Infinite Potential System

Chapter 354: Can't I Just Kill Them?

"A war? With who? And Why?" William asked.

He wasn't concerned about how he would do it, but William had no intentions of helping the Velos Continent if they were targeting the Azures Continent. As the Continent William had essentially been "born on" he was quite attached to it.

"As you may know, Mr. William, the Velos Continent is split into six Factions: Velos, Andorea, Wilhire, Beronius, Revista, and Laotonus, from strongest to weakest. While the Velos Continent is undoubtedly the most powerful of the six, we are not strong enough to take on two Factions at the same time, much less three.

The results of a battle would leave us in a poor state, and we'd fall from our position as number one.

In the last few decades, the Beronius, Laotonus, and Andorea Factions have secretly banded together and want to take over the Velos Faction's land. If they can do this, the Velos Faction would lose most if not all of their land, while I as an Alchemist would likely lose everything.

I normally wouldn't care about such matters if it weren't for the risk to my priceless Alchemy ingredients. Other Factions have eyed me for a long time, which is why I have my two friends here to keep me safe." he waved his hand to the two Tribulation Transcendence guards behind him.

William nodded, "So you want me to start a war with three Factions at the same time? What will you do when it starts? Won't your Faction still suffer heavy casualties?"

"I don't want you to just start the war, but I want you to help us win it. With the abilities of an Ascended Cultivator, you are an indomitable force that even the Heavens can't deal with easily until you Ascend. The stubborn Velos Continent has acknowledged that already, and no one wishes to cross swords with you.

As long as you use your abilities well and take the attention of the Andorea Faction, the Velos Faction can shorten the gap between the rest. There will be many deaths, but it's a better outcome than waiting for our Faction to be wiped out in the coming decades."

Take on a single Faction by myself? They have a lot of confidence in my abilities...

It was clear that the Velos Faction was very calculative. William had expected each interaction with the Factions to be a hostile one, but this group seemed to understand their position almost right away.

-Suppressing the Revista Faction in a few hours might have influenced that move.

Can't I just commend someone for having a brain without your input?

-You of all people have no right to talk about having brains.

...Damn it.

"I can do that." William replied. More than that, I can probably deal with all three by myself as long as I have enough Mana.

The only problem with starting a war was the risk of killing innocents. If he could help it, William wanted to avoid doing so at all costs. He wouldn't lose Humanity over killing a few people randomly anymore, but he wasn't a fan of mass genocide.

A System notification interrupted William's thoughts.

-Finished evaluating your Artifact Belt...

-Invented a new Artifact: +25 PP

-Invented a Mythic Artifact: +1000 PP

Oh, I forgot about that! William exclaimed inwardly. After upgrading his Chaos Affinity to X-Rank, William was able to create the Chaos Elemental Sphere without much issue, but it was so long ago that the event had slipped to the back of his mind.

He wanted to take off the Artifact Belt and appraise it right away, but he was in front of Rudeus Velos and his bodyguards right now and it wouldn't be appropriate.

"Good. I'll teach you the refining process and give you the necessary ingredients for your Pill afterwards. For now, I suggest safeguarding your friends and preparing yourself for a long battle. Even with your strength, wars cannot end in a day or two."

William was confused, "Can't I just kill each Patriarch and the war will be ours?"

Rudeus frowned, "I forgot how young you are. Killing the Patriarchs is suicide! If you want all three Factions to hunt you down without abandon, be my guest, but there are almost two hundred Tribulation Transcendence Cultivators on this Continent, almost half of which belong to these three Factions.

Can you take on almost a hundred Cultivators at the peak of the World, even with your current strength? You'll run out of Mana before you kill ten!"

Two hundred Tribulation Transcendence Cultivators? William asked the System. If what Rudeus said was accurate, then the Velos Continent had almost four times as many peak Cultivators as the Azures Continent.

-Yes. Cultivators born on the Velos Continent are inherently more talented in Cultivation than other Continents because of the Mana of the higher Realms. When one wants to break through to the Soul Formation or Tribulation Transcendence Realm, they often enter secluded Cultivation at their Faction's Cultivation Ground.

Then why hasn't the Azures Continent been taken over by the Cultivators of the Velos Continent? It doesn't make sense!

-Why bother? Azures has weaker Mana, less resources, less Magical Beasts, is smaller in size, and is an entire ocean away. Where is the benefit to that? In fact, many Azures Cultivators have migrated to the Velos or Arcturis Continents because of their enhanced Spirit Qi.

William nodded in understanding. Even my friends and I stayed here longer than we planned because of the Cultivation Site, it makes sense but Rudeus is definitely underestimating me.

"Rudeus, don't value my strength based on what you've heard so far." William replied with a hint of pride in his tone. From battling Nascent Soul creatures as a non-Cultivator to defeating the top powers of the Azures Continent while in the Core Formation Realm, William had come a long way.

Now that he was in the Nascent Soul Realm, two Realms above when he fought Supreme Left and Unbreakable Right, William couldn't help but feel confident. Even if one didn't account for the Talent upgrades since his last big fight, William was many times more powerful.

My speed and strength have reached their limit, but increasing my defense has no effect on the stability of the World. I'd be surprised if anyone in the Tribulation Transcendence Realm could actually damage me.

"Oh?" Rudeus looked at William with an inquiring gaze. Is there more to this kid than what our intelligence has gathered? I'll have to speak to Patriarch Vitruvius...

A Heavenly Lightning Bolt gathered and struck down on William, interrupting his next thought. The Superior Tribulation hadn't become stronger, but constantly cycling from being out of combat to in-combat was getting annoying. Additionally, the continuous strikes was still damaging him a tiny bit, which would eventually lead to a loss in lifespan.

System, will I be in combat if the Superior Tribulation has no effect on me?

-If the damage caused to your body does not exceed a certain threshold, no.

Perfect, that's all I needed to know. William glared at the sky briefly before pulling out ten small vials of silvery liquid from his Space Ring. Rudeus' eyes became like saucers as he realized what William was holding in an instant, having been searching for the source of the silver liquid for many decades.

When William poured all ten vials of liquid into his mouth at once, Rudeus felt a pang of anguish that only an Alchemist would understand. In one gulp, ten priceless items were gone just like that.

-Consumed Ascension Dragon Tears (x10): +10000 PP