Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 204 (Patreon)

Chapter 204: Half a Year of Zetsu

With Sanbica’s treatment, Luo’s injuries would recover in less than a week. The journey from here by airship to The Milsy Wetlands would take about three days.

Bisky decided to set the departure for tomorrow. Her hurried preparations showed how seriously she regarded this one-year timeline, especially since Luo would be facing Antomu again after a year.

If Antomu were no longer at the Heavens Arena by then, Bisky would still have Luo challenge the arena. It is the largest fighting arena in the world, home to various types of masters, and an excellent place to accumulate combat experience in a short time.

Luo was to leave tomorrow, so he spent today cooking all the remaining crab claw meat into gourmet dishes, completely winning over Bisky’s stomach.

Night fell.

Luo and Bisky were sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"Bisky, I’d like to know about the first phase of the training plan," Luo said, wanting clarity because he planned to absorb the Nen in the scores and feared that being forcibly put into Zetsu might affect his training.

"You’ll find out once we get to The Milsy Wetlands," Bisky said, toying with a gem pendant she had admired all day.

Luo hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "If... I’m unable to use Nen for a while, would that affect the training plan?"

Bisky shifted her gaze and tilted her head to look at Luo, puzzled. "Why hypothesize such a scenario?"

Luo hummed lowly, as he couldn’t reveal the existence of the White Smoke font, but he had to explain somehow, so he blamed it on Nen exorcism—being put into Zetsu indeed related superficially to removing Nen.

He thought for a moment and explained, "I want to remove the Nen from the scores, but after removing the Nen, I might be unable to use Nen for some time."

"The cost of your Nen removal is a compulsory ‘Zetsu’?" Bisky asked.

Luo nodded, and Bisky’s interpretation aligned with what he meant.

Bisky, a master of lie detection, didn’t notice anything unusual at that moment. She remembered how Luo removed Nen in the tomb without any preparatory rituals, finding the whole process quick and effortless, and realized the cost was a compulsory ‘Zetsu’.

Such a cost should not be overlooked by Nen users.

"If it will affect the training plan, I will not remove the Nen from the scores for now," Luo said.

Bisky pondered. The first phase she had set was physical training, needing Luo to be in a state of Zetsu, but that was actively using Zetsu, which could strengthen the body and refine Zetsu skills.

If entering Zetsu passively, the physical training might be slightly more effective, but it wouldn’t allow for practicing Zetsu skills. However, Nen skills were a matter for the second phase; the first phase focused on the body.

"The first phase of training requires you to be in Zetsu continuously. Although there is a slight difference between active and passive Zetsu, the main goal of the first phase is to enhance physical strength. So, go ahead and remove the Nen."

Since Nen skills were for the second phase of training, Bisky chose physical strength, and the cost of Luo’s Nen removal was timely.

"Okay."

After getting clarity, Luo returned to his room.

He was uncertain whether he would enter Zetsu, nor how long it might last if he did.

If it were for an extended period, he would need to practice ‘Ren’ to reduce the duration while also focusing on physical training. If the duration was short, he would concentrate solely on physical training.

Watching Luo walk into his room and close the door, Bisky fell into deep thought.

She hadn’t expected the cost of Luo’s Nen removal to be a compulsory Zetsu, especially since Luo had removed such strong Nen in the tomb, accumulating enough to be forcibly put into Zetsu. This cost was not too outrageous.

The number of Nen exorcists was too few, countable on one hand within the association, so it was essential to keep Luo tied to the association.

Back in his room, Luo took out the scores.

At that moment, a black cat left his hand, materialized, and floated in the air.

Luo ignored the black cat, activating the ability of the White Smoke font, and began absorbing the Nen from the scores.

The Nen, in terms of volume, was substantial, trickling into Luo’s body while the data on categories steadily increased, slowly raising the average.

During the absorption, a chill breeze coursed through Luo’s limbs and body, bringing no sense of threat.

The anticipated flood of memory images did not appear

; instead, a vague black shadow emerged in his mind. In a world flickering with white light, the shadow, with a pair of white, hollow eyes and no distinct form, surged with dark waves, suppressing the white light and assertively making its presence known.

As this image appeared, the chill inside Luo intensified, slightly uncomfortable but not severe.

Moments later, when the data average reached 43%, the Nen on the scores ceased to exist, completely absorbed into Luo’s body.

Simultaneously, Luo’s Ten could no longer be maintained, and he indeed entered a compulsory state of Zetsu, while in his consciousness, the White Smoke font formed a slowly pulsing number—half a year.

Luo checked the time and muttered, “Half a year, huh…”

Before he could finish, the scores in his hand suddenly turned to ash, scattering from his palm to the ground.

The solo harp piece from the Dark Sonata thus disappeared from the world forever, with no known hand-copied versions; it was certain the original was gone.

If no hand-copied versions were circulated outside, then Luo would be the only person in the world who mastered the solo harp piece.

Watching the pile of ashes on the ground, Luo showed no reaction; he had intended to destroy the scores after absorbing the Nen, and now that they had turned to ash themselves, it saved him some trouble.

“How was the harvest?” the black cat curiously asked.

“Not bad,” Luo responded nonchalantly.

He had already confirmed the limitations of his targets from the black cat and learned some information about the black cat itself. Now, he had come to regard the black cat as his own Nen beast, albeit not an easy one to command.

Among that information, the crucial part was that the black cat and he shared a life-and-death bond; if he died, the black cat would suffer too. It was for this reason that Luo fully accepted the black cat.

Now, as he would be unable to use Nen for half a year, the black cat would have to step up to protect him if it didn’t want to be implicated.

The black cat couldn’t sense the benefits Luo gained from that peculiar ability. Seeing Luo’s evasive response, it knew he wouldn’t reveal much and didn’t press further.

When the average rose to 43%, Luo felt a significant boost in the volume of energy in his body, though he couldn’t test how long he could sustain using Ren at full strength now.

To know what effects surpassing 40% would bring, he would have to wait until after the seal was broken.

Luo suddenly remembered the promise he had made to Chrollo, so he took out his phone and sent Chrollo a message: “No ancient books in the tomb.”

Far away, Chrollo received Luo’s message.

At that moment, he and his troupe members were gathered in an unfinished building.

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