Heartbeats X Heartbeats

Whoosh-boom-

The sound of an air blast thundered out!

But, to Baishi's mild surprise...

He missed?!

The metal-alloy wall was only a little over ten meters away, but the giant arm of molten gold he had slashed out stopped at its limit, a little over five meters away.

Is it because of Nen Aura?

Realizing something, Baishi's eyes flickered. He pressed his palms together again and swiftly struck out with golden hand blades in several other directions.

[Talisman - 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva proficiency +1 +1...]

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Each strike consumed a corresponding amount of Nen Aura. Baishi paid it no mind, and by the time his Nen Aura was exhausted, the mental image vanished, and he entered Zetsu once more, he had finally figured out how its attacks worked.

The attack range of Talisman - 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva was twice the size of the mental image formed with Nen Aura. In other words, a two-and-a-half-meter mental image could only attack targets within a five-meter radius!

Within those five meters, no matter where Baishi wanted to attack, the mental image would consume Nen Aura and strike at tremendous speed as long as he focused his thoughts and locked onto the target.

Next was the palms-together ritual. He discovered that pressing his palms together and the attack gestures that followed primarily served to map points for the mental image.

Simply put, when his thoughts were jumbled and unfocused, 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva could not strike a target accurately. Because of the restriction that "the attack must reach wherever the heart directs it," as long as Baishi locked onto a target in his mind, the mental image would strike it instantly at tremendous speed.

Driving the mental image to strike a target in a particular way required intensely focused thought, and that was where pressing his palms together and using attack gestures came in.

But the consumption of Nen Aura really was excessive and overbearing...

Baishi made a rough estimate.

If he formed the mental image without using it, he could probably maintain it for around seven minutes, at a consumption rate of roughly a hundred points per minute. He did not know whether the mental image's consumption would increase or decrease once the Talisman's proficiency improved.

As for using the mental image in a full-power burst, judging by the test just now, it should last around thirty seconds.

Of course, that was assuming the mental image's attacks remained constant. If he expended all his Nen Aura in one go, it could be exhausted in less than a second.

In battles between Nen users, besides information and ability types, the most important thing is still the total amount of Nen Aura...

After that brief reflection, Baishi glanced at the panel projected in his consciousness.

Ding!

[Evolution restriction one: emulate one Enhancement Nen Ability Talisman (1/1)]

Evolution restrictions one and two had now been satisfied. As for the third and last one, he could satisfy it too if he disregarded the gong's material.

But considering that the evolution restrictions would become increasingly difficult in the future, he was very cautious about the material used to evolve the wheel.

Unless he truly had no choice, he could not settle for just anything.

I'd better wait...

Baishi shook his head slightly, unlocked the door, and stepped outside.

Although the three sockets were barely enough, they would do for now. At least, with the mental image's power, protecting himself for a short time against the threat Hisoka posed should not be much of a problem?

If he caught Hisoka off guard, hmm... there was a certain possibility he could turn the tables and kill him?

The price was that, once he angered Hisoka, he would inevitably end up in a fight to the death!

At that thought, Baishi frowned slightly, weighing whether it was worth it.

Beep beep beep! Beep-

Just then, the piercing sound of the public address system switching on rang throughout the airship, drawing the attention of the examinees who had finished resting throughout the vessel.

Beep!

[We will soon arrive at the examination site ahead. All examinees, please prepare at the cabin doors...]

Beep-

Beans's announcement played three times over the public address system.

Then it shut off.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap!

Tap tap tap! Tap tap tap!

A jumble of footsteps converged on the cabin doors from all over the airship.

Baishi was no exception. After making sure he had left nothing behind, he used Zetsu to quietly reach a cabin door without any noticeable presence.

It's not the Battleship Island arc...

Standing by the window beside the cabin door, Baishi turned to look at where the airship was about to land. His brows immediately furrowed, and a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

Below, a colossal cylindrical tower stood silently above an endless sea of trees, like a pillar holding up the sky. It looked as though it had been carved whole from a gigantic mountain, giving it an ancient, lonely air.

What a pity...

Compared with the Trick Tower storyline, Baishi was more interested in the treasure hunt in the Battleship Island arc. As a transmigrator who had only just arrived, he was desperately short of money.

He did not have a single coin of local currency. That was also why he wanted to pass the Hunter Exam and obtain a Hunter License: only with a Hunter License could he use more than ninety-five percent of the world's public facilities for free.

That way, even without using his Hunter License as collateral for a loan, he could use it to travel to Heavens Arena and earn his first stake.

Huff, huff! Vroom~

As the sound of the engines slowed, the airship descended onto the very top of the round tower. The open platform was at least several thousand meters wide, making the airship, hundreds of meters long, look unusually small.

Clack, clack, clack!

Amid the white mist and vapor, several cabin doors slowly rose.

The examinees filed out of the airship and gathered of their own accord in the open space nearby.

Many looked around at the empty surroundings in confusion, unsure what kind of test would be held here next.

Thump, thump, thump!

Baishi spotted Gon and the others in the crowd and was about to approach them when an intensely strong feeling suddenly rose in his chest like a palpitating heartbeat. It was as though something nearby that he desperately desired was drawing him toward it.

This is...

Baishi's expression sharpened.

Before he could give it more thought,

the Talisman Wheel in his consciousness unexpectedly began to turn slowly clockwise.

Strands of Nen Aura were drawn into the wheel like swallows returning to their nests.

Then, the star-point Talisman signals that normally appeared only during a specific search emerged in Baishi's conscious perception.

The strongest and closest one...

Was right beneath his feet!

Whoosh!

Baishi jerked his head down and stared at the rocky ground, a flash of heat in his eyes.

Finally... had they finally appeared?!

The long-lost Twelve Talismans...

Ding!

[Main quest triggered!]

[Main quest: find the xxxx lost in Trick Tower!]

Tap tap tap!

"Attention, examinees..."

Secretary Beans hurried over to the group. Without wasting words, he explained with a slight smile,

"This is Trick Tower, the site of the third test!"

"We are currently at the top of Trick Tower, which is also the starting point of the third test..."

Hearing this,

all the examinees fell quiet and turned to Beans, hoping to hear the details of the coming test.

"First... I am not the examiner for this test!"

The crowd looked surprised. Beans ignored their reactions and continued, "At the examiner's special request, I will relay the details of the test on his behalf!"

"The task for this test is simple... reach the ground alive!"

"Reach the ground alive?!"

"That's right!"

Beans nodded and said with a slight smile, "No matter what method you use!"

"The time limit is seventy-two hours! That's three days. As long as you reach the ground alive within that time, you will pass!"

With that, Beans raised his wrist and pressed the red button on his watch.

"The clock starts now! Good luck to you all..."

Before he had quite finished speaking,

Beans gave the group one last nod, then hurried back to the airship.

Huff, huff! Vroom~

The cabin doors closed and the engines started. Under everyone's gaze, the airship slowly rose until it disappeared completely into the clouds on the distant horizon.

The forty-four remaining examinees looked at one another for a few seconds, then quickly scattered, trying to find clues related to the test.

"There isn't even a window or enough room to climb down the side of the tower. It's more dangerous than the cliff before..."

"Don't bother looking. Climbing down from that height, you'd get exhausted in no time!"

"..."

Unlike the others, Baishi, who knew there were many hidden doors in the rocky floor of the tower top, glanced at Gon and his three companions as they scattered to search for clues and hesitated. Compared with the possibility of triggering a weighted quest by joining them, the main quest he had finally triggered was undoubtedly more appealing to him.

Thus, after hesitating for only a moment, Baishi quickly followed the strong signal to a spot almost directly above the Twelve Talismans. He bent down and pressed and felt around the rocky floor, soon finding the mechanism for the nearest hidden door.

Click!

The mechanism activated, one side of the rocky floor came loose, and the hidden door opened downward.

Seeing this, Baishi jumped down without hesitation.

Whoosh-

"Hey! Baishi, wait..."