Grand Return System

The Gift of Absolute Protection

The familiar system notification sounded again inside his mind.

[Ding, you have given your student two inner armors of ice and fire, triggering a hundredfold return.]

Leon stood quietly in the guest room of the Whitelist Restaurant, his long black hair falling loosely over his shoulders. The sunlight coming through the window caught faintly on the thin amethyst embroidery of his midnight robes.

He listened to the system notification.

Then he raised an eyebrow.

"Only a hundred times?"

There was a trace of disappointment in his voice.

Leon couldn’t help but shake his head.

Still, he didn’t really care.

A hundred times was not particularly impressive compared with what he had just received.

After all, he already had the best ten-thousand-fold return.

The Supreme Demon Sword.

That weapon alone was enough to make even the most powerful cultivators lose their composure.

The other rewards were merely accessories in comparison.

If they were useful, he would keep them.

If they weren’t, he could simply send them to the auction house.

There was no reason to let good treasures gather dust in his storage space.

"It’s fine."

Leon leaned back slightly in his chair.

"Whether it’s useful to me or not, someone else will always need it."

The Grand Return System had already proven its value countless times.

He had never truly lost anything by giving treasures away.

If anything, every gift seemed to come back carrying something even more ridiculous.

The system notification continued.

[Congratulations, you have obtained supreme-grade inner armor, Phoenix Feather Armor, Ice Dragoness Scale Armor, one each...]

Leon’s eyes moved slightly.

This time, there was a little more interest in his expression.

"Supreme-grade inner armor..."

He reached out.

Two pieces of armor appeared in front of him.

One carried a warm crimson glow.

The surface seemed to contain countless tiny feathers formed from condensed energy. They overlapped naturally, creating a beautiful armor that looked delicate at first glance.

Yet the moment Leon’s Mana touched it, he could feel the terrifying defensive power hidden beneath its appearance.

The second armor was completely different.

A cold mist slowly gathered around it.

Its surface shimmered with an icy blue brilliance, and faint patterns resembling dragon scales covered its exterior.

The temperature inside the room dropped several degrees.

Leon looked between the two.

"These two are quite good."

The difference between them and the previous inner armors was obvious.

The previous ones had been decent defensive treasures.

These two were genuine supreme-grade treasures.

Even Leon had to admit that they were valuable.

Still, he wasn’t particularly attached to them.

To him, treasures were ultimately tools.

What mattered was whether they could serve their purpose.

[Ding, you have given your student a low-grade spirit pill, triggering a ten-fold critical strike...]

Another notification sounded.

Leon didn’t even bother reacting immediately.

[Ding, you have given your student a piece...]

The system continued announcing one return after another.

Leon listened quietly.

As expected, the rest of the returns were just accessories.

There were pills.

Weapons.

Various materials.

Some cultivation resources.

A few miscellaneous treasures.

None of them caught his eye.

Leon had accumulated too many treasures over time.

His standards had naturally risen.

Something that could make an ordinary cultivator ecstatic might barely make him glance twice.

But Leon understood something else as well.

What he didn’t like didn’t mean that others didn’t like it either.

A treasure that was useless to him could still be priceless to another cultivator.

If these things were placed in an auction house, there would certainly be people willing to fight over them.

Some might even pay an astronomical price.

Leon wasn’t planning to waste them.

He would simply turn useless treasures into resources.

That was much more practical.

His gaze returned to the two supreme-grade inner armors.

He picked up the Phoenix Feather Armor first.

The armor was surprisingly light.

Despite its incredible defensive power, it felt almost weightless in his hand.

He turned it over carefully.

Then he examined the Ice Dragoness Scale Armor.

The coldness coming from it was intense enough that ordinary cultivators might have difficulty holding it for long.

Leon thought about Selena and Rias.

Both women were talented.

Both had already stepped into realms that would make ordinary cultivators of their generation look up to them.

But talent didn’t mean they were invincible.

There would always be someone stronger.

There would always be some danger that couldn’t be predicted.

And Leon couldn’t stay beside them every moment.

That was the problem.

Weapons could increase their offensive strength.

Defensive treasures could save their lives.

Between the two, Leon valued the latter more.

A stronger attack could help them defeat an enemy.

A stronger defense could give them another chance to survive when everything went wrong.

Leon hesitated for a moment.

Then he made his decision.

"Yes, these two inner armors have good defense. They are much stronger than the two just now. I’ll get them to change to these two and auction those two off."

His voice was calm.

There was no hesitation left in it.

He couldn’t let others take advantage of something good.

If these two armors could give his students better protection, there was no reason to keep the inferior ones simply because they had already been given.

Perhaps one day, Leon wouldn’t be by their side.

Perhaps Selena or Rias would encounter a powerful enemy while traveling alone.

Perhaps they would find themselves surrounded with no opportunity to escape.

At that moment, a single defensive treasure could determine whether they lived or died.

Leon had experienced enough battles to understand this.

Strength was important.

But sometimes survival depended on something much simpler.

One extra layer of protection.

One extra breath.

One moment longer.

That could be the difference between returning alive and never returning at all.

He carefully placed the Phoenix Feather Armor and Ice Dragoness Scale Armor into separate storage compartments.

The two treasures would eventually belong to Selena and Rias.

He had already decided that much.

After some consideration, Leon finally decided to do it.

He couldn’t let a treasure that could protect his students sit unused in his storage jade.

The thought made him sigh softly.

He sometimes wondered if he was becoming too protective.

Then he remembered the countless dangers they had faced.

The thought disappeared immediately.