The ground-floor lobby of Heavens Arena was so crowded that even "a sea of people" felt like an understatement.
The air was thick with sweat, cheap perfume, food, and all sorts of indescribable odors. The roar of voices threatened to blow the ceiling off.
Fighters, martial artists, outlaws, and even oddly dressed eccentrics from all over the world were packed in there, inching forward like shoppers fighting over discounted vegetables at a market.
"Hey! Stop pushing!"
"Move forward, people in the back!"
"My wallet! Who stole my wallet?!"
Gon was jostled from side to side by the crowd. He had never seen so many people before, and found it both exciting and a little overwhelming.
Killua wore a look of disgust. He hated chaotic places like this more than anything. It felt as though even the air was full of germs of stupidity.
Lin Yan's brows were tightly furrowed.
For a cultivator who had already reached Foundation Establishment, with senses far beyond those of an ordinary person, this environment was sheer torture.
Countless overlapping sounds, smells, and emotions flooded his senses like a tide, unsettling even his sea of consciousness.
Qingjing Jing, Qingjing Jing...
He silently recited it twice, then acted with a thought.
Listening to the Breath: Reversal.
Rather than amplifying his hearing as he had before, he did the opposite, reducing his auditory perception to a minimum.
At the same time, the dantian embryo within him turned slightly. A faint, cool stream of true qi flowed through his meridians and throughout his body, forming an invisible barrier.
This barrier was not the Nen Ability known as Ten. It offered little physical protection, but effectively shut out the foul air and chaotic emotional fluctuations around him.
In an instant, Lin Yan felt the entire world grow peaceful.
The clamor