William returned to his room shortly after his conversation with Master Riyald and Sir Reynolds. On the way back, he noticed that the crossbows weren't as properly concealed as before.
Even without the use of the radar from the Navigation Talent, William noticed a series of minute irregularities in the wall that hinted at the presence of a trap.
Is this the effect of my new Flawless Title? he wondered. If so, then it truly did deserve its name.
With the title improving his attention to detail, not only had William's ability to identify traps improve, but so would his combat power since he could better analyze a fight. This might even help him with the Wind Dial experiments, which would be a massive time saver.
First things first, I haven't checked my Status yet. The source of thɪs content is novęlfire.net
-Cultivation: Foundation Establishment 1 (0/200)
-Cultivation Base: 50/1000
William was happy and disappointed at the same time when he looked at his new stats. His lifespan had only increased by ten years, which wasn't all that much compared to what he had.
His health had increased by 300 points, and his Mana by one hundred, but other than that there were no notable changes.
He noticed his Cultivation Base had doubled in capacity, which would be nice for the future, but it wasn't a game-changer.
Oh, I haven't consumed the Soul Stones yet. I wonder why that doesn't increase with my Cultivation William realized as he took ninety Soul Stones and ninety-nine Miniature Soul Stones from his Space Ring.
-Acquired Soul Stone x90: +9000 PP
-Acquired Miniature Soul Stone x99: +2475 PP
Huh? Why did I only just now get these Potential Points? William thought back to his exchange with Master Riyald, but couldn't find a problem. He had touched each Soul Stone as they were sent to his Space Ring, so that wasn't the issue.
He asked the System, who answered for free.
-The System was deciding whether or not to award Potential Points based on the circumstances.
William felt this was an odd explanation, but he didn't ask further. He directly consumed each stone one at a time, raising his Soul Strength to a flat 600 points.
It wasn't noticeable until he reached one hundred Soul Strength, but the speed at which he absorbed the Soul Stones increased slightly with each stone. Rather than spending a few weeks on the consumption process, a little over ten days passed before he was done.
It had been nine days since the last Cultivator left the Gravitas Ruins, meaning the masked girl William met before was no longer in the Ruins. William didn't know why he kept thinking of this person, but it made him a little sad to think his only competitor in the Gravitas Ruins was no longer around.
Maybe I'll see her again...
He evaluated his condition but wasn't exactly sure how to test the effects of his Soul Strength, so he asked the System for pointers to save time.
-Close your eyes and pretend your consciousness is leaving your body, then manipulate it like you would Mana.
William nodded. His eyes turned a shade of blue while a strand of his consciousness exited his body from his forehead. He used his finger to control the strand, then called more until it was in the shape of an ethereal sword.
He called Mana of the Plant Element to create a wooden dummy at the back end of the room, then stood fifty meters away from the dummy and slashed vertically with his sword. The slash created an arc that traveled forward and sliced clean through the dummy, even cutting into the Array-reinforced walls behind it.
William evaluated the strength of his strike, finding that it had reached the middle stages of the Golden Core Realm. While it was strong, William felt his Soul Strength was severely lacking compared to his other abilities.
If 600 Soul Strength is the middle of the Golden Core, does that mean the masked girl had more than I do right now? How did she get so much?
-She may have a Soul Cultivation Technique or an Innate ability that improves her Soul Strength over time.
There are abilities like that?
-There are many ways to gain Soul Strength, but most of them are not known to the public. Only the large Sects like the Five Elements Sect, the Spirit Ascension Sect, and some families with long heritages know the methods to acquire more.
William nodded. What is my Soul Strength useful for, then? Should I even bother with it?
-It also increases your resistance to mental invasions and brainwashing techniques, among many other effects that you will discover over time. It's very versatile.
I see...thank you System.
-It seems your manners have improved recently, you little brat.
That doesn't mean I will just stand by and let you treat me ! William yelled in his mind, but his face was smiling slightly. He was glad the System wasn't completely silent all the time, since it gave someone to communicate with other than his Master and the Artifact Spirit.
He looked over to Atticus, who was sleeping soundly on the floor. His intelligence had improved, but he talked like a small child and only thought of omelettes.
Perhaps he just needed to grow a little more, but William didn't want to have to create a new room if the snake's size kept increasing.
Speaking of omelettes, let's get some food and meet with Master before I'm late again.
A few days ago, William informed his Master that he was still consuming Soul Stones and couldn't meet that week. If William missed another meeting, his Master might get bored and add more traps to the residence.
He woke up Atticus to eat their meal together, then rushed off in the direction of Riyald's laboratory. There, he saw the old man tinkering with the same steam engine he was before.
"Oh, Disciple William. I'm surprised you didn't cancel this week's meeting as well. Have you finished consuming the Soul Stones already?"
William nodded, "My Soul Strength has progressed greatly Master, thank you."
Riyald returned the nod, "How about your Cultivation?"
The old man shook his head with a sigh, "You need to at least set aside some time for Cultivation each night. I know you're worried about the Heavens, but that is no reason to let your growth stagnate."
William scratched his head. Riyald was right on the nose with his statement.
Will had intentionally avoided Cultivating lately, since he didn't want to pick sides just yet when he knew barely anything about either the World or the Heavens. After all, who would gamble on a popular sports team winning a tournament if they knew nothing about sports? It didn't make sense.
"Master, I'm hoping to learn more about the Heavens and the World before I make a choice."
"You can do that after you've reached the peak of your current Realm. For now, just Cultivate. Who knows, the problem might solve itself."
William nodded. Master truly had a great wealth of experience, which far surpassed his own. "In that case, can you teach me how to increase my Soul Strength further?"