Gourmet Hunter

During ordinary training and combat preparation, merely maintaining Ken at full power consumed 1 Aura per second—this was also the basis on which Jing Yang had previously judged his total Nen quantity;

But once an actual battle began, repeatedly switching between more costly Derived Techniques such as Gyo, Flow, and Shu caused Aura consumption per second to multiply. Depending on combat experience and control over Aura, it would consume 6–10 Aura per second;

"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

On top of that, specific Nen Abilities—especially certain finishing moves—were even greater drains on Aura...

"Hey! Can't you see me?"

For example, Jing Yang's Finger Flick Divine Art consumed a great deal of Aura every time he charged and fired it. The longer the charging time and the greater the destructive power, the more Aura it gathered and consumed.

He only had a maximum of 1,000 Aura right now. How many times could he afford to keep messing around like this?

This made Jing Yang reflect deeply. From now on, if he was not absolutely certain of hitting, he absolutely could not charge for more than three seconds!

Otherwise, it was simply wasting Aura.

Fortunately, this encounter had not lasted long, and he still had plenty of Aura left. Otherwise, that final Finger Flick Divine Art he had charged for a full ten seconds might have drained him dry...

This reminded Jing Yang of a Phantom Troupe member named Phinks. His Enhancer finishing move, Rising Sun, increased the force of his punch with every additional rotation of his arm... It was probably based on a principle similar to his Finger Flick Divine Art, which naturally meant it had a similar drawback: the more rotations he made, the more Aura he gathered. If that punch ultimately failed to hit the enemy, it would be a complete waste of Aura. In the worst case, he could accidentally exhaust his own Nen quantity and end up in trouble...

"Hey!!!!!"

The green-haired girl, whose temper was not particularly good, roared, interrupting Jing Yang's thoughts. "You little brat, don't ignore me!"

Jing Yang raised a hand at her, signaling for her to wait. The girl immediately fell silent.

Jing Yang reached out and touched a spot on the wolf's corpse. The Star Mark vanished with a puff, and the wolf head that had been slowly moving across the ground toward the severed neck finally stopped completely.

At the same time, a wisp of Death Qi entered Jing Yang's heart.

He thought to himself, It seems this wolf was already half-dead when its head was knocked off; only now did it truly die... And this confirms it as well: as long as the Star Mark isn't destroyed, even if the head falls off, the brain is crushed, or the heart is removed, it won't truly die. It's just that fatal injuries like these take an extremely, extremely long time to repair.

Just as the green-haired girl was beginning to grow impatient, Jing Yang stood and pointed behind her.

"Behind me?" the girl asked suspiciously. "What is it?"

Jing Yang said gravely, "Take a few steps back."

Seeing how serious he was, the green-haired girl backed up without understanding why. "Like this?"

"A few more steps. Good."

Only then did Jing Yang feel at ease enough to walk over and crouch before the scattered Poachers. The brawny man whose head Wu Er had chewed half off had already sent Death Qi into Jing Yang's heart earlier, so he was naturally dead as could be. One had been knocked unconscious by the other two under Jing Yang's control. The remaining two had been shot in the head by Galo... Jing Yang glanced at the bullet wounds between their brows. The wounds themselves had already closed under the Star Marks' healing, but faint squirming sounds came from inside their skulls...

It seemed they had fallen in the wrong positions. Though they had healed themselves, the bullets had remained in their brains. These two were repeatedly experiencing unimaginable cranial orgasms... Jing Yang shook his head and wiped their cheeks and necks, removing their respective Star Marks. That counted as helping them find release. Two more streams of Death Qi immediately entered his heart...

He was a Manipulator, and for a qualified Manipulator, the ideal situation was naturally for no one to know anything about his abilities.

Jing Yang decided that, from now on, he would disguise himself as an Emitter Nen User whenever possible.

The green-haired girl did not realize Jing Yang was erasing traces of the Star Marks. She thought he was merely looting the corpses, and could not help warning him from behind, "Hey, that guy over there isn't dead yet. Be careful."

"Of course I know he isn't dead." Jing Yang dusted off his hands and stood up. No Death Qi had come from Galo, after all.

He looked at the green-haired girl in confusion. "Why are you still standing there?"

The green-haired girl snapped, "Didn't you tell me to stand here?! I still haven't figured out what's going on!"

"Oh." Jing Yang nodded and walked toward Wu Er on the other side. Another Fanged Moon Tiger was sticking out of the sack. It seemed to have been given a powerful anesthetic, and even after Wu Er dragged it out by the scruff, it still looked dazed.

"What do you mean, 'oh'?" The girl finally lost her patience and strode over. "Aren't you going to explain?"

She reached for the boy's ear, but he dodged her.

Unwilling to give up, she reached out to grab him again.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... Just as Jing Yang was about to be unable to dodge any longer, he grabbed her wrist and accused, "What are you doing? Bullying me because I'm tired after fighting, is that it?"

The girl choked. Why did this make it sound like I was the one in the wrong?

She took a deep breath and said calmly, "My name is Menchi, and I'm a newly certified Professional Hunter! I was drawn here by the gunshots. These Poachers are criminals we've recently begun hunting down. And these two Fanged Moon Tigers are protected animals in this Class One Protected Area! Let go, and I can show you my Hunter License."

Jing Yang studied her carefully. A halter top and hot pants, with a black breathable mesh shirt over her upper body... Mitarashi Anko... Oh, so she was Menchi. She was the female Gourmet Hunter who served as the examiner for the second phase of the Hunter Exam in the manga where the protagonists appeared.

Jing Yang released her hand.

"Look!" Menchi pulled out a Hunter License from her hot pants pocket and waved it in front of Jing Yang.

"Stop waving it. It's just a license. Like I don't have one!" Jing Yang scoffed, pulling out a Hunter License of his own. "Here. And when it comes to Fanged Moon Tigers, nobody understands them better than I do! Do you think I don't know this is a protected area? Didn't you see this Fanged Moon Tiger obediently helping me take down the Poachers?"

Menchi was stunned by him, staring at Jing Yang skeptically. "Blanche Company hired other Hunters too? No, you're so young. You're actually a Professional Hunter too?"

What the hell is Blanche Company...? Jing Yang gathered Aura in his eyes and examined Menchi's Aura. It was loose and poorly condensed, and there did not seem to be much of it either—probably not even half of what he had at his peak. He then said earnestly, "Young people, don't be so narrow-minded. The world is vast, and the world of Nen holds countless possibilities! What do you mean, I'm so young? I'm already—how old are you?"

"...Sixteen."

"Heh, I'm already twenty! So you really are a little girl." Jing Yang said, "You only learned Nen not long ago, right? Have you mastered Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu proficiently? Have you developed Nen Abilities unique to yourself?"

Menchi was left somewhat dizzy by his string of questions in the tone of a senior. "I really did only learn it recently... But I had a reason! I spent several months focused on preparing for a gourmet competition, so it delayed me! As for Nen Abilities, I've only barely... recently had what seems like a little inspiration, though maybe I don't..."

"So you haven't developed one yet."

"Mm."

"You need to keep working hard. The future of the Hunter Association depends on motivated young people like you!" Jing Yang said solemnly. "I think highly of you. You'll definitely become a One-Star Hunter very soon."

"Alright, that's enough. I'm leaving first. Wu Er, keep up!" He patted his backside and prepared to leave. "I won't compete with a rookie Hunter like you for credit. Contact the company's people yourself to deal with these Poachers."

"I... What..." Menchi grew even more confused. "Why am I the only one staying here to contact the others? Aren't you going to wait with me?"

Jing Yang beckoned, and seeing that Menchi did not seem like a bad person, Wu Er reassuredly left his fellow tiger in her care before strolling over to Jing Yang.

"You don't want the Poachers you worked so hard to catch to wake up and escape, do you?" Jing Yang asked.

Menchi nodded.

"Then there you go." Jing Yang flipped onto the tiger's back. "Wu Er, charge!"

The Fanged Moon Tiger gave a low roar, carrying him away in a leap. Following their original direction, they entered the woods and headed toward the coastal towns to the east.

Menchi stood there dumbly until Jing Yang rode away on the Tiger, only then coming to her senses. "Wait! What's your name?"

"Hey! Come back..."

The furious voice of the young Gourmet Hunter rang out from far behind him. Riding Wu Er, with a flock of Birds following high overhead, Jing Yang laughed wildly. This was really interesting!