Infinite Potential System

William waved his hand in dismissal, "You helped me before. It’s only fair that I return the favor."

Gu Dianlong nodded and didn’t reject, "What will you do now?"

"I could ask the same of you. Are you going back to your Sect?"

"But of course. Though I’ll have to be wary of being targeted again. You know as much as I do how much negative attention having too much Talent can bring."

William sighed, "I do. Is there really a chance you’ll be attacked again? I’ve already captured most of their leaders. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Retribution falls apart."

"There’s still the leader, and I’m not wary of them so much as the other Continents." Gu Dianlong explained.

"You’ve chased off Supreme Left and Unbreakable Right, captured Retributions highest leadership, domesticated the guardian Beasts of the Providence Zone, and absorbed multiple World Cores leading to Beast Tides across the Region.

Even if you say you’re a good person, your actions speak differently from your feelings. If I was from another Continent and I heard about all this, I’d be biding my time until you Ascended. Once I knew you were gone, I wouldn’t hesitate to invade Azures and take over all the territory."

William shook his head, "I never said I was a good person. I might even be a bad person in the eyes of many, but I’m really just trying to enjoy life and increase my strength like everyone else."

Gu Dianlong looked at William in silence, then took a pipe out of his Space Ring and smoked a puff, "The matter still stands, you’re a major deterrent to the other Continents, so don’t even think of Ascending in the next thousand years."

William nodded, though he sincerely hoped it wouldn’t take that long to Ascend, "If I do, I’ll have another solution before then."

The two chatted for a while, and William even offered for Gu Dianlong to come back to the Gravitas Ruins and meet Riyald, but the Space Mage declined respectfully, saying it was time to properly take care of his Sect.

Now that Gu Dianlong had been freed, the last thing he wanted was to spend time locked up somewhere else, even if he would be able to do as he pleased. Continue your saga on мѵʟ

I’m alive, it’s time to act like it!

William understood and allowed the man to leave, but not before asking for a few favors on the side and giving him two thousand Mana Stones. Gu Dianlong agreed to help William procure a few items through the Night Market if they appeared, while also helping him to track down the location of valuable resources that hadn’t been claimed yet.

In the long run, Gu Dianlong’s help might lead William to controlling a miniature empire of his own. All he needed were a few dedicated miners and supervisors to keep track of them, then William would be all set!

I guess I already have the supervisors... William thought as he peered into a ball of Illusion Mana that was separated from Atticus’ Illusion Territory.

It contained the eight Region Leaders from Retribution, only missing Tenebris himself. If he applied the necessary Enslavement Arrays to the group, William may just be able to control them all at once.

Though it would be very risky. Maybe I should just go find some Golden Core Thieves or something.

William decided to get their opinions directly. He opened his Illusion Domain and connected it to the bundle of Mana, allowing himself to walk inside unimpeded.

The eight Region Leaders were all bound with Complete Confinement Arrays to keep them from attacking him, but the Arrays would shatter every hour or so given their strength. It was more of a secondary defensive measure than a permanent solution.

"What do you want?" the orange-cloaked region leader asked warily.

He guessed that William had come to interrogate them for information, but William had committed a grave mistake by allowing them to stay together in one place— they had already collaborated on a false narrative to give him.

"I just have a few questions for you. Are you willing to supervise a few places for me in exchange for your freedom after a few years?" William asked.

The orange-cloaked man smirked, "As expected, you want to torture us for information. Well too bad for you I— wait what? You want us to work for you?"

"That’s right. Is there a problem?"

"Don’t you want revenge? How could you be so trusting?"

William was confused. "Revenge? For what?"

The Region Leaders: ???

Seeing no one respond, William asked again. "For what?"

Is he just testing us for our honesty? Didn’t he hear everything while in that meeting room? They thought in unison.

The blue-cloaked Region Leader looked at William seriously, "We tried to take advantage of you and labeled you as the criminal solely responsible for the Beast Tides, then even incited the Mayor of Blue Moon City to call the Pillars of Justice for help so you’d kill each other off and we would be the ultimate winner."

The orange-cloaked man added, "We also wanted to use your talents to distract Supreme Left so we could take over the Azures Continent by absorbing the World Cores to reach the peak of the World."

The red-cloaked Region Leader was next, "Once you and the Yu Royal Family were past the point of no return, we would send you to absorb one of the Superior Veins and loosen the Heavens’ hold on the World, then replace the Vein with one of our own to start siphoning the World’s Mana to our own Cultivation, speeding up our growth by many times until we were unstoppable."

William looked at them all blankly, having not expected most of this. Other than knowing that Retribution wanted to use him and hearing Tenebris’ speech about how William was responsible for absorbing the World Cores and starting the Beast Tides, the rest of this plan was completely unfamiliar.

Seeing William’s inaction, the brown-cloaked Region Leader misunderstood and thought of something else to add, "When you were initially inside the Gravitas Ruins, we sent someone inside to keep track of you and take any treasures you earned."

Oh that reminds me of Glen. I wonder how he’s doing?

Inside a jail cell beneath Retribution, a certain young man with disheveled hair sneezed. He had failed to pay his debt to Retribution, but he was too useless to serve any legitimate purpose. Until his day was due to become cannon fodder, this was where Glen would remain.

On a good note, he was given three square meals a day and didn’t have to fight for his life. It was better to think on the bright side.