Infinite Potential System

"Agh!" William winced as the effectiveness of his pain resistance lessened over time. The System continued sending warning messages, but William couldn't even spare the energy or attention to read them, focusing entirely on the imparted knowledge of the Primordial Soul Devourer Technique.

It had only been four minutes, but William's Sea of Consciousness was already showing hairline cracks, and his Soul Strength had been dealt with time and time again. While he hadn't lost any Soul Strength, William's control over it lessened until he was no longer able to manipulate it.

Am I going to die like this? William thought in regret. Out of all the things that could kill him, he didn't expect his life to end this way. He thought about Fria, who had probably requested this reward. He couldn't imagine she'd be any better off than he was, considering her recent Ascension.

While the Soul Strength backed down, William's next layer of defense activated, in the form of three differently-sized World Seeds that clashed head-on with the invader. They seemed almost human-like, desperately trying to limit the flow of information into his brain.
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Nothing spoke louder of the Technique's strength than at this moment, in which his Sea of Consciousness regarded mere knowledge as a threat.

William clenched his teeth and used as much of his attention as possible to limit the amount of information passed as once. He controlled the World Seeds to only clash with what they could handle, turning the imparted knowledge from a tsunami to a small river.

He heaved a sigh of relief, feeling the pressure lessen on his mind, though everything still hurt like hell. He gained every bit from the Technique that it had to offer, and half an hour later the Janus' mental presence faded.

It seemed that everything was over.

Despite the Primordial Soul Devourer Technique being fully absorbed, William couldn't move from his position for eight continuous hours. If he were to move even an inch, his Sea of Consciousness would shatter into a million pieces and he'd almost certainly go insane.

After the period of time had ended, William wiggled his toe.

CRACK!

Another crack formed in William's Sea of Consciousness, the sound almost like the crunch of a potato chip. With fear evident in William's eyes, he sent his undeveloped World Seed, the one he'd named Sunrise just after his Ascension, to draw a small amount of the Primordial Soul Devourer Technique's information into it.

It was just one percent of the Technique, but the World was still unable to handle it on its own, so William further reduced the amount he sent to zero point five percent.

This effectively blocked the information from William's brain, filling the Technique with holes. In its current state, it was now impossible to use the Technique for Soul Cultivation, unless he drew the knowledge back from the World.

But what was the point of having a Technique if he couldn't even use it? William felt this sacrifice was necessary for the time being. He carefully monitored Sunrise's condition, ensuring that it was able to handle the amount of information, then secluded the World into a far corner of his Sea of Consciousness.

The pressure lessened further off William's head when he did this, but he didn't dare to use the same method with the Worlds Efretta and Reius. This was because there were people on both Worlds.

He looked downward at Efretta, spotting dozens of irregularities int the World's core, which formed massive super volcanoes in areas where super volcanoes shouldn't exist.

In the Hillvire Empire, the Capital City had been replaced with a massive sinkhole, and Cultivators of the Velos Continent were working together to stop a tidal wave of poisonous water that was several kilometers high.

He looked at Reius next, which was in an even worse state. As a World that recently acquired Mana, there weren't many that could effectively use their Cultivation to defend the World. Not to mention the various nations hardly trusted each other, nor did they like to work together.

Despite how careful William was in managing both Worlds, the death toll on Efretta reached several thousand, consisting almost entirely of Cultivators in the Nascent Soul and above Realms, while Reius' deaths numbered in the millions, many innocents caught up in the battle against the World's instability.

The Worlds would both take a few months at least to stabilize, but until then the death toll would continue to rise. If William tried to use either of these Worlds like he was Sunrise, he was effectively leaving his people to die.

His low Humanity allowed him to accept the necessary deaths, but the complete annihilation of a World's creatures couldn't possibly sit right with him. He decided to limit the work to Sunrise.

Another four hours passed, and William wiggled his toes again. This time, the Sea of Consciousness held firm, and some of the cracks had healed.

The pressure on his brain was still so immense that William couldn't spare the attention to look through his memories, but he felt like he could at least control his Mana if he didn't use too many complicated Spells.

This fucking sucks. I need ibuprofen or something... William heaved a sigh as he slowly got to his feet.

-You should know that kind of weak drug won't have any effect on you.

I know... what I need more than anything is the Superior Calming Liquid so that I can upgrade my Mind Talent. William replied weakly. Even his conversation was limited in his current state, and he didn't know how many days he'd need to recover.

The System didn't respond, but William didn't think anything of it. He scrolled upwards through the System messages, making sure he hadn't missed anything.

In between a massive quantity of warnings, the System also mentioned the status of several Worlds, and had periodically updated William with the death count. If he'd simply referred to this instead of checking the Worlds himself, he could have saved a bit of time and mental energy.

Amidst the warnings, however, were a few bits of information that stuck out to William, namely those that mentioned the Primordial Soul Devourer Technique.

-Successfully integrated knowledge of a Technique that surpasses nearly all time itself. The Primordial Soul Devourer Technique is now usable for Soul Cultivation. Effects are listed in a description table below.

-Acquired a Primordial Technique: +1000 AP

-Acquired your first Primordial Technique: +2500 AP

-The Primordial Soul Devourer Technique has been suppressed by 0.49% due to your control over the World, Sunrise. The Primordial Soul Devourer Technique will be unusable until you reintegrate its knowledge to your Sea of Consciousness.

"Damn!" William couldn't help but to say it out loud, but he was made to instantly regret his decision when his Sea of Consciousness cracked again, wasting an hour of recovery time. William's head throbbed like a heartbeat, but he still couldn't help smiling when he looked at the massive number of Ascended Points.

William's excitement only grew when he thought of how many Talents could be upgraded with so many Ascended Points, and he almost wanted to immediately do so.

I can't, though, sadly. I'm pretty sure even the simplest Talents will probably get me killed at this point. I have to get the Superior Calming Liquid, immediately. William stood up and carefully tested his Mana Control, finding no issues as long as he lengthened the cast time of his Spells to several seconds.

He created a small portal that he could duck into, teleporting to his classmates' previous position in the Dungeon, though they were no longer present. They had likely continued forward, since William had been gone for so long.

With a quick glance at the Navigation Radar and tracking Mikaela with his Hunter Talents' Bonus Effect, William found them on the 18th floor, which was surprisingly fast considering the group's previous speed.

He teleported once more, appearing behind the group and startling several of the less experienced students. William noticed that the group was much larger, consisting of a dozen more Second-Year students and several Third-Years, even, which explained their progression speed.

He didn't waste any time speaking with the group, nor did he try to evaluate the newcomers. Instead, William directly walked up to Mikaela, who was harvesting Solar Nectar from a smaller than usual Sunny Pebblet.

The students cast curious glances at William, but they didn't ask any questions.

"You've been gone for a while." Mikaela didn't look away from the Sunny Pebblet's marble joints, allowing a Magic-created tap to siphon the Solar Nectar from a small hole in the joint.

"I had something to do earlier that I forgot about," William started, "and I only came back to tell you I'll be gone for a while."

"I'm not your mother, why would you care to give me updates? Do what you want."

William looked around, "I expected this floor to end up like Fourteen, but it seems I don't have to worry about that anymore."

Mikaela nodded and finally turned around, jolting backwards in shock when she saw William.

"Oh my God, you look like shit." she couldn't hold back her thoughts.