Infinite Potential System

William only had two hundred thousand Potential Points left and didn't feel the need to upgrade anything else immediately, so he checked on his various Companion Beasts to make sure they could handle the Beast Tides.

Atticus was living his best life at Blue Moon City, disorienting his foes with the Illusion Element before leading them straight into his open jaws. Since they were barely a tenth of his size, he was able to gobble up entire groups of Golden Core and Nascent Soul Magical Beasts.

The Players and NPCs alike felt as if they hardly had a role in the battles anymore, so many began to beg the Mythical Rat Snake to allow them a chance to fight. After all, if Atticus killed all the Beasts, how would anyone else earn any Potential Points?

Uri responded to William's calls through the System, but he was too far away, having returned to the Dragon Continent to question the humans living there. Unfortunately, his progress was quite slow since there were a few powerful individuals that wouldn't allow him to come close, nor would they give him so much as the time of day.

At one point, Uri even attacked two of the early-stage Tribulation Transcendence Cultivators, but they seemed to have many dragon-restraining abilities that leveled the playing field significantly. He was forced to take another approach until William was around.

Kamei the Black Turtle Hatchling and his servants were more than comfortable, since Kamei alone could handle the current level of Beast Tides. He had spent the last few months teaching the Kamei Hameis how to accurately control the Beast Tides, canalizing them into dangerous locations teeming with carnivorous plant life that would do the work for them.

Little White and the Mini Whites were mostly relaxing and had no part in the Beast Tides, but William made the necessary adjustments and asked them to take over for Kamei every other month. That way both groups could get some practice before the real deal.

William realized that the Plains Vultures he assigned to the Chasm were much too strong for the current area, so he raised the nine remaining A-Rank Vultures to S-Rank, pushing them all to the Soul Formation Realm before assigning them a larger area.

Now, only two Soul Formation Plains Vultures would be responsible for the chasm, while four more groups of two would deal with nearby Veins that had yet to be absorbed. He tasked them to get an understanding of their environment and prepare defenses in case of emergency, to which they got started immediately.

He had only just dropped off Me Long Boi in the Mistlands, while Cyra had been left in the Southern Plains not long before. It was too early to check on their progress, so he returned to the Gravitas Ruins where his friends were waiting.

Oh right, I need to reapply the Arrays on my Gravitas Ruins Ticket. William realized when he was barred entry to the Ruins.

He performed the necessary tasks, then successfully passed through the portal before teleporting directly underneath.

"Good to see you, boy. Where have you been?" an old voice sounded from within the laboratory.

"I could say the same to you, Master Riyald. How long have you been back?" William asked.

"A few days. You have good timing." Riyald smiled. "I went to the Mysterious Realm we talked about before. It's an interesting place, full of mystery and new ideas."

William remembered talking to his Master about the Mysterious Realm before, but the old coot never told him where it was at, saying that William's physical body couldn't handle the spatial tears.

It was a different story now, though, so William felt like now was a better time than ever.

"Speaking of the Mysterious Realm, when can I see it?" he asked.

"I just got back, so I'm not ready to visit again, but I thought I told you your body wasn't strong enough. Silly Disciple, even a talented fellow like you will need some time before he can handle the spatial fissures of our World."

William smirked, weakening the Seal Element's suppression to only thirty-nine percent and waving his hand through the air. A spatial tear formed in an instant, ripping straight through the first layer and severely unbalancing the second. If he was even a tad more aggressive, the Heavenly Ascension Tribulation would have formed right then and there.

Riyald looked at the spatial tear with undisguised shock, while simultaneously sensing that William's aura had become incredibly dangerous.

"Y-You... have you already surpassed me?" Riyald couldn't believe what he was seeing.

It hasn't even been a year since I met him, and yet... he's grown so much!

William nodded, "I can Ascend whenever I want."

"Then why don't you? It's a Cultivator's dream to Ascend and see the World beyond."

"I'm not ready yet. There are still things I need to do, unfinished business."

Riyald shook his head, "Don't tell me those friends that you brought over here are holding you back. You can't hold their hands forever, and they have their own lives. I can already tell that— while talented— they'll never be able to keep up with your progression speed."

"That's not it, Master. They'll reach me at their own pace, but I need..." William looked for a plausible explanation for what he planned to do.

"You need?"

"I need to save this World first, from the Heavens."

Riyald scoffed. "Save the World? It's been sealed for a long time, no one could possibly hope to save it unless..." he suddenly looked at William with wide eyes.

He continued before William could say anything. "You don't mean to... absorb the World Cores?"

"So you do know something after all!" William exclaimed. Riyald was very old, so he had always guessed that the fogey knew something about the World's situation, but his words were very crafty and had almost convinced William otherwise.

"I do, but not as much as I wish I did." Riyald sighed. "I've spent most of my long life hiding away in the Gravitas Ruins for two main reasons.

The first was to protect myself from other Cultivators more talented in combat than I, while the second was to avoid getting caught in the Heavens' wrath."

"What kind of wrath? You're talking about the Beast Tides, right?" William asked.

Riyald nodded. "Between the Beast Tides and the Superior Tribulations, the Heavens are the most feared entity on Efretta. If you're caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, it doesn't matter what you've done to them, you're doomed.

You're a lot stronger than most others, and you've already survived a few Superior Tribulations, but I've only seen the effects after Greater World Cores are absorbed. No one has cracked the Superior World Cores yet, but I can only imagine what will happen at such a point."

William nodded. He had speculated a lot on this, but there was only one way to find out. The System had already issued the Quest, and he had no intention to pass up on an opportunity.

"Regardless of how you try to convince me, I'm still going to go through with it. If you're willing to help me though, I will do the same for you." William replied.

Their relationship was past one of a Master to a Disciple, but William still felt indebted to the man for teaching him the Soul Cultivation method that may have just saved his life not long ago.

"I expected as much," Riyald replied, "I'll have to take you up on your offer."