Chapter 237: Unnatural Regeneration
Carl looked at the map, still not able to make any sense of it. When William mentioned the Thieves' Guild while pointing at a particular symbol, however, the pieces started to click.
"Are you tracking down the Thieves' Guild with this map?" Carl asked warily, although he already knew the answer.
William nodded, "They've been trying to kill me for a while now, and I thought I'd return the favor. The information is a little old, but I can't imagine they have moved much in the last few decades."
"Where did you even find out about this in the first place?"
"In the library at the Sect. Why?"
Carl looked at William seriously, "I dunno, you gave me the impression that you didn't like reading."
"...Forget about this, let's rest up here and leave at night." William replied in a flat tone.
He erected a few Concealment and Barrier Arrays around them, then sat cross-legged on the ground to convert a small amount of his Cultivation Base and recover what he lost while using the Stealth Talent's invisibility function.
Carl looked at William in surprise as the man absorbed the Spirit Qi directly, barely filtering the Mana at all. The amount of Mana increased dramatically, then was refined into fifty strands of Spirit Qi at the same time. It was incredible!
Carl didn't interrupt William's Cultivation despite his amazement. To do so was considered a grave taboo in the Cultivation World, since it could hinder one's future growth depending on the situation.
Instead, Carl waited silently for William to finish, electing to do some Cultivation of his own from the other end of their temporary base.
It only took two hours for William to refill his Cultivation Base. The sun had set an hour ago, but he still had one last thing to do before they left. He looked at Carl, who had also finished his session of Cultivation a little bit ago.
"Carl, step outside for a bit." William said. He didn't want Carl to get hurt by accident during his next move.
Carl was confused, but he exited the Barrier Arrays anyway and sat on the ground outside.
System, upgrade my Space Affinity.
-10000 PP
———
TALENT UPGRADED
Space Affinity: (A --> S)
Effects: Space-related Mana Control, Magic Power, and Mana Efficiency +150% >> +250%
S-Rank Bonus Effect: Instant comprehension of the Domain of Space
Next rank up: 50000PP
———
The moment the upgrade process began, William's fingers were sliced off one by one from the effects of the Space Mana. Hundreds of papercuts formed on his hands and feet, ignoring the Forcefield and cutting into his clothing that automatically repaired itself.
That being said, the Illusionist's Cloak almost couldn't keep up. The damage and repair process were nearly the exact same, but the Space Mana slowly gained the upper hand as the upgrade continued.
The Regeneration Talent allowed him to regain the use of his fingers, but it didn't last long as they were cut off again. The damage to his Artifacts increased, and William began to worry about his current situation.
William was forced to disrobe and take off all his Artifacts to avoid losing many precious materials and over a thousand hours of work, but the process of repeatedly losing his fingers made it more difficult than he wanted it to be.
After a few agonizing minutes, William stood naked in the temporary base, his Hard Skin Talent suffering the next wave of Space Mana as his neck, chest, back, and many other parts of his body were simultaneously cut and bled.
A certain sensitive part of William's body was also cut off, causing him to scream in agony as his manhood was lost forever. The part grew back, but William didn't feel any better. His legs shook as the process repeated itself dozens, no, hundreds of times during the upgrade process.
Looking down at the pile of... things, William shuddered. Since the Regeneration Talent regrew body parts instead of just replacing them, he was left with a view that would probably traumatize him for many years to come.
An hour passed, and the fluctuations of Space Mana came to an end. Rather than being excited about the Elemental improvements, William was more relieved that the System cleaned up the mess of fingers and... you know... for him.
That aside, William felt his understanding of Space Magic had increased to a whole new level, and he could even unleash the Domain if he wanted to. Since he was outside, though, William opted to save that for when he returned to the Ruins.
The Regeneration Talent had been heavily used during this upgrade process, so his age had advanced by another 25 years. William was now 66 years old, but since his lifespan was 300 years and he was a Cultivator now, William's appearance didn't change at all.
With the Space Affinity upgrade completed, William wanted to try something else out.
System, can I upgrade Uri's Rank from here?
-No. You must be within a hundred meters to upgrade your Magical Beast's Rank. You also cannot be within ten kilometers of a major population center when upgrading.
As I thought...
William was disappointed, but he felt it made sense. What if Uri was in the middle of something important, or he was sleeping, and he suddenly upgraded to the next Rank? Wouldn't that be a bit too sudden?
Or what if William upgraded a Magical Beast from inside Blue Moon City? Wouldn't the resulting Heavenly Tribulation destroy the entire City? At the Soul Formation Realm, William wouldn't be surprised.
POTENTIAL POINTS: 25853
Hmm...I still have fifteen thousand to spend. Clearly my Physical Talents aren't enough, so let's upgrade those!
System, upgrade my Hard Skin, Strength, Stamina, and Regeneration Talents.
-Upgrading four Talents at a price of 2500 PP each.
-10000 PP
———
TALENTS UPGRADED
Hard Skin: (S --> SS)
Effects: Skin Cell amount, toughness, and compression +550% >> +1200%
S-Rank Bonus Effect replaced with SS-Rank Bonus Effect.
SS-Rank Bonus Effect: Rate of Skin Cell damage reduced by 80%
Next rank up: 10000PP
———
Strength: (S --> SS)
Effects: Full-body muscular ability +550% >> +1200%
S-Rank Bonus Effect replaced with SS-Rank Bonus Effect.
SS-Rank Bonus Effect: Chance of physical strain reduced by 80%
Next rank up: 10000PP
———
Stamina: (S --> SS)
Effects: Resistance to fatigue +550% >> +1200%
S-Rank Bonus Effect replaced with SS-Rank Bonus Effect.
SS-Rank Bonus Effect: Quickly recover your stamina when out of combat. When at full stamina, your first physical move is 20% more powerful and efficient.
Next rank up: 10000PP
———
Regeneration: (S --> SS)
Effects: Natural healing ability improved by 550% >> 1200%, then healing speed improved by another 550% >> 1200%
S-Rank Bonus Effect replaced with SS-Rank Bonus Effect.
SS-Rank Bonus Effect: Host can recover from almost any physical injury, no matter the severity.
Side Effect: Healing injuries hastens the rate of cell division and will cause the Host to age by one year after healing 15 >> 30 years' worth of injuries.
Next rank up: 10000PP
———
William felt his skin tighten up and compress to a point that he didn't think possible. The cells on his arm became slightly lustrous and shiny, before reverting to his normal skin-tone as the upgrade was completed in mere moments.
The other upgrades quickly followed suit, improving his Strength, Stamina, and Natural Regeneration respectively. As he looked at the System Messages regarding each upgrade, his eyes widened.
Each Talent improved by 650 percent, meaning his abilities had more than doubled across the board. Not only that, but the SS-Rank Bonus Effect for the Regeneration Talent was absolutely ridiculous.
He hadn't seen the S-Rank Effect before, but it probably had something to do with why he was still alive after beheading himself with the Space Element. If the SS-Rank Effect was even better, William could probably be diced into a thousand pieces and still survive!
Natural Regeneration my *ss! This is anything but natural!