Grand Return System

A Teacher’s Gift (Part 2)

Whenever danger appeared...

He had always stood in front of them.

Whenever someone bullied them...

He had been the first to defend them.

To both women...

Leon was far more than merely a Teacher.

He was the person who had changed their lives completely.

Unable to suppress their emotions any longer, both of them stepped forward almost simultaneously.

"Teacher..."

The two women embraced Leon tightly.

Neither cared about dignity at that moment.

Neither cared about appearances.

Tears quietly soaked into his midnight robes embroidered with delicate amethyst patterns as they cried openly.

The room became peaceful once again.

Only the sound of quiet sobbing remained.

Leon gently patted each of them on the back, allowing them time to calm themselves.

Several moments later, Selena finally wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Her face still carried traces of emotion, but her expression had regained its usual determination.

Looking up at Leon, she nodded firmly.

"Teacher..."

"Please don’t say any more."

"We’ll accept your gift."

Hearing those words, Leon finally smiled in relief.

"Good."

On the surface, he appeared calm and composed.

Inside...

He was laughing so hard his stomach almost hurt.

Hahaha...

It’s getting harder and harder to trap the girls these days.

I even had to prepare an emotional speech beforehand.

Thankfully, all that practice paid off.

Even while celebrating inwardly, not the slightest hint of those thoughts appeared on his face.

Instead, he simply smiled warmly.

"Alright."

"That’s enough crying."

"Put the money away."

"Later, go explore the streets."

"Buy several beautiful sets of clothes."

"And whatever else catches your eye."

"Don’t even think about trying to save the money."

His tone carried the quiet authority of a Teacher making a simple request.

Neither Selena nor Rias intended to argue anymore. They simply nodded obediently, their hearts still overflowing with warmth and gratitude.

The chests of gold remained before them, gleaming softly in the afternoon sunlight as they prepared to accept Leon’s heartfelt gift.

Selena gently wiped away the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes before taking a slow breath.

"Okay... I understand."

Her voice was soft, but this time it carried quiet resolve instead of hesitation.

Beside her, Rias also nodded obediently. The gratitude in her crimson eyes had yet to fade, and although she still felt that Leon had given them far too much, she understood that refusing again would only disappoint him.

The two young women exchanged a glance.

Neither of them cared much about wealth.

However, this wasn’t merely money.

It was their Teacher’s heartfelt gift.

Rejecting it would be rejecting his kindness.

With that thought in mind, the two quietly divided the gold.

Each of them accepted two large chests.

A total of five thousand taels of gold each.

Watching them finally put the chests into their storage treasures, Leon gave an approving nod.

Only then did the familiar mechanical voice echo inside his mind.

[Ding...]

[You have gifted your students ten thousand taels of gold.]

[Grand Return System activated.]

[A critical return has been triggered.]

[Activate?]

Leon’s eyes immediately lit up.

There it was.

The moment he had been waiting for.

A smile nearly spread across his face.

Hehe...

Finally.

Did he think giving away ten thousand taels of gold was a loss?

Not even slightly.

To anyone else, it might seem like he had casually thrown away a fortune.

But Leon knew better.

The gold he had just handed over was merely the investment.

The real reward...

Was about to arrive.

Without the slightest hesitation, he answered inwardly,

"Activate."

The system responded instantly.

[Ding...]

[Congratulations.]

[Ten-thousand-fold critical return successfully triggered.]

[Reward: One hundred million taels of gold.]

[Receive now?]

Leon’s breathing stopped for a heartbeat.

His usually calm expression nearly cracked.

A ten-thousand-fold return...?

One... hundred... million taels?

Even someone as composed as Leon couldn’t help drawing in a sharp breath.

"Hiss..."

His heart skipped several beats.

One hundred million taels of gold...

What kind of absurd amount is that?

He had never possessed so much wealth in either of his lives.

Forget ordinary cultivators.

Even many powerful households probably couldn’t casually produce such an enormous fortune.

For a brief moment, countless possibilities flashed through his mind.

Rare medicinal herbs.

Precious ores.

Alchemy ingredients.

Powerful artifacts.

Formation materials.

With this wealth, he would finally have the confidence to pursue all of those plans without constantly calculating every expense.

The corners of his lips slowly curled upward.

"Receive."

The next instant, the reward disappeared from the system interface.

At the same time, his storage jade became noticeably heavier.

Leon’s spiritual sense immediately swept inside.

What greeted him was an almost endless sea of neatly stacked gold.

Mountains upon mountains of glittering ingots stretched farther than the eye could see.

Golden light reflected in every direction, illuminating the enormous storage space.

Leon couldn’t help smiling.

Now this...

This is what true wealth looks like.

For a brief moment, he felt like an ordinary man who had suddenly become unimaginably rich overnight.

The urge to spend money appeared almost instinctively.

Still...

His excitement gradually settled.

Although one hundred million taels sounded limitless...

He knew better.

Alchemy was one of the most expensive professions in existence.

Every batch of pills required valuable herbs.

Failures consumed resources without mercy.

Higher-grade medicinal ingredients became increasingly rare and costly.

Before long, even such an enormous fortune could disappear.

Looks like I’ll still have to keep working hard.

His gaze unconsciously drifted toward Selena and Rias.

A faint smile appeared again.

Looks like...

I’ll need to continue my little "trap the girls" plan in the future.

The Grand Return System was simply too rewarding.

Of course...

Not everything could be sold.

Earlier, Leon had already confirmed with Cavir Walton that the Whitelist Restaurant possessed one of the largest treasure auction halls in Ashford City.

Coincidentally...

Treasures were precisely what Leon lacked the least.

Thanks to the Grand Return System and his previous adventures, his storage jade had accumulated countless valuable items.

Some of them could easily be auctioned for enormous sums.

Others...

Were priceless.

Those had to remain in his possession.

Leon understood that distinction better than anyone.

If he sold the wrong treasure merely for temporary profit, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

Still...

Visiting the treasure pavilion wasn’t a bad idea.

Perhaps he could discover something useful while selling a few suitable items.

After all, accumulating more resources before beginning large-scale alchemy preparations would only benefit him.

Having organized his thoughts, Leon looked toward the two young women once more.

His expression returned to that of a patient Teacher.

"Come."

"Let me see what the two of you obtained during this expedition."

The moment they heard those words, both women immediately walked over.

Selena stepped forward first.

A trace of excitement appeared in her blue eyes.

"Teacher..."

"My harvest from the Martial Emperor Tomb was quite good."

As she spoke, she raised a hand.

A brilliant flash of light emerged.

A magnificent sword slowly appeared before Leon.

Its crimson-black blade shimmered with chilling light, while ancient runes covered the weapon from hilt to tip.

Even without being unsheathed completely, an overwhelming murderous aura quietly spread throughout the room.

"I obtained a high-grade Martial Emperor weapon."

Leon narrowed his purple eyes.

The moment his gaze settled upon the sword, he immediately sensed something unusual.

"This weapon..."

He slowly reached out.

The terrifying murderous aura surrounding the blade surged instinctively, as though resisting anyone who approached.

Yet Leon remained completely unbothered.

His expression became thoughtful.

"The killing intent is extraordinarily dense."

"And..."

"There are traces of lingering malevolent will."

"If used for too long in its current state, it may gradually influence its owner’s mind."

Fortunately...

Such a problem wasn’t difficult for Leon.

Without another word, he gently brushed two fingers across the blade.

A stream of pure Mana flowed silently into the weapon.

The invisible malevolent thoughts hidden within the Martial Emperor sword instantly dissolved like snow beneath the morning sun.

Only its pure, overwhelming killing intent remained, becoming cleaner and far more stable than before.