His success with "Ten" was like a key that threw open the door to a whole new world before Lin Ye. At last, he had moved beyond "using aura by instinct" and entered the realm of "controlling aura through principles." Before, his Armament Haki had been like a leaking bucket in his hands. Whenever he used aura, great quantities escaped through his Aura Nodes, resulting not only in enormous consumption but also in an inability to maintain a stable output. Every use of Armament Haki required him to forcibly gather his aura through sheer willpower, and afterward, the aura within his body would be completely depleted. But now that he had mastered "Ten," everything had changed. He could maintain a steady layer of aura over his entire body, locking his aura firmly inside and preventing needless leakage. It was like patching every hole in that leaking bucket. Not only did it greatly reduce his aura consumption, but it also allowed him to mobilize the aura within his body whenever he wished, releasing and withdrawing it freely. Lin Ye ran a test. Previously, his Armament Haki could cover no more than one entire arm, and maintaining it for a minute would consume half the aura in his body. Now, after mastering "Ten," maintaining the same full-arm coverage for three minutes consumed less than a third of what it had before. His control over Armament Haki had also become more precise. Before, he could only coat his entire arm and had no way to control its placement with precision. Now, he could concentrate his Armament Haki precisely on his fist or even his fingertips, compressing it to the limit for greater hardness and penetrating power. This was the qualitative transformation brought about by Nen's systematic theory. Lin Ye immersed himself completely in Nen training. After mastering "Ten," he began practicing the second basic technique of the Four Major Principles: "Zetsu." Zetsu meant completely cutting off the flow of his own aura, closing every Aura Node on his body and locking all his aura inside. This allowed him to conceal his presence completely, making it difficult for even Nen users to sense him. It was an exceptional technique for stealth, ambushes, and escaping pursuit, and it could also speed up aura recovery when he was exhausted. This technique complemented Observation Haki perfectly. Observation Haki let him sense others, while Zetsu prevented others from sensing him. Lin Ye progressed rapidly in his training. With "Ten" as his foundation, he grew increasingly adept at controlling aura and fully mastered "Zetsu" in just half a month. He could close every Aura Node on his body in an instant, completely concealing his presence. Even if he stood right in front of someone, they would be unable to detect him unless they had activated En. After mastering "Ten" and "Zetsu," Lin Ye began practicing the core of the Four Major Principles: "Ren." Ren meant releasing large quantities of the aura within his body through his Aura Nodes, increasing his total reserves and strengthening his aura. It was the foundation of every Nen Ability. The stronger his Ren became, the greater his aura reserves would be, the more powerful the abilities he could sustain, and the longer he could fight. This aligned perfectly with Haki training. The strength of Haki was fundamentally determined by the total amount of aura within the body and the strength of one's will. The stronger his Ren and the greater his aura reserves, the higher his Haki's potential would rise. Lin Ye fully integrated his "Ren" training with his Haki training. Every day, he spent four hours practicing "Ren." He stood in the open space outside the air-raid shelter, closed his eyes, focused all his willpower, and unleashed the aura within his body through every Aura Node in a furious surge. At first, the aura he released was weak and could only envelop the area immediately around his body. But as time passed, his "Ren" grew stronger, and the aura he unleashed became increasingly violent and dense. Eventually, whenever he activated "Ren," its raging force sent the surrounding scraps of trash flying through the air, and his aura enveloped an area more than ten meters in radius. His total aura reserves also grew at a visibly rapid rate. As his "Ren" improved, his Armament Haki grew stronger as well. Its coverage expanded from a single arm to both arms and both legs, while its duration and hardness steadily increased. He could even shift the areas coated in Armament Haki at any moment during combat to counter different attacks. His Observation Haki also made tremendous breakthroughs. As his aura control became more precise, his sensing range expanded from one kilometer to a radius of three kilometers. He could clearly sense the location of every living creature and every subtle movement within that range, and could even vaguely sense their emotions and the strength of the aura within their bodies. He could now predict the trajectory of an opponent's attack a second before they launched it, allowing him to dodge and counter in advance. This was the core of Observation Haki: anticipation. His training in the Six Powers also accelerated as his Nen improved. He had already fully mastered Iron Body and Shave. With Iron Body, he could harden his entire body without leaving any weak spots. Combined with Armament Haki, it allowed him to withstand even a close-range shotgun blast head-on without suffering serious injuries. With Shave, he could stamp the ground more than twenty times within 0.36 seconds, moving over fifty meters in an instant. He could also use it three times in succession without exhausting himself. In combat, he was already too fast for ordinary people to follow with their eyes. At the same time, he began practicing two other techniques from the Six Powers: Kami-e and Finger Pistol. The core of Kami-e was to release all tension from the body and evade attacks by moving like paper along the air currents they generated. It demanded an extremely high level of bodily control and perception. Lin Ye seamlessly incorporated Observation Haki into his Kami-e training. He used Observation Haki to sense the direction of the air currents generated by his opponents' attacks and the paths along which their aura flowed, then released all tension from his body and followed those currents to execute precise evasions. At first, he could only manage simple dodges and failed to evade attacks that were even slightly faster. But as his Observation Haki improved, his bodily control became more precise, and he grew increasingly proficient in Kami-e. Eventually, even when more than a dozen people attacked him at once with steel pipes and machetes, he could use Kami-e to drift like a fallen leaf in the wind, effortlessly avoiding every attack without so much as the hem of his clothes being touched. Finger Pistol, meanwhile, was the Six Powers' ultimate technique for breaking through a single point. Its core lay in concentrating the strength of the entire body into a fingertip, then thrusting at tremendous speed to produce bulletlike penetrating power. This fit perfectly with Enhancement-type Nen and Armament Haki. To practice Finger Pistol, Lin Ye concentrated Armament Haki on his fingertip, combining the instantaneous aura burst of "Ren" with the power-generation technique of the one-inch punch from freestyle fighting. At first, he could only pierce thin wooden boards with his fingertip. But as his training deepened, his Finger Pistol grew increasingly powerful. Eventually, he could pierce thick steel plates with a single finger, and with Armament Haki coating his fingertip, he could even punch straight through a car engine. Its penetrating power was terrifying. In just three months, Lin Ye's strength underwent a complete transformation. He had gone from a kid who had only just awakened his Haki to a truly powerful fighter who had mastered the basics of Nen, Haki, and four of the Six Powers. No one in this area could stand against him anymore. After he killed the Black Snake Gang's boss, the gang instantly fell apart. Its remaining members either fled or came to pledge themselves to Lin Ye, acknowledging him as their leader. But Lin Ye still refused. He knew very well that establishing a gang in Meteor City meant taking on responsibilities and facing coordinated attacks from other gangs. He would become trapped in endless conflicts, with no time to focus on training. His current goal was to grow stronger and leave Meteor City, not become a petty king within it. But even when he sought peace, trouble would not leave him alone. By killing the Black Snake Gang's boss and causing such a stir in the area, he was bound to attract the attention of more powerful forces. Meteor City never lacked gangs eager to expand their territory or ruthless fighters looking to prove themselves. That day, Lin Ye was practicing Nen's Four Major Principles inside the air-raid shelter. His Observation Haki suddenly detected an extremely powerful, hostile presence approaching his shelter. This presence was unlike that of anyone he had encountered before. It belonged to a Nen user. Steady, powerful aura flowed within the approaching figure's body as they rapidly closed in on him. Lin Ye's gaze instantly grew grave. At last, he had encountered a true Nen user.
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