Chapter Summaries

Lin Yan transmigrated into the Hunter Exam and tried to survive its first phase by using Daoist breathing techniques to cultivate Nen. As he neared exhaustion, the faint current in his body began circulating on its own, and he pressed on toward the light at the tunnel’s end.

• Lin Yan realized he had appeared in the Hunter Exam alongside Gon, Killua, Hisoka, and other applicants.
• Lin Yan used Heel Breathing while running and sensed a faint current in his body that he suspected was Nen.
• Lin Yan decided to use Daoist cultivation theories to forge a Golden Core path with Nen.
• Gon asked Lin Yan about his unusual way of running, and Killua warned Gon that Lin Yan looked weak.
• Lin Yan’s faint inner current strengthened slightly and began circulating on its own, easing his exhaustion as he struggled to keep up.
• Lin Yan continued running toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

After the first phase ended, Lin Yan witnessed Hisoka expose and kill a Man-Faced Ape impersonating the examiner, and sensed the Nen empowering Hisoka’s cards. Hisoka noticed Lin Yan’s intense interest, and as Lin Yan followed Satotz into Swindler's Swamp, he sensed killing intent nearby.

• Satotz announced that the examinees had to cross Swindler's Swamp, but a wounded man claimed to be the real examiner and accused Satotz of being a Man-Faced Ape.
• Hisoka killed the false examiner with playing cards, revealing the ape beneath its disguise, and declared that he had no interest in attacking a genuine examiner.
• Lin Yan sensed the Nen surrounding Hisoka’s cards and became absorbed in the energy, drawing Hisoka’s attention and a silently mouthed “In-ter-est-ing.”
• Lin Yan suppressed his fear by reciting the Qingjing Jing and focusing inward, then followed Satotz into the mist with the other examinees.
• As the group scattered in the thick fog, Lin Yan slowed down and sensed killing intent in the grass to his left.

Lin Yan survived a winged fish and escaped Hisoka by feigning death, but Hisoka detected his qi and left him alive to grow stronger. After resolving to deepen his cultivation, Lin Yan found Gon and Killua approaching danger in the swamp.

• Lin Yan sensed and killed a winged fish, then continued after Satotz.
• Lin Yan found Hisoka standing among the corpses of more than a dozen victims and hid among them using the Turtle-Breathing Technique.
• Hisoka detected Lin Yan's unusual aura, marked him with a four of hearts, and spared him because he wanted to see him grow.
• Lin Yan concluded that his cultivation was too weak and vowed to pursue the Golden Core Great Way.
• Lin Yan spotted Gon and Killua arguing as enormous toads crept toward them, and prepared to warn them.

Lin Yan emerged from hiding to help Gon and Killua fight a swarm of giant toads, using black berries and Killua’s throwing skill to kill several. The remaining toads fled, and Gon and Killua chased them down, leaving the boys beside the carcasses.

• Gon and Killua argued over whether to search for Leorio, and giant toads attacked them.
• More toads surrounded Gon and Killua and sprayed purple venom, leaving them with no clear escape.
• Lin Yan rushed into the clearing, dodged the venom, and gave Killua black berries, explaining that the toads’ throats were their weak spots.
• Gon drew the toads’ attention while Killua threw berries into three of their mouths, killing them with internal explosions.
• The surviving toads fled into the marsh, and Gon and Killua pursued them until all the toads were dead.

After helping Gon and Killua survive the giant toads, Lin Yan used a Qi-enhanced listening technique to locate Leorio in the fog. He led Gon and Killua toward the sound, while Killua grew more curious about Lin Yan’s hidden abilities.

• Gon praised Lin Yan for defeating the toads, while Killua questioned how Lin Yan had found their weak points and selected poisonous berries.
• Lin Yan realized that using Qi had strained his body and unsettled his meridians.
• Gon worried that Leorio and Kurapika were lost, and Killua refused to split up in the dangerous fog.
• Lin Yan used Listening to the Breath to distinguish Leorio’s heavy footsteps and rattling briefcase from the surrounding sounds.
• Lin Yan led the way toward Leorio, Gon followed trustingly, and Killua followed while wondering who Lin Yan really was.

Lin Yan led Gon and Killua through the fog while tracking Leorio and explaining his unusual perception. After spotting and exposing a camouflaged Man-Eating Plant, he guided the boys around it, and they ran toward the sounds of Leorio fighting.

• Lin Yan told Killua that quieting his mind helped him notice details, while Gon admired his explanation.
• Lin Yan sensed something wrong with a patch of ground and warned Gon and Killua to back away.
• Lin Yan struck the ground with a branch, revealing a camouflaged Man-Eating Plant that shredded it.
• Killua praised Lin Yan's sharp perception, and Lin Yan led the group along a path around the trap.
• Gon, Killua, and Lin Yan heard Leorio fighting and ran toward him.

Lin Yan devised a way to use the wind and the Hypnosis Butterflies’ own wing dust to end the attack without approaching them. The butterflies suffocated in their dust, but Leorio collapsed unconscious, and the group prepared to move on.

• Lin Yan and Killua stopped Gon from rushing into the wing dust while Leorio and Kurapika suffered hallucinations from the Hypnosis Butterflies.
• Lin Yan soaked a strip of cloth, and Killua carried it to Kurapika so he could cover his mouth and nose and escape upwind.
• Lin Yan directed Gon to disrupt the butterflies’ flight with stones and mud, driving them toward Leorio.
• Lin Yan led the group to an upwind position, where the butterflies inhaled their own wing dust and fell to the ground.
• Leorio collapsed unconscious, and Lin Yan told the others to drag him over and continue moving.

After Lin Yan helped the group escape the anesthetic butterflies and wake Leorio, they rushed to finish the course before time ran out. Exhausted at the back, Lin Yan imitated Satotz’s efficient running style and used Qi to keep moving as they neared the jungle’s edge.

• Lin Yan, Gon, Kurapika, and Killua rescued Leorio from the butterfly swarm, and Kurapika woke him with a stimulant from his pocket.
• Leorio woke up shouting about a stolen steak, then thanked Lin Yan and the others for saving him.
• The group heard Satotz’s signal and began a final sprint through the muddy jungle.
• Lin Yan, struggling with exhaustion, studied Satotz’s footsteps and tried to imitate his silent, energy-efficient running style.
• Lin Yan used Qi to adjust his stride and breathing, gradually making his steps smoother and easing his fatigue.
• The group saw light at the edge of the jungle.

Lin Yan and the other candidates completed the second phase of the Hunter Exam, first hunting and roasting Great Stamps, then retrieving Spider Eagle eggs after Netero intervened. As the airship carried them toward the third test, Lin Yan resolved to begin Foundation Establishment so he could rely on his own strength.

• Lin Yan crossed the swamp finish line with Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio, then recovered while sensing that his qi had grown stronger.
• Menchi and Buhara assigned the candidates to cook whole roast Great Stamps, and Lin Yan used Listening to the Breath and Silent Step to bring one down efficiently.
• Menchi failed every candidate’s roast pig, but Netero arrived, voided the task, and set a new test involving Spider Eagle eggs.
• Menchi demonstrated how to retrieve an egg from the gorge, and Lin Yan overcame his fear to swing down on spider silk and return with an egg.
• On the airship to the third test, Lin Yan reflected on his weakness and resolved to begin Foundation Establishment.

On the airship, Lin Yan secluded himself in a storage room to begin cultivating Nen as Qi, while Gon and Killua agreed to keep Hisoka away. Hisoka’s malice reached Lin Yan during cultivation, and Killua sensed him approaching and moved to intercept.

• Lin Yan asked Gon and Killua to guard him while he rested, especially from Hisoka, and they agreed.
• Lin Yan locked himself in a storage room and began guiding the Qi in his body toward his dantian.
• After forceful guidance caused pain, Lin Yan used visualization to draw the Qi toward his dantian through resonance.
• Hisoka’s hostile presence disrupted Lin Yan’s concentration just as Killua sensed him nearing the storage room.
• Killua quietly followed Hisoka’s presence without alerting Gon.

Lin Yan endured Hisoka’s killing intent while cultivating inside the airship’s storage room and formed an embryonic golden core. Hisoka withdrew after sensing Lin Yan’s new aura, leaving Killua shaken and wondering what Lin Yan had created.

• Hisoka approached the storage room, but Killua blocked the door and refused to let him near Lin Yan.
• Hisoka unleashed his killing intent, and Lin Yan treated the pressure as an external tribulation while focusing on his cultivation.
• Lin Yan compressed his qi and consciousness into an embryonic golden core, releasing a brief aura of extraordinary purity and sharpness.
• Hisoka sensed Lin Yan’s new aura and decided he would not be worth attacking until he had grown further.
• The airship announced its arrival at the top of Trick Tower, and Hisoka left after telling Killua to pass along his anticipation to Lin Yan.
• Killua collapsed against the wall and wondered what Lin Yan had created to make Hisoka back off.

Lin Yan and the others entered Trick Tower, where they solved a majority-rule passage and then faced a prisoner match challenge requiring four wins out of six. After Tonpa deliberately lost the opening match, the team was down one to zero.

• Lippo announced that the examinees had seventy-two hours to reach the bottom of Trick Tower alive.
• Lin Yan reassured Gon and Killua after completing Foundation Establishment, and Killua told him that Hisoka was looking forward to his surprise.
• Lin Yan persuaded Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, and Tonpa to reach a unanimous choice at a majority-rule passage, and the group safely took the left route.
• Lippo introduced the Judgment Arena and changed the match requirement to four wins out of six because Tonpa had joined the group.
• Tonpa chose a weak-looking prisoner for rock-paper-scissors, then pretended his hand had slipped and lost the first match.

After Tonpa’s loss, Kurapika fought the next death match when a hulking prisoner displayed a Phantom Troupe tattoo. Kurapika’s Scarlet Eyes awakened in fury, and he defeated the man before returning to the group and passing the next round to Leorio.

• Tonpa lost the first round, and Kurapika stopped Leorio from arguing with him.
• A hulking prisoner revealed a spider tattoo, prompting Leorio to recognize the Phantom Troupe and Kurapika to volunteer for the fight.
• Kurapika’s eyes turned crimson as he dodged the prisoner’s attack, broke his wrist, and slammed him to the arena floor.
• The prisoner admitted that his tattoo was fake, but Kurapika knocked him unconscious after warning him not to mention the Phantom Troupe.
• Kurapika’s eyes returned to brown, and he told Leorio that the next round was his.

After Kurapika’s brutal fight, Lin Yan warned him that his Scarlet Eyes were consuming his life, but Kurapika insisted revenge was worth the cost. A genteel prisoner then proposed a fifty-hour candle wager, and Lin Yan recognized the offer as a trap just as Leorio was about to accept it.

• Kurapika left the arena after defeating the burly prisoner, and Lin Yan gave him a cloth to wipe the blood from his hands.
• Lin Yan warned Kurapika that using his Scarlet Eyes burned through his life, but Kurapika said he did not care about the price of revenge.
• A polite prisoner proposed betting fifty hours on which of two candles would burn out first.
• Leorio tried to reason out the wager while Lin Yan sensed the prisoner was manipulating the group and saw Leorio falling for the trap.
• Lin Yan stopped Leorio from taking the bet, and Leorio asked whether he had noticed something.

Lin Yan warned his companions that the refined prisoner’s candle wager was a trap, but Leorio dismissed his suspicions and bet fifty hours that the long candle would burn out first. The candles were lit in the arena, leaving the outcome—and the group’s remaining time—unresolved.

• Lin Yan urged the group not to wager, while Kurapika and Killua agreed that the risk was too great.
• Leorio argued that the challenge relied on reverse thinking and concluded that the long candle would burn out first.
• The prisoner invited Leorio to inspect the candles, and Leorio found no apparent differences between them.
• Lin Yan made one last attempt to stop the bet, but Leorio insisted and chose to wager fifty hours.
• The prisoner lit both candles as Lin Yan, Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Tonpa watched.

Leorio lost the candle wager after the short candle’s hidden oil made it burn much faster, costing the group fifty hours. Lin Yan had recognized the trap, and the group was left with 21:23:15 on their timers.

• Lin Yan spotted pale blue energy inside the short candle and realized it contained hidden oil.
• Leorio grew confident as the long candle appeared to burn faster, while Killua remained suspicious of the prisoner.
• The short candle’s flame turned blue and rapidly consumed the candle, revealing the prisoner’s trick.
• Kurapika recognized the oil, and the prisoner argued that he had never claimed the candles contained nothing else.
• The short candle went out, and the group lost fifty hours, leaving 21:23:15 on their timers.

After Leorio’s gamble cost the team fifty hours, Lin Yan helped him recover from his guilt and focus on the three remaining matches. Scarface challenged Leorio, but Killua stepped forward to fight him with just over twenty-one hours left.

• Leorio broke down after realizing his gamble had left the team with only twenty-one hours, and Killua and Kurapika criticized him for ignoring their warnings.
• Gon tried to comfort Leorio, but Lin Yan urged him to stand up, stop dwelling on his mistake, and help plan for the remaining matches.
• Leorio regained his resolve and thanked Lin Yan, who told him to focus on finding a way to win.
• Scarface challenged Leorio to the fourth one-on-one match, provoking him while Kurapika and Killua warned him not to fight in his unstable state.
• Lin Yan assessed the team’s options, and Killua volunteered to face Scarface.

Killua defeated Scarface in the prisoner arena, revealing his lethal assassin skills and killing him with a single attack. Gon responded with admiration rather than fear, easing Killua’s worry as the contest stood at two wins apiece and Killua asked who would fight next.

• Scarface mocked Killua, then charged him, but Killua dodged his attacks with ease.
• Killua stopped playing with Scarface and killed him by tearing out his heart.
• The prisoners, Leorio, Kurapika, and Lin Yan reacted with shock, while Gon watched with curiosity.
• Killua asked who would fight next and worried that Gon would fear or reject him.
• Gon praised Killua’s technique, and Killua relaxed and called it a secret family skill.

Gon defeated Riehlvelt in the fifth match by sensing the truths and lies beneath her words, giving the examinees match point. As Lin Yan prepared for the final match, the last prisoner appeared, and the murderous aura around him made Lin Yan's dantian embryo tremble.

• Riehlvelt challenged Gon to a three-question truth-or-lie game, and Gon accepted despite Leorio, Kurapika, and Killua warning him.
• Gon identified Riehlvelt's first two statements as lies by noticing her scent, heartbeat, and card-playing ability.
• Gon recognized that Riehlvelt truly missed her son but lied about wanting to see him, understanding that she feared her son seeing her as a murderer.
• Riehlvelt broke down and surrendered, leaving the examinees ahead three to two and making Lin Yan's final match decisive.
• A scarred, tattooed prisoner in a straitjacket emerged, and his bloodlust caused Lin Yan's dantian embryo to tremble.

Lin Yan chose to face Johns, “The Dissector,” because he believed the battle was an external tribulation essential to his cultivation. Johns broke free of his straitjacket and charged at Lin Yan, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Leorio recognized Johns as the notorious serial killer, and the prisoners announced that the sixth match would be a one-on-one fight to the death.
• Killua prepared to fight Johns, but Lin Yan stepped forward and insisted on taking the match himself.
• Lin Yan explained that retreating from this challenge would undermine his Dao heart, and his companions reluctantly let him proceed.
• Lin Yan focused his true qi as he approached Johns, steadying his body and sharpening his senses.
• Johns ripped apart his straitjacket, revealed his monstrous form, and charged straight at Lin Yan.