Chapter Thirty-Seven: Nen Ability – Spirit Absorption

“Current Status:
Name: Bai Tangjing
Age: Sixteen
Height | Weight: 185cm | 87kg
Current Status: 96.55%
Strength: 5.0 (10.8 when channeling energy)
Agility: 5.2 (10.9 when channeling energy)
Constitution: 12.6 (internal energy enhancement normalized)
[The above three attributes are benchmarked against the average value of 250,755 twenty-five-year-old human males, with an average of 1]
Talent: Dimensional Salvage
(Standard length x3 fishing line: 1 strand)
Skills:
Jeet Kune Do lv6, Mubong-ryu Practical Boxing lv5, Competitive Judo lv2
Knowledge: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Law, Geography, History of the Land of the Sun...”

A light screen with a distinct sci-fi texture was projected onto his retina by the bio-intelligent brain.

A faint, satisfied smile appeared on Bai Tangjing’s face.

The updated physical data reflected astonishing improvements in his height, weight, and core attributes. Both his strength and agility had increased by 2 points, while his constitution, now continually bolstered by internal energy, had soared by an additional 4 points!

Every single attribute on this panel was calculated based on the scanned averages of twenty-five-year-old men, each point carrying an unimaginable weight.

Even with his previous stats, Bai Tangjing would have been on par with elite athletes—an ideal that would require a lifetime of dedication and toil.

And on this foundation, which could already be called the limit, even the most minuscule improvements beyond the decimal point would be an unattainable dream for any athlete.

Yet for Bai Tangjing, all this had been achieved in just one week!

Such an extraordinary rate of advancement was thanks to the two skills he had listed separately.

“Skills:
Nen Ability: Spirit Absorption
(Description: At the cost of forgoing further application and development of ‘Hatsu,’ he made a vow to Nen. He gained the ability to convert thermal energy into spiritual energy required for cultivation.)
‘Dragon Blood Secret Art’ lv3 (Dragon Blood Bath: None)”

The cultivation of the Dragon Blood Secret Art had always been Bai Tangjing’s foundation, for it was the path that could lead one to the heights of immortals and demons.

The earthshaking changes in his attributes over the past few days were all due to the “mere” one-level increase in the Dragon Blood Secret Art!

But for the longest time, he was plagued by the incompatibility of Earth’s “version” and the lack of dragon blood as an environmental adapter.

His progress along this path to transcendence had once left him in utter despair.

But the arrival of Nen turned everything around!

—Because this ability could exploit a loophole in the world itself!

By using his Nen as a converter, he could absorb external energy and transform it into spiritual energy suitable for cultivation!

Ordinarily, Bai Tangjing would never have been able to achieve this.

After all, even Killua, the most gifted in the world of Nen, could only briefly store electrical energy in his body for short bursts of power.

But as is well known, Nen has another method of use.

—It’s called “Vows and Limitations”!

By setting rules, making a heartfelt vow, and steadfastly abiding by it, the more severe the rule, the more explosive the resulting power.

If ordinary Nen is addition, then Nen bound by rules is multiplication—the power multiplies exponentially.

For Bai Tangjing, Nen was simply a “converter.”

So forgoing the development of strange “Hatsu” applications didn’t matter.

He then anchored the target of his Nen’s conversion, by vow, to the universal source of “thermal energy.”

What was once impossible now became possible!

Over the span of a week, after burning through the energy of dozens of lighters and spending day and night with flames and heat, he completed his unique “Hatsu.”

For the first time, cultivating the Dragon Blood Secret Art in a condition of abundant spiritual energy, Bai Tangjing advanced from level 2 to level 3.

His physical state underwent a near-miraculous transformation.

And all of this took only... half an hour!

“It seems you’ve gained a lot? But if you’re only coming out now... tonight is the registration for the Kengan Deathmatch. Are you sure you’re ready?”

Saeko sat by Bai Tangjing’s side, watching him eat with a look of contentment.

Not even her loose, casual clothing could conceal the impressive armor she carried on her chest, which rested temptingly on the table, gravity spreading them into two inviting mounds.

One couldn’t help but wonder if, even with the stamina granted by the Todojima school’s secret techniques, bearing such weight wasn’t stretching the limits.

At that moment, Bai Tangjing popped the last piece of stewed beef into his mouth and swallowed.

“Mm—Saeko, if I had any reservations about my opponents in the Deathmatch before today, now...”

He gazed heatedly at the gentle, elegant beauty beside him.

“There is no one left in this world worthy of my attention!”

Every attribute of his surpassed the norm by several times!

His techniques were refined, his combat philosophy mature, and now, with supernatural energy, Bai Tangjing was utterly convinced that he was the strongest single entity on Earth!

There was simply no one left—no one who could even injure him!

Let these words stand as they are!

“More importantly...” Bai Tangjing said, his manner suddenly predatory, leaning toward Saeko.

He didn’t stop until they were less than two centimeters apart, so close they could feel each other’s breath.

Throughout, the violet-haired beauty met his gaze with a steady smile, neither flinching nor shying away, a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

She was nothing like a mere freshman; she exuded the air of a mature woman.

“More importantly, does your martial arts training no longer require you to maintain a ‘chaste body’?”

Saeko teased, tracing his still-youthful cheek with playful fingers.

During their year of cohabitation, Saeko—raised in a martial family—had made her intentions toward her junior quite clear on many occasions.

No, “obvious” would be understating it.

—After all, when a stunning beauty, dressed in scanty sleepwear, invites you for a midnight snack under dim lighting, any man would sense something was amiss!

But unfortunately, at the time, Bai Tangjing—equipped only with his bio-intelligent brain—was still overwhelmed by a sense of crisis, with no room in his heart for romance!

Back then, he even considered this beautiful upperclassman to be somewhat in the way.

When he later obtained the Dragon Blood Secret Art, his sense of crisis faded slightly.

But the frustration of slow cultivation was even more maddening than his earlier anxiety!

One was hopeless; the other was hopeful, yet just out of reach!

This frustration kept Bai Tangjing clinging to the minor cultivation boost of maintaining his “chaste body.”

...Though on this spiritless Earth, that boost was barely more than nothing.

Saeko soon realized—

The “treat” she had her eye on wasn’t ready to be served!

So she began dressing ever more “comfortably” at home—loose yukatas and the like.

After all, if she couldn’t “eat,” teasing her junior was still plenty of fun.

But today, instead of retreating as before, Bai Tangjing didn’t falter before her teasing.

Under her surprised violet gaze, his lips kept moving closer, aiming for her soft, full lips.

Just as Saeko closed her eyes in delighted anticipation, ready for the long-awaited touch, an awkward voice interrupted.

“Uh, um, I’m still here... you know.”

Dressed in a kendo training uniform, the blond-haired Taichi sat on the other side of the table, clutching his rice bowl with stiff hands, stammering.

This was supposed to be an ordinary lunch! How did things escalate like this?!

No sooner had he spoken than two murderous auras erupted simultaneously, pressing down upon the room like mountains of stone!

“Oh, after a week I almost forgot—a rice weevil snuck into our house, didn’t it?”

“Jing, don’t say that. Taichi’s your guest—and a dojo apprentice... Let’s call him a pet, at most!”

Bai Tangjing’s words were all polite smiles and no warmth, while Saeko’s sweet tone was laced with deadly intent.

It was as if the bright living room had suddenly darkened, the vibrant world instantly covered by a layer of blood.

Taichi’s hands shook so badly he nearly dropped his utensils.

Yet, inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness he spoke up early—this was just a slightly annoyed threat for now.

If he had waited until those two truly... “did something” before making a sound, or tried to sneak away and got caught—

That would have been the end of him!