Hisoka darted through the forest. He had not left, but was watching the figure sitting cross-legged on the riverbank with keen interest from a safe distance.
An unprecedented gleam shone in his narrow eyes.
"Dantian embryo... golden core..."
He turned those two terms over and over in his mind. The more he thought about them, the harder it became to contain his excitement.
He had seen countless Nen users-Enhancement, Transmutation, Emission... all manner of strange abilities, each with its own distinctive qualities.
But ultimately, they all followed the same underlying principle: the application of life energy.
Lin Yan was different.
Although the power he displayed also originated from life energy, its very nature had undergone a fundamental change.
It was a higher form of energy.
If ordinary Nen was crude oil, then Lin Yan's "true qi" was high-purity aviation fuel that had been refined and purified countless times!
There might not have been much of it, but its energy density and destructive power were on an entirely different level.
What fascinated him even more was the concept Lin Yan had proposed-the "golden core great way."
This was not merely an "ability," but a complete "path" with limitless possibilities.
From a "dantian embryo" to a "golden core"-just hearing those words made his blood boil.
This little fruit was a hundred times more interesting than he had imagined!
Not only did he possess something utterly unique within him, but he also had the courage and intelligence to match it, daring to face Hisoka head-on.
"A wager on the future, hmm..."
Hisoka licked his lips, his mouth curving into a delighted grin. "Very well. I'll wait.
"I'll wait for the day you grow into a towering tree. When that day comes, I'll personally... pluck you."
He took one last, lingering look at that figure, then finally stopped watching, turned, and melted into the deeper darkness.
He was off to find his next "toy." As for Lin Yan, the fruit he had marked as "exclusively his," he was safe for the time being.
On the riverbank, Lin Yan was completely unaware of Hisoka's departure.
He had already entered samadhi, losing all awareness of himself and his surroundings.
Sinking his awareness into his dantian, he began inspecting his body from within.
The true qi in his meridians had almost completely dried up. Only a few faint wisps still struggled to circulate.
Tiny cracks had appeared in the walls of several meridians-hidden injuries left by forcibly unleashing "Shrinking Space to Inches" and condensing "sword qi."
Physical exhaustion washed over him in waves.
An ordinary person with such severe internal injuries would probably have passed out long ago.
Yet Lin Yan's mind remained perfectly clear.
Rather than rushing to repair his meridians, he focused all his attention on the slowly rotating dantian embryo at the center of his dantian.
This time, he clearly "saw" the changes in the Dantian Embryo.
Originally, the dantian embryo had been pure white, lustrous as jade, and suffused with a gentle glow.
Now, it seemed to have shrunk a little, becoming more solid and compact.
More importantly, on its mirror-smooth surface, there had appeared a trace of... an exceedingly fine golden marking that looked as though it had formed naturally!
The marking was faint, barely perceptible, resembling both the imprint of a lightning bolt and a coiled young dragon.
As the dantian embryo rotated, the marking radiated an aura more ancient and profound than before.
Is this... Dantian Markings?!
Lin Yan's mind jolted!
The Daoist Scriptures stated that refining essence into qi formed a dantian embryo.
Only after nine revolutions of the dantian embryo would a golden core be formed.
With each revolution, the dantian embryo would develop a new dantian marking, signifying a deeper understanding of the "Dao" and a qualitative leap in power.
How long had it even been since he achieved foundation establishment?
Yet this brush with life and death, this "trial," had directly caused the first marking to appear on his dantian embryo!
What an unexpected windfall!
Lin Yan forcibly suppressed his excitement and carefully examined the changes brought about by this dantian marking.
He discovered that its appearance had increased the efficiency with which the dantian embryo drew in and released the energy of heaven and earth several times over!
Threads of pure energy from heaven and earth were drawn in, filtered, and transformed by the dantian marking, becoming wisps of faintly golden true qi that flowed into his dried-out meridians.
Nourished by this newborn true qi, his damaged meridians were not only healing rapidly, but were even being widened and strengthened!
Destruction paved the way for renewal!
Good! This is wonderful! Lin Yan was overjoyed.
This risk was worth it!
He stopped dwelling on it and immediately gathered his focus, guiding this newborn, higher-quality true qi along the route of the Small Heavenly Circuit, flushing through and nourishing the meridians throughout his body again and again.
Time slipped by unnoticed.
When Lin Yan opened his eyes again, the first pale light of dawn had already appeared on the horizon.
"Whew..."
He let out a long breath of stale air. In the cool morning air, it formed a clearly visible white arrow that shot several meters before slowly dissipating.
He looked down at his hands and clenched them hard.
An unprecedented sense of strength surged from every cell in his body.
Not only had his true qi fully recovered, but its total quantity had increased by at least thirty percent, and it was purer than before.
"Time to head back."
Lin Yan rose and stretched, producing a series of sharp cracks and pops.
He took several number badges from inside his clothes and checked them again.
Originally, he had held his own No. 81 badge, worth three points, and Shibao's No. 80 badge, a nontarget badge worth one point.
During last night's battle of wits, he had given Hisoka his own No. 81 badge as a "token of their wager" in exchange for a chance to survive and Hisoka's interest.
In return, Hisoka had tossed him not only his target, No. 44, worth three points, but also three nontarget badges taken from other examinees.
"No. 44 is my target badge, so that's three points. Add one point each for the three nontarget badges, plus Shibao's, and that makes seven... even without No. 81, it's enough to pass."
Lin Yan put away No. 44 and Shibao's badge, leaving only one nontarget badge on the outside.
He pulled up the Fishing Rod with its broken line. Its shaft was still rough, but holding it now felt especially comforting.
"Thanks, old friend."
He patted the shaft and slung it across his back again.
It was time to find Gon.
He got his bearings and headed toward the area they had agreed on earlier.
With his current perception, finding that pure aura, like a little sun, within a radius of a few kilometers would not be difficult.
But when he followed the aura to that familiar patch of bushes, he found no one there.
Lin Yan frowned slightly.
Gon isn't here?
He closed his eyes and extended his divine sense.
Now that his dantian embryo had developed a marking, the range of his "Qi Observation" and perception had expanded considerably.
Soon, he sensed three familiar auras in a dense stretch of forest nearby.
One belonged to Gon, as pure and vibrant as ever.
Another carried a hint of coldness and sharpness. That was Killua.
The third... was filled with agitation, anger, and traces of weakness.
It was Kurapika.
The three of them actually got together?
Something stirred in Lin Yan's mind.
Kurapika's restless, agitated aura in particular left him vaguely worried.
In a place like Zevil Island, losing control of one's mental state could easily prove fatal.
Without the slightest hesitation, he quickened his pace, his figure flashing through the woods as he raced toward that dense forest.
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