In the mountains.
Moyu and Hawk moved through the forest.
Though they were still some distance from the "battle zone," they could already sense the fluctuations of Nen coming from ahead.
"Impressive."
Moyu suddenly voiced his admiration.
Hearing that praise, Hawk immediately looked at Moyu with an inquisitive gaze.
He had vaguely noticed it from the moment he left the Temple.
His son might already have developed a Nen Ability, and it was very likely a reconnaissance-type Nen Ability of the Emitter or Manipulator category.
Only that could explain how Moyu had remained at the Temple yet known what was happening outside.
In less than half a month, going from awakening Nen to developing a Nen Ability... it was simply inconceivable.
Moyu suddenly stopped.
It was not because he had noticed Hawk's gaze, but because Vision Sharing had revealed a few signs.
"Hawk, can't you bring Rat Treasure with us?"
Moyu stopped and asked Hawk.
Hawk stopped as well and shook his head. "No. To eliminate the possibility of Balance breaking free from the Nen Space, Rat Treasure must remain at the Temple."
"I understand."
The corner of Moyu's eye glanced toward a certain direction as he calmly said, "Hawk, go support Cheadle first. She urgently needs help."
"What about you?"
Hawk was worried that Moyu might do something reckless.
Moyu stared in a certain direction. "There are some things I need to destroy..."
"Hm?"
Hawk's expression tightened slightly.
He wanted to ask, but the situation was urgent. Besides, he chose to trust Moyu, so in the end, he asked nothing and continued onward as Moyu had arranged.
After Hawk left, Moyu came before a large tree.
Beside the trunk lay a fully armed corpse in silence.
At that moment.
The corpse was wrapped in dense branches and green sprouts, with traces of Nen radiating from the sprouts.
"This should be that long-haired man's Nen Ability."
Moyu's gaze swept across the corpse. He could see that the Nen leaking from the green shoots entwined around it was gradually growing stronger, and both the branches and sprouts showed faint signs of continued growth.
Such changes were particularly conspicuous in the dim light.
"Using corpses as nourishment..."
From the growth of the shoots, Moyu reached the most basic conclusion.
"Is it for control, replenishment, or does it serve some other purpose?"
As he spoke, Moyu picked up a dead branch from the ground beside him.
If it was a Manipulator ability, it would need to implant something akin to a "seed" into the target while the target was still alive, then, after the target died, use the rooted and sprouting plant as a medium for control.
For the typically straightforward Manipulator category, that line of thinking was practically an act of rebellion, and the entire process required to fulfill its conditions was far too cumbersome.
Of course, it was also possible that the complicated process had been established to multiply the ability's effect.
However, judging from the plant's growth, Moyu personally leaned toward it being some sort of replenishment-type ability effect.
"And that man who conjured the Slot Machine."
As he murmured, Moyu poked several times at the newborn green sprouts on the corpse with the end of the dead branch.
There was no response.
Moreover, protected by Nen, the sprouts were not damaged by Moyu's rough actions.
"It didn't react to my attack. Is the threat level too low...?"
Moyu casually tossed away the dead branch, then raised his palm. Nen welled up between his fingers, giving off a gentle glow.
When faced with an ability that was clearly in a state of "brewing" or "growth," the proper course was to stop or destroy it.
Moyu suddenly swung his palm down at the corpse covered in branches and sprouts.
This Nen-infused attack immediately provoked a fierce response from the Corpse Plant.
The branches that had been tightly wrapped around the corpse suddenly arched like snakes, blocking Moyu's Nen-coated palm.
Hiss—
The collision did not create much of a disturbance.
Yet at the point of contact, wisps of blue smoke rose as though a small flame had burned out.
At the same time.
The Nen intensity of the Corpse Plant, which had not been particularly strong to begin with, weakened further after that strike.
"I see."
Moyu withdrew his hand, and the arched plants shrank back as though they had lowered their banners.
"A prize-drawing Slot Machine, plants that continuously grow by feeding on corpses—judging from their types and behavior alone, both are preparation-type Nen Abilities. Add to that... the two Nen users launching fierce frontal attacks against Cheadle."
Moyu pondered as he thought, They're probably preparation-type abilities focused on coordinated support. That's why they need to be paired with at least one direct assault-type Nen user. The strongest point of this combination is the moment their preparations are complete.
"Looks like this Qinglin Squad Cheadle mentioned... cannot be underestimated in terms of accumulated strength."
With that thought, Moyu looked around.
If he had not missed any, Cheadle had taken down a total of twenty armed members.
Which meant—
Within this silent mountain forest, there were twenty patches of "soil" continuously supplying "nourishment" to these plants, which likely possessed some sort of replenishing effect.
"To improve efficiency, I can only recall the Shadow Person."
Moyu struck the corpse with another palm, though he controlled his strength this time.
The plant wrapped around the corpse responded once more, arching up to block Moyu's palm strike.
Hiss—
Blue smoke rose.
The Nen intensity of the Corpse Plant weakened by quite a bit again.
With just one more light hit, he could probably destroy the plant on the corpse completely.
But Moyu had deliberately weakened the force of his second strike.
That was because...
"No reaction. Good."
Moyu smiled faintly.
Through the real-time images sent back by Vision Sharing, Moyu had not seen the slightest reaction from the long-haired man.
That was enough to show that even if the Corpse Plant was attacked, the long-haired man would receive no information.
That was why Moyu had deliberately controlled the force of the second strike—to avoid accidentally destroying the plant on the corpse.
After all, "attacking" and "destroying" were different things...
Simply weakening the Corpse Plant's Nen intensity would not attract the long-haired man's attention.
But if he directly destroyed the plant on the corpse, the long-haired man would probably notice immediately.
Using the critical information provided by Vision Sharing, Moyu changed his initial intention of destruction.
He recalled the Shadow Person and began a prevention operation in the forest against the Corpse Plants, with the goal of weakening them.
Elsewhere.
Sivir, who had been sent flying by Cheadle, quickly rose from the collapsed tree trunk and turned her head to spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Damn it, Ken! Didn't you say she 'couldn't attack'?!"
"..."
Ken remained silent.
No, I never said she couldn't attack.
With a quiet sigh in his heart, he chose to ignore Sivir's pointed verbal attack.
"Genbul, haven't you rolled the jackpot yet?!!!"
Seeing that Ken had no reaction whatsoever, Sivir turned toward Genbul instead.
Cheadle had hit her once, but she did not seem seriously hurt. Her mood, however, had become extremely irritable.
"..."
Faced with Sivir's question, Genbul's cheek twitched.
Although the Slot Machine's appearance easily exposed information about the corresponding ability, having an enemy guess it and voluntarily telling one's companion were two completely different matters.
Like Ken, Genbul ignored Sivir's question.
In truth, the emergence of "irritability" was not entirely a bad thing for Sivir.
Before you continue