Fei Lan's hellish training officially began at dawn the next day. Before daylight broke, while tiny scraps of trash still drifted through the gray sky, Fei Lan woke Lin Ye and took him to the cooling-water waterfall at the abandoned factory. The waterfall had once been part of the factory's cooling-water circulation system. Icy wastewater plunged more than ten meters into a concrete pool below with a deafening roar. The force was so great that even a strong adult man would be knocked down the instant he stood beneath it. "Master, what are we doing here?" Lin Ye couldn't help asking as he watched the roaring waterfall. "Training Ten," Fei Lan said calmly, pointing beneath the falls. "Stand under it and maintain Ten. Don't let the water scatter your aura. Once you can stay there for twelve hours, you'll have grasped the basics." Lin Ye's pupils contracted slightly. Stand beneath a waterfall this powerful and maintain Ten? Right now, he could only maintain Ten for a few hours while standing still. The moment an outside force struck him, his aura would fall into disarray. The waterfall's force was like dozens of punches hammering his body every second. Keeping Ten stable in those conditions would be unimaginably difficult. "What? Scared?" Fei Lan raised an eyebrow at him. "No." Lin Ye immediately shook his head. Without the slightest hesitation, he stripped off his shirt and walked straight beneath the falls. Icy wastewater slammed into his body. The enormous force bore down like a mountain, making him stagger and nearly knocking him off his feet. His aura instantly fell into chaos, and his previously stable Ten scattered. "Focus!" Fei Lan's voice carried through the roar of the waterfall. "Have you forgotten what I taught you? Ten isn't about forcibly suppressing your aura. It's about making your aura and will one, as natural as breathing! Wherever the water strikes, your aura should follow. Move with the force of the current and stabilize it, instead of resisting head-on!" Gritting his teeth, Lin Ye fought to steady himself, closed his eyes, and focused all his attention. He mobilized his aura again, following Fei Lan's instructions and letting it flow with the impact of the water, naturally coating his body in a stable, thin film. This time, rather than resisting the water head-on, he adjusted the flow of his aura to follow its direction. Sure enough, his Ten became much steadier. The icy water still struck with tremendous force, but his aura covered him firmly like a cushioning layer and no longer scattered. Yet that state lasted less than a minute. The force of the current fluctuated, and a falling piece of rubble struck his shoulder. His concentration broke instantly, and his Ten scattered again. Icy water poured straight into his mouth and nose, making him cough violently. The current drove him backward until he fell clear of the waterfall. "Only a minute?" Fei Lan shook his head, his tone merciless. "Is that all you've got? If you can't even stabilize the most basic Ten, how will you fight anyone? An enemy's attacks will be far fiercer than this waterfall. Are you going to ask them to wait while you steady your aura?" Lin Ye lay on the ground, coughing his lungs out, soaked through and shivering from the cold. But at Fei Lan's words, he gritted his teeth and stood again. "I'll try again!" He walked back beneath the waterfall and resumed his training. Again and again. He fell, got up, fell again, and got up again. From dawn to noon, then on to evening. He lost count of how many times he fell, how many times the current swept him away, and how many mouthfuls of icy wastewater he choked on. His lips turned purple with cold, and every muscle ached and trembled, yet his gaze only grew more resolute. From one minute at first, to five minutes, then ten, then half an hour. By the time the sun set and darkness fell completely, he could stand steadily beneath the waterfall for a full hour without the current disrupting his Ten at all. Fei Lan stood on the bank, watching that stubborn figure beneath the falls, a barely perceptible trace of approval in his eyes. When he had first trained this way, it had taken him three full days to stand beneath the waterfall for an hour. Lin Ye had done it in one. The boy's talent was far greater than he had imagined. When they returned to their lodgings that night, Lin Ye was too exhausted even to lift his hands. Fei Lan prepared hot food and warm water for him to wash with. Only after watching him wolf down his meal did he explain the problems in that day's training, telling him how to better follow external forces and adjust his aura's flow to make Ten steadier. Lin Ye listened with complete attention, committing every detail to memory. Before dawn the next day, training continued. He still practiced Ten beneath the waterfall, but the goal rose from one hour to three, then six, and finally twelve. In just seven days, Lin Ye achieved it. He could stand steadily beneath the roaring waterfall for twelve full hours. No matter how the current struck him or how rubble battered his body, his Ten remained unshakable. He could even close his eyes and sleep beneath the falls without letting Ten lapse. He had finally mastered its basics completely. But Fei Lan did not ease his training in the slightest. With Ten passed, Zetsu came next. Fei Lan took him to the most chaotic garbage-sorting yard in District 13. All sorts mingled there, with gang members and Nen users everywhere, making it an extremely complicated environment. "The core of training Zetsu is concealment," Fei Lan told Lin Ye as he stood atop a mountain of trash, looking down at the chaotic sorting yard. "I'll give you an hour to hide in this yard, and I'll come looking for you. If I find you, today's training doubles. If I can't find you within an hour, you pass." "Remember, Zetsu isn't simply closing your aura nodes. It means letting your aura blend completely into your surroundings, making your presence one with this mountain of trash. Even if I'm standing right in front of you, I shouldn't be able to sense your existence. That is true Zetsu." Lin Ye nodded, took a deep breath, and activated Zetsu. He closed every aura node on his body, locking all his aura within, then slipped into the chaotic sorting yard as silently as a cat. He found an abandoned refrigerator, climbed inside, and covered it completely with trash. Holding his breath, he suppressed every trace of his presence. He thought he had hidden well. But less than ten minutes later, the refrigerator door opened. Fei Lan stood in the doorway and shook his head at Lin Ye inside. "You're hiding your presence too deliberately. Zetsu doesn't mean holding your breath and pretending to be dead. Your heartbeat, your body heat, the aura inside you-even with your aura nodes closed, faint traces will still leak out. True Zetsu means bringing your body into sync with your surroundings. Even your heartbeat must blend into the vibrations of the trash mountain." Lin Ye climbed out of the refrigerator, his face full of embarrassment, but he firmly committed Fei Lan's words to memory. Training continued. Again and again. Fei Lan found him time after time, correcting his mistakes each time. From being found after ten minutes at first, to twenty minutes, then half an hour, and finally an hour. On the tenth day, Lin Ye finally succeeded. He hid among the corpses in the sorting yard, lowering his body temperature to match theirs, slowing his heartbeat as much as possible, and blending his presence completely into the foul, rotting surroundings. Fei Lan searched the sorting yard for a full hour without finding him. Only when the time was up did Lin Ye silently emerge from the pile of corpses, without a speck of filth on him and with his aura steady. Even Fei Lan failed to notice when he appeared. Looking at him, Fei Lan finally smiled in satisfaction. "You've passed your Zetsu training." With Ten and Zetsu passed, next came the core of the Four Major Principles-Ren. For Ren training, Fei Lan did not take him anywhere. He simply placed a cup filled with water before him in the courtyard. "The core of Ren is precise control," Fei Lan said seriously. "I want you to use Ren to infuse aura into this cup and make the water level rise exactly one millimeter. No more, no less. From ten percent of your power to a hundred percent, you must achieve that same precision at every level." "Remember, Ren isn't a contest to see who can release the most aura. It's about who can control their aura most precisely. In battle, release exactly as much aura as you need. Any excess is waste, and any shortfall can cost you your life. Only precise aura control will give you the endurance for a prolonged battle, so you don't exhaust your aura and leave yourself at someone else's mercy." Lin Ye looked at the cup before him, nodded, and began training. At first, he could not control it properly at all. Either he injected too much aura and splashed the water out, or too little and the surface did not move. Making the water rise exactly one millimeter felt as difficult as reaching the heavens. But he did not give up. Again and again. From dawn until late at night. He replaced the water cup after cup. His fingers went numb from maintaining Ren for so long, yet he still did not stop. Through repeated practice, his aura became increasingly obedient and precise. From succeeding once in ten attempts at first, to eight times in ten, and finally making the water rise exactly one millimeter every single time. From ten percent of his power to a hundred percent, he could control every level precisely, releasing and withdrawing his aura at will. In just fifteen days, he fully grasped the essence of Ren. When he could raise the water level one millimeter with ten percent of his power, and bring the water just to a boil with a hundred percent without spilling a single drop, Fei Lan told him he had passed his Ren training. Ten, Zetsu, and Ren-the foundations of the Four Major Principles-had taken him a full month to refine and solidify completely. That month of hellish training transformed his control over aura. Before, he had been like a novice holding a submachine gun, capable only of pulling the trigger and spraying wildly. Now, he had become a marksman who never missed, knowing the weapon in his hands inside out. With his solid grounding in Ten and Ren, his Armament Haki also grew stronger and stronger. He could now easily coat his entire body in Armament Haki for half an hour, consuming less than a fifth of the aura he had used before. Its hardness and penetrating power had also increased severalfold. His Observation Haki grew ever sharper through his Zetsu training. Its range expanded to a ten-kilometer radius, within which he could precisely sense every living creature's presence and every trace of flowing aura. He could even predict the trajectory of an opponent's attacks three seconds in advance. That evening, Fei Lan prepared a table full of delicious dishes to celebrate Lin Ye's mastery of the foundations of the Four Major Principles. A kerosene lamp burned in the courtyard, its dim yellow light illuminating their faces. Lin Ye raised his cup of water toward Fei Lan and said with utter sincerity, "Master, thank you. Without you, I never could have achieved what I have today." Fei Lan smiled at him, raised his own cup, and clinked it against Lin Ye's. "You don't need to thank me." Fei Lan took a sip of water, his eyes gentle as he looked at him. "You worked hard enough and endured enough. I merely pointed out a path. You were the one who walked it." He paused, his tone turning serious. "You've laid a solid foundation in the Four Major Principles. Next, I'll teach you advanced Nen techniques and actual combat. At the same time, you'll teach me everything about that special way you used aura before-what you called 'Haki'-and those unusual martial arts." Lin Ye's heart jolted, and he looked up at Fei Lan. He had never told Fei Lan about Haki or the Six Powers, merely using them occasionally during training. He had not expected Fei Lan to have noticed long ago. "Master, I..." "Don't be nervous. I have no ulterior motive." Fei Lan waved a hand and smiled. "That method of yours is fascinating. It shares the same source as Nen, yet uses it in an entirely different way. It combines offense and defense with keen perception, and it suits your Enhancement Type perfectly. I want to help you see whether we can fully integrate it with Nen and bring its power to its greatest potential." Seeing the sincerity in Fei Lan's eyes, Lin Ye felt warmth flood his heart. Without holding anything back, he explained all three types of Haki and all six martial techniques of the Six Powers to Fei Lan. Of course, he concealed his transmigration, saying only that he had learned them as a child from an old man passing through and had always remembered them. After transmigrating, he had relied on them to survive. Fei Lan listened with complete attention, asking questions from time to time, the light in his eyes growing brighter. When Lin Ye finished, Fei Lan fell silent for a long while before slowly raising his head to look at him, his eyes filled with shock and admiration. "A genius." "Whoever created these martial arts and this method of using aura was an absolute genius." "It shares the exact same fundamental source as Nen, yet follows an entirely different path. Offense and defense in one, without any weaknesses. It's practically a system born for combat." Fei Lan suddenly slapped the table and stood, his eyes brimming with excitement as he looked at Lin Ye. "Lin Ye, you've found a treasure." "This system and Nen can form a perfectly closed loop. Starting today, we'll work together to integrate them completely." "I'm going to make you the strongest Enhancement Type Nen user in this world." Beneath the dim yellow lamplight, Fei Lan's eyes shone brilliantly. Looking at him, Lin Ye smiled as well and nodded firmly. He knew that his era was finally about to begin.
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