Hunter x Hunter: Card Master, the Strongest in the World.

Chapter 161 Promotion to A+ Rank! Collective Awakening of Gourmet Cells!

Even before it entered his mouth, Lynn's saliva was already flowing rapidly, and he kept swallowing.

Once inside his mouth, Lynn chewed tirelessly, squeezing out every last drop of flavor from the fatty steak.

After swallowing, a warm sensation rose from his stomach and quickly spread throughout his body.

This feeling is infinitely more comfortable than soaking in a hot spring in winter, giving one a blissful, ethereal sensation.

Lynn even thought that this "Gemstone Meat" could be used as a weapon or a hidden weapon, to be stuffed into the mouth of an enemy during a life-or-death struggle.

As long as the other party doesn't have time to spit it out, they will be intoxicated by the aroma and life energy of this "gemstone meat".

We could then take them by surprise and win—but that seems a bit too extravagant.

Shaking off the random thoughts in his mind, Lynn ate bite after bite, while at the same time, a huge change was taking place inside his body.

Every cell in his body was frantically seeking out the life energy, like rain after a long drought, and his physical fitness was growing at a rate ten or even a hundred times faster than usual in a short period of time.

During this process, Lynn's surface aura became increasingly vigorous, expanding from a faint layer to a substantial one.

The faint layer does not mean his mental energy is weak; it is just a normal protective layer of mental energy, a manifestation of his high level of control over his mental energy.

The reason why the mental energy has now broken through control and continues to expand outward is because the amount of mental energy increased too much at once, which inevitably makes it difficult to control.

Under Lynn's subconscious guidance, the energy on his body surface reached a certain balance and stopped expanding rapidly.

As Lynn consumed more and more [Gemstone Meat], the life energy accumulated within his body gradually approached a certain peak.

Not long after, Lynn suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light flashed, and then a terrifying shockwave erupted around him.

The pure spiritual energy flowed freely through his body as if it were free.

The immense spiritual energy formed a powerful light, making him resemble a ball of light, radiating a dazzling brilliance.

His aura gradually rose, like a sun about to reach its highest point.

After a few breaths, Lynn's breathing finally stabilized in one place.

Lynn carefully sensed the changes in his body and felt a significant increase in strength, his entire body brimming with power!

He sensed something and opened the panel to take a look (click to view panel).

Sure enough, he has already reached A+ level!

Furthermore, other character cards have also received varying degrees of upgrades.

For example, Chopper and Yuki-onna both rose to A-rank, while Hato and Erina Nakiri rose to B+-rank. Hakuron even broke through to A-rank directly, radiating a dazzling white light.

It is the light of evolution!

"Woo~" Accompanied by a deep dragon roar, the white light dissipated, and the once slender body of Dragonair was completely gone, replaced by a Dragonite with an adorable belly!

Name: Dragonite

[Grade: A—]

[Type: Character Card]

[Background: Pokémon]

[Introduction: One of the pseudo-legendary Pokémon, known for its extreme speed, it is synonymous with power. It has a kind and honest nature, but when angry, it can unleash a terrifying Dragon Might to intimidate enemies. It can control and absorb weather energy to grow, and its Gourmet Cells were awakened by consuming delicious food, allowing it to grow through eating.]

A-rank Dragonite!

From then on, he finally had an aerial mount, and a Dragonite at that, which was extremely fast.

What surprised Lynn even more was that Dragonite had awakened Gourmet Cells. It seemed that it was very lucky. He couldn't even imagine how high the potential of a pseudo-legendary Dragonite with Gourmet Cells could be.

Thinking of this, Lynn checked the information on the other character cards and sure enough, he discovered another person who had awakened the Gourmet Cell, namely Erina!

It's perfectly reasonable for a chef to awaken their culinary instincts.

Although Erina is not good at fighting, it's not a pity. Having the Gourmet Cell will enhance her strength and help her cook better dishes.

At this moment, Kurapika snapped out of his reverie and asked in a trembling voice, "What...what happened to me?"

His body seemed to have undergone some strange change.

Since eating the steak, his physical condition seemed to be rapidly improving, and his Nen energy was also increasing rapidly. In addition, he had an even stronger desire for the food in front of him.

Touching on a blind spot in his knowledge, Kurapika directly asked his master, Lynn, who then learned that Kurapika had also awakened his Gourmet Cells.

Leorio later admitted that he had similar feelings.

Now things are clear.

A piece of gem meat not only upgraded him to A+ level and upgraded Chopper, Yuki-onna and other character cards, but also instantly gave Dragonite, Erina, Kurapika and Leorio gourmet cells!

Keep in mind that the initial Gourmet Cell is an A-level card. Just looking at the quantity, this is equivalent to four A-level cards, not to mention other growth effects.

This A+ grade gem meat is absolutely amazing!

Composing himself, Lynn explained, "Don't panic. This is one of my abilities. Eating this delicacy has a chance to awaken something called [Gourmet Cells]."

"Once you possess [Food Cells], your physical attributes and other aspects will be enhanced, and you can continuously grow stronger by consuming food."

"You are very lucky to have successfully awakened your culinary cells."

Upon hearing this, Kurapika and Leorio were both deeply shocked.

So that's how it is! Their physical changes did indeed stem from this food, but they never imagined that this power was so strong!

It's not a short-term enhancement, but a permanent one!

By continuously consuming delicious food, they can rapidly grow stronger and reach their full potential.

This delicacy can grant others such amazing abilities, which shows how precious and terrifying it is, and that no amount of money can measure its value.

The fact that the Master chose to share such precious food with them shows how incredibly kind he was!

Kurapika and Leorio were deeply moved; they realized they had found someone else in the world who treated them better than their master.

Loyalty has already exceeded its limit.

Meanwhile, Lynn stared at the two people who were in tears, wondering if this counted as giving the fruit hormones.

With the addition of Gourmet Cells, Leorio and Kurapika's growth rate and potential will see a significant boost.

It seems that A-level is no longer the limit of their growth.

Following in his footsteps, the future S-class is also very promising.

Assuming Kurapika corresponds to the Uchiha clan, what kind of cards would an S-rank Kurapika drop?

The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan? Or perhaps Itachi Uchiha? I wonder if we'll ever find a powerful figure like Obito Uchiha or Madara Uchiha.

Kurapika's characteristics are quite obvious, while Leorio's are less clear. The one that best matches his characteristics is probably the Paramecia-type Op-Op Fruit.

Menchi, who was engrossed in the delicious gem meat, finally came to her senses. Two lines of clear tears streamed down her pretty face. These were tears of joy for being able to eat such delicious food!

When she heard Lynn's explanation, she was also surprised. Following Lynn and becoming his personal chef was the wisest choice she had ever made.

Otherwise, how could we enjoy such a delicious and magical ingredient as Gemstone Meat?

It's no exaggeration to say that just that one bite would make her willing to work for a lifetime without expecting anything in return.

After enjoying the most delicious lunch ever, Lynn first spent some time familiarizing himself with his strength after the leap.

Strong.

This was a heartfelt sentiment from him.

The A+ rank truly lives up to its reputation as the top tier below the ceiling of the six continents. Those who can enter this rank are all geniuses with exceptional talent, honed by years of experience, which is why they possess A+ strength, such as Bisji and Geno.

And how long did it take him?

Less than two years!

In just over a year, he has covered the ground that took a genius decades to complete; this growth rate is unmatched even by Netero and King.

Bisge's path has come to an end, not to mention Netero, and although King is in his prime, whether he can go any further is also unknown.

For him, A+ is not the end, but just the beginning. From now on, it will be easier for him to acquire cards, and his strength will increase accordingly. His next goal is S-rank!

Once he arrives in S—, he will be one of the top combat forces in the six continents, and he will have the confidence to point his sword at the Dark Continent.

After spending some time adjusting, Lynn realized that Kurapika had already reached B-rank strength and could go on another rampage.

So, under the guise of a "friendly sparring" between master and apprentice, Lynn decisively slammed Kurapika to the ground, ending the battle.

Kurapika's efforts weren't in vain; he contributed a B-rank double-tomoe Sharingan, increasing his Sharingan inventory by 1.

It must be admitted that although he has the Gemstone Flesh, Kurapika's talent is also quite good. Not long has it been since he first developed Nen, and he hasn't even fully developed his Nen ability yet, but he already has a B-rank.

A-level certification is just around the corner.

After checking on the growth of the two fruits as usual, Lynn returned to his room, ready to try out his recently acquired A+ card, [Gate of Truth]!

He spent all his points on upgrading his trading card a couple of days ago, so he's short on cash and doesn't have the funds to try it out.

In the past two days, Illumi and Sares City each obtained two useless cards from their respective characteristic bars, which is why they have a total of 1200 points in hand, giving them plenty of confidence.

Lynn closed his eyes, a thought flickering within him.

He felt a sway, and when he opened his eyes again, his consciousness had arrived in a pure white space.

Before him stood two large doors, engraved with intricate patterns, exuding an ancient and unique aura.

This is the gate to truth.

In front of the door, there was a small figure about waist-high, radiating white light.

"Lord of Truth, welcome to the world of truth. I am your servant, and you may call me [Zero]."

Ling bowed slowly, her voice ethereal.

Lynn glanced at Zero for a few moments, then asked, "Can I exchange points for information here?"

"That's exactly right," Zero said respectfully.

Lynn hesitated for a moment, then decided to test the waters by asking a question: "I need to learn the methods of [Food Etiquette]."

Food strategy is an advanced skill in the game "Gourmet Captives," and mastering it can unleash even greater combat power.

"I'm sorry, the Gate of Truth can only provide knowledge within this world and knowledge that is currently available," Zero replied.

Currently?

In other words, the future is uncertain.

Lynn paused for a moment, then asked another question: "I want the learning methods for the seventh and eighth gates of the Eight Gates Formation."

He only has the learning methods for the first six doors. Although he can only open the first five doors now, once he advances to A+ level, learning to open the sixth door will be just around the corner. Naturally, he needs to consider the last two doors.

In his view, the true value of the Eight Gates lies in the seventh gate, the Gate of Shock, and the eighth gate, the Gate of Death.

He possesses the [Stand Scarecrow], which guarantees his survival and leaves him with a breath of life. Combined with the [Senzu Bean], theoretically, he can open the [Gate of Death] up to four times at once!

To others, the Death Gate is a useless but irreplaceable asset, only good for mutual destruction. But to him, it's a very useful trump card.

Zero said, "The method to learn the seventh gate of the Eight Gates Formation requires 1000 points, while the eighth gate requires 3000 points."

So it's one A-card and one A-card?

To be honest, it's a bit expensive.

But this is a designated purchase, which is better than waiting indefinitely.

So Lynn first bought the learning method for the seventh door of surprise.

Knowledge will be given after he leaves.

Lynn didn't rush to leave, but instead tested the waters once more, this time wanting to see just how comprehensive the Gate of Truth's knowledge of the world was.

"I need information about the Dark Sonata."

After his trip to the Sares Ruins, he had tasted the benefits of dark creatures like the Dark Sonata, especially with Gengar as a powerful weapon. Therefore, he decided to target the Dark Sonata.

"The whereabouts of Dark Sonata have been found. The minimum completeness of the information requires 50 points, and the maximum completeness requires 700 points."

""

50 to 700? Is the difference that big?

Lynn glanced at his remaining 200 points and decided to use them all.

Since he had run out of points, Lynn simply pushed open the Gate of Truth.

He felt as if he were constantly falling, during which two kinds of knowledge were successively poured into his mind: the learning method of the Gate of Wonder and the fall of the Dark Sonata.

The information obtained with 200 points is only so-so; all that is known is that there is a Dark Sonata on the coast west of the United Nations in Begrosse.

Lynn noted down the location, planning to look for it sometime in the future.

When he opened his eyes again, he was conscious.

The Gate of Truth is useful, but it's also a real money pit.

In just a short while, 1200 points were spent.

Lynn secretly resolved not to rely too much on the Gate of Truth, and to rely on himself to analyze things in many situations—of course, in fact, because he had no points, which ultimately came down to having too few cards.

For the next period of time, he continued to stay in Sares City, enjoying good food and a carefree life while also exercising. The days passed quickly.

At that moment, the Hunter Association sent a notification.

As Pjorn said, he has officially become a one-star Relic Hunter!

From then on, he became a dual-star hunter of gourmet food and relics.

>