Infinite Potential System

The golden eyes disappeared, replaced by a pillar of golden light that enveloped William's body. The pillar of light condensed into a golden mark on William's neck that he couldn't remove no matter how hard he willed it.

Its shape was similar to the one that Carl had on his summoning scroll, but William felt a different aura from this one than Carl's scroll. It wasn't sinister, but something about the mark made him want to bow his head, which was unbelievable to say the least.

-Survived a Heavenly Tribulation: +10 PP

-Survived a Superior Heavenly Tribulation: +1000 PP

Am I enslaved again? William became a bit worried. If this was his reward for clearing the Superior Tribulation, then he had seriously messed up.

-No, it's a Heavenly Mark, endowed with one or more abilities that belong to the caster. This is an extremely rare and powerful reward, only given to those that gain the favor of the Heavens.

-Received a Heavenly Mark: +10000 PP

-Heavenly Mark added to Status Panel.

William sighed in relief upon hearing the System's explanation. Given the number of Potential Points it gave out it had to be something good. He only had one doubt.

Aren't I their enemy? How could I suddenly gain their favor? William asked the System. It didn't make sense to him how someone that had sent a Superior Tribulation his way would suddenly give him a reward.

If he was the Godly being and someone offended him, he might even consider killing the person, not giving them a gift!

-System level too low to respond. Upgrade System to B-Rank to upgrade the Ask Function.

Ugh, never mind. It's probably something complicated that I'll find out later.

If William had to guess, there was some sort of ulterior motive behind Golden Girl's gift. There was no such thing as a free lunch in the World, or Worlds, that is. He checked his status panel to see the information on the Heavenly Mark, and what he saw stunned him speechless.

———

INFO: ( - )

-Name: William

-Race: Human

-Age: 353

-Lifespan: 1200 Years

-Cultivation: Heavenly Golden Core 1 (0/75000)

-Heavenly Mark: Heaven's Aura, ???

STATUS: ( - )

-Health: 5000/5000

-Mana: 4800/6800

-Fame: 145

-Humanity: 57

-Attention: 16

-Soul Strength: 1250

-Cultivation Base: 499900/2000000

———

Forgetting the massive increase in both his Health and Mana, William now had a Heavenly Mark listed below the other statuses, which had two different effects. The first was called Heaven's Aura, which according to the information allowed him to mimic the aura of a Heavenly Being for a short time, which could come in handy later.

Additionally, he had a ??? ability, which had no information but excited William nonetheless. Perhaps it was a special lifesaving skill that would only trigger when he was in the face of death, or some type of power-up move that only activated under certain conditions.

System, why is my Cultivation Realm called Heavenly Golden Core? Is it because of this new Heavenly Mark?

-No, it's because you reached the Golden Core Realm with a Heavenly Core.

Ah, I see. William didn't feel as accomplished about reaching the Heavenly Golden Core Realm, since many Cultivators already knew of methods to gain a Heavenly Core in the Core Formation Realm. It wasn't really a secret, which meant Golden Core Cultivators almost always had one.

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. William remembered a certain phrase that was once said in his old World. It was clear that whoever discovered how to gain a Heavenly Core in the past had never heard those words before.

With Atticus' upgrades completed, the Heavenly Tribulation over, and no sign of the golden-eyed girl, William no longer had any reason to remain in the usual Tribulation ground. He created a long-distance portal, teleporting inside his room where Atticus was already waiting.

The snake looked incredibly excited, eager to show off his strength after progressing two whole Realms in just a few hours. It was only after William promised to let Atticus out again soon that the Mythical Rat Snake finally laid down to relax.

With just under five hundred thousand Spirit Qi stored, William was able to immediately break through to the second level of the Golden Core Realm. The cost to reach each new stage was now increasing by twenty-five thousand Spirit Qi at a time, but William had more than enough Spirit Qi to keep going. Stay tuned with m-v l|e'm,p y r

The System also simplified things greatly by just dividing the Golden Core Realm by another nine stages, similar to how it did with the Core Formation Realm.

From Golden Core one to three, William's strength would be equivalent to the Small Golden Core. Stages four through six were the Medium Golden Core, while stages seven through nine were the Refined Golden Core.

After that, William would need to undergo another Tribulation before the shell of his Heavenly Golden Core shattered and became his Nascent Soul.

From Golden Core 2 to Golden Core 5, William broke through stage by stage, feeling his physical and Magic abilities increase drastically from one stage to the next. By this point, William guessed that he was nearly invincible in this World, if not close to it.

If he couldn't win, he could still run. That much he was confident at least.

I have just under a quarter million Potential Points left. William thought as he scrolled through his System Panel. Now was a better time than ever to upgrade his other Talents, so he decided to do that first before anything else.

System, upgrade my Stamina, Reflexes, Hard Skin, and Regeneration Talents. William ordered after doing some quick math.

-200000 PP

The System extracted almost William's entire remaining balance of Potential Points, leaving him a pauper with only 44 thousand Points left, hardly enough to upgrade one of his high-ranked Talents again.

That said, the four Physical Talents had done William well so far, and he didn't plan to leave them behind when the Regeneration Talent was always triggering its side effect.

I may have over a thousand years of lifespan now, but that won't last me in the long-term. If I have to upgrade the Chaos Element again, I'll probably exhaust most if not all of it at once.

The four Physical Talent upgrades went by smoothly, and after just a few minutes the System gave the notification that they were all completed.

———

Stamina (Common): (SSR --> X)

Effects: Resistance to fatigue +2400% >> +9600%

X-Rank Bonus Effects:

Speedy Recovery: Quickly recover your stamina when out of combat.

Maxed Out: When at full stamina, your first physical move is 100% more powerful and efficient.

Running On Empty: When at zero stamina, your next physical move will be 400% more powerful and efficient, at the cost of your consciousness afterwards.

Next rank up: Requirements Locked. Ascend or upgrade the System to A-Rank to unlock the next Rank.

———

Regeneration (Common): (SSR --> X)

Effects: Natural healing ability improved by 2400% >> 9600%, then healing speed improved by another 2400% >> 9600%

X-Rank Bonus Effect:

Death Defying: Host can recover from almost any physical injury, no matter the severity.

Side Effect: Healing injuries hastens the rate of cell division and will cause the Host to age by one year after healing 120 >> 480 years' worth of injuries.

Next rank up: Requirements Locked. Upgrade the System to A-Rank or purchase the Rejuvenation Talent to unlock the next Rank.

———

Reflexes (Common): (SSR --> X)

Effects: Reaction time +2400% >> 9600%

X-Rank Bonus Effects:

Accelerated Reflexes: When faced with killing intent or targeted by physical or magical attacks, time is slowed by 48 times from the Host's perspective only.

Reflexive Learning: When narrowly dodging one or multiple attacks, one random attack within one meter of the Host will be selected and be partially comprehended by five percent.

Next rank up: Requirements Locked. Ascend or upgrade the System to A-Rank to unlock the next Rank.

———

Hard Skin (Common): (SSR --> X)

Effects: Skin toughness +2400% >> 9600%

X-Rank Bonus Effect: None

Next rank up: Requirements Locked. Ascend or upgrade the System to A-Rank to unlock the next Rank.

———

The new Running on Empty bonus effect for the Stamina Talent is definitely overpowered! But, the Regeneration and Hard Skin Talents hardly have any bonuses. I guess it's alright since they're already powerful on their own, though.

I wonder what the Rejuvenation Talent is? I wonder if I can gain access to it before I Ascend... William thought as he moved on to the next Talent in his System Panel.

--Attack Reflection: SS (15000PP to next rank)

System, I still have some Potential Points left. Can you upgrade the Attack Reflection Talent for me?

-15000 PP

———

Attack Reflection (Rare): (SS --> SSR)

Effects: Reflect physical attacks launched at you for up to 80% >> 90% of the original strength. Activates even if the attack is blocked by the Host.

SSR-Rank Bonus Effect: Whenever a physical attack causes zero physical damage to the Host, reflected damage doubles >> triples.

Side Effect: Taking physical damage increases the Host's hunger.

Next rank up: 75000PP

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