“At last…”

In a dimly lit room, Moyou looked down at his palm, his pupils reflecting a gentle glow.

A white energy floated unsteadily over his hand.

This energy, naturally emanating from the human body, is known as “aura” or “nen.”

Ordinary people find it difficult to sense the presence of this aura, hence, they unknowingly allow it to dissipate.

Sensing aura, releasing aura, retaining aura – the process has never been simple.

Feeling his way like one would test the depth of a river with a stone, Moyu took nearly a year to barely control his aura.

At this stage, he had formally stepped over the threshold called nen.

But, more delightful than this significant first step was—

“Mastering the basics of ‘Ten’ initially was expected. What’s most crucial is… finally, my soul is in harmony.”

Moyu exhaled slowly, his mood suddenly becoming a mix of emotions, murmuring softly, “It’s been a year already… Time flies.”

A year ago, he was driving back to his hometown.

Suddenly, while crossing a high-speed tunnel, a thick, mysterious fog with extremely low visibility appeared ahead.

He reacted quickly by lightly pressing the brakes and turning on the fog lights.

But the moment the car entered the fog, his vision spun, and by the time he came to, his soul was attached to the body named Moyu Isaac.

Simultaneously, fragmented memories flooded his mind.

At that time, he was utterly befuddled, utterly clueless about what had transpired.

Moreover, these disjointed memories not only failed to clarify his situation but also caused numerous minor mental and physical ailments afterward.

What made things more complicated was that everything initially felt foreign.

Fortunately, the body’s original owner seemed to have been in a coma due to head trauma…

This gave him a perfect amnesia excuse, allowing him the time to slowly familiarize himself with his surroundings.

In the subsequent year, Moyou isolated himself from the outside world. He overcame the various physical problems while studying, reading, and training.

Through various books and by piecing together memory fragments, he realized he had traveled to the world of “Hunter x Hunter.” This prompted him to start trying to sense the existence of aura.

Today, his hard work had finally paid off.

Now, he felt rejuvenated, as if he had been given a second chance at life.

“But there’s still a long way to go…”

Moyu focused his mind, visualizing the external life energy wrapping around his body.

Upon realizing he was in the world of Hunter x Hunter, his immediate thought was to master nen.

For him, mastering this power was an essential safeguard, so he needed to get a better grasp of this force.

In the dark room, a cluster of white light fluctuated, undulating like waves.

As time went on—

The undulating white light gradually stabilized at a visible pace.

This indicated that Moyu had begun to master Ten, being able to wrap his aura stably around him.

“Such rapid progress.”

Moyu looked down at the smoothly flowing aura on his body, quite astonished.

The process of stabilizing from an unstable state, he had initially thought, would take a significant amount of time. Yet, it took him less than ten minutes.

Was this high efficiency due to the fading of the body’s rejection?

There was no way to find out.

Moyu didn’t linger on the issue.

Once his aura’s state became stable, his next goal was to make this state instinctive.

Reaching that level would be akin to being cloaked in an all-encompassing, transparent armor at all times.

Furthermore, retaining and enveloping oneself with the aura that would otherwise be lost means suppressing the consumption of one’s life energy. Achieving longevity was within reach.

Thinking of this, Moyu looked out the window at the night, filled with newfound determination.

Now was the time to embrace this new world.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, something caught Moyu’s eye by the window.

“What is that…?”

He stared intently.

It was a strand of black aura, floating above the window sill, reminiscent of willow catkins.

“Black aura… very weak.”

Moyu gazed at the black strand.

He immediately recognized this black aura as something left behind by humans after death. It represented residual emotions, spirits, and even grudges from the deceased.

In this world, such lingering feelings after death were fairly common.

But the nen left behind by ordinary people upon death was generally very faint, almost nonexistent, and never interfered with reality.

Only nen saturated with intense emotions before death possessed a certain strength and could manifest its influence.

However, the nen left behind by ordinary people, even when saturated with intense emotions, generally posed no threat to nen users.

Interestingly, in a world where anyone can gradually learn nen…

The vast majority of nen users didn’t possess the ability to eradicate these grudges, even if they were harmless.

Only a handful, known as ‘Exorcists’, had the power to eliminate such nen.

The black energy in front of him was a nen tainted black by intense emotions.

It had always been there; the old Moyu just couldn’t see it.

Now that Moyu could open his aura nodes and had mastered Ten, he could see the grudges that ordinary people couldn’t, thanks to the aura wrapped around him.

“Why is there a grudge in the temple? Could it be…”

Moyu touched his chin, lost in thought.

His predecessor’s home was a temple built on a scenic mountain. Apart from that, there was a monk father who didn’t abstain from meat or wine.

Speaking of the temple’s special features—

Apart from drawing lots and offering incense, and throwing coins into the wishing pond in front of the main hall, there was also a special area for placing relics.

The deceased’s relics, along with their last wishes placed on the altar, were one of the unique aspects of this temple.

So…

This strand of grudge, most likely, originated from the relics within the temple.

Moyu stood up and approached the window, observing the wispy black grudge at close range.

It appeared fragile, as if it would dissipate upon touch.

For ordinary people, it posed virtually no threat, let alone for him who had just stepped into the realm of Nen users.

“Huh?”

Moyu looked at the base of the dark strand.

He discovered that this strand of grudge wasn’t rootless; at its base was an even finer thread of black energy.

“A thread?”

Moyu’s eyes narrowed, instinctively following the black thread, directing his gaze to the courtyard outside the window.

From his vantage point, he could see the courtyard paved with blue bricks in front of the main hall. At the center of the yard was a pond roughly half the size of a basketball court.

Although termed a release pond, it housed no creatures, just water and a floor covered in coins.

At this moment, Moyu’s attention was firmly gripped by the pond.

Under the moonlight, the once tranquil water surface of the release pond was now covered with a swamp-like viscous black grudge, radiating an eerie aura.

Cold and volatile.

Filled with intense malice!

Just taking in this sight made Moyu feel an immediate threat.

“You’ve got to be kidding…”

This unexpected scene made Moyu’s eyes widen in shock.

A shiver surged up his spine, spreading chills throughout his body.

Why would there be such an enormous amount of grudge in this seemingly ordinary temple?

Such intensity was not something that could have been cultivated from a pile of relics!

If an ordinary person were to be slightly touched by this, they might die on the spot.

Yet, having crossed into this world for a year, he had never detected the massive grudge accumulating in the pond.

Moreover, visitors who came to the temple to burn incense and make wishes by tossing coins into the pond seemed unharmed.

Many doubts raced through Moyu’s mind.

However, given the menacing aura emanating from the grudge, Moyu quickly retreated, wanting to distance himself from this perilous entity.

Perhaps it was Moyu’s gaze or the retreat that triggered it, or maybe it was the aura he emitted.

The viscous grudge seemed sentient. It quickly contracted and lunged at Moyu.

Its speed was astonishing, covering the vast distance in a mere instant, confronting Moyu directly.

Feeling as if he had plunged into an ice-cold abyss, Moyu hastily released his aura to form a shield. Yet, he was struck by the grudge, and he lost consciousness immediately.

However, the black grudge did not continue its assault. It just hovered silently in mid-air.

The room was deathly silent, the moonlight outside had mysteriously vanished, and the darkness was oppressive, making one feel suffocated.

This temple atop the mountain seemed to hide untold secrets.

Approximately three seconds later, the hovering black grudge once again assumed an attacking posture.

But just as it lunged towards Moyu, a circular portal suddenly opened on the water surface of the release pond, resembling a sewer entrance.

Yet, at the center of this portal was a glowing red arrow, pointing straight down.

The moment this sewer-like portal appeared on the pond’s surface, the black grudge, which was lunging at Moyu, suddenly froze in mid-air.

Following closely, an invisible force seemed to be pulling at the black grudge, dragging it towards the circular portal on the surface of the pond.

The black grudge writhed desperately but to no avail.

In a matter of moments, it was sucked into the portal, disappearing without a trace.

With the vanishing of the black grudge, the circular portal rapidly shrank to a tiny black dot, and then disappeared.

A deafening silence pervaded the room.

After a while, a tiny black point, outlined with the gleam of Nen, emerged on the wall near the room’s window. It expanded into a pitch-black portal, over a meter in diameter. Suspended at its center was a green arrow.

Silently, the green light within the arrow grew hazier.

From the dim green glow, two figures, one large and one small, materialized.

The larger figure was a bald middle-aged man with a full beard but no eyebrows.

This bald man was none other than Moyu’s original body’s father, Hawk.

The smaller figure, however, was a peculiar-looking mouse, about the size of a soccer ball.

The mouse had no nose or mouth, and its large round eyes took up almost half of its face. The ears bore no lobes, only a circular, coil-like pattern.

Atop the mouse’s head was a three-dimensional arrow, while its long tail ended in a clenched fist made of Nen with an angry facial expression.

Enveloped in a brilliant Nen aura, Hawk, having exited the green portal, quickly approached Moyu.

Following closely behind was the peculiar mouse, moving in absolute silence.

Kneeling down, Hawk examined Moyu, ensuring there weren’t serious injuries. Sighing in relief, he murmured, “Moyu, you…”

With a perplexed look, he continued, “You were ignorant about Nen, yet you awakened it under the constraint of the ‘Divine Script’. Was it serendipity? Or innate talent?”

Pausing for a moment, Hawk sighed, concern apparent on his face, “Awakening your Nen isn’t necessarily good before we resolve the price.”

The next morning.

Soft morning light streamed through the window.

Suddenly, Moyu bolted upright.

“The bed…”

Realizing he was in bed, Moyu instinctively maintained his Ten.

Jumping off, he cautiously peeked out the window towards the release pond.

A thin mist enveloped the courtyard, with rays of dawn filtering through, creating an ethereal ambiance.

The massive grudge from last night was nowhere to be seen nor sensed.

“It’s gone…”

Moyu murmured, “Was it all a dream?”

He scanned his body, finding no harm. Not even a single stain.

The intense pain he felt from the attack last night felt very real.

If he were truly struck by such a grudge, he couldn’t possibly be unscathed.

Injuries would’ve been inevitable.

Yet, he was perfectly fine. This was perplexing…

“Perhaps I was just too exhausted.”

Moyu shook his head slightly, contemplating the connection of the grudge to the release pond. If it truly existed, it couldn’t have disappeared so completely. And with himself being unharmed, he attributed last night’s event to a nightmare. He then made his way to the bathroom.

Splash—

Turning the faucet, water poured out.

Cupping the water, Moyu splashed his face and looked up at the mirror.

The reflection showed a young, delicate face with fair skin and refined features.

13 years old.

That was the age of the body he now inhabited.

Though young, he had good looks.

In his previous life, Moyu had been attractive and was pursued by many.

But compared to his present appearance, there was a significant difference.

Sometimes, when he stared at his reflection for a bit too long, he’d wonder if he truly was Hawk’s biological son.

Lost in his admiration, an unexpected voice resounded in his mind—

“Because of your exceptional looks, the observer is very pleased. Your Exorcist count +1.”

“???”

Moyu was stunned.