The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

[Starry Sky Visualization Diagram (Purple): A more advanced form of mental meditation. It requires visualizing a specific starry sky scene in the mind. It can significantly increase the speed and magnitude of mental energy recovery, and has a small probability of drawing upon the power of the stars to temper the spirit and improve the quality of mental energy during deep meditation.]

[Price: 25000 popularity points.]

Purple quality, expensive, but the effect description is extremely tempting. Chen Guan's most common method now is still gray energy.

"Exchange!" Chen Guan made a decisive decision. Mental power was his foundation and must be invested in first.

[After deducting 25000 popularity points, the remaining popularity points are 22231.]

The flow of information, containing the mysteries of the stars and the ancient desolation, flooded my mind, a hundred times more complex and subtle than stargazing meditation.

A vast and complex picture composed of countless stars and star trails is deeply imprinted in the center of his spiritual world.

With just a preliminary visualization, Chen Guan felt his depleted mental energy recover at a sudden and rapid pace, and the gray mist in his mental world seemed to be cleansed by invisible starlight, becoming increasingly solid.

"What a powerful effect!" Chen Guan was shocked. The purple quality was indeed extraordinary, and the effect was immediate.

With his mental foundation solidified, the next step is naturally to strengthen his conventional combat power. His main weapon is a scythe, but currently, green-quality weapons are no longer sufficient for him, and their lack of power has become apparent in previous battles.

Fortunately, the quality of the Black Iron Harvester can be directly upgraded.

Looking at his remaining balance of over 20,000, Chen Guan decided to go all the way and upgrade directly to purple quality.

[Netherworld Reaper (Purple - Growth Type): A scythe forged with Netherworld Cold Iron and Soul-Eating Crystal as its core. It is extremely effective against spirit beings and can slowly grow by devouring souls or specific materials.]

【Additional Skill: ① Soul Tremor (Passive): Attacks cause a slight shock to the enemy's soul.】

【② Netherworld Strike (Active): Consumes Spirit Power; the next attack inflicts powerful soul damage and a chilling aura.】

[Price: 22000 popularity points.]

After reviewing the upgrade plan provided by the system, Chen Guan realized that if he bought it, he would be back to square one.

Chen Guan even suspected that Tongzi was setting prices based on his own balance, trying his best to squeeze every penny out of his pocket.

Evil capitalists!

Despite his inner grumbling, Chen Guan ultimately bought it directly.

[After deducting 22000 popularity points, the remaining popularity points are 231.]

A heavy weight appeared in his hand as a long-handled scythe, entirely black with an ancient and menacing design, materialized out of thin air.

The hilt was cool to the touch, feeling like metal. It was covered with fine, dark patterns, and the scythe-like blade was curved like a crescent moon, its edge gleaming with a dark, cold light. The blood groove design had also been retained.

Near the back of the blade is a small, pale purple crystal about the size of a fingernail; this is the Soul Absorption Core, which can absorb souls to upgrade the quality of the scythe.

Chen Guan attempted to inject a trace of gray energy.

hum.

The scythe trembled slightly, as if it had come to life, and the spirit-absorbing crystal shone brightly.

As the gray energy flowed, a faint black, cold light flickered from the blade of the scythe, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop, exuding a chill.

"A fine blade!" Chen Guan's eyes gleamed.

With this Nether Reaper, his regular combat power will be elevated to a new level, especially when facing creatures like ghosts, where his lethality will be multiplied. The growth-type characteristic means that this weapon can accompany him for a long time, saving him the consumption of popularity points.

Tongzi still felt sorry for him.

Chen Guan completely forgot about the slander he had just made against Tongzi.

He swung the sickle a few times, feeling that its weight and length were a perfect match for his current strength and height, like an extension of his arm.

"Next, we need to adapt to the new weapon as quickly as possible and find a way to obtain souls to feed it and accelerate its growth."

Chen Guan pondered in his heart that the purple growth-type weapon was already quite powerful at its initial stage, but its growth potential was its greatest value. He also wanted to try out this ability to absorb souls to see what it was all about.

If we're talking about devouring souls, we definitely can't practice on living people. As for ghosts, Chen Guan remembers there's a mass grave forest in the western suburbs where a large number of ghostly creatures often appear.

Ghosts don't leave much behind, so people in society generally don't bother cleaning them up. It's mostly poor students who are exploited to do this kind of work, which is practically unpaid labor.

After flipping through the list, Chen Guan indeed found the task posted by the academy.

[Mission: Clear the outer perimeter of the mass grave forest of the dead]

[Mission Level: D+]

[Task Description: The activity of wandering spirits in the mass grave in the western suburbs has been unusually frequent recently, affecting the safety of the outer patrol routes. Students are required to go and clear the area.]

[Task Reward: 20 points]

There are basically no benefits; even among students, probably not many people would be willing to take on this kind of task.

Chen Guan clicked to accept the task. Since he was going to go anyway, he figured he might as well do some small tasks along the way.

The Mass Grave Forest is located among low hills. It was originally a mass grave, but now it has grown into a large forest, a natural breeding ground for low-level undead creatures.

However, recently, the number of undead in the outer areas and their aggressiveness have indeed increased abnormally.

Following the guidance of the mission map, Chen Guan quickly arrived at the designated clearing area, a rocky beach located on the edge of the woodland, near a dried-up stream.

The fog was thicker here, the light was dim, and the air was filled with a cold and damp atmosphere.

With his spiritual energy subtly released, Chen Guan immediately detected the wandering spirits around him, which were unconscious wandering souls.

They mostly appear as blurry, semi-transparent human or animal shapes, drifting aimlessly and occasionally emitting silent wails.

"Let's test it out first." Chen Guan took out the Netherworld Reaper, its black scythe appearing even more sinister in the gray mist.

He deliberately approached the nearest humanoid ghost.

The wandering spirit seemed to sense the presence of a living person, let out a shriek, and pounced forward with bared teeth and claws. It was not fast, but it carried a chilling aura that went straight to the bone.

Chen Guan neither dodged nor avoided the approaching ghost, and when the ghost came close, he gently swung his scythe.

Without using any skills, Chen Guan simply used a normal physical slash, covering his scythe with a thin layer of gray energy.

laugh.

As if encountering its nemesis, the wandering soul instantly disintegrated after being slashed by the scythe, emitting a mournful wail. Its entire form became extremely unstable, and after struggling for a few moments, it completely vanished, leaving only a faint wisp of grayish-white aura, which was silently absorbed by the spirit-absorbing crystal on the back of the Netherworld Reaper's blade.

A crystal the size of a fingernail fell down, its spiritual power already gone, likely absorbed by the scythe. Now all that remained was a small, ashen stone.