I'm extremely interested in Nen abilities.

……

The firelight flickered, and a wisp of spiritual energy, like a bubble, wrapped around a strand of blood twisted into a pentagram shape, wobbled and landed on a small fish splashing on the shore, forming a pentagram mark.

Jingyang grabbed a small fish and threw it into the dark sea at night.

The raft was ready, and it was already dark. The four of them sat around the fire, chatting idly. In fact, neither Kate, Kurapika, nor Shizuku were talkative people, and they soon dispersed to rest.

Jingyang remembered that the death energy absorbed by his heart after Kate sniped that sea monster was still unused.

With a thought, a hexagonal panel appeared before his eyes, in which sat a gray figure with the number "24445" representing his total thought count on his chest and a sharp blade lying across his lap—the very product of the remnant spirit of the True Martial King refining the octopus thought beast with the word "divine" before leaving with that giant arrow.

Jingyang named it "Yin Nian Sword".

The gray figure held a sword horizontally, surrounded by a hazy, gray aura. Jing Yang pondered how to utilize this deathly energy.

He looked at the number "100%" next to the Manipulation category and thought to himself that he considered himself to be a person with some talent, but he was not so arrogant as to think that he had developed the potential of the Manipulation category to 100%... So that means that the number marked on this Dying Will panel is not his current proficiency and development progress of his Nen ability, but rather represents his maximum potential in the corresponding category.

Therefore, when one uses death energy to enhance the potential of other systems, the adjacent systems will also be affected and increase accordingly.

Therefore, the best use of Dying Will is to strengthen the type you are least proficient in and have the lowest potential in. Specifically, that would be Enhancement and Alteration types. Currently, both of these types are around 61%. Strengthening these two types will also increase the adjacent Emission and Conjuration types, although the increase will be lower... As for my own Emission and Conjuration types, their current values ​​are over 80%, which is more than enough.

Originally, the mountain-shaped cultivation method of the Heart Source Stream only accounts for 80% of the adjacent systems on both sides of the character "mountain".

All things considered, my only weakness is my Change-type ability, which needs special reinforcement.

Jingyang already has the Enhancement and Alteration abilities he wants to develop, and he's just waiting for these two types to reach their full potential before focusing on their research.

However, Jing Yang did not intend to inject the death energy in his hand into the transformation system to increase it by another point.

He looked at the number "24445" on the gray little man's chest and injected the gray misty air that was swirling around him into his chest.

boom!

Jing Yang was shocked. Unexpectedly, after the death energy was injected into the "total thought quantity", it did not directly increase the number. Instead, it formed a powerful thought that spread out from his heart.

"I need to digest this thought as quickly as possible... How much I can absorb depends on my own abilities!"

He had an epiphany, and with his eyes closed, he used the technique of "entanglement" to try his best to retain the thought surging in his heart and "refine" it.

That makes sense. Total potential and the potential of a hexagonal system are fundamentally different. Theoretical potential is more like an "innate physiological characteristic," something that cannot be changed through effort. It's like humans not having wings. No matter how much you envy birds, not having wings is not having wings. You can compensate for your original deficiency by using death energy and grow an extra pair of wings. But potential, like total potential, is something everyone can cultivate through effort. If injecting death energy could directly increase potential, wouldn't that be getting something for nothing? What about all that time when I and Xiaodi used to cultivate 'perseverance' every day, gritting our teeth and enduring for hours, always exhausted like dogs...? It's a joke.

This was exactly my intuition.

Just as using the hexagonal shape of the Death Aura panel to inject Death Aura only enhances the potential of each element, rather than directly improving one's proficiency in that element, the abilities of each element still require one's own hard work and cultivation. The Netherworld simply removes unnecessary obstacles for one, so that one does not have to work twice as hard and half as hard in other elements just because one is a manipulation element. That's all.

The same applies to thought...

Jing Yang focused intently, gradually refining the death energy within his body into thought, which then merged into his own energy.

In the center of the hexagonal death aura panel, the number on the gray little heart slowly rose: 24445, 24500, 24588...

Before we knew it, the east had turned white.

Kate opened her eyes to find the fire reduced to charred embers. Turning her head, she saw a boy named Jing Yang… well, he couldn't be called a boy anymore. Jing Yang sat cross-legged, meditating, his eyes closed, a faint smile playing on his lips. In the distance, a red sun rose above the horizon.

Chapter 202 A New Beginning (Part 1)

As the morning sun rises, the barren Lushan Mountain stands desolate.

At the mountaintop, a series of ancient palaces stretch out.

"boom!"

Killua flew out of the palace gate like a cannonball, with burn marks, ice marks, and lightning marks on his face, neck, torso, and calves.

Amidst the booming sounds, his tender back, not yet nine years old, crashed through several giant trees in front of the palace, snapping them in two. Finally, he hung upside down from his severed limbs, peering through the gaps in the leaves at the crimson sunrise on the horizon…

Before the palace gates, a small old man emerged, his head resembling Killua's, but his face was incredibly aged, covered in wrinkles, and bald on top. Judging from the wrinkled shape of his lips, he had probably lost all his teeth.

The shape of the sunrise looks like a shark... Wait, speaking of sharks, didn't someone mention Shark Island to me before?

The old man, dressed in sportswear, stood on the high steps in front of the gate, looking down at Killua with his hands in his pockets.

“Great-great-grandfather.” Killua sprang out from the ruins of the trees.

I thought I was going to die after being sent flying so far, or at least my back would be completely broken. But it turns out I wasn't seriously injured, just a few broken ribs, some internal organs displaced, and a mild concussion. I guess my great-grandfather held back in the last blow, so he wouldn't cripple me.

His father and older brother hadn't been home for the past few days, and he wasn't sure if his grandfather Zeno was even there. His second brother was even more useless than him, and his mother wasn't a former assassin. Therefore, Killua had been summoned by his great-grandfather to train. Even assassins need to study hard... Thinking of this, Killua suddenly had a brilliant idea. Since they were all away, couldn't he just run away from home?

"Great-grandfather, will Dad and my older brother come back today?" Killua asked, looking up.

The old man on the higher level didn't speak, he just nodded.

Killua was secretly delighted and shook his little arm. What was there to say? Let's finish today's training quickly!

The old man waved at him, signaling the kid to get lost. That's all for today. Go back and let your mother treat your injuries.

"it is good!"

Killua grinned, flicked his fingers to his brow, and slung one hand into his pocket as he descended the mountain. The old man watched his great-grandson's retreating figure for a while before turning back to the palace.

……

"Good! Very energetic!"

Jingyang stood on the shore with his hands on his hips, facing the rising sun on the distant horizon, and shouted happily.

After digesting a death energy, the total amount of energy increased from the original 24,444 to 25,211!

This directly increased the amount of gas by approximately 800.

Converted to the total duration of the "hard" phase, it means that more than 13 minutes were added for no reason.

Jingyang's mental capacity has stagnated for a long time. Although it's not completely impossible to increase, compared to the early stages when he could easily increase his mental capacity by hundreds of units every day with just a little practice, as if he was growing while eating and drinking, now he's toiling away for more than six hours every day with very little result. It's already a rare achievement if his mental capacity increases to over 100 units... How can Jingyang feel comfortable about this?

Now it's all good. Digesting a wisp of death energy is equivalent to ten or fifteen days of hard work.

Moreover, Jingyang felt that increasing death energy by 800 units was not the limit—he felt that his meditation that night had not fully explored or digested the value of death energy. A small portion of it had dissipated and been lost during the digestion process. In other words, Jingyang believed that he might still have room to improve the conversion rate of death energy per unit!

Our future lies in the Dark Continent, and the prospects are bright!

"What are you laughing at?" Kurapika's voice came from below.

Near the shore, a materialized wooden boat and a handcrafted raft drifted side by side. Kurapika and Kite sat one in front of the other in the materialized boat. Kite observed the sky and the sea, while Kurapika urged Jingyang, who was lost in thought on the shore, to hurry up.

Jingyang jumped onto the raft with Xiaodi, and with a thud, the raft swayed on the sea.

Xiao Di said, "Jing Yang has gotten a lot heavier."

When he arrived, Jingyang was a boy who was only about 1.5 meters tall and less than 1.6 meters tall. He looked very thin. Now he is 1.9 meters tall, and his body has become fuller and his muscles are firm. He weighs dozens of kilograms more. How could he not be heavy?

Jingyang shouted, "Let's have a race! Let's see who can row the fastest and find land first!"

In the hazy light, a sensation came from the other side of the rising sun. It was Shitiao, following Kurapika's instructions, pecking at himself every morning to activate the self-healing function of the star.

"rush!"

The raft carrying Jingyang and Xiaodi shot off like an arrow.

Neither of them was paddling at all! The raft itself seemed to cruise across the sea like a yacht, leaving white wakes in its wake.

Kate had noticed the two medium-sized sea creatures swimming in the water long ago, and just now they actually pushed Jing Yang and the other person's raft out from the bottom of the water, one on the left and one on the right.

Yes, he's in the control system...

But when did he begin to control these sea creatures?

Kate looked thoughtful and picked up the oar.

Are you competing to see who can row the fastest?! Kurapika was practically spitting blood. This boss was so unreliable and shameless! He swung the oar and paddled hard.

Soon, he and Kate developed a tacit understanding, taking turns using the "Zhou" technique on the oars to enhance the power of the ordinary wooden oars. Each stroke created waves several meters high, increasing the speed of the small wooden boat. It was not much slower than the raft that Jingyang and Xiaodi were riding on, which was being dragged by sea monsters.

As the raft cut through the waves, Jingyang, enjoying the sea breeze, simply lay down, thinking that the sea monster's horsepower was still a bit insufficient. Although it was swimming happily now, this was its maximum speed, and it would have to break down soon. After all, it was a living animal, not a real machine.

Let's check the sea later to see if there are any large marine animals like whales or great white sharks...

……

"Whale Island or Shark Island, was that person telling me about it?"

In the room, Killua stared at the computer screen, looking worried. But he quickly stopped worrying. After all, his main goal was to skip home and go out for a stroll, so why not just visit all these places?

He memorized the locations of several "Shark Islands" and "Whale Islands" on the computer map.

With minimal luggage, Killua made his escape while his father and older brother were out. His silent, stealthy movements, the angles and techniques used to evade security cameras… all the essential assassin skills were second nature to Killua. He quickly fled his family's villa, leisurely strolling through the Kukuro Mountains with his hands in his pockets, clearly in high spirits… His house was enormous, dozens of kilometers from the entrance, which was now a tourist attraction.

Behind them, on the balcony of a villa halfway up the mountain, Killua's departing figure was reflected in a pair of laser-like electronic glasses. The woman, dressed in a long evening gown and wearing a sun hat, exuded a sinister aura; she was none other than Kikyo Zoldyck, the wife of the current head of the Zoldyck family.

Kijuh leaned against the railing, watching them go, holding a cup of black tea in one hand. He took a small sip but showed no intention of moving.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!

Killua raced along and soon saw his own towering ancient city walls, and not far away was the courtyard gate—the majestic and imposing Trial Gate.

The giant wolfhound lurking in the woods behind the door smelled the approaching scent, got up, turned around, and spotted Killua.

"Shh!"

Killua waved his hand, "Sanmao, sit down quickly."

The giant wolfhound named Sanmao sat down and continued to stare with emotionless eyes at the tightly closed trial gate—the small door next to it.

Killua looked up at the city wall, stretched out a hand, and cracked his knuckles. The muscles in the back of his hand and fingers bulged, and his bones seemed to become harder and thicker, so much so that the veins on his entire hand were bulging, and his nails grew longer and sharper... He felt that he should have no problem climbing the city wall, so he wouldn't need to push open the trial gate...

However, it still feels rather lame! If you leave without pushing open the trial gate... it would be much cooler to push it open and leave!

Besides, his mother might not even be keeping an eye on the Trial Gate. As for his second brother Milluki, Killua couldn't be bothered with him.

Killua walked toward the trial gate, took a deep breath behind it, and stretched out his hands to press against the layers of high-tech force-sensing doors.

Hey!

Killua's arm muscles bulged, his small arms suddenly becoming twice as thick, and he slowly pushed open the first two doors, which weighed a total of 4 tons.

However, as the door slowly opened, Killua's expression gradually darkened. Panic filled his eyes as he looked outside, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead…

……

"Don't be so scared, we're not going to eat you."

"Palston said with a smile. On the ground in front of him lay three enormous, half-dead ants, all missing limbs, one of them even torn in two, its upper and lower body separated, lying on the ground covered in green pus and blood and ruptured internal organs. These three, who had jumped out of the sea to attack him and Bynd, were, according to the habits of chimeric ants, almost certainly the three guards of the ant king."

Therefore, these three guardian ants look very similar to the ant king, both being a combination of ant heads and beast bodies. The three guardians are tiger bodies, lion bodies, and elephant bodies, respectively.