Infinite Potential System

He tried to move away from Yuming, but the Confinement Array held him perfectly in place, the heat intensifying until the cheap metal armor cooked him from the inside like a lobster in a pot. The armor started to bend and fold under the heat, its aluminum-like properties causing it to melt before falling apart.

The scorching liquid metal burned Sylph\'s skin, making him want to scream in pain, but he still couldn\'t move. Tears formed in his eyes as he clicked the "I\'m stuck" button on his System Panel, but he was horrified when it said he was still in combat.

He scrolled through the pain and turned the pain sensitivity function down to zero, finally relieving himself of the burning sensation. He watched as a third Array activated, transferring the heat inside of his own body rather than allowing him to burn alive.

He promptly exploded into hundreds of pieces, the peak Golden Core Realm completely useless in such a situation. Even his Heavenly Core, which was supposed to be extremely durable and solid, didn\'t survive the explosion and shattered.

Sylph respawned in the center of Blue Moon City, still rubbing his body as he regretted ever raising the pain sensitivity so high.

It was initially set to less than 1% pain, so that people could get the feel the unique pang of death without being overwhelmed or deterred from playing, but Sylph had forgone that and turned it up to 100%, wanting to get the full experience of a Cultivation World.

It was a move that he had to check many "I agree" boxes and even sign a contract for, but Sylph didn\'t mind. He was a thrill-seeker, and possibly a masochist.

Being a young man in his twenties and having been through a few painful experiences in his lifetime, Sylph thought that he could handle any pain that the game could throw at him. He was wrong.

That hurt. From now on, I\'m going to keep it at 30%, that should be enough.

If Sylph\'s System could talk, it probably would have berated him for being stupid.

"Are you out of your mind? You just burned alive and spontaneously combusted, and you want to feel that?" it would have said.

But of course, this System wasn\'t like William\'s System. They were the same, but different.

"Maan, and I lost a quarter of my stored Cultivation Base and almost half of my Potential Points... F*ck!"

The penalty for death in Otherworld Prime was not light. When one respawned, they would find both forty percent of their Potential Points and twenty-five percent of their stored Cultivation Base gone. If they weren\'t a Cultivator, the penalty was even worse, usually requiring one to create a new character and restart the game.

The only benefit to this game was that once one learned a Talent, they would never lose it even if they made a new character.

Some people started to abuse this by creating a new character after learning their first Talent, but they eventually found themselves blocked from entering the World for an entire month. There was a lives System in the game, and one was only allowed three new characters per month.

Between the death penalties, the challenging environment, and the near tutorial-free beginning, a large number of people quit playing before they even reached the Qi Refinement Realm. The negative reviews on Otherworld Prime piled up, but they attracted just as many challenge-seekers as the game lost.

Those that didn\'t have a lucky start or had a poor understanding of the Cultivation World would give up the moment they saw the price tag of 500 Gold Coins on their first Cultivation Technique, but others would smile with glee when they finally became a Cultivator, flaunting their new Realm with pride on the forums.

It was brutal, to say the least, but many Players enjoyed it. There were still quite a few that could get around living an honest life as common folk, building, fighting, and exploring as they so desired. Some would never go out to fight Magical Beasts because of the death penalties.

Of course, after a few days of stumbling around in the dark, some more talented Players started to make guides for the others, tricks to earn money quickly, and so forth. After the economy was added, it only became easier for people to begin Cultivating.

Sylph didn\'t need any of these guides, so this was the first time he had ever died. He rarely looked through the forums, and when he did it was only Region Notifications that he was interested in. Because of this, he didn\'t expect such an insane penalty.

Of course, he was just like these other challenge seekers. He wouldn\'t stop playing until he was the best of the best, the top of the World!

And when he was, Sylph would get his revenge on whoever set that nasty trap in Yuming\'s Space Ring.

***

"You don\'t mind if I take these corpses, right?" William asked the Mayor of Blue Moon City with a calm smile, fully knowing that he was in control of the situation.

The Mayor smiled politely, "Of course, but I would love for you to come with me for a moment first."

William looked at the Mayor, whose expression seemed very calm until he noticed a tiny bead of sweat forming on his forehead. He silently stared at the Mayor for a while, watching as the sweat rolled down his cheek and dripped from his chin.

"Is that so?" he simply said. William had no intention of going with the Mayor, who was clearly trying to stall him for some reason. He wanted to go back to Carl, Yuming, and the others, but William didn\'t want to risk their futures if they were ever away from him.

It was better to remain a lone criminal, especially since Filipe planned on returning to the Sect afterwards. If Filipe died because of William\'s actions, he wouldn\'t be able to forgive himself easily.

The Mayor scratched his head and looked to the sky awkwardly, but then his expression formed a smile.

At the same time as the Mayor smiled, William\'s 359 degree vision spotted a Cultivator flying in from almost directly behind him at speed close to the peak of the Soul Formation Realm. It quickly became obvious that this was what the Mayor was waiting for.

William turned around and looked at the approaching figure with a light smile, secretly checking the Array Wheel stored under his cloak to make sure it was still working properly. It couldn\'t hold William\'s Tier 6 Arrays, but it managed to store five improved Complete Arrays.

Before he came too close, the Cultivator stopped in midair and held his hands up high as if he was submitting to the police in William\'s old World. His face was one that William didn\'t recognize, but it was one he would never forget.

For the man\'s eyes shone with a radiating white light that burned an image directly into William\'s mind.

"Hello, I am Goddess Lufeyra\'s Divine Representative, and you\'ve committed a very, very, grave sin."