Grand Return System-Chapter 56: Golden Runes Beneath the Heavens

Golden Runes Beneath the Heavens

A trace of grin - just barely there - pulled one corner of his mouth upward.

A hush fell as Leon stood, moving careful steps to where water met land, his robe’s edge dragging through dewy blades. Above, space opened wide, stars pinned in jagged pieces across fabric blacker than soot.

"Alright," he said, his voice returning to its usual calm steadiness. "Take this opportunity to consolidate your cultivation and stabilize your state of mind. Your senior sister should be back soon."

A soft sweep of her hand moved the deep red strands aside. Firelight danced lightly on her face while fabric shifted into place across her frame. Moonbeams kissed the gold thread woven through the belt. A quiet hush followed each small motion.

Darkness came when she shut her eyelids.

Breathing grew slow before long.

Mana flowed.

According to the method Leon had just taught her, she guided the violent heat of the Inferno Kong’s precious bone into her spiritual core. The divine bone within her pulsed like a living ember, refining the surrounding energy into pure fire-attribute essence.

The air around her grew faintly warm.

Leon glanced back once.

Satisfied.

Then he let out a long breath.

"Phew..."

His shoulders relaxed slightly.

"This girl is too seductive. No... my Principal heart will be ruined by you one day. Damn it, I’m getting excited."

He rubbed his temples, forcing his breathing to steady.

The image of her sitting there — crimson robes hugging her curves, firelight flickering over smooth skin — threatened to invade his thoughts again.

Focus.

He closed his eyes.

"System."

[Ding...]

The familiar cold voice echoed inside his mind.

[You gave your student a precious bone of an Ancient descendant in King Realm Five Realms, triggering a critical hit.]

[Activate?]

Leon’s heartbeat quickened.

"Activate."

[Ding... congratulations, you have received 10,000 times Critical Hit, obtaining a piece of the Prime Dragon’s bone.]

Silence.

For one second, Leon didn’t breathe.

"What?"

His eyes snapped open.

"Prime Dragon’s bone? Gasp... What the hell. This, this, this... System, are you sure? It’s really a Prime Dragon’s bone?"

His voice trembled in disbelief.

[Host, this precious bone is the remains of a Prime Dragon. It is incomplete and not whole.]

The system emphasized the point with clinical calm.

But Leon didn’t care.

Even a fragment...

A Prime Dragon.

In the legends of the Forsaken Domain, Prime Dragons were ancient sovereigns of heaven and earth — beings that once soared above clouds and devoured lightning. Their scales were said to rival divine weapons. Their breath could reduce kingdoms to ash.

A single drop of their blood could create a lineage.

And now—

He had a fragment of one.

His pulse thundered.

"Haha... I’m rich. I’m rich!"

He nearly laughed aloud.

"I didn’t take in this student for nothing. The more I look at her, the more I like her. She’s really my sweet little darling."

He suppressed the urge to shout.

Carefully, he summoned the Prime Dragon bone from the Grand Return System.

The moment it appeared in his palm, the night air changed.

A deep, ancient pressure descended like the weight of mountains.

Golden cracks of light flickered across the bone’s surface, like dormant lightning trapped inside fossilized remains.

Leon’s pupils contracted.

Even incomplete, its aura was terrifying.

Without hesitation, he sat cross-legged and placed the fragment against his chest.

He began to absorb.

The instant Mana made contact—

BOOM.

A violent force exploded inside him.

Golden runes burst across his skin, crawling like living fire. His muscles tightened painfully, bones groaning under unbearable pressure.

"Hiss—!"

His teeth clenched.

"Ouch... damn it—!"

It felt as though a dragon had slammed into his body.

His limbs trembled. Veins bulged. His internal organs screamed under the foreign power.

This was no gentle refinement.

This was domination.

The Prime Dragon bone was trying to overwrite him.

Back bent sharply, wild dragon force flooded his five vital organs - heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys - each hit hard, wave after crashing wave.

A flash of fear hit Leon - his chest tightening like it might burst right open.

This object means business.

Focusing became something he pushed through, breath by breath. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"True Prime Mantra."

A flicker of gold appeared behind his eyes when the old method began to turn. As the energy moved, so did his focus, shaping the dragon force like clay - tightening it bit by bit. Fractures threatened his inner pathways, yet each pulse stayed under quiet control.

Frozen breaths came fast. Sharp edges dug deep without warning.

Fine drops slid from his brow. Then came a trickle that ran just above his eyes.

But slowly—

Very slowly—

The wild dragon power began to submit.

Golden symbols carved themselves onto his flesh, faint at first, then bright and defined. They shimmered like scales beneath his skin.

His Mana grew denser.

Purer.

In less than a moment, his cultivation surged violently.

Fourth star of King Realm—

Fifth star—

Peak of Fifth—

He felt the threshold of the sage Realm trembling before him.

The transformation did not stop there.

His body changed.

Muscle fibers condensed.

Bones hardened.

Every cell vibrated with draconic vitality.

"Golden Physic of Prime Dragon..."

Leon inhaled sharply.

This was not merely an increase in cultivation.

This was a qualitative evolution.

His physical strength alone could now crush previous opponents. His skin felt like tempered divine metal. His senses sharpened to terrifying levels.

Even the Mana within him became pristine, as if washed in ancient fire.

He flexed his fingers.

The air crackled faintly.

If those Lavahound household experts stood before me now...

He wouldn’t need sword techniques.

He could shatter them with one strike.

He continued refining, injecting the dragon essence into his Principal Flower, entering the Principal with his body. A luminous Principal Flower bloomed above his head, petals radiating golden light into the night sky.

The Heavenly Cycle responded.

Wind howled.

Clouds gathered.

The lake rippled violently.

Leon stood at the precipice — one step from sage Realm.

—

At that moment, footsteps approached through the forest.

Selena emerged first, her long silver hair catching the wind. Behind her, Akeno followed, carrying a wild deer over her shoulder.

They were mid-conversation—

Then they froze.

Above Leon’s head, a Principal Flower bloomed, golden and vast.

The pressure nearly forced them to their knees.

"This— what happened to Teacher?" Selena gasped, struggling to remain upright as fierce winds whipped her robe around her legs.

Her blue eyes widened.

Rias felt the disturbance and snapped out of meditation. She opened her eyes just in time to see Leon surrounded by swirling golden runes.

Her breath caught.

"This is... entering the Principal with the body..."

Exactly what he had described.

She whispered in awe.

"Junior Sister, what happened?" Selena asked urgently, grabbing Rias’ arm to steady herself.

Rias stared at Leon, stunned but composed.

"Teacher... seems to have broken through."

"Broken through?" Selena repeated.

Understanding dawned on her face.

"This... Teacher has become a sage Realm? How is this possible?"

Her voice trembled.

"He’s so young..."

In the entire Celestis Academy, only two had reached sage Realm — Headmaster Mike and Guardian Elder Shera.

And now—

Leon?

Ten years since inheriting Amethyst Summit Division.

And already stepping into sage Realm.

Selena felt her heart race.

This wasn’t normal talent.

This was something else entirely.

A natural born supreme being.

The so-called descendants of kings and ancient beasts?

They were nothing compared to this.

As golden light intensified around him, the wind roared louder, bending trees and scattering leaves into spirals of light.

Rias watched with shining eyes.

Her Teacher.

Standing beneath the heavens.

Unrivaled.

And rising.