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This was before William had the Cultivation Talent from the System, so the result was obvious. He had no talent! Or at least that\'s what everyone believed.

Doesn\'t that mean I\'m the most wanted non-Cultivator in the world?

Thinking of it gave William the chills. Twelve thousand Mana Stones was enough to drive anyone crazy, except for maybe the most powerful Cultivators. If they knew that William was outside the Gravitas Ruins...

William shook his head. It was useless to think about this, since he had already changed his identity multiple times. Unless someone had a special method to see through his Illusion Arrays, William should be safe for the time being.

He handed the binder back to Captain Phi and returned through the portal to the Thieves\' Guild hideout where Carl was waiting. Staying in Blue Moon City would be pointless, since the entire purpose of their trip was to get back at the Thieves\' Guild.

He had initially only planned to visit one location, but given that they still had plenty of time before the next Beast Tide, the two felt it wouldn\'t be a bad idea to cash in some more bounties.

After taking a long trip back to the entrance of the tunnel, William set up a temporary base to rest. It wasn\'t for his sake, but for Carl\'s, who begged for a break after so much fighting in the last 24 hours.

William wasn\'t tired at all, only lacking about half of his Mana Reserve from constantly maintaining the Time Halt Spell, but Carl didn\'t have dozens of Talents to keep him in peak condition. His breathing had become slightly ragged, and the Mana Regeneration Pills were reduced to less than fifty percent effectiveness after consuming so many in a short period of time.

As he and William laid on a pair of comfortable beds across the room from each other, Carl looked over.

"Say, Wi-"

"Call me Serio while I\'m like this, just in case."

"Ah, Serio... Have you ever thought about why you Cultivate?"

"To get stronger, of course." William replied with little hesitation. What was there to think about?

"Of course, but why do you want to get stronger?" Carl pressed further. He rested his head under his arms while laying down, "You\'re so strong compared to me though we are almost the same age, but you must have a goal, right? Is it for your family?"

William was about to respond, but then Carl\'s words struck him. He had an immediate answer to his friend\'s question but saying the words in his head felt wrong somehow.

It was a new World for me. One with Magic, and Cultivation, and Magical Beasts! For me, getting stronger wasn\'t the goal, but just a matter of consequence. It wasn\'t until... oh!

William\'s mind flashed back to the caravan to Blue Moon City.

Back then, he had just been issued a special Quest by the Guild Master to support a small group of merchants, who placed him in the center since he had no Cultivation.

During the trip, they were regularly attacked by tides of Magical Beasts that paled in comparison to the Elemental Beast Tide he fought yesterday, but it was only when the group of Plains Vultures arrived that William had a reason to use his full strength.

Wiping away the entire group with just Fire Magic gave William both satisfaction and a sense of purpose. Seeing the attitudes of the merchants flip from derision to respect made William realize that strength was the only thing that mattered to people in this World.

As time passed and his enemies grew in both number and strength, William realized that he needed to keep improving, so that no one could ever harm him or those he was close to. This, is what defined William\'s response to Carl\'s question.

"I want to be stronger because I want to be respected, famous, and in control of my own life."

Carl raised his head and looked at William, "You want to be...respected?"

William nodded, "When I first came to this Wor- I mean, when I was younger, I was looked down on for not being a noble, for being a Peasant without Cultivation. Since I was a Manamatus, those above me looked on with jealousy, but it wasn\'t enough to avoid being disrespected or easily taken advantage of.

When I got stronger and my Magic improved, others paid more attention, but they only wanted to use me. I want to escape that fate of always being at the mercy of others. If anything, I want them to be at my mercy instead!" he finished.

Carl nodded, though he felt a little bit ashamed. Years ago, he looked down on Peasants the same way that William described. Now that he was friends with William, he realized how wrong that attitude was. Your status shouldn\'t affect whether someone treats you like a human or not.

"What about you, Carl? Why do you want to get stronger?" William asked.

"Ah... I want my father to recognize my abilities, and to make money. It\'s easier to earn Gold and Mana Stones when you\'re a powerful Cultivator. If I could reach the Nascent Soul or even the Soul Formation Realm, I could kill Golden Core Beasts with a wave of my hand." Carl waved his hands around animatedly.

"Shit, you can almost do that now." William replied.

"My summons can, but not me. I don\'t feel like the summons are a true part of my strength, since I will always need help to capture Beasts stronger than me."

William shrugged his shoulders, "You\'re still going from point A to point B, it doesn\'t matter how you get there as long as you get there."

"I guess..." Carl muttered as he turned over to sleep.

William took a short four-hour rest, then went outside and created a soundproofed area so he could practice his Time Magic for a few hours. The Time Halt Spell was very effective against the thieves, but he felt he could do much better.

This hideout was relatively small, but there\'s no way a criminal organization that has existed for so long consists of just a few Nascent Soul Cultivators...

A Golden Core Cultivator was sent to assassinate William in the Five Elements Sect, well before he became a target of the Yu Royal Family. It was obvious that the Thieves\' Guild had plenty of manpower.

Since his Time Magic wasn\'t very effective against higher-Realm opponents, William came up with new ways to use it to his advantage. Rather than slowing down the enemies directly, William opted to slow down the environment.

Whether it was a Spell launched by the opponent or an Array, William could reduce their speed much more precisely than he could an entire person. Additionally, William could use the Time Element to speed up his own attacks or delay them in a way that made it unpredictable.

William tried a method of calling forth a future version of himself, but it was much too difficult to achieve, maybe even impossible. The moment he tried to direct the Mana into a Spell, the Mana Particles refused to form into anything tangible, leading to William losing control of his Spell.

He tried again and again, but every attempt he made was a failure, to a point where the System warned him that further attempts would lead to trouble. It informed him that his Spell wasn\'t feasible since both the World and the Heavens would always reject it.

Hearing that both the Heavens and the World were against the use of such a Time Spell, William decided not to try again. His plan of summoning infinite versions of himself would have to wait until he found another solution.

Carl woke up as the first light of the sun shone through the translucent barrier that concealed their temporary base. Seeing that William was gone, Carl went outside to see what his friend was up to.

"Good morning, Carl. Would you like some coffee?" William asked while holding a hand-made ceramic cup. In front of him was a single pot from his Spirit Cookware Set full of dark-brown liquid that was resting on a stone table.

He had spent a measly ten Potential Points to ask the System how to create coffee from scratch, and he was not disappointed by the response.

Not only had it given him several methods to brew coffee with the materials he currently had, but it also informed him that the Plant Element could grow coffee plants in a short amount of time. With this new set of knowledge, William was able to use a combination of Elements to create a pot of coffee in just ten minutes!

Ah... there\'s no better feeling than a good cup of coffee in the morning...