, gazing at the gray, hazy sky in the distance.

Yan Chen looked at the little fellow immersed in enlightenment before him and was quite satisfied. His talent truly was good. His earlier blow to Golden Horn's confidence had merely been meant to temper a genius's arrogance, lest he become conceited. The teaching results now were indeed quite good.

Only after a long while did Golden Horn slowly awaken.

"Thank you, Teacher." Golden Horn gave him a deep bow.

"Do you really understand now?"

"I wouldn't dare say I understand. I can only say I'm far better off than when I understood nothing at all." Golden Horn no longer dared to be arrogant.

Yan Chen nodded faintly. "Good. Since you've gained something, go test it. After all, practice is the standard by which everything is tested."

Before Golden Horn could even react to how he was supposed to test it, Yan Chen took him flying away. In an instant, they crossed a thousand miles and entered a spacecraft that had long been prepared. The spacecraft headed toward the territory of the Qiu Shi Race.

Golden Horn's heart skipped slightly. So this was how he intended to test it.

After entering the spacecraft, Yan Chen stopped paying much attention to Golden Horn. He ordered the intelligent assistant to activate the radar and scan for nearby Stellar-level members of the Qiu Shi Race.

Very soon, the intelligent assistant's voice sounded. A target had been discovered one hundred kilometers to their front left—ten individuals.

"Oh, a ten-man squad? That doesn't matter." Yan Chen spoke blandly.

Soon, Golden Horn saw the other side's spacecraft. Its exterior was disguised as a rock, making it seem likely that they were sentries or scouts.

Yan Chen wasted no words. He raised one claw and struck from dozens of kilometers away. The spacecraft exploded directly, and the ten Stellar-level beings inside flew out in panic. None of them were injured at all; it seemed Yan Chen had deliberately held back.

When they saw Yan Chen before them and sensed the unfathomable aura around him, they immediately sent a message to the rear before attempting to flee.

Yan Chen merely lifted his eyelids slightly.

Then the surrounding space seemed to freeze. It was as if they had fallen into a swamp, and their flight speed became extremely slow.

Yan Chen said, "Fight him. If you win, you may leave. I won't intervene."

Golden Horn and the others' expressions changed at the same time. The others were overjoyed. Such an expert generally kept his word; he clearly wanted to temper the genius beside him.

Golden Horn, on the other hand, looked grave. He did not know whether this teacher he had met only today would truly stand by if he encountered real danger, but there was no time to think.

"Silver Horn, activate the battlefield system on the intelligent terminal. It will automatically record your battle and calculate contribution points afterward."

"Yes," Golden Horn answered.

The moment his words fell, the ten Stellar-level members of the Qiu Shi Race on the other side charged over with bloodshot eyes.

Golden Horn could clearly see their dark red scaled bodies. Spikes covered their elbows and knees, making it obvious that they all excelled at close combat.

He also wanted to know just how much he had comprehended. During the earlier trial, he alone had slaughtered his way through a hundred Stellar-level savage bulls. These were only ten Stellar-level members of the Qiu Shi Race.

Golden Horn vanished before they could approach, then appeared behind all ten of them at once and attacked.

All ten were startled. Before they could react, Golden Horn's attacks struck them. Blood blossomed from their chests, backs, and necks.

Just as the corner of Golden Horn's mouth lifted, he suddenly discovered that they had not been heavily injured as he had expected. Dark red energy wriggled wildly around their wounds, healing them rapidly. He suddenly recalled what Demon Snail had said before: energy-based lifeforms had to be killed repeatedly.

This was troublesome.

The ten members of the Qiu Shi Race quickly reacted and immediately formed a tight circle with their backs against one another, claws pointed outward, guarding themselves without the slightest gap. Against an opponent with such strange movement techniques, grouping together was the best response.

Golden Horn attacked again, striking from above their heads and beneath their feet at the same time. Before long, their formation was thrown into disarray again.

Yan Chen, watching from the side, frowned. Golden Horn's comprehension of space had indeed improved, but his offensive power was lacking. Without a weapon, he could not kill in one strike and could only keep wearing down his opponents.

The outcome was exactly as Yan Chen expected. Although energy-based lifeforms needed to be killed several times, under Golden Horn's powerful movement techniques, the members of the Qiu Shi Race were continuously worn down until they finally died completely.

Golden Horn casually stored everything at the scene in his spatial ring, intending to deal with the spoils when he returned. There might be hidden dangers, but he could inspect them carefully after returning. Besides, Exterminate Qiu Star had so many experts that it should be fine. He could not possibly give up spoils of war forever. There was no helping it—he had been poor for too long. Even a mosquito was still meat.

Yan Chen frowned again when he saw this, but he said nothing.

He turned and glanced at a certain rock, his gaze seeming to pierce through its disguise. Seeing no reaction from the other side, he snorted disdainfully, released the spacecraft, and took Golden Horn back to Exterminate Qiu Star.

After they left, two figures from the Qiu Shi Race slowly emerged from behind the rock Yan Chen had just been watching. Both were enveloped in dark red energy halos, their auras deep and profound. They were actually Sector Lord-level experts as well.

The younger one looked at the elder beside him in confusion and asked, "Old Meng, why did you hold me back just now? You just let them leave so openly?"

"What else could we do? Did you want to keep a ninth-stage Sector Lord-level Spacetime Nightmare Beast here? Forget the two of us—even if Lord Tolu, a World Lord-level expert, had come, he might not have been able to keep him."

The younger man's expression changed repeatedly after hearing that, and in the end, he did not say another word.

As for Golden Horn, who had already left, he was clearly unaware of all this.