At Mining Station 12, inside a temporary room carved into the canyon wall, Cedric took out everything from the storage ring Old Blue had given him.
There was a Tier-3 alloy battle suit, a Tier-3 Blade, and one vial of Tier-3 Awakening Liquid, which Nine Stars warriors can use to attempt to awaken their special ability and officially step into the Awakening Realm.
Without a doubt, the most valuable item was the Tier-3 Awakening Liquid.
According to what he remembered, weapons and other treasures that can be used by warriors below the Awakening Realm are mainly divided into three tiers. Tier-1 is the lowest, and Tier-3 is the highest rank.
Above Tier-3 is Core Rank, which is again divided into Standard Core and Elite Core.
Core Rank Treasures are mainly used by Awakening Realm warriors and Earthen Soul Realm warriors.
"Heh, this Young Master Julian is pretty generous. He's actually willing to give such a good weapon to a small guard like me, who only has the status of a slave. Having a mine really does make people rich and careless."
Cedric looked over the items again, and his eyes finally stopped on the bottle of Tier-3 Awakening Liquid, which glimmered with silver light inside the blue liquid.
"The Alloy Battle Suit and weapon are standard gear for personal guards and can only be used by me. That means the first thing I can give away is this Tier-3 Awakening Liquid. I wonder what the System will return in exchange."
Cedric picked up a loose stone nearby and sent a thin stream of force from his finger. Like a sharp blade, it quickly shaped the stone into a simple stone jar.
He poured half of the newly obtained Tier-3 Awakening Liquid into it, then activated his Universal Bracelet.
Not long after, Lior arrived at the temporary cave dwelling.
From the original body's memories, Cedric knew that although Lior's cultivation was slow and not outstanding among the disciples, his personality was calm and steady, always carrying a composed and reliable air.
However, seeing him now, Cedric could tell that Lior's eyes were dull and empty. Obviously, suddenly losing his freedom and becoming a slave had a huge impact on Lior's heart. He lost his previous liveliness.
"Leader."
Lior bowed respectfully, but his movements carried a sense of numbness.
Every member of the Raivorn Tribe had already been informed by Old Blue that Cedric would be their leader from now on, overseeing them and their work at Mining Station 12.
Watching Lior bow to him like a soulless body made Cedric feel slightly uneasy.
Still, since he was eager to test the System's return function, he didn't dwell on it.
He directly handed over the vial half-filled with Tier-3 Awakening Liquid.
"This is a rare treasure called Awakening Liquid. After consuming it, a person's chance of awakening a special ability increases by 50%. As such, entering the Awakening Realm poses no danger."
"However, since you have not yet cultivated to the Nine-Star level, you will not awaken for now. Even so, your potential will increase greatly, and your cultivation speed will become much faster."
Awakening Liquid was highly effective for awakening a special ability. Using it on someone below Nine Stars was actually nothing short of a waste.
But Cedric possessed the return System, which is also his ultimate advantage. The more he gifted, the greater the rewards he would naturally receive.
If he weren't worried about drawing Julian's attention, Cedric would have liked to give away all the Awakening Liquid at once.
"Leader… this?"
Lior looked at Cedric in confusion, clearly not understanding his intention.
Seeing Lior's puzzled expression, Cedric explained as calmly as he could: "Don't worry about anything and just focus on cultivating. Although we are mere slaves now, our status can definitely rise. Look at me, I'm a Nine Stars warrior, so Young Master Julian made me his personal guard. As a member of the Raivorn Tribe, I don't want to see our people suffer. Since I have something that can help my people become stronger, I'll definitely not hesitate to give it out."
"You are the first person I chose. There is no reason. I just chose you, that's all."
"According to Young Master Julian, I'll receive resources for my cultivation every month. I'll use a few of them to support you until you become a Nine Stars warrior. After that, I'll choose to help someone else."
"Ah? Th-this…"
After hearing this, the emptiness in Lior's eyes finally faded a little, though his face was still filled with disbelief.
"I said, don't worry about anything!"
Cedric spoke with a serious tone, smoothly putting on an act. "Our Raivorn Tribe has suffered a terrible disaster. Even though we can barely survive now under Young Master Julian's protection, many of our tribesmen are still suffering."
"The outer world is full of danger, and I have limited strength. This place is also very dangerous. Even I could die at any moment. If our tribe is to survive and be passed on, and if we are to rescue our suffering people in the future, then dependable people like you must step forward."
He looked at Lior, his eyes filled with care.
"So take the gift I'm giving you. It can help you increase your potential. This way, you can become stronger quickly."
After hearing Cedric's sincere words, the dullness in Lior's eyes vanished. First, he froze, then his breathing quickened, and a bright fire suddenly lit up in his once-empty gaze.
He no longer hesitated and firmly accepted the half-filled vial of Tier-3 Awakening Liquid from Cedric.
The moment Lior took the stone bottle, a pleasant system notification sounded in Cedric's mind.
[Successfully gifted half a vial of Tier-3 Awakening Liquid.]
[Base return multiplier: 10x.]
[Processing return…]
[Detecting that the gift caused shock to the recipient. A 50x critical reward has been triggered. The final return multiplier is 500x!]
[Please choose between three options...]
﹂ 500 half-filled vials of Tier-3 Awakening Liquid.
﹂ 10 Vials of Standard Core-ranked Awakening Liquid.
﹂ 1 Vial of Standard Core-ranked Awakening Essence.
Damn…
Hearing the system messages, Cedric's eyes widened in surprise.
He hadn't expected to trigger a critical reward on his very first use of the system, and not just any critical, but an extremely high one at fifty times.
Originally, Cedric hadn't expected much from Lior. He never imagined that this person would give him such an enormous surprise.
Without hesitation, Cedric immediately chose the third option.
[Congratulations on receiving 1 Vial of Standard Core-ranked Awakening Essence.]
Almost in an instant, Cedric felt a strange sensation and the next second, his attention was pulled inside a dark space, where a small bottle filled with shining liquid was placed.
"This is..."
Cedric took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. Although he wanted to take out the Awakening Essence and devour it, but he forcefully stopped and controlled his restless heart.
After all, someone was still standing nearby.
No matter what, he has to wait until Lior leaves before taking out this treasure.