The Return of a King

The other party replied quickly, and the offer was fairly reasonable.

Golden Horn cleared out all the Qiu Shi Race-specific materials and artifacts he had collected from the battlefield—scale fragments, ritual vessels, unknown energy spheres. They were useless to him, but decent collectibles for Demon Race merchants. Before selling them, he carefully scanned every item to make sure he had not overlooked any Heavy Treasure.

The three batches of goods sold for a total of 150,000 Dream Demon Coins.

He then took out one thousand cubic units of Cosmic Crystal from his spatial ring.

He had five thousand cubic units of the stuff. Exchanging one thousand for cash would still leave him with enough for a long time.

One thousand cubic units of Cosmic Crystal were exchanged for one million Dream Demon Coins at market price.

The number in his account jumped, and the corner of Golden Horn's mouth could not help but rise slightly.

Now that he had money to spare, it was time to charge "Beyond the Light-Year."

He opened the marketplace and ordered an A-grade Energy Crystal—a fist-sized golden crystal block that emitted gentle energy fluctuations.

One cost ten thousand Dream Demon Coins.

Golden Horn took out the Energy Crystal and held it in his hand, extending his Spiritual Force into the Heavy Treasure.

The refinement process had only just begun, but its charging function was still usable. He brought the Energy Crystal close to the Heavy Treasure and guided its energy slowly inside.

About fifteen minutes later, the golden crystal dimmed and crumbled into drifting powder.

Golden Horn sent in his spiritual power to inspect it. Charging progress: 10%.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"An A-grade Energy Crystal only charges it by 10%? This thing burns money way too fast!"

But on second thought, this was a Heavy Treasure. Even a World Lord level might not necessarily be able to activate it. The fact that a Stellar level warrior could use it was already an enormous bargain. Such heavy consumption was normal.

He gritted his teeth and ordered another nineteen.

Including the previous one, two hundred thousand Dream Demon Coins vanished in the blink of an eye.

Ten were used for charging, filling "Beyond the Light-Year" with enough energy for one teleportation. The remaining ten were kept as backups. At the same time, the Heavy Treasure could slowly recover energy on its own, which would save him a little.

Golden Horn stroked the spherical Heavy Treasure in his palm, feeling the abundant energy fluctuations within it, and his heart settled considerably.

"With three chances to teleport, I should be able to escape even if I run into an Immortal, right?" he murmured.

Once the charging was complete, Golden Horn opened the marketplace again and began preparing for the Golden Horned Beast's imminent return.

There were less than five months left until his original body revived. He needed to stock up on "food" in advance.

Black Iron Essence, Crimson Blood Copper, Star Sand... all kinds of A-grade and B-grade alloys. Golden Horn did not even look at the prices and directly placed a large order, paying with Dream Demon Coins without batting an eye.

He knew better than anyone that the Golden Horned Beast grew by Devouring metal. Only by eating well could it grow quickly.

He also needed armor.

Before this, he had always fought without armor, relying entirely on his flesh to withstand attacks. Now that he had money, he chose a decent B-grade battle armor for five thousand Dream Demon Coins.

Anything he could buy with Dream Demon Coins, he bought with Dream Demon Coins. Only when something was unavailable would he consider spending Contribution Points.

Golden Horn took one final look at his asset list:

Cosmic Crystal: 4,000 cubic units (sold 1,000 cubic units)

Mu Ya Crystals: 120 (only obtained 30% of the total)

Contribution Points: 4,910

Dream Demon Coins: 945,000 (15 + 100 - 20 - 0.5)

He silently calculated it, a faint smile curling his lips.

"Even among Universe level warriors, I count as a proper rich man now, right?"

The days passed one after another.

Golden Horn set himself a clear training plan.

Every morning, he practiced the spatial secret technique, "Detailed Explanation of Space."

Yan Chen had said that the fourth to fifth layers of Space Law were a threshold. Crossing it earned one entry into the ranks of Profound-tier geniuses. Golden Horn suspended the Heavy Treasure "Beyond the Light-Year" before him, studying its ancient secret patterns while comparing them against the annotations in "Detailed Explanation of Space." His progress was swift.

In the afternoons, he practiced with daggers and longswords, honing his combat techniques.

He had Aunt Fox custom-make more than ten A-grade alloy targets and arrange them in the courtyard. Every day, he used teleportation and dagger thrusts more than a thousand times. The targets were densely covered in blade marks, and some areas had already been pierced through.

At night, he cultivated the soul-defense secret technique, "Soul Armor."

During the previous trial, he had only learned the first layer. The next two layers were sold in the Contribution Points shop—one thousand Contribution Points per layer. Golden Horn gritted his teeth and bought the second layer first.

Over the following days, Golden Horn accepted one passive mission issued by the Monster Hunting Hall each month, heading out to eliminate the remaining Qiu Shi Race members.

The main battlefield in the Withered Skeleton Galaxy had already moved forward. Most Qiu Shi Race warriors at the Universe level and above had withdrawn. All that remained were scattered small forces at the Planetary and Stellar levels, which Golden Horn could easily handle alone.

The missions were simple and did not award many Contribution Points, but they were safe.

Every month, Yan Chen came punctually to teach him once.

Golden Horn displayed his progress, while Yan Chen evaluated him, corrected his mistakes, and answered his questions. Although this teacher was not very talkative, every word struck directly at the heart of the matter.

Golden Horn's understanding of Space Law steadily and solidly improved.

This was the most peaceful period he had experienced since his birth.

There were no pursuits, no life-or-death crises, no pressure of possibly dying at any moment.

He had a courtyard, a teacher, and teammates he could trust.

With a Heavy Treasure in hand, he was not afraid even if danger came.

The years were peaceful.

Ten months later.

Golden Horn was practicing dagger techniques in the courtyard when his entire body suddenly shook.

Within his Inner World, the golden Light Egg that had been gestating for nearly a year finally cracked open.

Golden Horn abruptly withdrew his dagger and sat cross-legged, his consciousness sinking into his Inner World.

Crack. The sound of eggshell breaking echoed through the Inner World.

A sharp claw covered in black scales extended from the crack, its claw tips as sharp as blades and gleaming with cold metallic light.

Then another sharp claw emerged.

The two claws exerted force at once.

Crash!

The eggshell shattered into pieces.

A gigantic pitch-black beast emerged from the Light Egg. With steady strides, it walked onto the metallic ground.

Its golden horn shone brilliantly in the dim Inner World, like a tiny sun.

The Golden Horned Beast's original body had returned through rebirth!

Golden Horn slowly opened his eyes, his vertical pupils filled with excitement.

He lowered his head and looked at his familiar yet unfamiliar body: a hundred-meter-tall frame, black scales, a thick tail, and that distinctive golden horn.

A year had passed.

From being killed by a single casual finger of that Sirius clan Sector Lord, to being reborn as a Void Beast clone, joining the Monster Hunting Hall, training at the frontier, and obtaining a Heavy Treasure.

He clenched his claw, his nails digging into his palm.

"Sirius clan." Golden Horn's voice was low and filled with barely suppressed killing intent. "Just you wait."

Golden Horn floated in the Origin Core Space. Around him stretched an endless metallic land, while golden energy churned like mist. He closed his eyes, and the image of that Sirius clan Sector Lord casually pointing a finger appeared in his mind.

The gap was far too great.

"No rush," he murmured. "I'll break through to the Universe level first."

His original body currently had almost no resources left. The ores he had brought out of Chiyun Star had long since been exhausted, and the Blue Fruit and Red Fruit harvested from the secret realm had also been used up. But it did not matter. His Void Beast clone had become rich.

"From now on, my original body will be called Golden Horn, and my clone will be called Silver Horn. It works out perfectly, since the clone has always called himself Silver Horn to outsiders." He settled on the names for himself, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "I've already thought of names for my third and fourth clones too. Hehe."