An egg of an unknown mythical beast.
A golden astrolabe.
A fossilized claw of an ancient creature.
The late music master Feihmeng's violin.
The Dome Treasure Box of a lost kingdom, documented only in scarce literature.
The Corundum Heart Gem unearthed from the Pangbo Ancient City Ruins.
Selma's Golden Scepter, which perished three hundred years ago.
These were the championship prizes for this year's Battle Olympia.
In this world where collecting is highly popular, the degree of markup is beyond imagination. Merely hearing the names of these prizes evoked an overwhelming sense of wealth.
But compared to treasures like the Dome Treasure Box, which carried a profound sense of historical weight, Morrow was more intrigued by the nourishing cuisine Menchi mentioned, made from the mythical beast Egg.
It could enhance aura…
This was something never revealed in the original work.
Surprised, Morrow suddenly realized that the power of Nen was, in essence, the application of Life Energy.
If mythical beasts were creatures brimming with vitality, then it made sense.
Morrow then recalled the chapters in the original work about Gourmet Hunters, which only went as far as the Hunter Exam, with no further information afterward.
If he had to mention it, there was also Linne from the Hunter Association, who made two appearances during the Election Arc.
She was a seasoned Gourmet Hunter who had once traveled to the Dark Continent with Netero.
Perhaps that veteran Gourmet Hunter also knew how to unlock the nutritional value of ingredients at the level of mythical beasts.
"Are mythical beasts common?"
Morrow looked at Menchi, asking eagerly.
When it came to food, Morrow felt it was something that could satisfy both the spirit and the body for humans living in this world.
On top of that, if it could also fulfill the need to enhance aura, that would be absolutely perfect.
"Extremely rare."
The excitement on Menchi's face faded slightly. Her concise answer also hinted at a sense of disappointment in her heart.
The world is vast.
Every region of the six continents has its Secret Realms and Demon Domains.
Especially the Demon Domains, which abound with top-tier ingredients.
Yet, in such vibrant ecosystems, creatures like mythical beasts are scarcely seen.
Thus, the number of mythical beasts registered in the biological database can be counted on one hand.
So much so that even the organizers of the Heavens Arena Fighting Olympics were unsure of the species after seeing this mythical beast egg with its deep purple diamond patterns.
They could only use certain methods to measure its Life Energy intensity, categorizing it within the biological level range of mythical beasts.
Moreover, when it came to hatching such mythical beast eggs, the method has always been an unsolved mystery.
Therefore, from the perspective of the Fighting Olympics organizers, the significance of the mythical beast egg was more as a nourishing reward for Martial Artists.
"This thing is truly too rare."
Menchi paused, sighing sincerely.
In the entire world, only an entity as powerful and wealthy as the Heavens Arena could be so extravagant as to offer a mythical beast egg as one of the championship prizes.
"From the looks of it, they might be more common in the Dark Continent."
Morrow was also disappointed, as this was another way to enhance his strength, yet it was one of the few things that couldn't be bought with money.
His gaze sharpened as he looked at the photo of the mythical beast egg on his phone screen.
This mythical beast egg must not be missed.
"Morrow, what is this Dark Continent you just mentioned?"
Menchi, however, was intrigued by the Dark Continent Morrow had spoken of. Are mythical beasts only common in the Dark Continent?
But she had never heard of such a place.
"You don't know?"
Morrow instinctively retorted.
Menchi was taken aback, thinking, Should I know?
Seeing Menchi's reaction, Morrow immediately realized that within the Hunter Association, information regarding the "Dark Continent" had long been classified as forbidden by Netero, not to mention the additional control of information from V5.
In other words, it was only natural that Menchi wouldn't know about the Dark Continent at this time.
"The Dark Continent... is a vast land beyond the world's map."
Morrow gave a brief description.
But just the phrase "beyond the world's map" sparked Menchi's immense curiosity.
Even Kastro and Calista, who were usually only interested in martial arts, couldn't help but prick up their ears.
They were actually quite similar to Morrow, more concerned with the benefits the mythical beast egg could bring to their physical strength.
If there really was a place where mythical beasts were common...
No Martial Artist could resist such a temptation.
Hearing this, Menchi's eyes lit up, all her previous disappointment gone, replaced by excitement and eagerness as she asked, "And then? And then?"
"It's not something that can be explained in a few words."
Morrow shook his head.
Menchi's excitement stalled again, but she quickly adjusted and said seriously, "It's fine, I'm very patient, you can take your time..."
"Hmm, but I'm not patient."
"?"
Menchi froze, staring at Morrow's casual expression, truly wishing she could leap up and strangle this guy.
He piqued her curiosity and then just stopped!
What a jerk!
A surge of frustration welled up inside Menchi, but she could only force herself to hold it back.
Morrow didn't continue the topic of the Dark Continent. Instead, he took Kastro's phone and flipped through the pictures of the Corundum Heart Gem and the Dome Treasure Box.
The former was an Asscher-cut orange corundum gem.
The square orange gemstone featured intricate facets, creating a dazzling, spiderweb-like stepped effect, exuding elegance with a more balanced brilliance.
This shape of gemstone was quite rare.
Moreover, it had been excavated from the ruins of the ancient city of Pombo, which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, adding a special value to it.
Biscuit would definitely love this gem.
As for the latter, the Dome Treasure Box, its hemispherical lid was inlaid with agate, jade, pearls, gems, and other precious items, while the box itself was adorned with finely scattered multicolored gems.
At just a glance, it appeared extraordinarily luxurious.
It was unclear what the Dome Treasure Box was originally intended to hold.
But it was likely something Biscuit would fancy.
As for the other prizes, based solely on the photos, it was impossible to tell if they were imbued with aura.
However, judging by their names and brief descriptions, the likelihood of them being infused with aura was high.
Especially that Feihmeng's violin.
The prizes are unimaginably rich. The championship... must be secured.
After looking through the photos, many thoughts surged through Morrow's mind.
Calista remarked from the side, "Heavens Arena is incredibly wealthy."
"Hah."
Kastro chuckled.
Morrow returned the phone to Kastro, thinking to himself that Heavens Arena's annual revenue from ticket sales and merchandise alone was an unimaginable sum for ordinary people, not to mention the substantial income from direct betting operations. This was an existence that could no longer be described simply as "too wealthy."
To obtain these rewards, he needed to quickly secure the Floor Master qualification.
Morrow thought silently, occasionally feeling the intensely resentful gaze directed at him from Menchi.
"Menchi, if you want to know more, go find a travelogue called Journey to the New World. The content in there will be more detailed than my explanation and should satisfy your curiosity, that is, if you can actually find the book."
"Journey to the New World, huh..."
Upon hearing this, Menchi quickly dropped her resentful expression, her face instead filling with anticipation as she firmly committed the book's name to memory.
As soon as she had free time, she would go search for this travelogue.
Observing Menchi's reaction, Morrow felt that this young Gourmet Hunter might be getting her hopes up a bit too soon.
Journey to the New World was a book from centuries ago, initially regarded as a work describing the delusional fantasies of a madman.
No one knew that the world depicted in the book actually existed.
As a result, no one truly considered it a travelogue; it was instead categorized as science fiction and had always received lukewarm reception.
By now, it had become a phantom book, a legendary item.
In the global secondhand market, it was possibly as unobtainable as a mythical beast egg, something money couldn't buy.
But that was no longer his concern.
—--
Early the next morning.
Morrow woke up feeling exceptionally refreshed, his entire body brimming with strength.
This feeling...
Sitting up, he looked down at his hands in surprise.
Under the extreme pressure of life-and-death situations, his daily training had been exceptionally rigorous.
Even before bed, he would push himself with Ren until he could no longer continue.
This often left him waking up the next day with both mental and physical fatigue, far from his peak condition.
Yet now, not only had he recovered fully, he even felt an overflowing sense of vitality.
This is the power of medicinal cuisine.
Morrow clenched his fist tightly.
Excellent.
His confidence grew even stronger.
Having confirmed the benefits of medicinal cuisine over two days, Morrow began considering how to "test the results."
The Tree Rings level indicator could only measure improvements in aura output and had no relation to changes in physical strength.
As for testing physical strength, he could refer to the training experiences of Gon and the others from the original story.
That would be the Zoldyck Family's Testing Gate, a massive double stone door composed of seven gates.
The first gate at the bottom weighed two tons on each side.
With each additional gate, the weight doubled.
Thus, the total weight of all seven gates was 256 tons.
If he remembered correctly, Killua, relying purely on physical strength, could push open the third gate, which weighed 16 tons.
After learning Nen, with the aid of aura, he directly pushed open the fifth gate.
Of course.
The Testing Gate likely had massive hinge-like structures to secure the stone doors and assist with their movement.
So, even if one could push open the first Testing Gate, it didn't entirely mean their pushing strength had reached four tons.
"My physical strength is still too lacking. Although I can use 'aura' to reinforce my muscles and bones, I can't always rely solely on 'aura' to support the use of 'Gazelle' and 'Rhythm Echo'..."
Morrow stared at his clenched fist.
He had never trained specifically for physical strength. Since mastering the power of Nen, Morrow had even less time and energy to focus on this aspect.
Now, with the aid of medicinal cuisine, he began to entertain the idea.
First, let's expend this "energy" before anything else.
Morrow slowly closed his eyes, first entering a state of Zetsu, carefully experiencing the sensation of losing the support of his aura.
A few seconds later.
Morrow opened his eyes, looked at the wall ahead, and flicked his finger to shoot out a small shooting star.
Fwip.
The little shooting star struck the wall, emitting a faint sound.
Still not working.
Morrow attempted to use In to erase the form and traces of the shooting star, but he made no progress.
Whether it was due to the high difficulty of the technique or using the wrong method, he couldn't tell.
As a result, he had made no headway.
Morrow sighed.
He had enough imagination to support his understanding and perception of the Nen ability system's framework, but when it came to more refined advanced techniques, he still lacked sufficient experience and theoretical knowledge.
Perhaps something was wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint it himself.
And without being aware of the problem, there was naturally no way to solve it.
If he had a master guiding him, the issue might have been identified immediately.
Could it be that "aura detachment" increases the difficulty of applying In?
Morrow pondered.
After creating the shooting star tactical system, he had already considered applying In to the shooting stars.
Whenever he had free time recently, he would set aside some of it to practice.
But the lack of progress inevitably made him suspect that something was wrong, and he felt somewhat regretful about the time wasted.
In the following hours, Morrow neglected washing up and eating, recklessly expending his current energy.
It wasn't until he felt slightly fatigued that he finally stopped.
It's not working.
The continued lack of progress left Morrow quite frustrated.
Let's try another approach.
Morrow took a deep breath to adjust his state, then gathered Nen over his hands.
Mobilizing, compressing, controlling, shaping the Nen swirling over his palms soon took the form of a tiger's head with bared fangs.
It was the Tiger Bite Fist he had replicated from Kastro the day before.
Morrow positioned one hand above the other and suddenly threw a punch into the air.
The tiger-head-shaped Nen on his fists abruptly extended, lunging forward to bite.
Morrow held his breath, his focus absolute.
Under his utmost control, the lower tiger-head-shaped aura cluster suddenly vanished, its presence completely erased.
The next instant.
A table in the room was struck by the tiger-head-shaped aura and disintegrated instantly.
But a chair beside the table also shattered as if hit by an invisible force.
Clearly, it had been struck by the other tiger-head-shaped aura cluster, whose presence had been concealed.
"Huff… huff…"
Morrow suddenly began breathing heavily.
The change in his physical state caused the tiger-head-shaped Nen extending from his hands to dissipate instantly.
I succeeded, but it was too difficult.
After catching his breath, Morrow felt no sense of triumph.
His concentration had just reached a level where he even forgot to breathe, yet he had only barely managed to apply In.
At this level, its combat value was minimal.
The more critical issue was...
If suppressing "connected Nen" was already this challenging, how long would it take to master the technique of applying In to shooting stars? No wonder there's been no progress after all this time.
And judging by the results, practicing this technique doesn't seem very meaningful.
Or perhaps it conflicts with the straightforward, simple, and brutal offensive nature of the Emitter type.
Offensive Emitters inherently focus on the power of aura released from the body.
"In," on the other hand, primarily emphasizes suppressing aura, making it generally more suitable for synergy with functional abilities.
Like Kurapika's Conjuration Chains, Hisoka's Bungee Gum, or Machi's Nen Thread.
Morrow lay on his back on the bed, his thoughts racing, yet he couldn't reach a conclusion.
Forget it, I'll stop thinking about it.
Morrow closed his eyes and took the opportunity to rest.
His first match had already been scheduled for 4:00 PM today.
After this match, he planned to visit Kukuroo Mountain to test his strength against the Zoldyck Family's Testing Gate and, while he was at it, pay Kalluto a visit.
The journey from Heavens Arena to Kukuroo Mountain takes less than two days by airship.
Since most of the travel time would be spent on the airship, it wouldn't interfere with his training.
—--
4:00 PM.
The arena on the 221st floor.
The roar of the crowd filled every corner of the venue.
Once again, the stands were packed to capacity.
After all, matches above the 200th floor are far more spectacular than those below.
"Let's give a warm welcome to our two challengers as they enter the arena!"
As the commentator's excited voice echoed through the venue, the noise noticeably subsided.
"Entering from the east corridor is Shari, who currently holds a record of 9 wins and 3 losses. According to the promotion rules, one more win will grant Shari the qualification to challenge a Floor Master."
"So we have every reason to believe that Shari will give it their all today, delivering an absolutely thrilling match for us!"
"And now, walking in from the west corridor, is Morrow, the Meditator, who made a stunning debut on this stage two months ago."
"For reasons unknown, after advancing to the 200th floor, Morrow did not immediately pursue the Floor Master title but instead remained inactive for two months."
"However, now that we see Morrow stepping into the arena, whatever the reason may be, it no longer matters."
"What matters is that all of us here today will witness an extraordinary battle!!!"
The commentator's words stirred the audience's anticipation.
The noise, which had just begun to settle, quickly surged back.
Many fighters from the 200th floor were present in the stands.
The outcome of today's match would significantly influence the race for the Floor Master position.
—--
Such intense attention.
In one section of the audience, a refined young man wearing glasses quietly scanned the venue, spotting one Nen user after another.
This young man, named Wing, was Biscuit's disciple.
Having just arrived, he intended to use Heavens Arena's environment to hone his combat skills but was still in observation mode.
Noticing this match, he decided to buy a ticket and attend.
However, once inside, he quickly sensed something unusual.
The number of Nen users here to watch the match…
Was unusually high.
Is it because of the "Battle Olympia"?
Wing rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought. Rather than directly engaging in combat, he preferred to observe others from a spectator's perspective, identifying their strengths and weaknesses to refine his own skills through learning from their merits.
This approach often drew casual remarks from his master.
Aside from this, another reason Wing came to Heavens Arena was the approaching Battle Olympia.
It gave him a palpable sense of intense atmosphere.
Somehow, I feel my blood starting to boil.
Amid the chaotic shouts from the surroundings, Wing smiled and turned his gaze to the two fighters who had stepped onto the arena.
Both of their auras seem quite strong.
Staring at the Nen enveloping Morrow and Shari on the stage, Wing mentally compared himself to them and found them roughly on par.
However, such initial judgments weren't entirely accurate until both sides used Ren.
So Wing began to look forward to this match.
On the arena, Morrow and Shari stood facing each other as the referee ascended the platform.
Seizing the moment, Morrow observed Shari.
His browless eyes naturally conveyed a fierce intent, which, combined with the predatory aura he exuded, made him quite intimidating.
His fundamentals were a bit lacking, though.
But since he had achieved nine wins on the 200th floor, his combat skills couldn't be too poor or perhaps his Nen ability was highly combat-oriented.
A more precise assessment would have to wait until they actually clashed.
Regardless of what type of ability his opponent possessed, Morrow had no intention of using Starlight Convergence or Deceptive Shooting Star from the start.
Just then, the referee positioned himself between the two.
"The match follows a points and knockout system with no time limit."
After glancing back and forth at Morrow and Shari, the referee took two steps back and swung his arm decisively, announcing, "Begin!"
As the referee's words faded, under the watchful eyes of the eager crowd, the battle commenced instantly.
Shari, coveting this victory, charged at Morrow like a tightly wound spring, forgoing any probing and attacking first.
Was this confidence due to his ability or something else?
Morrow had no intention of pondering that.
It wasn't carelessness on his part.
Rather, he had a means to curb Shari's momentum before they closed the distance.
True Tiger Bite Fist
Morrow assumed the Tiger Bite Fist's starting stance: left hand raised high, right hand lowered, mimicking a tiger baring its fangs.
Suddenly, his raised left hand thrust forward, the Nen cluster swirling around it roaring silently as it lunged to bite Shari.
"Too slow!"
Shari saw it clearly, a cold smirk tugging at his lips.
Slippery Body
This was Shari's Transmuter ability, which granted his aura a slippery quality.
With this, he excelled in close combat, using the slickness to deflect opponents' strikes and expose openings.
This trick had rarely failed him.
But as the nature of his ability became known, most opponents on his level had identified its weakness: it couldn't slide away sharp objects or Nen attacks with power exceeding its slippery threshold.
In fact, his three losses were due to opponents exploiting this very weakness.
That was precisely why he had decisively targeted Morrow. A new face, most likely unaware of his ability.
Shari was certain of this, based on the fact that Morrow hadn't brought any weapons on stage.
As long as I get close, victory is mine for sure!
Utilizing the ability traits of Slippery Body, Shari drastically reduced the friction between himself and the arena floor, abruptly accelerating his movements.
In an instant, he not only evaded the pouncing Tiger Head but also closed the distance in one swift motion.
At that moment, he seemed to see victory within reach.
However, before Shari could revel in his triumph for too long, a sudden, heavy blow struck his chin.
BAM!
Shari was sent flying upward, his consciousness fading in an instant.
Wha... what…? I got hit…?!
As he soared through the air, a flicker of confusion flashed through Shari's mind before darkness swallowed his awareness.
Below.
Morrow silently retracted the other Tiger Head, its presence erased using In.
At this moment.
The entire venue fell into a deathly silence, devoid of even a whisper.
The countless gazes that had been brimming with anticipation were now filled with nothing but bewilderment.
At the edge of the arena.
The referee, who hadn't even stepped down yet, turned stiffly to witness the scene.
On the commentator's platform.
The young and beautiful commentator seemed as if her throat had been squeezed shut, her mouth hung open, yet she forcibly swallowed the words she had prepared.
Because everything had happened too fast.
She had just been about to vividly describe Shari's masterful footwork.
Yet the next moment, she saw Shari inexplicably flung into the air.
So… what had just happened?!
This was the question echoing in the minds of the vast majority of the audience.
This…
Even Wing, who had a deep understanding of Nen, clicked his tongue in astonishment at the lightning-fast conclusion of the battle.
Is it that Shari had been too reckless? Or was it that Morrow's ability to strike at the vital point was simply too overwhelming?
But one thing was certain…
That young man... he was strong!
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3800 words.