Star Patrol Society

"A perfect counter, just as I thought." Chen Guan felt reassured. Dealing with these weakest wandering souls required almost no effort; he could handle them relying solely on the sharpness of his weapon.

He no longer hesitated. His figure darted through the rocky beach, and the Nether Reaper transformed into streaks of black arcs. Wherever he passed, the wandering souls scattered and dissipated.

The Soul-Absorbing Crystal acted like an insatiable black hole, greedily devouring the dissipating soul remnants. In Chen Guan's eyes, these ghosts were no longer just spirits; they were clearly a bunch of walking experience points.

After clearing out about a dozen wandering souls, Chen Guan arrived at a much gloomier area on the opposite side of the creek. The gray mist here was so thick it was almost tangible, and the dry bones of beasts and humans were scattered across the ground.

Within his mental perception, several stronger fluctuations appeared, carrying obvious resentment.

"Wraiths..."

Chen Guan slowed his pace. Wraiths were the product of deceased souls absorbing more negative emotions or lingering obsessions. They possessed simple consciousness, and their strength was roughly equivalent to a stronger Tier 1 Extraordinary. Moreover, physical attacks had very little effect on them.

Farming low-level mobs was still too inefficient; switching to advanced monsters seemed like a good idea.

Chen Guan remained relaxed. As he thought this, three wraiths with twisted bodies and ghostly green flames burning in their eyes emerged from the mist. They let out hateful roars and lunged at him.

Their speed was much faster than those ordinary ghosts. Cold spiritual energy wrapped around their claws and fangs; anyone touched by it would be directly entangled.

"Perfect timing." Instead of retreating, Chen Guan advanced. Gray energy surged on his scythe, naturally triggering his passive skill, Soul Tremor. An invisible deterrent force spread out, causing the three wraiths' movements to noticeably stagnate, and the flames in their eyes flickered.

Seizing this opportunity, the Gale Boots on Chen Guan's feet flashed with light. His figure cut into the middle of the three wraiths like a phantom, and his scythe swept horizontally.

Active skill: Nether Strike!

A small chunk of his mental energy was instantly consumed. The blade of the scythe erupted with a deep, gloomy light, and a power that struck directly at the soul burst forth along with the weapon's attack.

Poof, poof, poof.

The three wraiths were like snowflakes thrown into a raging fire. The moment they touched the gloomy blade light, they let out extremely shrill screams. Their forms annihilated at a visible rate, dissipating even more thoroughly than the wandering souls from before.

Three noticeably thicker wisps of grayish-white aura were absorbed by the Soul-Absorbing Crystal. Chen Guan could feel a slight sense of satisfaction transmitting from the scythe, and even the gloomy luster on the blade seemed to have become more solid.

Chen Guan nodded in satisfaction. The lethality of Nether Strike against spiritual bodies was terrifying, but its consumption was not small either.

With his current mental energy, the number of times he could use it continuously in a short period was limited; he needed to be cautious when using it in actual combat.

Although his stats had been rising, he was only considered decent among his peers.

But it did not matter. Other people's strength came from their own cultivation, which was vain and unstable. He was different; he had leveled up by using a cheat. Those people would be surpassed by him sooner or later.

In a great mood, Chen Guan continued deeper, clearing out the wandering souls and scattered wraiths he encountered along the way. The Soul-Absorbing Crystal was like a bottomless pit, constantly devouring soul remnants. Although it gave off a sense of satisfaction, it could simply never be fully fed.

About an hour later, Chen Guan arrived at the deepest part of the mission area. It was a small mass grave surrounded by several dead, ancient trees. The spiritual energy concentration here had reached its peak, with the gray mist almost turning into liquid. Broken tombstones and rotting coffins were scattered across the ground, a clear sign that this place was entirely devoid of human presence.

In the center of the mass grave, a powerful entity—clearly distinct from ordinary resentful spirits—was slowly condensing into form.

It was the three-meter-tall phantom of a skeleton general, clad in tattered armor and wielding a rusted long saber. Two raging clusters of dark red soul fire burned within its eye sockets, and dense black resentful energy swirled around its body. Its aura had astonishingly reached the Second Tier.

"An elite gatekeeper?" Seeing the skeleton general before him, Chen Guan finally understood why these ghosts were acting so abnormally. It turned out a major boss had spawned, and its influence was what made the lesser spirits so restless.

The skeleton general spotted Chen Guan and let out a furious roar. The dark red soul fire in its eyes flared violently as it pointed its rusted saber at him, sending a wave of deathly will crashing in his direction.

Chen Guan remained as steady as a mountain. A mental attack of this caliber was barely enough to tickle him.

In his assessment, this thing was nowhere near Baal's level. Even Baal hadn't been able to instantly kill him, so what did this puny creature amount to?

The skeleton general took a heavy step forward and swung its long saber, sending a black blade beam slashing through the air.

Chen Guan rapidly retreated while a flash of gray light flickered in his eyes. He activated his illusion skill, Mirror Flower Water Moon. In the skeleton general's perception, Chen Guan's figure suddenly blurred and split into several afterimages that charged at it from different directions.

The skeleton general's movements faltered. It swept its long saber in a wide arc, shattering a few of the afterimages, but completely failed to locate Chen Guan's true body.

Hmm, this guy is quite clumsy. It seems like a perfect dummy to practice my skills on.

Controlling his strength, Chen Guan's true body dashed in from the creature's rear flank. Gray energy coated his scythe as he directly activated an active skill.

Nether Strike!

However, the skeleton general abruptly spun around, raising its rusted long saber to block. The dense black resentful energy formed a protective shield before it.

Clang!

The dark scythe collided with the black long saber, producing a deafening crash of clashing metal that blasted away the surrounding gray mist in a wide ring.

Chen Guan jumped back with practiced ease. On the skeleton general's side, its black resentful energy shield violently rippled and dimmed considerably, though it didn't completely shatter. The dark red flames in its eyes flared even brighter, clearly enraged.

However, all it could do was be angry.

Once Chen Guan had practiced to his heart's content, he effortlessly ended the creature's life. Following that, having lost interest in bullying minor mobs, he completed the mission as quickly as possible, returned to the academy, and turned it in.

"Yo, junior."

Li Yuqing, who happened to be turning in a mission as well, waved her hand cheerfully in greeting. Then, her eyes darted playfully as she casually struck up a conversation.

"Junior, the club recruitment month is about to start. What are your thoughts?"

Li Yuqing smiled brightly, her intentions clear at a glance. Huo Qixing chimed in from the side, "I heard the Star Patrol Club is looking to recruit quite a few people this time around. Are you interested, junior?"

The Star Patrol Club was one of the top three clubs in the academy. Its president, a junior named Qin Wu, had ranked fifth in the four-academy tournament for third-year students. He was undoubtedly one of the top experts in Huaqing.

"I haven't decided yet."

Chen Guan didn't rush to agree. Where he would end up still depended on where An Changqing and the others decided to go.

"Well then, junior, whenever you make up your mind, feel free to contact me."

Li Yuqing dropped the act completely, making no secret of her role as the recruitment director for the Star Patrol Club. Even setting An Changqing's group aside, Chen Guan alone was more than enough to draw their attention.

During the Four-School Tournament, Chen Guan had already proven his strength. Furthermore, Li Yuqing had inside information that an entity on the level of a Demon God had appeared in the final match.

No one knew exactly what had happened in there, but the end result was that not a single person died.

According to reports, An Changqing's group of four had faced the Demon God head-on.

Li Yuqing saw things clearly: was there a single ordinary person among them?