Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 4: The First Return, Generous Rewards

Mine No. 5, in a temporary cave carved into the rock face of a canyon.

Qi Yuan took out everything from the spatial ring that Lao Wu had given him.

The items weren't too many: a C2-grade alloy battle suit, a second-tier Force battle sword, and one kilogram of 'Earth Soul Liquid' used by stellar-level warriors to enhance their souls.

The most precious item here is undoubtedly the second-tier Force Battle Blade.

According to the original work, Force weapons and Psychic weapons are priced similarly, but within the same tier, the price difference between top-grade and low-grade weapons can be nearly a hundred times.

The original work states that a second-tier top-grade psychic weapon costs approximately 60 billion Black Dragon Coins.

Even if this Force Blade is the lowest grade among second-tier Force weapons, with a difference of a hundredfold, its price would still be tens of millions of Black Dragon Coins.

At that price, you could buy two more second-tier stellar-level slaves like Qi Yuan!

"Hehe, my 'master' is quite generous, actually willing to equip his slaves with such good weapons. It seems that having a mine at home makes one willful!"

Qi Yuan's gaze swept back and forth among the items, finally settling on the bottle of 'Earth Soul Liquid' that was purple with silvery starlight.

According to Lao Wu's introduction, this Earth Soul Liquid can slightly enhance soul power after consumption, and it is a commonly used resource for stellar-level martial artists to assist in cultivation.

"The alloy suit and Force weapons are standard equipment for the Royal Guard, and only I can use them. It seems that the first gift I receive will be this Earth Soul Liquid. I wonder what good things the system will return to me later."

Qi Yuan casually picked up a fallen rock beside him, and a wisp of primal force shot out from his fingertip, quickly polishing it into the shape of a simple stone jar as if cut by a sharp blade.

He poured half of the 'Earth Soul Liquid' he had just obtained into it, and then clicked to call on his auxiliary computer.

Not long after, the Lei Yuan clan member named 'Cang Fan' arrived at his temporary cave dwelling.

In the original owner's memories, although Cang Fan's cultivation progress was slow and he was not outstanding among the disciples, he was calm and composed, always exuding a sense of ease and composure.

However, when I saw him again, I could clearly feel that his eyes had become somewhat empty, and he looked lifeless, like a decadent middle-aged man on Earth who had lost money in the stock market and whose family had broken apart.

"teacher."

Cang Fan bowed respectfully to Qi Yuan, but his movements were wooden.

Qi Yuan felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing an old man with gray hair bowing to him.

However, in their eagerness to test the system's return function, they didn't say much more.

He handed over the stone jar containing half a kilogram of Earth Soul Liquid, and at the same time, mentally selected the Earth Soul Liquid in the jar as a 'gift' to trigger the system's return function.

"This is a precious treasure called 'Earth Soul Liquid.' Taking it can greatly enhance your soul. Take it back and use it."

Earth Soul Liquid has a good effect on improving the souls of stellar-level martial artists, so using it on planetary-level martial artists is actually a bit of a waste.

However, Qi Yuan has the 'super leverage' of the return system; the more he invests, the more he naturally produces.

If it weren't to avoid attracting the attention of the castle owner, he would have loved to pack up all the Earth Soul Liquid and send it away!
"Teacher, what's wrong?"

Cang Fan looked at Qi Yuan somewhat slowly, not quite understanding the meaning behind his teacher's actions.

Seeing his bewildered expression, Qi Yuan could only try to explain as reasonably as possible:
"Our master promised that if any of our people can break through to the Stellar level, they can be freed from their status as miners and become members of the personal guard."

"I will take half of my monthly resource allocation to help you break through to the Stellar level. You don't need to take on mining tasks for the time being. Focus all your energy on cultivation and strive to break through as soon as possible."

"Huh? This, this..."

Upon hearing Qi Yuan's words, Cang Fan's previously empty gaze finally regained some luster, though his face still showed an expression of disbelief.

"Teacher, among so many junior brothers and sisters in our clan who are more talented than me, why..."

Qi Yuan thought to himself, "Why are you being so slow? Just accept it. I'm waiting to see what kind of reward the system will give me!"

"Because you are mature enough!"

He solemnly lied, "My Leiyuan clan has suffered a great calamity. Although we have managed to catch our breath thanks to our master's protection, many more of our clansmen are still in dire straits!"

"The outer universe is fraught with danger, and my strength is limited. I may perish at any time. In order for my Thunder Origin Clan to continue its lineage smoothly and to rescue all my suffering clansmen in the future, we need more reliable and steady people like you to step forward!" He looked at Cang Fan, his eyes filled with the kindness and trust of a teacher for his beloved disciple:
"Now I ask you, are you willing to take on this responsibility?"

After hearing Qi Yuan's righteous words, Cang Fan, who had been lifeless, was first stunned, and then his breathing began to become heavier and heavier uncontrollably. His empty pupils were filled with a strange light that went from being scattered stars to raging wildfire!

"So the teacher trusted me so much! How hateful! I've always prided myself on my perseverance, but I've become so despondent after just one setback. I've truly let the teacher down! No, I can't continue to be so careless!"

His eyes were bloodshot, as if they were about to spit fire, and he kowtowed deeply to Qi Yuan:

"Teacher, your disciple is willing to shoulder this responsibility. I will dedicate myself to saving all my people, and I will do my utmost until my death!"

As he spoke, he bowed to Qi Yuan again and readily accepted the stone jar containing the Earth Soul Liquid.

"Teacher, rest assured, your disciple will certainly not let you down!"

The moment he took the stone bottle, a pleasant system notification sound rang in Qi Yuan's mind.

[Successfully gifted 500 grams of Earth Soul Elixir to disciple!]

[Base return rate 8x, return begins.]

[The gift gift has brought great joy to the disciple, triggering an 88x critical hit reward, with a final return multiplier of 704x!]

[Reward: 704 Wood Crystals, already stored in system space, available for collection at any time.]

"Wow, my luck seems pretty good."

Hearing the system notification, Qi Yuan's eyes lit up with joy.

I never expected to trigger a critical hit reward on my first use of the system, and it was an incredibly high critical hit of 88 times!

Qi Yuan hadn't had high hopes for Cang Fan, whose base return rate was only 8 times, but this disciple gave him quite a surprise!

With a base return rate of 8x, multiplied by a critical hit bonus of 88x, the final return rate reaches a staggering 704x!
Moreover, the system thoughtfully turned the returned rewards into rare items like Wood Crystals!
Although it seems that a single Wood Sprout Crystal is worth about the same as 500 grams of Earth Soul Liquid.

However, the Wood Crystal contains abundant life energy, which has a great effect on improving both the physical body and the soul. Most importantly, it has no side effects, making it one of the most suitable resources for Qi Yuan's current stage!

In comparison, the Earth Soul Liquid, which can only slightly enhance the soul, seems rather insignificant.

"A total of 704 Wood Crystals, hehe, now I shouldn't have to worry about resources until I reach the peak of the Stellar level!"

Qi Yuan was overjoyed. Since his transmigration, he had never felt so happy!

After Cang Fan, who was kneeling on the ground in front of him, made a passionate statement, he saw that his teacher was just laughing to himself and had no intention of paying attention to him at all. He immediately felt wronged like a 180-year-old baby.

"If, teacher, there is nothing else, then this disciple will take his leave."

"Oh, I forgot you were kneeling."

Qi Yuan was taken aback upon hearing this, then waved his hand dismissively and said, "Go, go, go back and cultivate diligently, do not slack off."

"Yes, teacher, I will remember your teachings."

Cang Fan bowed respectfully to Qi Yuan again before turning and leaving.

Watching Cang Fan's departing figure, Qi Yuan smiled and shook his head.

"This old disciple doesn't seem like a mature person at all; he's so old, yet he acts like a radical youth."

He hadn't even used one percent of his PUA skills, and he was already getting so excited, like he was about to do *that*. This old baby from another world is still too naive.
Once Cang Fan's figure disappeared at the entrance of the cave, Qi Yuan brought his scattered thoughts back to reality.

"Everything is ready. It's time to see the cultivation technique my 'master' prepared for me."

He gently stroked the screen on the arm guard of the smart computer, his face showing great anticipation.

Despite lacking resources, the original owner managed to cultivate to the second level of the Stellar level using incomplete cultivation techniques pieced together from various sources.

Now that he possesses a complete cultivation technique capable of reaching the pinnacle of the cosmic level, along with the 'Wooden Crystal' which is extremely suitable for assisting cultivation at the stellar level, who knows how far he can go?
My new book is launching! I humbly request that you all read and add it to your collections!
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(End of this chapter)