Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Chapter 414: Chapter 36 Qualification Battle and Strengthening_2

”Yes.”

At Wen Yu’s command, the television screen quickly changed. In no time, the camera had swiftly transitioned to one of the battles.

On the square stage, the two sides preparing for battle were ready.

One was an ordinary-looking Caucasian. The young secretary kindly provided an explanation for Wen Yu and his two companions.

”Jack Howard, an early Stage Level 4 professionist.”

Opposite Jack stood a heavy-duty puppet three meters tall.

”Magic Puppet: Possesses 500 physique points, and its skills are:

Steel Protective Armor (C-Class, Passive Skill): Drastically reduces physical damage received.

Elemental Attack Defense Array Formation (C-Class, Passive Skill): Drastically reduces elemental damage received.

Magical Creation (E-Class, Passive Skill): The puppet’s body is driven by magical energy, making it completely immune to Psychic Attacks, but it is unable to grow.”

Three skills and a Peak Level 4 physique...

From this puppet, one could discern the Dominator’s requirements for the current Sequence—”I don’t care about your levels, but you should at least be able to defeat a normal Peak Level 4 creature, right?”

Wen Yu silently mourned for most professionists for three seconds.

Then, the battle began.

In the footage, Jack’s Skill System was ordinary. He was just a regular Archer, AK in hand, he opened fire—RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT—spraying bullets toward the puppet.

The skill effects attached to the bullets were decent enough, at least inflicting some damage on the Magic Puppet.

Then, the Magic Puppet quickly caught up to Jack, and its first punch shattered his protective shield.

The battle ended.

The scene switched again, but the three of them no longer had the desire to watch.

All three understood that average Level 4 professionists stood no chance against this opponent.

Although level greatly affects a professionist’s combat power, leveling up is actually quite simple. Therefore, skills are the true foundation!

The disparity in skill combinations and levels could even allow a Third-level professionist to defeat a Level 5 professionist! This was not a joke, but a fact.

And for a member of the Human Race Sequence, being unable to defeat an average early Stage Level 5 creature would be a complete joke.

Unfortunately, for most Level 4 professionists, this was an insurmountable challenge.

The qualifying battle ended thirty minutes later.

The secretary very considerately announced the number of people remaining in the Sequence Member-Ranking Battle treasure land: 15,742!

A mere qualifying battle had eliminated over ninety-nine percent of the professionists. What was even more infuriating was that the flow of time in this treasure land differed from the real world; their short battle was, in reality, equivalent to an entire day of fighting.

When the Dominator announced the end of the qualification battle, the next twenty-odd hours were designated as free time.

At this moment, Tang Haofei finally revealed the purpose of his visit.

”Wen Yu, Lin Haifeng wants to meet with your group of Independents.”

After providing the time and place, Tang Haofei turned and left, leaving Wen Yu and Yang Hong sitting silently in the room.

Both were contemplating the significance of Lin Haifeng inviting powerful Sequence-class Independents.

After a while, Wen Yu was the first to speak to Yang Hong, saying, ”Don’t overthink it. The meeting is three hours from now anyway, so we can just go and see then. By the way, how is that task I gave you—finding powerful Independents from the Sequence—coming along?”

Yang Hong shook his head slightly. ”Sequence Numbers 96 to 100 are all military personnel from various countries. I haven’t looked into the earlier ranks yet.”

Wen Yu nodded. ”Lin Haifeng’s invitation this time actually makes things more convenient for us. You should head back for now. I’ll come find you in three hours.”

Yang Hong nodded and promptly stood up to leave.

Wen Yu first surveyed the room’s layout, then tidied up a bit, grooming Cyclops’s fur and Star’s Scale Armor. Unfortunately, Victor was still recovering from his injuries and currently slept in the Soul Realm space. Otherwise, Wen Yu guessed Victor would have had a great time playing with Cyclops.

Cats and dogs are natural enemies. Who knew if this biological instinct would change after Evolution?

After a simple review of his Skill System, Wen Yu fell silent, pondered for a moment, and then took an item from his space ring.

Skill Upgrade Scroll (SS-Class item): Upon use, it can upgrade an S-Class skill to an SS-Class skill.

This was Lin Haifeng’s compensation.

Ever since obtaining this item, Wen Yu had been deliberating on how best to use it.

The ideal application would be to acquire an S-Class light-type skill, have a soul pet learn it, and then use this scroll to upgrade it. This would directly fulfill the prerequisite for awakening Divine Light.

The difficulty of obtaining S-Class skills versus SS-Class skills was worlds apart!

The second-best option was to strengthen Cyclops’s Mortal Combat, Star’s Dragon Flame, or the Soul Beast’s Dislimning or Soul Strike.

After careful consideration, Wen Yu decided to use this scroll to strengthen one of his existing S-Class skills.

The demon plague was imminent, and he also had to face attacks from the Hunting Group. In Wen Yu’s view, surviving the initial onslaught of the demon plague and the Hunting Group was his most pressing challenge—far more critical than obtaining an SS-Class light-type skill.

Furthermore, he was currently in the Sequence Member-Ranking Battle treasure land, where he might challenge others or be challenged himself. Improving his strength was absolutely necessary.

As for who should receive the upgrade, Wen Yu already had a plan.

The Soul Beast was the first to be ruled out.

The effectiveness of Soul Strike was diminishing. In Wen Yu’s current combat style, Soul Strike made little difference. If not for the Soul Shattering Mirror, Wen Yu might have even considered removing Soul Strike entirely. Since acquiring Darkness, the utility of Dislimning had also waned.

Star’s Dragon Flame was worth strengthening, but it wasn’t Star’s primary combat skill, so enhancing it wouldn’t yield massive improvements. It would merely be icing on the cake.

Cyclops was different.

While embellishments are nice, they can’t compare to crucial support when it’s desperately needed.

As Wen Yu’s first soul pet, Cyclops had played a crucial role during the early days of the apocalypse. Actually, Cyclops’s current combat power wasn’t bad. A comparison of Cyclops’s and Simba’s combat abilities made this clear: Simba, once the absolute overlord of Mudanjiang City, had been quickly dispatched by Cyclops. If Cyclops were let out now, it could, at the very least, dominate an entire region.

Unfortunately, with the addition of Star, then Faceless, and now Victor, Cyclops’s combat power had become Wen Yu’s weakest link.

Despite its carefree demeanor, Cyclops surely wouldn’t be content merely being a mascot, nestled in Wen Yu’s arms day after day, unable to contribute.

Mortal Combat was Cyclops’s Core Skill; virtually all its other skills were predicated on it. If its S-Class Mortal Combat were evolved, Cyclops’s strength would significantly improve. Wen Yu didn’t need Cyclops to possess combat power comparable to a divine beast; indeed, upgrading an S-Class skill to SS-Class couldn’t transform an ordinary mutant beast into a monster on par with divine beasts. But, at the very least, Cyclops needed to be able to hold its own.

As an Independent, Wen Yu would not become a faction leader or similar role in the future. Therefore, fighting outnumbered would definitely be a common situation for Wen Yu. Often, Wen Yu needed to achieve multiple strategic objectives simultaneously. In such scenarios, his soul pets would inevitably have to fight independently.

Wen Yu didn’t want his soul pets to merely hide in the Soul Realm space during battles, acting as passive ornaments that only provided him with a skill buff.

With this in mind, Wen Yu beckoned to Cyclops. As Cyclops trotted over, Wen Yu tore open the skill upgrade scroll in his hand.