Tenacity

[Life-type Ability: Tenacity]

[Quality: Green]

[Effect: Enhances the body's tolerance to pain, fatigue, and harsh environments, and speeds up the recovery of non-fatal injuries.]

[Price: 5000 Popularity Points]

[Special Skill: Breath Concealment (Initiate)]

[Quality: Green]

[Effect: Through special breathing techniques and body control, significantly reduces one's aura, body temperature, and spiritual energy fluctuations. Weakens high-level detection effects and makes it difficult to be noticed by conventional means.]

[Price: 4500 Popularity Points]

[Item: Basic Mental Power Stimulation Potion]

[Quality: Blue]

[Effect: After consumption, significantly increases mental power activity and perception acuity for the next hour. Has a low probability of stimulating benign changes or temporary breakthroughs in mental traits. Has certain side effects, causing mental fatigue, headaches, etc.]

[Price: 5500 Popularity Points]

Three options, each with its own use.

[Tenacity] is an ability. Even if it is just the lowest green-tier ability, it can comprehensively enhance survival and sustained combat capabilities. It is very practical and a permanent upgrade. The system said that as long as he has Popularity Points, he can hold eight hundred abilities at the same time.

[Breath Concealment] is an active skill. It works wonders in stealth, reconnaissance, danger evasion, and even sneak attacks. Combined with his current combat style that leans towards close combat and using the coffin for defense, it could increase his tactical flexibility.

It is true that the coffin is conspicuous, but this skill is meant to hide his aura and evade detection skills. After all, it is Breath Concealment, not Invisibility. He couldn't expect it to deceive the naked eye; it could only deceive perception, making its usefulness somewhat limited.

The [Basic Mental Power Stimulation Potion] is a gambler's choice. His mental power traits are special, and this potion might help him master his mental power faster, perhaps even stimulating the potential of that gray mist. However, it is the most expensive, a one-time consumable, and comes with side effects.

Chen Guan fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he made his decision.

"Redeem [Tenacity]."

Defense and survival are always the top priority. With stronger endurance and recovery, he could last longer in Li Yan's devilish training and potential battles, and be better equipped to handle emergencies.

Moreover, this is permanent, so the cost-performance ratio is relatively high.

"Redemption successful! Deducted 5000 Popularity Points. Remaining Popularity Points: 769."

A warm current instantly surged through his entire body. Unlike the feeling of attribute point bonuses, this time it felt more like a subtle change that penetrated deep into his bones and infiltrated the cellular level.

The muscle soreness seemed to ease a bit, and his mental fatigue was also slightly dispelled. His entire body felt as if it had been infused with a sense of toughness.

Chen Guan clenched his fists, feeling that his body's tolerance had indeed improved. Also, there was no legendary excreting impurities through pores, which saved him the trouble of changing clothes. Very good.

He thought about it and exchanged seven hundred Popularity Points for 0.7 Intelligence. Intelligence is linked to spiritual energy. If he raised his Intelligence attribute, he might be able to quickly awaken his own spiritual energy.

Closing the system panel, Chen Guan didn't rest immediately. He closed his eyes and began to try the meditation method taught by Mentor Yun Zhi that afternoon, combining it with the method he had figured out himself.

He attached a trace of his consciousness to his mind, attempting to use it as a beacon to more clearly sense his gray mist-like mental power.

Although he still didn't know what that gray mist was, it shouldn't be anything harmful to him. Maybe he was the second Lord of the Washroom.

The process was still difficult, but with the mental endurance boost brought by [Tenacity], even though the panel numbers hadn't changed, he felt he could persist for a longer time, and his perception seemed a tiny bit more stable.

Compared to those expensive abilities, Tenacity had an advantage: it was considered a passive skill. It didn't need spiritual energy to drive it, though it would be stronger with spiritual energy reinforcement.

Under the gaze of his consciousness, that gray mist remained faint and ethereal, but it seemed to have condensed a microscopic bit more than in the afternoon.

The night passed without incident.

Over the next few days, Chen Guan's life settled into a regular rhythm.

Mornings were for basic supernatural theory. Situ Ming's easy-to-understand explanations deepened his understanding of this world's energy system day by day. Although he still couldn't perceive spiritual energy, the theoretical framework was gradually being built.

Afternoons were for Li Yan's physical combat class. The intensity increased day by day. Relying on his [Tenacity] talent and continuously improving stamina and strength, Chen Guan gradually adapted to this high-load training and even began to handle it with ease.

His sparring with Wang Hanyue also became more proficient. Although it was still difficult to break through the opponent's rock defense, his timing for dodging and counterattacking was getting better and better. Li Yan's evaluation of him went from passing to good, and occasionally he would even point out a trick or two about generating force.

Long Ao was still the one who trained the hardest in the physical combat class, often taking the initiative to do extra training. The fighting spirit and desire to conquer in his eyes were unconcealed.

He would sometimes glance at Chen Guan with a somewhat eager look, but he didn't actually issue a challenge. After all, he knew Chen Guan was no match for him, and bullying the weak was not Long Ao's style.

However, Long Ao was certain that Chen Guan would become a remarkable person in the future, because Chen Guan's rapid progress made even him a little envious.

An Changqing remained excellent, completing all training flawlessly. He faintly showed the trend of becoming the spiritual leader of the Tianshu Class. He would occasionally sincerely check on Chen Guan's adaptation progress.

Su Yuehe, Zhao Qingyin, and the others were also working hard in their own ways. The competitive atmosphere within the Tianshu Class was growing stronger day by day, but overall it was quite healthy.

Liu Feiyu indeed behaved much better. When he saw Chen Guan, he would either take a detour or lower his head and pretend not to see him. His two lackeys also restrained their arrogance after their injuries healed.

Regarding the conflict that day, the academy quickly issued a punishment. Liu Feiyu was given a demerit, his monthly point rewards were deducted, and he was responsible for compensating Chen Guan for mental distress. It was a modest sum of academy points, which Chen Guan accepted. The two lackeys received warning penalties.

This matter was considered closed, but only the parties involved knew what undercurrents remained.

Wednesday afternoon was the mental power guidance class. Chen Guan continued his previous cultivation, making slow but steady progress.

Mentor Yun Zhi seemed to have noticed the special nature of his mental power. She kept him behind for a moment after class, gently reminding him to take it step by step, and gave him a thin, hand-copied ancient book on calming the mind and nourishing the spirit. Chen Guan accepted it gratefully.

The teachers at this school are all good people, he sighed in his heart.

Friday afternoon was free time. Chen Guan spent most of it in the library, continuing to study special materials and spiritual energy theories. Occasionally, he would visit the mission hall to familiarize himself with the mission publishing process and point redemption matters.

On weekend mornings, the Research and Application of Special Items course taught personally by Situ Ming finally arrived.

The class was held in a laboratory in the Equipment Research Building, filled with various bizarre instruments and material specimens. Chen Guan was the only one attending the class; it was indeed a veritable exclusive course.

Dressed in a practical dark gray work uniform, Situ Ming shed some of his imposing aura as the Vice Dean, taking on a more scholarly air. Foregoing any unnecessary pleasantries, he cut straight to the chase, his tone retaining its usual old-fashioned, pedantic cadence.

"Special items generally refer to artifacts, materials, or even natural creations that possess properties defying conventional physics, or those that exhibit a unique interaction with supernatural forces."

Situ Ming's voice remained steady. "We study them not merely to harness their properties, but to comprehend everything that might lie behind their existence."