My Children’s Gifts Give Me 1000x Returns!

The morning sun broke through the grey smog of the Outer Ring of Verdant Haven Citadel, casting long shadows across the massive stone plaza in front of the Ninth District Martial Testing Center.

Thousands of eighteen-year-old youths gathered in nervous clusters, their eyes glued to the grand stage where heavy testing crystals floated above iron pedestals. The Imperial College Entrance Exam was the single most important day of their lives—a brutal divider between rising into the Inner City or remaining stuck on the Outer Wall.

Ethan and Elena stood quietly near the rear of the crowd. Wearing simple, clean tunics and carrying their adaptive weapons wrapped in plain linen cloth, they stood out among the sea of commoners. Their skin was clear, their breathing deep and rhythmic—a direct result of the Heaven-Grade pills their father had bestowed upon them.

"Look at those slum rats," a sneering voice piped up from nearby.

A young man dressed in rich, beast-hide armor stepped out from a group of wealthy youths. He wore a heavy brass crest pinned to his chest—a roaring manticore, the symbol of a local branch of House Valerius, the ruling warlords of the Southern Territory.

Garrett Valerius, a third-tier branch descendant.

"I heard Gabriel's bastard twins were actually daring enough to show up," Garrett chuckled loudly, deliberately drawing the attention of the surrounding students. "Tell me, Ethan, is your father still sweeping beast dung off the outer wall for three coppers a night? Or did he finally choke on a stale barley bun?"

The surrounding noble-aligned students burst into arrogant laughter.

Ethan’s knuckles turned white around the grip of his linen-wrapped spear, but he remembered his father’s words: Keep a calm mind until it is time to strike.

"Leave us alone, Garrett," Elena said coldly, her hand resting on her sword hilt. "We're here to take the exam, not deal with branch trash."

Garrett’s face twisted in sudden rage. "Branch trash?! You little bitch! Your mother was a high-noble traitor from House Aurelius who ran off with a commoner guard! You exist only because the noble clans didn't bother to wipe you out!"

Before Elena could respond, Garrett lunged forward, his palm whistling through the air coated in a thin layer of sharp, aggressive Qi. He was aiming straight for Elena's face, intending to ruin her features in front of thousands of onlookers.

CLANG!

Ethan shifted in a blur of motion. The butt of his linen-wrapped spear whipped out like an iron rod, slamming directly into Garrett’s wrist.

CRACK!

"AAAGH!" Garrett shrieked, stumbling back as his wrist bent at an unnatural angle. "My hand! The rat broke my wrist! Guards, kill them!"

Within seconds, six heavily armored examiners and four teachers stepped out from the main building, led by a middle-aged man with a slick, oiled mustache and a regal robe.

Principal Hector—an Early-Stage Martial Scholar and a known lapdog for the local Valerius noble branches.

"What is the meaning of this chaos?!" Hector barked, his pressure leaking out to suppress the surrounding commoner students. He glanced at Garrett holding his broken wrist, then looked at Ethan and Elena with cold disgust. "Vicious assault before the holy exam grounds? Guards, break their limbs and throw them into the dungeon!"

"Wait!" Ethan shouted, standing in front of his sister. "He attacked first! Everyone here saw it!"

"Silence, commoner scum!" a harsh, thunderous voice boomed from the upper balcony of the testing center.

A tall, broad-shouldered man in dark red plate armor leapt off the balcony, landing with a heavy THUD that cracked the stone floor. The aura radiating off him was stifling, compressing the air in the plaza.

Vice-Captain Boris Valerius—Leader of the Valerius Outer Branch and an elite Mid-Stage Martial Scholar.

Boris walked over to Garrett, checked his son’s shattered wrist, and turned his bloodshot eyes toward the twins.

"The blood of House Valerius is sacred," Boris growled, drawing a massive, six-foot broadsword from his back. "A crippled guard's trash offspring dares to harm my son? I don't care about the exam. I will personally execute you both right here to wash away this insult!"

The surrounding commoner students backed away in terror. Principal Hector merely folded his arms with a cruel smile, making no move to stop a Mid-Stage Martial Scholar from murdering two eighteen-year-olds.

Boris raised his massive broadsword, the blade glowing with lethal, crimson Qi. "Die, bastards!"

Ethan and Elena drew their weapons, gritting their teeth to fight to the death.

Suddenly—

BOOM!

The sky above the plaza seemed to split open. A suffocating, terrifying wave of absolute spatial pressure crashed down from above, smashing straight onto Boris’s shoulders.

CRACK!

The stone floor beneath Boris’s boots exploded into dust. The crimson Qi on his sword was snuffed out like a dying candle, and the six-foot broadsword fell from his trembling hands, shattering into pieces upon impact.

"Execute my children?" a calm, ice-cold voice echoed through the entire plaza, vibrating directly in the bones of every person present. "With what authority, you fucking trash?"

The air warped, and a tall, imposing figure stepped out from the dust cloud.

Gabriel stood there in a dark, simple leather coat. His eyes were cold, glowing with a faint, golden divine light that made the entire sky seem dim in comparison. The oppressive aura rolling off him wasn't just a Martial Scholar—it carried the terrifying, ancient weight of a monster rising from the abyss.

"D-Dad?!" Ethan breathed, his eyes wide.

Boris spat a mouthful of blood, struggling frantically against the invisible mountain weighing down on his chest. He looked up at Gabriel in sheer horror.

"G-Gabriel?! You're... you're crippled! How do you have this power?!" Boris roared, trying to force his Mid-Stage Martial Scholar Qi to ignite. "I am an elder of House Valerius! If you touch me—"

BANG!

Gabriel didn't even blink. He appeared directly in front of Boris in an instant, grabbing the noble leader by his throat and lifting his massive, armored body off the ground with a single hand.

"House Valerius?" Gabriel leaned in close, his voice a low, brutal whisper that only Boris could hear over the sound of his own cracking throat. "I don't give a single flying fuck about your little branch family. You laid a finger on my daughter. You threatened my son."

Gabriel’s grip tightened.

CRACK-CRACK.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Boris screamed as his shoulder blades were crushed under Gabriel's bare fingers. Gabriel slammed him violently into the stone floor, stomping his boot down directly onto Boris's chest, shattering his armor and crushing his spirit channels in a single strike.

The entire plaza went dead silent.

A Mid-Stage Martial Scholar—the strongest man in the Outer District—was crippled in less than three seconds by a man who was supposed to be a broken slum guard.

Gabriel turned his head slowly toward Principal Hector and the corrupt teachers.

Hector’s face was completely drained of color. His knees trembled so violently that he collapsed backward onto his rear, soaking his fine robes in sweat.

"Y-You..." Hector stammered, his voice high-pitched with pure terror. "S-Senior Gabriel! It was a mistake! I didn't know—I was misled by the Valerius branch!"

Gabriel walked toward the faculty, his boots clicking heavily against the stone.

"You're a principal," Gabriel said, his eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits. "You are supposed to protect the students taking this exam. Instead, you acted as a dog for a noble branch."

Gabriel flicked his wrist. Two corrupted teachers who had drawn their weapons were instantly blasted backward by a wave of condensed Qi, slamming into the stone wall and passing out cold, their cultivation channels ruptured.

Gabriel stopped right in front of the shivering Principal Hector, looking down at him like an ant.

"P-Please! Spare my life!" Hector wailed, slapping his own face repeatedly as he bowed his head into the dirt. "I beg for Senior's mercy! The Ninth District Academy will grant your children anything! Full scholarships! Anything! Please forgive this blind fool!"

Gabriel stared at the groveling principal for a long moment, then spat on the ground beside his head.

"Get up and run the exam properly," Gabriel commanded coldly. "If my kids are docked even a single point out of petty revenge, I will tear this academy down brick by brick with you inside it."

"Y-YES! IMMEDIATELY!" Hector scrambled to his feet, barking orders at the terrified staff to clear the rubble and set up the testing crystals.

The thousands of commoner students in the plaza stared at Gabriel with awe, respect, and reverence. The days of Ethan and Elena being bullied were officially over.

Before the testing could begin, a grand, golden carriage pulled by two armored spirit beasts tore through the crowd, stopping right at the edge of the plaza.

A distinguished gentleman dressed in luxurious green robes stepped out, wearing the official emblem of the Global Adventurer Guild.

It was the City Lord.

The City Lord ignored the bleeding Boris lying in the dirt and walked straight up to Gabriel, bowing respectfully with his hands folded.

"Greetings, Senior Gabriel," City Lord Marcus said with a warm, genuine smile. "I am City Lord Marcus of the Global Guild Faction. I witnessed your divine strength just now. It is a tragedy that a master of your caliber was forced to live in the outer slums."

Marcus waved his hand, and a guard behind him presented a golden tray containing a jade key and a silk pouch emitting heavy spatial fluctuations.

"This is the key to the Radiant Crest Villa in the Upper Outer District—a fully fortified estate with dense spiritual gathering formations," Marcus said smoothly. "Along with ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones as a gift from my Guild. We only wish to establish a good relationship with a true expert and his talented children."

Gabriel looked at the City Lord, recognizing the move. The Global Guild was neutral, always looking to recruit or ally with rising monsters before the noble houses could trap them.

"I accept," Gabriel said plainly, taking the key. "My family needed a proper place to stay anyway."

"An honor, Senior!" Marcus bowed again, stepping back to watch the exam.

An hour later, the testing commenced.

Ethan stepped up to the massive Aptitude Crystal, placing his hand on the polished surface.

BZ—ZZZ-T!

The crystal didn't just glow—it erupted into a blinding pillar of crimson light that shot three hundred feet into the sky, shaking the entire testing center.

[Aptitude Test Result: ETHAN — S-RANK TALENT!][Current Cultivation: Mortal Physique (Peak - Silver/Gold Bones)!]

BOOM!

A second pillar of brilliant azure light blasted into the clouds, resonating with the first.

[Aptitude Test Result: ELENA — S-RANK TALENT!][Current Cultivation: Mortal Physique (Peak - Silver/Gold Bones)!]

The entire Outer District went wild! Within minutes, spatial communication talismans lit up across the city. Recruiters from the prestigious Inner City Colleges began descending upon the plaza like starving vultures: recruiters from Imperial Dragon Academy, Zephyrus Alchemy Institute, and The Grand Azure Pavilion shouted extravagant offers, proposing marriage alliances and tossing around millions of spirit stones to claim the two geniuses.

"Join Imperial Dragon Academy! We will give you a core elder as a personal master!" "Join the Zephyrus Institute! Instant Inner City citizenship and unlimited pills!"

The recruiters swarmed around Ethan and Elena, shoving contracts into their hands.

STEP.

Gabriel stepped between the roaring crowd of recruiters and his children, his massive presence instantly shutting down the chaos.

"Back off," Gabriel said, his voice echoing with absolute authority. "My children are not prizes for you to fight over. They will review your offer letters, and they will decide which college fits their path."

The recruiters, sensing the terrifying aura lingering around Gabriel, quickly swallowed their arguments, respectfully handing over their golden offer letters before backing away.

After reviewing the options, Ethan and Elena looked at each other and nodded, making their choice: The Imperial Grand Martial College (Inner City Branch)—the top, most prestigious neutral institution in the entire city.

The college representative stepped forward, beaming with pride, and handed over two golden admission tokens along with a deed.

"Congratulations!" the representative announced. "As S-Rank scholars, you are granted full entry into the Inner College. Your official term and the Internal College Placement Exam will begin in three months! This deed grants you a high-tier villa within the Inner City upon your official arrival!"

Later that evening, Gabriel sat on the roof of their newly acquired Radiant Crest Villa in the Outer District.

The estate was massive, surrounded by high stone walls, private training grounds, and rich spiritual energy. Inside, Ethan and Elena were resting happily in proper beds for the first time in eight years.

Gabriel looked out toward the looming, majestic walls of the Inner City in the distance, and beyond that, far across the continent to the Northern Territory where House Aurelius reigned.

Three months, Gabriel thought, clenching his fist as his internal Qi surged with terrifying speed.

He didn't plan on spending those three months just sitting around. Ethan and Elena were strong for the Outer City, but the Inner City was filled with noble heirs who had been fed high-tier resources since birth. To ensure his kids smashed through the upcoming College Placement Exam, they needed real, blood-soaked combat experience.

"Tomorrow," Gabriel murmured, a sharp, dangerous grin spreading across his face, "we hit the Border Wilderness."

He was going to hunt high-tier beasts, test his exploding power, and capture live monsters to train his twins into absolute combat demons before they ever set foot in the Inner City.