Chapter 120 – A New Ability

Volume 3: Rising Winds and Clouds

The Little Soul Beast had also completed its Promotion. Two pure-black dots had suddenly appeared on its once round body. Combined with its slightly flattened shape, they made it look like a little black steamed bun.

"Master! Master! Look at me! Am I pretty?"

The childish voice came from beneath the Little Soul Beast's eyes. Wen Yu turned and only then noticed an almost imperceptible slit below them. When the slit opened, it revealed a neat mouthful of tiny teeth that gleamed an unnerving white.

Wen Yu was studying the information from his Promotion. He casually pinched the Little Soul Beast and showed no surprise that it could speak aloud.

One-Eye could already speak like a human. There was nothing strange about the Little Soul Beast doing the same.

Annoyed by Wen Yu's dismissive attitude, the Little Soul Beast muttered something under its breath. Then it floated upward and bit Wen Yu's ear.

Unfortunately, the Little Soul Beast had no combat power of its own. Wen Yu's ear felt like a block of steel between its teeth, making those tiny teeth creak painfully.

"Stop fooling around…"

Wen Yu casually pressed the Little Soul Beast down and seriously considered the intelligence contained in the Promotion messages.

…

First, the channel for exchanging low-level Magic Crystals for high-level ones was gone.

That had little effect on Wen Yu, but its impact on large organizations would be considerable.

None of that had anything to do with him.

The newly available exchange for Special Attribute Magic Crystals would make things much more convenient for Wen Yu, even if the price was steep.

What truly excited him was the Little Soul Beast's new Skill. Obtaining an S-Rank Skill through Promotion meant Wen Yu's luck this time had been almost obscenely good.

Now that he possessed an S-Rank Dark Attribute Skill, Wen Yu could finally learn Dark Divine Light.

The two most important revelations concerned the Promotion Challenge from Level 5 to Level 6 and the Level Shackles.

There was too little information about the Promotion Challenge for Wen Yu to draw any useful conclusions.

The existence of the Level Shackles, however, made perfect sense.

In his previous life, Wen Yu had been Cannon Fodder. Naturally, he had neither considered nor cared about questions concerning how the world itself functioned.

In this life, his strength and status had risen dramatically, so he naturally began thinking about certain matters.

For example, if the Demon Realm Gates opened and vast numbers of high-level Demonic Creatures flooded out, who could stop them?

If the Ruler did not intervene, no one could.

It now appeared that the Ruler had already accounted for that problem. What puzzled Wen Yu was why the same system also suppressed the levels of humans and Mutant Beasts.

"There are two possibilities. First, the Ruler truly has no way to separate the Level Shackles on the Demon Realm Gates from those imposed upon humans and Mutant Beasts. Second…"

At that thought, Wen Yu's gaze flickered.

After a brief moment of consideration, he turned his attention to the final "benefit."

Increased authority.

When the Apocalypse began, Wen Yu had heard about this many times from that brat Alkada.

Now his identity as Sequence 2 granted him greater authority not only inside Treasure Lands, but also at Exchange Pillars.

Those were matters Wen Yu would need to consider after leaving the Treasure Land.

He recalled One-Eye and Xing, then was directly teleported out of the Promotion Challenge Space.

…

Outside the Exchange Pillar, the Military had temporarily sealed off the surrounding area while Wen Yu underwent Promotion.

Kuangliu alone stood nearby, waiting for him.

Teleportation light flashed, and Wen Yu reappeared before the Exchange Pillar less than five minutes after entering the Promotion Challenge Space.

"I knew the Promotion Trial wouldn't be any challenge for you."

Wen Yu nodded at Kuangliu's words and directly touched the Exchange Pillar.

Many new items had appeared, including exchanges for Level 5 Magic Crystals as well as armor and weapons designed for combat at the intensity of Level 5 Class Holders.

None of those items were of any use to Wen Yu-not even a Level 5 Protective Suit.

Any enemy capable of landing a blow on Wen Yu would not be stopped by a Level 5 Protective Suit. In fact, Wen Yu had already discarded Protective Suits as useless when he was still Level 4.

He examined the newly available item categories. They included Skill Scrolls below Rank B and several low-level Hidden Class Change Scrolls.

Understanding flashed through Wen Yu's eyes.

The authority granted to Sequence members was probably intended to let them raise humanity's overall strength. For Wen Yu personally, however, it served no real purpose.

The list even included some premium merchandise: Large-Scale Spatial Teleportation Devices, Demon Qi Converters, Mana Cannons, and all manner of other heavy war machines.

But none of those had anything to do with Wen Yu either.

After a cursory glance, he looked away and selected a Skill Forgetting Scroll.

A Skill Forgetting Scroll cost 1,000 Points, a mere drop in the ocean compared with Wen Yu's current fortune.

He tore the Scroll open. After thinking it over repeatedly, Wen Yu spent a long time choosing between Shadow Step and Void Shift.

Shadow Step (Rank B, Passive Skill): The blessing of Dark Force enhances the Host's speed by twenty percent.

Void Shift (Rank C, Active Ability): Once activated, allows the Host to violate the laws of motion and freely alter their direction of movement once.

After hesitating for a long time, Wen Yu ultimately erased Shadow Step.

Shadow Step's effect was too limited. A twenty-percent increase in speed was barely better than nothing. Void Shift, by contrast, made Wen Yu's fighting style far more versatile. Changing direction in midair and making bullets turn were both effects Void Shift could produce.

After removing Shadow Step, Wen Yu took the Dark Divine Light (SSS-Rank) Skill from his Spatial Ring and tore it open with both hands.

An eerie Black Light enveloped the Little Soul Beast, and Notification Tones began sounding in Wen Yu's mind.

"Ding! Dark Divine Light Ability successfully acquired. The Host is Level 5 and possesses an S-Rank Dark Attribute Skill. Dark Divine Light has been partially activated."

"Dark Divine Light (SSS-Rank, Active Ability): Merge with darkness, control darkness, and ultimately become darkness itself. Then, from within darkness, unleash divine light!"

"Current Ability-Darkness (SSS-Rank, Active Ability): Merge with darkness, control darkness, and ultimately become darkness itself. Darkness grants the Host immense dark power and can imitate any Dark-type Skill below Foundation Rank. The Host may wield the power of darkness freely according to their own will."

"Prerequisites for mastering Divine Light: the Host must reach Level 7 and possess a Light Attribute Skill of at least SS Rank."