Ten days later.
Morrow arrived in the city where Heavens Arena stood.
The primary mode of transportation in this world was airships, which were far less efficient than the airplanes of his past life.
Traveling from Yorknew to another continent across the sea had taken Morrow a full ten days.
Fortunately, the entry requirements for the country where Heavens Arena was located were quite lax; otherwise, it might have taken even longer.
This country seemed to have positioned Heavens Arena as its main economic driver.
As a result, nearly every visitor entering the country was there for the arena.
Morrow's first impression upon stepping into the city wasn't the towering, cloud-piercing marvel at its center, but the sheer number of people everywhere.
No matter where he looked, shops, souvenirs, food packaging, even the clothes and backpacks of passersby, he saw elements related to fighting.
Being surrounded by it all, Morrow immediately understood why this place was called the "fighting paradise."
No wonder over 4,000 fighters registered at Heavens Arena every single day.
That towering skyscraper was like a pyramid built from fame and fortune, tempting people to climb it at all costs.
You didn't even need to reach the top; just ascending to a certain height would earn you endless flowers and cheers.
Few could resist such allure.
Immersed in the city's unique atmosphere, Morrow couldn't help but sigh inwardly before making his way toward the city center.
Heavens Arena was a tower-shaped structure standing 991 meters tall.
The entire building had 251 floors, making it the fourth tallest structure in the world.
Every year, over a billion spectators entered to watch the battles, and the ticket revenue alone was an unimaginable sum.
Morrow headed straight for the registration office at Heavens Arena.
At the moment, the line for registration was incredibly long.
At a glance, Morrow estimated there were at least two thousand people waiting.
The area around the registration office also featured a plaza and other facilities, with some distinctive statues serving as popular photo spots for tourists.
As a result, both the registration office and its surroundings were packed with crowds.
Listening to the clamor from all directions, Morrow had no patience to wait in line.
He stepped out of the queue and walked directly toward the registration office.
Along the way, he casually observed the people in line.
His eyes acted like scanners, detecting the faint wisps of aura rising from them.
Ordinary people, ordinary people, ordinary people…
Not a single Nen user in sight.
Though it was possible some Nen users were disguising themselves as ordinary people, the odds of that were extremely low.
By the time Morrow reached the registration office, he had passed over two thousand people. Not one was a Nen user.
Nen…
It was a power that anyone could master with training.
Yet, despite the massive population, the number of Nen users was pitifully small.
Given that, most of Heavens Arena's Nen users were probably concentrated above the 200th floor.
Now then...
Morrow stood beside the line, resting his chin on his hand, his eyes lowered as he considered the feasibility of a certain plan. Since even in a fighting paradise like Heavens Arena, Nen users were rare, perhaps he could play the role of an orchardist and administer a "baptism" to contestants who met his screening criteria...
This way, he could artificially create Nen users through human effort.
Then, all he needed to do was wait for these apples to ripen before plucking them in the arena.
As Morrow pondered this, the staff at the registration desk and those in line all eyed him with strange expressions.
His undisguised scrutinizing behavior while walking through earlier had already drawn the attention of many contestants.
Some hot-tempered individuals had initially considered stepping out of line to teach Morrow a lesson.
But when they met his assessing gaze, they inexplicably felt an overwhelming pressure and wisely suppressed their impulsive emotions.
However, they certainly remembered Morrow well.
Now, those at the front of the line watched as Morrow walked straight to the registration desk and stood there deep in thought, leaving them puzzled and uncertain about his intentions.
The registration staff also observed Morrow with considerable curiosity.
After a while...
Morrow concluded his thoughts, deciding that the "orchardist plan" had some feasibility. He resolved to finalize his decision on whether to execute it after registering for the competition.
First, let's register.
Morrow looked up and walked directly toward a bearded man who was preparing to fill out his registration form.
The bearded man noticed Morrow's approach and instinctively tensed up, eyeing him warily.
"What... do you want?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the bearded man realized he was overreacting.
This was, after all, the registration desk of Heavens Arena. No one would be foolish enough to cause trouble here without reason, right?
Morrow stopped before the bearded man, pulled out a stack of bills, and politely said, "Hello, I'd like to offer you a million Jenny for your spot in line. Would you be willing?"
"Huh?"
The bearded man froze, his pen hovering mid-air.
The registration staff remained expressionless and didn't urge them to hurry.
Those behind the bearded man in line, however, widened their eyes in surprise.
A million Jenny...
Not an exorbitant sum, but not insignificant either.
At Heavens Arena, one would need to fight up to the 100th floor to earn that much in prize money.
The bearded man quickly realized that simply rejoining the line elsewhere was far easier than painstakingly climbing a hundred floors.
"Deal."
He shoved the pen into Morrow's hand, took the money, and walked toward the back of the line without a backward glance.
Morrow took the pen and naturally stepped up to the registration desk.
"Welcome to Heavens Arena. Please fill out your details here."
The receptionist deftly removed the form bearing the bearded man's name and replaced it with a fresh one for Morrow.
"Thank you."
Morrow smiled at her and quickly completed the form.
For combat experience, he didn't fabricate anything; he truthfully wrote that he had none.
In reality, he genuinely lacked fighting experience. One of his purposes in coming to Heavens Arena was precisely to gain such experience, so there was no need to take shortcuts.
—--
After registering, Morrow headed straight to the first floor of Heavens Arena.
As a tower-like structure, the first floor of Heavens Arena had the largest area, featuring 16 fighting rings in its combat arena. Every day, contestants who came to register would undergo preliminary matches here.
Morrow casually found a seat and sat down.
His arrival immediately drew the attention of a small group of people.
These individuals had only arrived shortly before and had noticed Morrow's strange behavior during registration. They hadn't expected him to cut in line like this.
Ignoring their gazes, Morrow focused intently on watching the fights in the arena.
"Not bad at all," he remarked with growing interest as he observed two contestants exchanging blows on one of the platforms.
Setting aside the factor of Nen abilities, some Martial Artists in this world were truly skilled.