Infinite Potential System

It was almost time to leave the cavern. William didn't plan to use the remaining two thousand Potential Points, leaving them as the emergency fund like usual.

He thought about using some points to upgrade his Space Element before he left, but a quick test showed that Spatial Magic was much more dangerous than William thought. He tried using it to leap forward a few meters, but accidentally sliced off his own head in the process.

On a good note, the head ended up teleporting to the destination William had in mind, he was just missing the rest of his body.

It sent shivers down William's spine to see a headless self, but he surprisingly wasn't dead yet. The S-Rank Regeneration Talent with the help of the Blood Element actually prevented William from dying.

A large amount of Mana was expended, but William managed to stabilize his condition by raising the blood flow in his body with the Blood Element, while the Regeneration Talent multiplied that blood until it clotted at the base of his neck.

His Mind Talent prevented William from passing out during the process, and he finally reconnected his head to the rest of his body after expending a large amount of Mana.

Well at least I found the limit of the Regeneration Talent. Even if my head is cut off, I can still survive.

At the same time, William bashed himself for being an idiot. What if he tried that during a fight?! Even a Core Formation Realm Cultivator would know to take advantage of a situation like that.

William changed his mind. It was better to learn about at least some of his new Elements before going outside.

Let's focus on the Space Element for now, I could also mess around with Illusion Magic since I already know a bit.

William started the tests with inanimate objects rather than his own body this time. He formed a human-sized rock using the Earth Element, then focused on it with the Space Element, willing it to teleport a few meters forward.

The Spatial Mana covered the rock and disappeared together with it. It reappeared a few meters forward like William planned, but the rock was covered in cracks and the arm was falling off. It was clear that the Spatial Mana had torn it apart during the process.

System, how can I prevent the Space Mana from damaging me?

-Control your emotions. The Mana in your body is restless from the number of Elements you control. You need to be completely calm, and not forceful when using the Space Element, otherwise there will be backlash. Treat your body like a fragile egg that you can't afford to damage.

William pondered on the System's words. He did seem to rush the process quite a bit. Okay then, let's try it again!

He closed his eyes, visualizing the Space Mana in front of him, then gently increasing the number as it covered the rock. The process was too slow to be used in a fight, but it was a good start. William stayed calm as he waited for the rock to be completely covered in a thin veil Spatial Mana, then willed it to teleport just one meter forward.

The Mana did as instructed, taking the rock just a bit over a meter forward. The rock seemed to be in perfect condition, with very slight chips in the arm and leg portion, but that could be easily healed if it was William teleporting.

Success! Thanks System! William was overjoyed at his first successful use of the Space Element.

-You're welcome. Don't overdo it. I can easily find a more worthy host.

William laughed inwardly. The System had become much more talkative with each upgrade.

He continued testing the Space Element, finally testing it on his own body again once an hour had passed. The process was smooth, William completely uninjured when he teleported a few meters forward.

He almost ran into the wall upon stepping out, but a few more tries, and William was proficient. The Space Element was too slow, though.

It would take almost two seconds of channeling to teleport now, even with all the practice. Any Core Formation Cultivator would have time to react to this and might even land an attack on him before he finished teleporting.

I'll at least make sure it's useful in a fight. System, upgrade my Space Affinity.

The upgrade from E to D Rank cost William a whopping 50 Potential Points, but given that it was a Legendary Element, Will wasn't upset.

———

TALENT UPGRADED

Space Affinity: (E --> D)

Next rank up: 250PP

———

The effects of the upgrade were incredibly mild compared to before now that William had the Hard Skin and Regeneration Talents. The Spatial Mana normally would have shredded William to pieces, but now it just caused a few hundred paper cuts that quickly healed.

He didn't even need to use the Life Element to heal, or the Earth Element to further reinforce his skin. It was completely unnecessary!

Upgrading my defensive Talents first was probably the best decision I have ever made!

He excitedly tested the Space Magic again. The Space Mana was much stronger than before, covering a brand-new humanoid rock in the blink of an eye. His emotions fluctuated again and created a few cracks on the surface of the rock, but William quickly controlled himself.

He proceeded with the teleport, which took less than a second this time. The casting speed was still slow, but at least a Core Formation Realm Cultivator couldn't react to that in time.

Let's raise it a bit further. System, upgrade my Space Affinity to B Rank.

It was two successive upgrades, costing a total of 1250 Potential Points, but William felt it was necessary if he was going to eventually face Nascent Soul Realm enemies.

The upgrades slowly went by. The intensity of the Spatial Mana increased dramatically from C to B-Rank, eventually so strong that William needed to use the S Rank Earth Element to reinforce his skin before his arms and legs were sliced to bits.

He now had barely over a thousand Potential Points, which was much less than William wanted to keep as a reserve. He wasn't too worried, since his current level of upgrades raised his power by more than a few levels, but he hoped that the other trials didn't require any special skills for completion.

William moved on to Illusion Magic. Its functions were the exact same as how Atticus used it, allowing William to conceal himself using Illusion Mana. The only difference was that the Concealment Spell would require almost 50 Mana per second, that was an insane amount!

The cost would probably go down as William improved the Illusion Affinity, but that made him wonder just how much Mana Atticus had to be able to conceal himself almost permanently, and occasionally conceal William as well.

The snake wasn't amazing in combat, but its stealth was top-notch. Even the Sect Master hadn't noticed its presence! William could even bet that if he had brought it with him to Supreme Left's throne room, Atticus still might have avoided detection.

Of course, William wouldn't risk that.