Chapter 310: Three and a Half X [God], [Man], [Theory]
Transforming into a sword of light and shadow, he pierced fiercely towards Silva's chest!
This "forward lunge" was the most common of thrusts, but after integrating the "Sun Breathing," "Water Breathing," "Wind Breathing," "Flame Breathing," and other breathing styles, it emitted a sharp screech amidst its rapid speed!
Faintly, it caused people to see many different imageries. Among them were the dazzling great sun, crashing ocean waves, howling gales, and scorching flames... All these elements ultimately condensed into a single point of bright light, thrusting straight toward the six [Elements] that symbolize the human body: [Earth], [Fire], [Water], [Wind], [Space], and [Consciousness]!
Designed specifically to sever the suffering of the six paths and extinguish the vitality of the six organs, in just a flash, it made Netero's old eyes flicker, keenly catching a familiar aura from it...
"The Sword of Gratitude..."
Both [Fist] and [Sword] follow the path of [Form] and [Intent]. Practicing the superficial initially is [Form]; refining it to perfection is [Intent].
Netero raised an eyebrow, instinctively deploying Gyo. Seeing Ryo dash forward with a thrusting attack, carrying Buddhist philosophy and accompanied by numerous imageries, it was just like himself back then. Bare-backed at the peak of the snowy mountain, praying and throwing punches for two years like a single day, he finally comprehended the "Punch of Gratitude." From then on, carrying "immense gratitude towards martial arts," he climbed to the absolute peak of the Enhancer category...
Brilliant light flashed violently in Netero's eyes, and he felt a similar artistic conception from the boy's unbridled sword strike. The difference was, he was grateful, whereas Ryo, aside from gratitude, seemed to harbor some indescribable elements. For a moment, it made his brows furrow, unable to grasp the essence of it...
Whoosh— Space compressed to its extreme. In just the blink of an eye...
Ryo's thrust arrived!
Silva's eyes flashed, his pupils filled entirely with sword light. Thinking back to last year when the boy held a sword and made a similar thrust, it was far from being as fast and fierce as today!
The corner of the man's mouth pulled up diagonally. His feet left the ground, suspending him in mid-air. Aiming at Ryo's incoming figure, he thrust his palm out and slapped down heavily!
A majestic Nen aura howled out. Mid-air, it [Elongated] and [Shaped], transforming instantly into a [Hand Axe] wreathed in Ken. Waiting for Ryo to close in, he abruptly chopped down!
Ding~ An ear-piercing sound of clashing metal erupted, generating a sonic boom that expanded outward in a ring...
By the clear pool, Zeno's white hair swayed. With a wave of his sleeve, he dispersed a shockwave coming towards him, looking at the epicenter where the [Axe Gleam] and [Sword Light] intersected. There, surging Nen auras were biting and struggling against each other, locked in a stalemate...
This former head of the Zoldyck family, also a top-tier powerhouse of the Transmuter category, cast a faint glance at Netero and said, "There is no need to make a fuss,"
"What you know, others might not necessarily be ignorant of..."
The Sword of Gratitude?
His grandson Ryo knew it, and his son Silva knew it too!
Even he himself... having immersed himself in the [Path of Transmutation] for so many years, possessed an extraordinary attainment in terms of [Form] and [Intent]...
"Ho ho ho... that is different,"
"It's different~" Netero's large sleeves fluttered. With his elongated earlobes and white eyebrows, he kept his eyes locked on Ryo, only saying, "He is not just grateful..."
However, amidst the stalemate, Ryo gripped Snow Walk tightly with his free left hand, aiming it horizontally at Silva's waist and abdomen, and abruptly unleashed another slash!
A point of cold light appeared, followed by the sword striking out like a dragon... Snow Walk seemed to have remained silent for too long, accumulating too much sharpness. It had long yearned for this day to be drawn by Ryo once more. Amidst a sharp screech, it converged—
[Sun Breathing, Eighth Form: Solar Heat Haze]
[Water Breathing, Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow]
[Wind Breathing, Fifth Form: Cold Mountain Wind]
[Flame Breathing]... [Mist Breathing]... and other breathing styles manifested a "horizontal slash," condensing into a colorful thin line that cut open the air, slashing closely at Silva!
En deployed, the world began to fade into lines... Silva resisted Eclipse with his right hand across space, his eyes glancing diagonally downward. Using En as his eyes, he captured Ryo's sword slashing right from his blind spot. Immediately, he thrust out his left palm, striking later but arriving first. Forming a fist, the bones of his fist were amplified by Nen aura, instantly clad in Ten. Just observing with the naked eye, that Ten was condensed and refined, a full three inches thick, piercing out of his body and striking directly at Snow Walk!
Clang~ Another violent explosion!
The air burst open, and Nen aura carrying shockwaves flew in all directions, impacting the surrounding large trees until they shuddered, as if struck by a typhoon. Unable to bear the burden of the strong gale, they began to tremble!
Whoosh... rustle... The wind was blowing, and the field of vision was narrowing... Even with binoculars protecting his eyes, Kurapika, standing on a large tree a thousand meters away, still felt a wave of dizziness assail him, intuitively feeling as if he was being blown to the point of almost being unable to open his eyes!
Too fast!
And too bright!
He couldn't open his eyes at all!
Is this really... the combat power that humans can display?
Flap... flap... The traditional Kurta ethnic clothing draped over the boy rustled loudly!
The force of the wind forced the boy to stumble and grip Tsubone's hand tightly, only then managing to stabilize his body and not be blown away. The boy took another look, struggling to hold the binoculars to watch the battlefield. By that clear pool, the old man he had encountered at the airport, and another old man beside him who looked equally old, stood with their hands behind their backs, unmoving like mountains. It was hard to imagine...
To what extent they were powerful!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
[Fist] against [Sword]. If one strike is blocked, and two strikes are blocked, then three strikes, four strikes, ten strikes, a hundred strikes!
The two figures skimmed across the lake's surface, like two comets trailing long exhaust flames of Nen aura crashing into each other. In just the span of a breath, they exchanged blows no less than a hundred times!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The tranquil clear pool was affected by the Nen aura, cleaved open by sword qi, and stirred up by fist momentum, sending columns of water shooting up!
Wielding twin swords, Ryo sometimes displayed the [Scorching Heat of the Sun], sometimes displayed the [Ultimate Softness of Water], and sometimes displayed the [Sharpness of the Wind]... like a sword dancer, dancing amidst the sky filled with splashing Nen aura... Captured in Netero's eyes, compared to their first meeting during the Hunter Exam, the boy was completely unrecognizable!
"Zeno, congratulations~" Netero's leisurely voice pierced through the splashing Nen aura, casting a sidelong glance at Zeno. "Your family is about to have another Sword Master!"
Master... What is a Master? Reaching the pinnacle, only those who cultivate deeply on a single path, continuously [Imitating], [Learning], and then [Surpassing] and [Creating], carving out a path uniquely their own... deserve to be called a Master!
And to receive such high praise from the universally recognized [Strongest Human] of the current era, even Zeno, who prided himself as an assassin and excelled at concealing his facial expressions, couldn't suppress the faint arc tracing the corner of his mouth. He gave a proud cold snort and said, "Master, knowing Ryo's temperament, he probably wouldn't care. However... Teacher is real..."
Some people love to be teachers in reality, and some love to be teachers in dreams... Who says reality is true and dreams must be false?
True and false, just like [Materialization] and [Reverse Materialization]. For a Nen user of the Conjuration category, [True] and [False] are important, but equally... they are also [Unimportant]...
Zeno thought of his father Zzigg, and Netero also thought of his good friend Zzigg...
He said he was dead, but the one in the demonic eye clearly wasn't him. He was nothing but a link in his [Game] play, or rather... a [Game Item]!
Netero felt deeply agreeable. He narrowed his eyes, watching Ryo move with his blade, his soles fluctuating the pool water. A sharp straight thrust, amplified by [Light Release] and [Shinso], abruptly crossed spatial distance, suddenly extending the blade to stab at Silva's face in an instant!
He murmured approvingly, "Then his teacher must be an extraordinary swordsman!"
"If there's a chance to meet, I imagine it would be extremely interesting!"
A hazy fighting spirit suddenly drilled out from Netero, then quickly extinguished... Zeno cast a glance, empathizing completely. After faintly hearing some things from his grandfather Maha, it wasn't that he hadn't considered entering the dream to see exactly what those teachers standing behind Ryo looked like. Unfortunately... what kind of grandfather would force his grandson?
He wasn't Silva!
Zeno narrowed his eyes, looking through Gyo at Silva!
The suddenly extended Eclipse and Snow Walk, exhibiting the sharpness amplified by [Light Release], drilled out from a tricky angle in space. The sword wind brushed past his face... blowing Silva's silver hair to fly upside down!
The man's pupils shrank. Crossing his fists and raising them before his face, Nen aura surged, rapidly coating his forearms and extending to his fists. Forming an X-shape, they were clad in Ko!
Following that, a crisp ding rang out!
Ryo holding the swords felt like stabbing into a piece of diamond. Although the tips of the blades pierced Silva's [Nen Aura Shield], they were also forcefully jammed by his powerful Ko!
"Tsubone-sama, is that bright silver film on the Master's fists the Ken you mentioned?"
On the large tree a thousand meters away, Kurajin held the binoculars. Relying on Gyo, she noticed that the Eclipse and Snow Walk in Ryo's hands seemed to be stuck in a quagmire, enveloped by Silva's majestic Nen aura. She turned her head and probed Tsubone.
Beside her, Kurapika frowned, holding his binoculars and also casting a sidelong glance at Tsubone... Strangely, why didn't he see any "bright silver film"?
The distinction between the [Mundane] and [Nen], this was it...
Tsubone looked deeply at Ryo, who was jammed by Silva, and spoke warmly to the siblings, "Just call me Tsubone."
The old butler's two pink pigtails draped behind her. She adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose and, under the curious gazes of the Kurajin and Kurapika siblings, said deeply, "That is not Ken, it is Ko!"
"It is a high-level applied technique... that merges the Four Major Principles—Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu—amplified by the dynamic capture of Gyo!"
"It is not something an ordinary person can master..."
Kurapika stood on Tsubone's left, quietly glancing at the contemplative Kurajin. He made a mental note of [Four Major Principles], [Gyo], [Ken], and [Ko]. Raising his binoculars to look at the clear pool again, he thought silently, "Of course they are not ordinary people..."
Not to mention the two locked in a stalemate on the lake's surface, and the three casually watching the battle from the side, looking at the entire Zoldyck estate, he... was the only ordinary person, right?
The boy remembered Uncle Zebro, who showed off his explosive muscles when they first entered the Zoldyck estate. He felt... if he hadn't been recognized back then, he would have long been punched into a meat patty, or... swallowed as a snack by that giant dog at the foot of the mountain!
Hum... The swords were vibrating...
Crack... Ko was like pliers, clamping down on Eclipse and Snow Walk.
On the clear pool, as Nen aura surged between father and son, they simply engaged in a test of pure strength!
With a splash, the water surface sank, rolling frantically outward with the two as the center. In just the blink of an eye, it submerged more than half of the small ring of surrounding mountain forest...
Silva looked at Ryo face-to-face, feeling the immense power transmitting from Eclipse and Snow Walk, traveling along the Ko and his fist bones, up to his forearm and upper arm. Suppressing his voice, he said with unrestrained exhilaration, "Ryo, you have earned the right to be proud... In terms of pure strength alone, Dad has only ever admired three and a half people in his life!"
Ryo raised an eyebrow, similarly feeling the immense force transmitting from Silva, pressing down on him like a mountain, and said, "I count as a half, who are the others?"
"One is in Kakin,"
"One is in Bandle City,"
"One is right beside us."
Hearing this, Netero laughed with his hands on his hips, "Zeno, look, your son is praising me!"
Zeno: "..."
He gave a cold sneer, opening his mouth to spit out a name, "Beyond... Beyond..."
Netero immediately seemed to have his throat squeezed, his face turning red and his neck thickening, cutting off his voice abruptly...
"Heh heh heh..." A leisurely chuckle unreservedly drifted into the depths of Kukuroo Mountain...
In the dim little room on the first floor of the Zoldyck ancient castle, a certain shriveled old man rolled over, rocking his chair. He reached out to slap Betty Zoldyck's plump bottom, grinning to reveal a mouthful of teeth... Following that, he received a slap from an annoyed Betty Zoldyck, and settled down...
"Watching the show, and your hands still aren't behaving!"
She was currently just a wisp of true spirit. If she were actually still alive, she couldn't imagine... how long the audacious Maha would torment her...
Enhancers are physically developed, and naturally, their "fifth limb" wouldn't be weak either... The woman, relying on Maha's Nen aura, sat on his lap, looking up at the massive TV in front of her, which was switched to the battlefield... Faintly, a familiar Nen aura could be seen circulating upon it... It was Kikyo!
"Yi-yi-ya-ya..." In the second-floor bedroom of the Zoldyck ancient castle, Kikyo held Killua in her arms, activating her Nen aura to manipulate the cameras densely packed across Kukuroo Mountain, observing the battle from a god's-eye view. Naturally, she wouldn't leave out the ancestor of the family—Maha.
Zzt~ Electric arcs flashed as the cameras embedded in the mountain forest nimbly adjusted their angles, capturing the state of the battlefield...
After hearing Silva's words, Ryo looked at Silva face-to-face. The snug training suit was fully stretched by his bulging muscles, and he said unsurprisingly, "The one in Bandle City is called... Benjamin Federico, right!"
Also known as the former commander of the security force, and the current... [Thunder Archbishop]!
"It seems you have already met him." Silva faintly peeked a trace of emotion from Ryo's Nen aura.
Only, this emotion... looking at it, wasn't very pleasant. Ryo smiled...
Of course, that spear Benjamin stabbed him with, he wouldn't dare forget it even if he was beaten to death. However...
"Father, haven't you overlooked a person?"
"Who?"
"Your great-grandfather, and also my great-great-grandfather... Maha Zoldyck!"
"No, I haven't," Silva's gaze was profound, casting a look toward that dim little room in the Zoldyck ancient castle from afar, "In my heart,"
"Your great-great-grandfather is not included in this list,"
"He is not human,"
"He is a [God]!"
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