Infinite Potential System

William spent the next few minutes with Yuhe learning how to replenish the stored Spells that she used during the battle. She explained that the orbs were a special storage device only compatible with Innate Talents like hers and several other Family members, but William's Mana could be used at fifty percent efficiency in place of hers.

Initially, William wanted to know why Yuhe would share this with him, but the question started a long-winded rant about her inter-Family politics and the status quo.

In short, external Mana could only be used if it came from a Cultivator that wasn't too much stronger than her, and those in her Family that met the requirement would do anything to see her fail so they could have her position.

The few that would take her side simply didn't have the ability to make a large difference. It would take months, if not years, even with their help. Before she could break off into another tangent, William accepted Yuhe's request on the condition that they only committed a few hours at a time to the project.

It was impossible to recover the entirety of her storage in just a few hours; however, Yuhe believed that William had enough Mana in reserve to have a decent impact regardless. She accepted William's offer and showed him how to channel his Mana into the object, then lowered the Array Formation that trapped him.

William's moral compass wasn't perfectly straight, so he thought about running off at that moment, but he decided it wouldn't hurt to stay on Yuhe's good side. He held a clear glass orb in his hand and channeled Mana of the Earth Element to recreate Yuhe's stored Domain of Earth.

Yuhe couldn't believe her eyes when William completely filled up a Domain orb in just half an hour. It was important to understand that filling up these orbs could not be compared to the usual cost of a Spell or Domain.

No, these orbs required more than 100 times the amount of Mana to carry the same power as a Spell cast by the Cultivator directly.

William needed roughly 10 Mana per second to maintain his Domains, which hadn't changed in cost past a certain point even when he improved his Mana efficiency. Other Cultivators needed considerably more Mana to maintain a Domain as it was, so it wouldn't be surprising if 100 Mana was consumed per second.

Now imagine if that same Cultivator needed to store said Domain inside of an orb. First of all, it was impossible unless one carried the same Innate Talent as Yuhe did, but the total Mana cost would be a staggering ten thousand Mana… per second!

Each Domain orb was fitted to store thirty-six million Mana, allowing her to fuel Domains for up to an hour if it wasn't destroyed. This was pure overkill in one versus one fights against Cultivators, but extremely effective for hunting Magical Beasts.

"You have so much Mana… how?" Yuhe stared blankly at William, who had already picked up the second orb without taking a break. She had been improving her Mana Reserve throughout most of her life to supplement her Innate Talent, yet she only had eight hundred thousand Mana.

William shrugged, "A combination of refining my Mana Circuits, an Innate Talent of mine, and maybe something else I'm not aware of. It's always been like this for me."

"… You're a monster."

Yuhe wondered if the Mortal Realms actually were quite good. For William to be this strong just after Ascension, she thought about taking a look.

"Thanks. With an Innate Talent like that, so are you." William replied honestly. If he had a Talent like Yuhe's, he could hole up in a cave and store thousands of his most powerful Spells for later use. The potential of it was unmatched, especially in war.

William continued sending Mana into Yuhe's storage orbs, storing up enough Mana for two more orbs before his Mana Reserves dropped to less than three million in storage. Had William decided to show more strength and ended the fight before Yuhe used the Array Formation, he probably could have saved the Mana for refining his Mana Circuits.

While it was a questionable decision, William didn't regret his choice. Yuhe would be a great asset on some of the later floors, not to mention her Family's status. If he could just convince her Family Head to buy some of his items at a reasonable price…

I wonder how many Spirit Jades the Slightwing Family has in stock… Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? They've been a prominent faction for a long time, right? They must have accumulated quite the number of treasures too…

-Are you planning to use this girl as a gateway to her Family's wealth? I thought it was suspicious when you so generously wasted a hundred million Mana on a girl your age. Not only did you allow yourself to be trapped by her Arrays, you raised her chances of succeeding in the tournament that you've been wanting to compete in.

How'd you know? William couldn't believe the System had deduced his intentions.

He thought he had been incredibly careful with revealing his true thoughts as of late, going so far as to conceal his innermost feelings within a small corner of his Sea of Consciousness.

-I just know you. You're a hoarder of both items and currency, how can you have another person's wellbeing in mind? Especially this girl, who even your professor chooses to ignore.

That's not fair! I'm a very empathetic person…

-Oh yeah? And what do you plan to do if you can't trade with the Slightwing Family? What if they don't want to buy what you're selling? Read new adventures at empire

Hahaha… Well… If I can't trade for their Spirit Jades…

I guess I'll just steal them!

Tens of thousands of kilometers underground, within a treasure vault guarded by Tier 9 Arrays, a pair of guards in the Solar Deity Realm became inexplicably nervous. They each looked at the other with the same fearful expression, then narrowed their eyes and used their Divine Senses to scan every nook and cranny of their surroundings.

Even after several moments, their nervousness didn't abate and instead grew stronger. They peered inside the treasure vault, but aside from the giant rat that served as their Guardian Beast, they saw nothing suspicious.

For the first time in millennia, they wondered if the defensive measures in place were enough to guard the Family's treasures. One guard stood in position while the other took out a special communicator and contacted the Faction Leader.

"Has something happened to the vault? How are the treasures?" an old voice answered the call like a flash of lightning, the anxiety in his voice apparent.

"Everything is fine over here, Family Head… we just—"

"Good to hear. I'm raising your salaries by fifty percent because of your good performance so far, and there will be two more assigned to guard duties in the coming days, so continue to do well until then."

The guard almost dropped the communicator. "F-Fifty percent?!? Are you sure, Family Head? Has something happened?"

"Nothing yet, but I fear that calamity may soon befall the Slightwings if we aren't careful…"