Infinite Potential System

Charlotte had just finished a Cultivation session when William returned and was seated on a bench made from Plant Magic. She was the last of the group to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, but she was still satisfied. At least she had caught up to William, albeit barely.

Seeing the Superior Tribulation Clouds above William's head didn't surprise Charlotte in the slightest, but she couldn't help herself from commenting.

"Are you still breaking through or have the Heavens decided they want you dead?" she pointed to the sky with a gentle laugh.

"Probably the latter. It's been going on for weeks now." William sighed as he sat down next to her, cutting off the Tribulation's view using the power of the Cultivation Site.

If the Tribulations didn't end soon, he'd probably turn into a local myth. How could he sneak up on his enemies with a massive Tribulation above his head 24/7?

"Oh." Charlotte stole a glance at the others, who were still Cultivating. "It looks like it's just you and me right now."

"Yeah..."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Uh, I don't know. Is there something on your mind?"

Charlotte's fingers danced on the table absentmindedly as she thought for a long time, "Do you remember the night we spent together before we left?"

"How could I forget?" William smiled, making Charlotte blush a little.

"Well..." Charlotte couldn't finish her words, but William knew what she wanted to ask.

"It was amazing, but I know we moved a little fast there. I'm sorry if I let my emotions get out of hand." he had no intention of blaming the Humanity skill for that night.

Charlotte smiled sheepishly, "It's okay. We're adults, right? Things are supposed to be like this."

William realized then just how innocent Charlotte was despite her actions the other day. He wondered if his B-Rank Physical Charm Talent had something to do with the way Charlotte acted.

Their conversation was interrupted by a large Mana fluctuation surrounding Gunther. The ground in a one-meter circle around him was transmuted directly from earth to ice, chilling the environment by dozens of degrees in a matter of moments.

Tia, Carl, and Yuming were all awoken from their Cultivation at this moment, unable to continue because of the intense cold that assaulted their five senses. Even William and Charlotte were affected, though they were over a dozen meters away.

"He's entered Enlightenment!" Yuming exclaimed with a mix of surprise and jealousy. Enlightenment appeared incredibly rarely during Cultivation and had a plethora of different effects. It could give a Blacksmith insight on how to better refine ores, or an Alchemist might spontaneously learn new properties of an ingredient they work with often.

In Gunther's sense, it seemed to have something to do with his Ice Element, but they didn't know what. William looked intently at the process, hoping to glean some information from his friends' Enlightenment.

My chances for Enlightenment are naturally higher than everyone else's, yet I haven't been Enlightened once...

"We can talk about this later." Charlotte smiled slightly, touched that William was thinking about her the entire time. "I had fun, though."

Tia walked over from afar and gestured to the seated Gunther, "How long has he been doing this?"

"Just a few seconds. You woke up right away." William replied, still looking directly at Gunther.

"Don't bother trying to learn anything from it. The Enlightenments are individual-specific and usually relate to hidden or innate Talents." Tia replied.

"You've seen one before?"

"No, but I heard about it often from the Sect Elders. It's a rare occurrence, but when there are thousands of Disciples Cultivating at the same time, they've probably seen Enlightenments dozens of times."

William nodded, "How long is it going to last?"

"Could be days, weeks, or even a month. Depends on how thorough his Enlightenment is." she looked at a bright golden barrier surrounding the Cultivation Site, "Did you use Arrays on this place?"

"Yeah, I had to go away for a while and didn't want you meeting any trouble. Why do you ask?"

"There was a group of people here the other day, but they left after a few hours. We didn't pay much attention to them, though."

Were they enemies or just regular Cultivators? I can't imagine the Revista Faction would send people here when they know I'm using the Cultivation Site...

William didn't think too much on it and asked, "When he's done, are you ready to leave?"

"Right now? I was planning to stay here for at least a year until I reach the Soul Formation Realm. I don't know about the others, but Gunther and I are on the same page."

Oh right, this place is probably much more attractive to people that don't have the Cultivation Talent. Their breakthrough speed is even faster than mine was when I had the S-Rank Cultivation Talent. William realized.

"Alright then, I'll reinforce the Arrays and set them up so you can leave whenever you want but be careful. I've made a lot of enemies on the Continent in the last few weeks, and I don't think they'll treat you kindly if they know your connection to me." William warned.

While his position as the strongest may be a powerful deterrent for many, there was a chance of having a converse effect. William was reluctant to leave his friends alone in a dangerous Continent, but he needed to finish mapping for the System Quests as soon as possible.

Just like Briar and Jenny, they each make their own choices. I can't helicopter over them all the time.

"What about you, Charlotte?" he looked at the brown-haired girl seated next to him.

"Hmm. I think I'll stay also." she replied calmly.

This is the best opportunity to keep up with him, how can I go back to the Ruins where the Spirit Qi is thinner?

William nodded, expecting as much. "In that case I will be leaving, but I'll visit when I have time."

He bade his friends farewell for now but didn't wake Gunther from his Enlightenment and instead asked Tia to pass the message for him. Afterwards, William called Flame Dragon Uri through the System and stepped outside the Cultivation Site.

Since Uri couldn't reach the Revista Faction's territory alone without running into the poisonous miasma, William had to teleport to the shoreline of the Velos Continent like before to wait for his Companion Beast.

"I'm here, Master William." the dragon bellowed from the sky as his claws touched the ground and wings folded inward. He looked up at the Superior Tribulation Clouds nervously, but since William didn't say anything about it, neither did he.

"Don't worry about the Tribulation," William said as his body deflected a Heavenly Lightning Bolt into the distance, "I'll protect you."

"Yes, Master. Where do you want to go?" Uri knew full-well to trust what William said. If the boy said he would defend him from the Tribulation, then he definitely would.

William would have liked to map out the Velos Continent in its entirety before leaving, but the poisonous miasma would make it impossible to bring Uri along. William couldn't Cultivate while walking, as much as he would like to.

"I think it's time we visited the Dragon Continent. What do you think?"