Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Soul Balance Scale (Species-specific Esoteric Level, Active Skills): Manipulate Mysterious and Great Power to forcibly equalize the Soul Strength of two living beings. After the host learns this skill, they can consume a small amount of stamina to activate Soul Balance Scale and forcibly perform soul balancing with any living being within their line of sight—balancing both sides’ current Soul Strength so they reach perfect equilibrium, and permanently solidifying the caster’s Soul Strength!

Note: This skill can only be activated once every fifty years!

(Soul is the root, Strength is the core, Flesh and blood are the external shell. When the three merge into one, that is the power of Absolute Balance!)

This skill, as Wen Yu’s eighth skill, is exactly as it should be.

As for what the ”power of Absolute Balance” at the end of the skill description actually is, Wen Yu has a basic guess—Blood and Flesh Balance Scale is on Cyclops, Soul Balance Scale is now on himself, and the remaining Strength Balance Scale he has no idea where it is. Judging from the skill description, this power of Absolute Balance should be something insanely badass, but in reality Wen Yu doesn’t have any great expectations for it.

He figures Strength Balance Scale should be similar to Blood and Flesh Balance Scale and Soul Balance Scale, able to forcibly balance the Strength of both parties—which would basically mean physical stats. The skill sounds wonderful, but it conflicts to some extent with Soul Balance Scale, and on top of that Wen Yu’s current physical stats are absurdly high. Even if he gets it, it would just be the icing on the cake.

Of course, icing on the cake is still great, but Wen Yu hasn’t gone out of his way to hunt down Strength Balance Scale.

Because the way these balance-type abilities manifest, and their skill potency, can only be called bizarre and are extremely powerful. Whoever has this kind of ultimate weapon absolutely won’t be able to hide it. Once they slip up, Wen Yu can follow the trail back to them. For this reason, Wen Yu only reminded Mountain Kui once to keep an eye out, and didn’t deliberately take more action.

In fact, inside Wen Yu’s space ring, besides Soul Balance Scale, there is also a skill scroll called Soul Harvest (Species-specific Esoteric Level, Active Skills). This was war loot he acquired back at Heavenly Palace. However, compared to the series of skills Wen Yu obtained afterward, this purely lethal skill had been repeatedly shelved by Wen Yu, who has no idea when he’ll ever bother to learn it.

To be fair, Wen Yu isn’t exactly lacking this little bit of lethality. He even feels that not learning this skill is actually a good thing, because that would mean he has obtained better, more excellent abilities.

As Wen Yu tears the scroll apart, light flashes, and Soul Balance Scale is instantly imprinted onto the little Soul Beast. Next comes a series of fine soul micro-manipulations, until Wen Yu fully engraves the Soul Balance Scale ability onto his own Soul Body. Only then can Wen Yu’s own advancement be considered completely finished.

After doing all this, Wen Yu doesn’t immediately check the New Skills of his remaining soul pets. Instead, he carries out some very interesting experiments focused on Soul Balance Scale.

...

First he calls Cyclops and Victor back, receiving them into the Soul Realm space, and then the augmented skills begin.

Ultra Mortal Combat, Blood and Flesh Badge, Truth and Illusion. Reality Shift.

Only after all three augmented skills are in place does Wen Yu activate the 4th Soul Realm.

With a flash of purple light, Faceless appears in Wen Yu’s palm.

Wen Yu slices open his fingertip, squeezing out a single drop of blood as viscous as mercury. The instant the blood contacts Faceless, Faceless’s body suddenly twists and shifts. After a short while, the transformation ends.

An image identical to Wen Yu appears in front of him.

”Take a look, did you get any New Skills?”

Hearing this, Faceless checks himself over, then nods.

”Eighth skill, Soul Balance Scale.”

”Good, let’s begin.”

As soon as he finishes speaking, Faceless immediately runs Wen Yu’s Dream Comes True Skill System.

”Strengthen my own Soul Strength, tenfold, duration thirty minutes.”

One Dream Come True after another spills out from Faceless’s mouth, while one Photosynthetic Spirit Motifs after another continually erase the negative side effects brought by Truth and Illusion. Reality Shift. Faceless’s Soul Strength keeps rising, rising again, until it reaches a height that leaves even Wen Yu himself shocked. Only then does Faceless take his next step.

”Soul Balance Scale!”

Dim light flows out from Faceless’s eyes, instantly falling onto Wen Yu. This light can’t be defended against, can’t be blocked. In just that instant, Wen Yu feels his own Soul Strength surge upward by a huge chunk!

But it’s useless as hell—Soul Balance Scale’s strengthening or weakening of the target is only temporary. Last time, after his bout with Ross ended and the bonuses from Wen Yu’s Dream Comes True Skill System faded, Wen Yu didn’t feel any change in his own Soul Strength at all—the portion Ross siphoned away was entirely the extra amplification brought by the Dream Comes True Skill System.

And according to the skill explanation, Soul Balance Scale can only solidify the caster’s Soul Strength.

It won’t take long before this positive buff from the Soul Balance Scale Faceless cast on Wen Yu will completely dissipate into nothing.

Measuring this duration—this is Wen Yu’s first experimental objective.

As for the second experimental objective...

Thinking of this, Wen Yu turns to look at Faceless, hope flaring in his eyes.

If it works, he’ll have an ability far more terrifying than the Dream becomes Reality Skill System, a true Limit Breakthrough Level power!

As Faceless gently opens his mouth, another Dream Come True Amnesty Order slips out.

”Shorten Soul Balance Scale’s skill cooldown... to one day...”

Just one day—compared to a fifty-year cooldown, one day is naturally negligible, and this is merely Wen Yu starting with a low-end attempt.

However, the feedback from the skill makes Faceless show a disappointed expression.

”No good, boss, no reaction.”

”Again!”

”Shorten Soul Balance Scale’s skill cooldown—ten years!”

”...”

”...”

”Still no reaction.”

”All right, then I get it.”

As soon as Wen Yu finishes speaking, Faceless’s Perfect Duplication instantly fails, and Faceless reverts to a lump of dough. Wen Yu draws blood once more, dripping it onto Faceless. Only after Faceless successfully reshapes again does he read the skill description, his expression ugly as he speaks to Wen Yu.

”Boss, the cooldown is still there.”

Hearing this, Wen Yu’s eyes narrow.

The second experimental objective has its answer—Soul Balance Scale’s cooldown cannot be refreshed by the Dream becomes Reality Skill System; and the third experimental objective also has a result—Faceless’s Perfect Duplication cannot reset Soul Balance Scale’s cooldown.

”What about the boosted Soul Strength?”

”That’s gone too.”

The fourth experimental result shows that the ”permanent boost” in Soul Balance Scale’s skill description does not apply to a special existence like Faceless. With Perfect Duplication’s failure, the permanent boost brought by Soul Balance Scale likewise loses its effect.