Infinite Potential System

William collected his thoughts and replied to Elder Arthur, "Are you sure it's okay for an Outer Core Disciple like me to jump into a competition like this?"

"Of course! We do have a few talented youths that join the competition late some years. You wouldn't be the first Outer Core Disciple to participate." Elder Arthur smiled.

"Well, okay then. I'll join the competition." William returned the smile with a polite bow.

-Joined the Alchemy Hall: +50 Potential Points

Elder Arthur was overjoyed. While it may seem that only William was benefitting from this scenario, the Five Elements Sect provided benefits to the Alchemy Hall depending on their yearly performance. The addition of a talented individual like William basically guaranteed that the Alchemy Hall would receive more resources in a few years, even if William needed some training in the first year.

Better yet, Arthur could verify William's practical skill personally by allowing him to compete with his peers in a contest. With a Fire Root as the prize, William would be inspired to do his best.

William couldn't help but worry about the System Quest. While improving his potential was great, William had learned the hard way multiple times that attracting too much attention wasn't always a good thing. Not to mention, an unknown assassin had shown up to his residence in a famous Sect the night before. Even with the protection of the Sect, it was clear that William was not safe.

His enemies were multiplying, from the Thieves' Guild to the Pillars of Justice to Disciples within the Sect and random Cultivation Families.

He hadn't even become a Cultivator yet! What if a Soul Formation Realm expert targeted him? He would be doomed!

William entered the new World thinking that he would be faced with opponents of the same level or strength, but that was completely unrealistic. This wasn't like the books he read where the old Cultivators with immense strength remained hidden until the last moment.

He stopped distracting himself with pointless thoughts. He thanked Elder Arthur for the opportunity, then took his leave from the Alchemy Hall as he had intended earlier. This time Yuming actually bade William farewell like an equal. After all, they were fellow Alchemists now.

There were a few places William needed to visit today. First he went to the Ranking Board at the Lecture Hall, since it was the closest. William checked the tablet to find that not only was his challenge accepted and set for three days from now, but two disciples had challenged him.

The Ranking Board read that he could decline these challenges, but his ranking would decrease by 5 for every challenge he declined.

He wasn't willing to lose his not-so-hard-earned rank, so William chose to schedule the two challenges for the same day he was going to fight the 301st Ranker. This way, William could kill two birds with one stone.

With that task out of the way, William went to the market to refill on groceries. He had also recently found out that Atticus liked omelettes during one of his visits at Wild Clover. Although Atticus didn't need to eat for some reason, he really enjoyed the taste of certain Spirit foods.

William wished he had that Spirit Cookware set that was shown in the Night Market, since he already had access to the Cooking Talent, which in his opinion was way cooler than Alchemy.

A few hours and a full pantry later, William was ready for his most anticipated task. Upgrades!

System, open the Talent Shop.

———

TALENT SHOP:

-Random Talent: 75PP (+5PP)

-Random Magic Talent: 100PP (+10PP)

-Random Physical Talent: 10PP (+10PP)

-Random Weapon Talent: 10PP (+10PP)

-Random Trade Talent: 25PP (+25PP)

-Random Passive Talent: 350PP (+25PP)

POTENTIAL POINTS: 967

———

The Talent Shop panel had changed a bit since William last viewed it. The numbers in parentheses next to the cost seemed to be how much the price would increase each time he purchased the Talent. It would cost William 100 Potential Points for another Magic Talent, and the price would increase to 110 for the next purchase. Simple enough.

The real question was, what did he need? William did the math on how many points he could afford to spend.

First, he used 125 Potential Points to upgrade his Alchemy Talent from D Rank to B Rank. As expected, William's understanding of ingredients and their uses increased further. He was now able to refine up to Tier 5 ingredients without much trouble, as long as he had the Mana to back up the refining process. This should basically guarantee William's victory in the Alchemy competition.

Next, William spent 100 Potential Points to purchase a Random Magic Talent, since he now had the ability to conceal his Mana signature with the Stealth Talent and the Repel Mana spell that Array Master Fowley had taught him in the past.

-Talent Purchased: Necromancy

-Necromancy Affinity Acquired: +1 Potential Point

-Acquired your first Epic Element: +25 Potential Points

Unlike other Magic Affinities, William didn't feel anything physical when the Necromancy Affinity was unlocked. Instead, his mind was filled with countless dark thoughts. The feeling was intense, crashing like waves onto the walls of William's mind. A second wave came, filled with negative emotions such as sadness, anxiety, nervousness, and many more.

Thoughts that William hadn't felt much of since his early childhood when he was abandoned by his biological mother.

The waves of mental torture subsided, and William returned to his normal state. So I'm a necromancer now...

While it was an Epic Magic Talent, William didn't feel extraordinarily happy about the new Elemental Affinity. After all, when was he going to use necromancy? There weren't any bodies around, and it's not like someone would just be okay with him raising the dead during a fight.

Will placed those thoughts on the backburner. He now had 768 Potential Points to spend, so he used 300 Potential Points to raise his Stealth Talent to B Rank.

Better safe than sorry.

Since they were quite cheap, William decided to spend 150 Potential Points on five Physical Talents.

-Talent Purchased: Flexibility

-Talent Purchased: Nothing

-Talent Purchased: Jumping

-Talent Purchased: Balance

-Talent Purchased: Strength

-Detected the Host has the appropriate Talents for an Upgrade. Please raise your Speed, Balance, Flexibility, and Jumping Talents to the same Rank for a Talent Upgrade.

A Talent Upgrade? So all I need to do is gather many Talents of the same category and they can be improved? William was excited. He didn't know the System had such a feature. He also happened to receive the Strength Talent, something he had been anticipating ever since the Speed Talent was unlocked.

He checked his remaining Potential Points and was disappointed to see that he didn't have enough. His current balance was 318 Potential Points, but his Speed Talent was B Rank, meaning he would need to raise Balance, Flexibility, and Jumping to B Rank before he could combine them. The total cost would be 390 Potential Points.

Damn, if I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have bought another Magic Talent... William grumbled, but he wasn't really regretful. All he needed to do was win the Alchemy competition and he would earn more than enough Potential Points.