Infinite Potential System

William knew that even if he survived the Core Formation Tribulation, the following would be even more difficult. Even with the insane number of Talents William had, it was too much for any one person.

Master said that everyone who angered the Heavens is now dead, and the System can only help me so much. Unless I hide away for a hundred years, I'll never earn enough Potential Points to keep up.

William didn't want to hide his entire life. He too had ambitions and dreams.

There are so many ways to improve my chances of surviving the Tribulation, I just need to take advantage of them.

Not only did William have a plethora of Magic Affinities and a powerful body. He also had various trade skills.

Arrays weren't very effective against the Heavenly Lightning, but when combined with a strong material and the Forging Talent, William could reinforce an Artifact designed to deal with the Heavenly Lightning itself.

Not only this, but William could use Alchemy to refine pills to help him, as long as he had access to the required materials. Even if he didn't like Alchemy that much, William had to admit that it was a valuable skill.

With these thoughts in mind, William spent the remainder of the day Cultivating. He rested for six hours this time, opting to get a bit more rest before meeting with Riyald in his laboratory.

William had neglected their meetings lately, focusing on his own Cultivation and experiments while Riyald worked on his own. Given that the old man was already quite reclusive, he didn't mind that much that his Disciple had the same qualities.

"Disciple William, you're here! Help me out with this real quick." the old man handed William a wrench that was improved with Complete Arrays. He was working on the same steam engine, albeit disassembled, that William had seen many times before, although he still wasn't sure of its purpose.

The wrench's functions allowed it to reach into the tightest spots and smallest gaps, allowing Riyald to tinker with his experiments without having to remove all of the component parts.

William accepted the wrench and helped Riyald piece the steam engine back together, then the two sat down at their usual chair and tables with comfortable mats.

Riyald didn't teach William anything about Magic, having explained all that he knew at this point. Instead, he explained the processes of experimentation and forging, two things of which he had the most experience.

The conversation could have gone on for multiple weeks, but William stopped him with a sudden question after just a few days of conversation.

"Master, do you have any Alchemy Ingredients?" William asked.

"Alchemy? Why yes, I have a few, but I don't specialize in Alchemy. I don't know what most of them are for." Riyald replied with a simple wave of his hand.

A hundred or so jars of various ingredients were laid out in an orderly manner on the floor. Each jar seemed incredibly old and was covered in dust. Thankfully, there were Arrays designed to preserve the ingredients no matter how long they sat, preventing any of the ingredients from becoming spoiled.

He must have a special Space Ring if they're not damaged. William thought to himself.

He looked at the ingredients one by one, surprised to see many rare or possibly even extinct materials among the masses. With all that was in front of him, William could probably make multiple Tier 7 or Tier 8 Pills, as long as his Alchemy Talent provided the expertise.

I wonder how many times I'd need to upgrade my Alchemy to reach that point.

Unfortunately, there truly weren't many Alchemy ingredients, and William didn't see the materials he would need for the pills he wanted to refine. Even if they were rare, sometimes the most common ingredients were the most useful.

"Well? How are they?" Riyald asked. He was curious what his Disciple would think of the age-old ingredients he had acquired over the years.

"They're rare..." William trailed off.

"That's it?" Riyald was a bit disappointed. Were the ingredients he obtained not as valuable as he thought? No, this Disciple of mine has poor eyes.

He stored the ingredients back in his Space Ring, "If you want to borrow them, you'll have to help me out with my experiments for a while."

William nodded, although he wasn't interested. He looked around the room while lost in thought, then asked, "Is there anywhere I can go to collect my own ingredients?"

"In here? There are probably a few, but you'd have better luck outside the Ruins." Riyald replied.

William had expected this type of response, but he didn't like it. If he went outside the Ruins prematurely, William would have to be incredibly careful not to be detected by his Sect Master, and the journey would be incredibly dangerous regardless.

By this point in time, Gu Dianlong probably knew that William had escaped from the Enslavement Array. If that was the case, he no longer had any reason to protect William from the Pillars of Justice, whom William hadn't come in contact with yet.

Additionally, the Thieves' Guild wanted his blood for some unknown reason.

William remembered the map that he had drawn out of the Thieves' Guild hideouts and the Pillars of Justice. When he left the Sect to enter the Gravitas Ruins, he had planned to wipe them out the moment he left.

What a stupid idea. Trying to fight with the number one criminal organization and a righteous faction at the same time, with my strength? I must have been insane.

At the same time, William felt that his current strength was well above before. If he couldn't fight, he could definitely run. William's speed was in the Soul Formation Realm now, and his various defensive abilities might even be stronger than that since the breakthrough.

William recalled a few pieces of information from the book on the Thieves' Guild that he had previously ignored. Co-located with the list of the Thieves' Guild locations were valuable resource nodes, ranging from Mana Stone mines to natural treasures that regenerated every few years.

He was surprised that such a small piece of information jumped out to him. Was this the effect of the Flawless Title that he received a while ago? William didn't know.

The Thieves' Guild likes to steal, obviously. If I can find a known hideout that is close to the ingredients I need, maybe I can kill two birds with one stone!

Something else came to mind as William thought of this. He still hadn't solved the main problem, getting out of the Ruins unnoticed.

"Master, do you know of any way I can change my appearance?" he asked.

"Not that I know of, but why do that when you can just wear clothes with the appropriate Arrays?"

Riyald's words struck William's brain like a bolt of Heavenly Lightning, "That's a great idea!

"Thank you, I'm full of them." Riyald gave a goofy smile.

William continued to etch out his plan, "But I still need to change my clothes...and my aura needs to be concealed properly or I'll be discovered..."

"Disciple William, what are you trying to do?" Riyald looked at William with suspicion. The series of questions from his Disciple had him on edge, as if the boy was about to do something reckless.

"Master, I'd like permission to leave the Ruins for a little while."