Infinite Potential System

"No, I can only do it to Magical Beasts, and they need to sign a contract with me first. Not only that, but it all depends on my Cultivation speed and the others' talent. Atticus is very talented, which is why I can upgrade him so quickly." William explained.

"Oh..." Sir Reynolds nodded in understanding. It was a heaven-sent ability, but it wouldn't be very useful to Riyald, whose talents were only a bit above average. They could tell by Atticus' Domain that the snake was much more talented than Riyald.

Atticus continued to grow in size until it reached an insane eight hundred meters long. When it raised its massive head, the eyeballs were roughly two hundred meters above William. He almost couldn't fit in the new room William made!

Not only that, but Atticus was even larger than Uri, even after the dragon's most recent breakthrough!

———

BEAST UPGRADED

Atticus: (A --> S)

Learned 9 new abilities.

Strength moderately improved. Discover hidden stories at m,v l'e|m-p| y r

Speed and Stealth massively improved.

Defensive abilities slightly improved.

Size massively increased.

Intelligence moderately improved.

Illusion Domain has become Illusion Territory.

Next rank up: 250000PP

———

Illusion Territory? What is that? William asked the System.

-It's the Illusion Domain, but better. The range is larger, the effects are stronger, and a Domain can't compare to a Territory at all!

Let's try it out then. William couldn't communicate telepathically with Atticus without the System's help, but all it took was a simple nod from afar for the snake to understand.

The Mythical Rat Snake paused for a moment, its eyes dilating as if in deep focus. A few seconds passed, then a minute, as Atticus did his best to grasp the feeling of the Illusion Territory.

Another minute passed, then a third. Just as Sir Reynolds was becoming bored of watching, Atticus suddenly disappeared from his perception. There was no smoke, no preparation time; he was just... gone.

William could still sense his connection with Atticus, so he knew the snake was still in the same spot as before, but even he with the S-Rank Illusion Affinity couldn't detect it. It was as if Atticus' very existence was erased from the world, almost like the special effect of William's Stealth Talent that turned him completely invisible.

When Atticus started moving, William noticed another main difference between the Stealth Talent's Bonus Effect and the Territory of Illusion. Atticus' body drew closer, but he still couldn't sense it. The snake even dove underground, but nothing about the environment changed, as if Atticus had merged with the World itself.

He can move through objects unimpeded? This is insane!

To be honest, William always thought that large Magical Beasts had a massive disadvantage compared to the smaller ones. That was because large Beasts were both easy targets, and also very clumsy. If one was a giant being in a large City, it was easy to accidentally trample a building.

But with the Illusion Territory, Atticus could not only perfectly conceal his presence from others, but also avoid causing unnecessary damage.

And he is a Soul Formation Beast now, too, which means that William could battle up to four Tribulation Transcendence Cultivators with Domains at the same time with their help. Possibly more, depending on the level of his enemy.

William's assumption was based on a Cultivator at the same level as Supreme Left or Unbreakable Right, so in reality the group could probably take on double that amount. The only thing that remained to become invincible in this World was to reach combat strength in the Ascension Realm.

If he could do that, there would no longer be a need to remain low-profile except from the Heavens themselves.

I've already come here with Atticus. I might as well go through with the Tribulation now. William thought as he focused the Spirit Qi stored in his Dantian.

He ordered Atticus through the System to remain hidden with the Illusion Element, since he didn't want the snake accidentally caught in his Tribulation. It wasn't that Atticus couldn't handle it, but that William found it unnecessary to take such a risk.

Before Sir Reynolds even had a moment to recover from his shock, Tribulation clouds began to form in the sky. He turned his head to see William consuming multiple Tier 4 Pills that he had refined earlier.

The Heavenly Resistance Pills were consumed first, followed by the Earth Boosting and Life Boosting Pills that would improve the effects of the two Elements. Last were the Reinforcement Pills, which covered his skin with a thin veil that almost looked like a second layer of skin with a metallic sheen.

His senses were sealed during the last Tribulation, so he hadn't had a chance to see the clouds forming before. When William looked up to the sky and saw orange-tinted clouds that were starting to turn red, William became a bit nervous.

The Tribulation's strength had already reached the Soul Formation Realm and was steadily climbing until it broke into the Tribulation Transcendence Realm mere seconds later. The range of the clouds expanded from 100 kilometers to 500 kilometers in an instant, stretching past the limits of the Gravitas Ruins.

The clouds continued to gather even though they had reached the Gravitas Ruins' limits. The clouds couldn't spread further outward, so they stacked atop other clouds, increasing the intensity of the Tribulation's aura even further.

-The Heavens are watching.

Yes, I'm well aware that they're watch- William couldn't complete his sentence as a pair of massive golden eyes appeared in the sky above.

The golden eyes looked left, then right, then slowly returned their position to the center to look directly at William. His body was pressed to the ground in an instant by the mere aura, unable to move even an inch.

He tried to raise his head, but it didn't work at all. With his Vision Talent, however, William could still see the large golden eyes blink once. The aura suppression disappeared, and William could finally regain his footing.

He looked up to the sky once again, where the large golden eyes were still looking in his direction. They seemed somewhat curious, rather than hostile, so William took the opportunity to ask.

"Hey! Are you a guy or a girl?"

The eyes blinked as if not expecting such a question, then narrowed slightly before a voice floated down from above. Nothing was said telepathically, nor did the voice surround William from all directions.

"Is this a serious question? You meet a God for the first time in your life and your question is "what gender are you?" Really?"

Definitely a girl. William nodded in his head.

"Are you really a God, then?" he asked.

"I don't hold conversations with mortals." the golden eyes blinked again and disappeared.

"What do you mean?!? Is this not a conversation?" William shouted to the sky.

The Tribulation clouds rumbled and a few stray lightning strikes hit the ground next to William even though the Tribulation hadn't started yet. Moments later, the orange-tinted clouds shook and collapsed.

William didn't understand what was happening. It was almost as if the orange clouds had been dispersed, but he wasn't the one that triggered it.

Did I beat the Tribulation, System? What happened?

-The Tribulation is regathering its spent energy.

Regathering? What's the point of that? Did Golden Girl disperse the Tribulation herself?

-Golden Girl? Why are you acting stupid again?

It's just a joke, System. Can't I have fun once in a while?

-With the Heavens? Sure, it's your life not mine.

The sky of the Gravitas Ruins brightened once again, confusing Sir Reynolds. He hadn't even seen William move, did he beat the Tribulation already? Or worse... did he disperse it?

The Artifact Spirit became somewhat nervous, but his attention returned to the sky when he saw a small cloud form above their heads. It was a orange cloud like before, but not even a moment passed before it turned light red, signaling a change in the Tribulation's nature.

The red clouds gathered even more, expanding across the entire Ruins in just a few seconds, then stacking atop one another with strength at the beginning of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.

Atticus, who was inside the Territory of Illusion, had already exhausted half of his Mana and could sense that this Tribulation wouldn't be over in a short period of time.

The Mythical Rat Snake slithered through the ground, even phasing through Riyald's Arrays as he returned to William's room and forcefully condensed his size to become a mere tenth of what he was before.

Having been with William for a long time, Atticus was hardly ever afraid of anything, since his Master usually solved every problem in an instant. This time, however, he curled up into a small ball, cowering because of his Magical Beast's natural fear of the Heavens.

Is that what I think this is? William looked at the red clouds in the sky with a hint of worry. In the library at the Five Elements Sect while looking for information on the Thieves' Guild, William remembered reading a small bit of historical information about this type of Tribulation.

It was said that the only survivor of the red-colored Tribulation was the founder of the Thieves' Guild, but he had long since died after attempting the second Tribulation. It was obvious how brutal this type of test would be.

The clouds condensed one more time, turning blood red as they expanded once more, their strength reaching the third stage of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm. A massive bolt of Heavenly Lightning brewed, gathering the ambient Mana of a hundred kilometers to attack its target, William.

-The Heavens are annoyed. Prepare yourself for the Superior Tribulation.