The streets were dim, littered with discarded glass bottles that once held low-grade nutrient solution, as well as various cans and trash bags.

Jiang Zheyu returned to perform Spiritual Purification for the Beastmen she had visited before. However, she did not come as herself, having disguised her appearance instead.

Jiang Zheyu, clad in a black, hooded cape, stood before the home she had first visited yesterday. Just as she reached the door, she heard heart-wrenching cries of pain from within. Her hand, which she had raised to knock, hesitated for a moment. ’The Beastman inside suffers the agony of a spiritual power injury every day.’

Inside the room, the space was cramped and low-ceilinged, and a dim yellow light flickered unsteadily.

"Father, kill me. I don’t want to live anymore. I’m in so much pain." The man, whose legs were numb and completely paralyzed, lay on the bed, unable to move. His eyes were bloodshot with agony as he clutched his head. He was using so much force that blood trickled from his scalp, down his temples, past his eyes, and all the way to his chin. His once-handsome face now appeared decayed, ruined by a lifeless despair.

The Old Beastman gripped the man’s wrists tightly, afraid he would crush his own skull. His cloudy eyes filled with tears. "Lai Ka, just hold on, hold on a little longer. Once the Imperial Capital Research Institute develops a medicine to treat spiritual power injuries, you won’t be in so much pain."

Lai Ka was in extreme agony. Tears mixed with blood and slowly streamed from his eyes. "Father, I’m in so much pain. Let me go... and let yourself go, too..."

"Lai Ka, I’ve already called a doctor for a house call. Just hold on a little longer. You’ll be fine soon..." The Old Beastman’s voice cracked with a sob he didn’t even realize was there.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. He assumed it was the doctor. To prevent his son from killing himself, the Old Beastman tied Lai Ka down with an even stronger rope before hurrying to answer it. When he saw the black-robed figure outside, he was instantly on guard.

"I can treat your son’s spiritual power." Jiang Zheyu had her Light Brain produce a mechanical, androgynous voice.

These words made the Old Beastman’s heart waver.

He knew perfectly well that the Imperial Research Institute had spent a hundred years researching without finding a way to treat spiritual power. ’What could this person possibly do?’

But perhaps Lai Ka’s earlier pleas for death had frightened him, and he decided to take the risk.

Still, he asked aloud, "What are your terms?"

’This black-robed person wouldn’t help us for no reason; otherwise, they wouldn’t have spoken up at all.’

"It’s simple. All I want are Star Coins." Jiang Zheyu’s mechanical, androgynous voice rang out. "Two million Star Coins. As I understand it, you received a subsidy from the female, correct? Coming up with that sum should be easy for you."

Jiang Zheyu was also reminding the Old Beastman that he could ask her for the money.

The Old Beastman was surprised the stranger only wanted Star Coins, but then he understood. ’This black-robed person wouldn’t have sought us out for no reason. They must have found out about the long-term compensation we received from the female.’

"Alright," the Old Beastman agreed. He wanted to try, no matter the cost. He opened the door and let Jiang Zheyu in.

"I can perform the treatment first. You can transfer the money to this account after you see that there are no issues." Jiang Zheyu projected the virtual account given to her by the System.

The Old Beastman hurriedly jotted it down.

Jiang Zheyu walked in and went to the bedside of the injured Beastman.

The Beastman on the bed was struggling desperately, and it looked as if the dilapidated old bed frame would shatter from his violent thrashing at any second.

Jiang Zheyu spent one hundred Star Coins in the System Mall to purchase an injection that lowered Beastification Value. This was a precaution in case her spiritual power was depleted before she could finish the purification.

She had never attempted to perform Spiritual Comfort multiple times in one day.

Before, she had only ever performed Spiritual Comfort once a day, just to complete her mission.

In fact, she had discovered some time ago that she only needed to rest for a few minutes to recover after each Spiritual Comfort, which meant she could actually perform one every few minutes.

The Beastification Value she could harvest in a day wouldn’t be limited to just ten-some points.

Previously, she had just been focused on completing the mission and had no desire to actively improve her spiritual power. Her attitude was completely passive. Only now did she truly want to work hard to raise her spiritual power level.

The Beastman on the bed’s Spiritual Power Level was only A+. As a female with S-Class spiritual power, Jiang Zheyu could easily control him.

As a result, the Beastman who had been struggling frantically on the bed suddenly went still.

With the Beastman quiet, it was now convenient for Jiang Zheyu to begin.

She reached out and grasped the Beastman’s already beastified hand, slowly closing her eyes. She focused her spiritual power and entered the Beastman’s Spiritual Domain.

A pure white Spiritual Domain Space.

A massive sika deer, his spiritual body, lay in the center of the space.

The spiritual body of the sika deer had four limbs, but two of them dangled limply on the ground as if they had lost all strength. The black energy around its hind legs was especially dense.

As a spiritual body in the form of a stick figure, Jiang Zheyu walked over. The sika deer, prone on the ground, noticed someone had entered but only weakly opened its eyes. Its pair of deep brown eyes were lifeless, without a single spark of light.

Thus, even as Jiang Zheyu approached, it had no reaction and simply closed its eyes again, as if waiting for death.

She fell silent for a moment. Soon, her stick-figure form reached the sika deer’s side.

Jiang Zheyu focused mainly on grabbing the black energy around its legs.

Perhaps because she was concentrating so intensely, she discovered that the black energy corresponding to the Beastification Value was slightly different from the black energy around the sika deer’s legs.

The black energy around the sika deer’s legs seemed to be an even deeper black.

After clearing twelve wisps, she rested again. At that moment, she voiced her confusion to the System. "Are the Beastification Value and the Healing value different from each other?"

"That is correct, Host," the System slowly replied. "Of the twelve wisps of black energy, ten are values for repairing the spiritual body. These ten wisps will automatically be converted into points."

Jiang Zheyu was surprised. The System’s daily mission only required her to purify 5 points of Beastification Value, and the corresponding reward was only 5 points.

Any amount of Beastification Value she purified would be recorded on her advancement panel, but it wouldn’t grant any extra points or additional rewards.

But repairing a spiritual body *could* be converted into points.

So, Jiang Zheyu went back to concentrating on grabbing the black energy.

A long time passed. Working intermittently, Jiang Zheyu unknowingly grabbed a total of one hundred eighty-seven wisps of black energy.

Of that total, 87 points were Beastification Value, and 100 were Healing value.

Jiang Zheyu realized she hadn’t needed to use the injection she’d bought to lower the Beastification Value, so she stored it in the System’s inventory for now, ready to be taken out whenever she needed it.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was pitch-black outside the door. Night had fallen.

The advancement panel had also changed:

Name: Jiang Zheyu

Gender: Female

Current Spiritual Power Value: S (182/3000)

Points: 138