For control-type soul masters, speed of action was an important measure. Put simply, control-type soul masters had to seize control first. Whichever side controlled the other first could launch the first attack and gain the advantage in battle.
With weapons, an inch longer meant an inch stronger; an inch shorter meant an inch more dangerous.
In battle, being a moment faster meant being a moment stronger; being a moment slower meant being a moment more dangerous.
Once one side took control of the other, unless the other possessed a control-removal soul skill, the scales of victory had already tipped.
For example, Bai Cai's third soul ring came from a ten-thousand-year Abyssal Demon Octopus. Once Mental Pollution struck, even someone as powerful as Xu Sanshi would lose his fighting ability.
Xu Sanshi was not far from becoming a Soul King, and his mental strength was exceptional. Huo Yuhao's covert attack had merely delayed him for an instant, yet the mental backlash had nearly knocked him unconscious. Furthermore, he had silently endured the Dragon Whisker Needle. There was no question about Xu Sanshi's formidable willpower.
Were Bei Bei, Jiang Nannan, and those core disciples of the Martial Soul Department in the fourth, third, and second years higher in Soul Power Level than Xu Sanshi? Were they stronger-willed than Xu Sanshi?
Under Mental Pollution, no outer academy student would survive.
How could they secure victory against a control-type Soul King, or an inner academy student with a ten-thousand-year soul ring like Ling Luochen?
When both sides possessed ten-thousand-year soul skills capable of deciding the battle in a single strike, the first mover would surely win, while the second would surely lose.
Although acting first guaranteed victory, the special effect of Dance of the Butterfly Goddess was enough to let the side acting second