In what should've been a cool scene—the senior expert points his finger, all the juniors get hit by his technique—three "fish that slipped through the net" were still standing firm, completely unaffected.
A bit embarrassing.
Especially for the other thirty-plus fighters whose "souls" had been knocked out of their bodies.
An instant decision formed!
Everyone's "souls" looked at each other. Then quickly rationalized: We agreed the Sensui Mountain Conference wouldn't compete with Nen or aura, just martial arts!
These three people used their aura to block the Sky Master's move. That's not martial arts. Doesn't count as skill!
Thinking this way made everyone feel much better.
The Sky Master didn't look embarrassed at all. Rather, he seemed quite pleased.
Being alert enough to immediately mount a qualified defense and resist with Ken—it seems these three young people have very solid fundamentals!
Hart looked at the back of his body's head. At Senior Brother Wing, John Smith, and Shizuku who stood their ground and defended against the Sky Master's "attack."
Shame suddenly welled up in his heart. Am I the only one who got tricked?
After Liam and Wing noticed the fingers that had appeared on their foreheads dissolve into the air, they glanced at the martial artists around them whose "souls" had been knocked out.
Even though their "souls" were punched out from the backs of their heads, the fighters' bodies still stood where they were.
No doubt about it. This so-called "soul" was aura.
The Sky Master had pointed a finger through the air and popped out a little bit of aura from these people's heads. Judging from the rich and vivid expressions on these people's "souls" and the numbness of their actual physical bodies, part of their consciousness had also been transferred into the aura that was expelled from their bodies.
Liam and Wing looked at each other. Each found the other trying to understand the details of the Sky Master's ability.
For a qualified Nen user, you need to maintain the ability to think and act efficiently in combat at all times. This is what Bisky taught Wing. What Liam saw in the manga—Bisky teaching Gon and Killua.
The Sky Master stroked his beard and nodded with satisfaction. "There's no need to be so vigilant. This move of mine isn't powerful enough to really knock a person's soul out of their body! In fact, what is a soul? Even for those of us familiar with Nen, who can say clearly? What I knocked out of your heads was just a bit of aura and a portion of 'illusion.'"
Illusion?
The thirty-plus martial artists wandering outside were surprised.
Liam and Wing understood clearly. The Sky Master's move was more like Emission—so it would never truly pop a person's soul out of their body. It was more like a strong Manipulation characteristic!
Emission was adjacent to Manipulation. Even if the Sky Master could really eject a person's soul from their body, he'd never be able to do it so easily.
The stronger the effect of a Nen ability, the stronger the restriction must be.
If you wanted to pop a person's soul out and achieve such strong "control" over their consciousness and actions, it would be impossible to do it just by pointing a finger through the air.
Either you'd need to pay a huge price—like trading one life for another.
Or you'd need to set up complicated, difficult steps. The biggest role of these complicated steps was to provide the opponent room for vigilance and counterattack, despite the powerful "control" effect.
And this was still for a "Manipulation ability."
The Sky Master's finger was obviously Emission. Pure Manipulation required even more restrictions and a greater price. Obviously, the Sky Master's behavior just now didn't conform to any of those requirements. So naturally, there was almost no possibility he'd actually ejected these people's souls from their bodies.
Surprised shouts came from all around. After someone's "soul" left their body, their body—which had been standing numbly in place—suddenly came to life. The person screamed in surprise.
As their body was "resurrected," the "soul" that had been punched out from the back of their head quietly dispersed with a poof.
"Scared me to death."
"I really don't want to experience that feeling again."
"It's more comfortable to have a healthy body!"
The martial artists recovered one after another. The "souls" behind their heads disappeared one by one—poof, poof, poof—and everyone felt relieved.
From beginning to end, all they'd lost was the aura of their "soul" that had dissipated.
Hart's frozen body also came back to life. He slapped his head in frustration.
Both Liam and Wing realized the real effect of the Sky Master's move wasn't to make the opponent lose much aura. It was to make the opponent mistakenly believe their soul had left their body for a moment.
This is a control technique using Emission!
The opponent would be dazed for a moment, not knowing where they were or whether their soul had left their body. That moment was when the Sky Master would really unleash his killer move and secure victory with one strike.
But at the same time, this one-finger move was very obvious. As long as the opponent realized their soul hadn't left their body, they could immediately return and regain freedom. This was the restriction of this move—the risk associated with its powerful effect.
Liam couldn't help remembering: in the Yorknew City arc of the manga, Killua's grandfather Zeno had just heard Chrollo could steal other people's Nen abilities. Based on experience alone, he immediately and accurately guessed Chrollo needed to meet five prerequisites to steal successfully.
The Sky Master glanced at the crowd. It seemed only a few of them were qualified Nen users already analyzing the ability of his finger.
"'Out-of-body experience' is just an illusion. As long as you realize this, you can easily regain control of your body." The Sky Master stroked his beard and smiled slightly. "But on the other hand, once you already have this concept in your mind, when I pop your 'souls' out again... at that point, it will be more difficult to maintain the state of 'wandering outside the body' and keep your physical body empty."
Hart's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. He guessed the Sky Master's intention.
Is this the so-called willpower competition?
Who can resist "wandering outside" and not "return to the physical body"?
The rest of the people realized the challenge belatedly.
But Shizuku raised her hand. "If I win this competition, will there be prize money?"
Hart was shocked. What's the point of asking that at a time like this?
The Sky Master said, "There have never been material rewards at the Sensui Mountain Conference."
Right! So the focus was on honor! The other martial artists all looked over. Especially with Shingen-ryu involved—who wouldn't want to surpass them?
Shizuku lowered her hand. She said calmly, "Then I forfeit."
"Of course you can." After the Sky Master finished speaking, he looked around at everyone. Finally, he pointed again.
This time, Liam and Wing also failed to hold on.
More than thirty fingers teleported through the air to everyone's foreheads. A ball of aura shot from the back of everyone's head, transforming into an ethereal humanoid form like a soul.
Liam and Wing looked at the backs of their heads—standing motionless—and at their hands that now felt like spirits.
I can return to my physical body at any time.
This thought flashed through their minds. Liam and Wing immediately stopped their thoughts. Their "souls," which had almost dispersed, stabilized.
"It's a bit like the technique of Ten."
The "soul" floating behind Wing's head groped for the secret of maintaining "wandering outside the body." "But not exactly the same."
Of course it wasn't exactly the same.
If it were, Wing's physical body was already wrapped in Ten at this moment. And when the body moved, the "soul" behind the head would dissipate and disappear on its own due to concentration transferring to the physical body.
Within a few minutes, the "soul" behind a martial artist's head dissipated. His body woke up. He fell to the ground with an annoyed expression.
If your thoughts aren't firm, you fail on the spot!
He'd just warned himself silently in his heart: "Don't forget you can return to your body voluntarily." But as soon as that thought arose, his body woke up and his consciousness returned.
It was like saying "Don't think of elephants" to someone—the listener would definitely think of an elephant first.
Ten minutes later, the "souls" of two more martial artists dissipated. Their bodies revived. They looked at each other and sighed.
A willpower competition like this?
Too difficult!
Liam looked at the back of his head with a strange expression.
I don't feel any difficulty at all!
Is it because I have one hundred percent control over my body?
Liam's body stood calmly in place. Eyes half-closed. Hands naturally lowered. The "soul" floating behind his head was also very stable, as if it really were a soul "wandering outside the body."
If you think about it carefully, I shouldn't be used to this 'out-of-body perspective' feeling!
When I project my consciousness onto a Star Mark bearer, I always feel this way.
Liam had long grown accustomed to it.
Even Wing's "soul" on the side was sitting cross-legged in the air, "meditating," trying his best not to let his thoughts scatter. If he relaxed, all previous efforts could be wasted. The illusion would disappear and his main consciousness would revive in his physical body.
But Liam's "soul" was a little idle.
He looked around. Turned his head. Met Shizuku's eyes.
Shizuku tilted her head.
Liam spread his hands.
Another hour later, one after another the "souls" of martial artists dissipated and woke in their own bodies.
Hart opened his eyes. After realizing he was out, he knocked his head again in frustration.
Recalling the feeling just now, Hart muttered to himself solemnly, "Not only could I not help thinking about the risk of returning to my body, but the longer the 'soul' floated outside..." He hugged his arms and trembled. His face wrinkled in discomfort. "It's indescribably uncomfortable!"
"It's like your whole person is really dying from the inside out!"
Someone from the martial arts families who'd been defeated before echoed with empathy.
A martial artist shook his head shudderingly. "I've been to sea before. Alone. Floating in the endless ocean. Didn't see anyone for ten days straight. No cell signal. Could only look in a mirror and talk to myself. Easy to become anxious and depressed. The strong sense of loneliness was deeper than the ocean itself. But I have to say—if I could persist in that same state for three days, I'd rather float alone at sea for three years!"
And his words made everyone realize: the first test of willpower the Sky Master mentioned lasted for three days!
"The full three days must be carried out in this state?" A "soul" asked incredulously. "Without interruption?"
The Sky Master nodded. "Of course. How else can we tell the difference?"
"What about eating?"
"Sky Master, please stop joking."
"With your strength, it won't be a big deal if you don't eat or drink for three days." The Sky Master stroked his beard and smiled. "Besides, who said you can't eat, drink, or relieve yourself in that state?"
"You can?" Shizuku showed a rare expression of surprise.
Hart looked at her in astonishment. "Sister Shizuku, is it because..." He looked at John Smith, whose body was standing still, and the "soul" behind his head floating in the air with crossed legs.
Did Sister Shizuku guess this situation from the beginning, so she forfeited just to take care of John Smith's body while he couldn't move during these three days?
The Sky Master said, "In this test of willpower, the standard is how long your 'soul' that's been knocked out can last. Not how long your body can remain motionless."
Everyone suddenly remembered: the Sky Master had said long ago the so-called "soul" knocked out of the body was just their illusion. In other words, their bodies had always been normal. They'd always been able to move freely. The problem was—if they wanted their bodies to move, there'd inevitably be a problem of shifting attention. Once attention left the "soul" at the back of the head, the "soul" could easily dissipate immediately.
How to master the balance is the real test.
Wing understood this clearly.
Liam also realized the difficulty hadn't changed. As long as he was willing, he could give orders at any time to let his body be entrusted to Star Mark. Never mind eating, drinking, and relieving himself—he could perform an entire set of military boxing on the spot. Simple.
Many of the twenty-plus warriors still struggling to keep their attention focused on the "external soul" were almost screaming in their hearts.
Same with Tetsuro.
Just three days without food or drink. What does it matter? Focus on—
"I don't care how you choose. As I said before, this competition is about how long the 'soul' in the back of your head lasts." The Sky Master held up three fingers and smiled. "But the second competition three days from now is about martial arts. It's a competition of martial arts using this 'out-of-body' method to control the body."
Everyone was shocked!
The Sky Master explained, "It's not easy to eliminate the interference of other factors and only compete in martial arts! Especially to eliminate the factor of strength. I was also very troubled. In the end, I could only come up with this method—a bit of a shortcut. In other words, those of you who can persist in the first competition have three days in advance to try exploring and becoming familiar with this method of remotely controlling the body and using martial arts. Of course, if you try this way, there's the possibility of making a mistake and causing your 'soul' to dissipate, being eliminated from the first game early. That might be easier than dismissing distracting thoughts and starving for three days."
The old man is evil!
This thought came to everyone's mind.
Wing was genuinely ashamed. Why does this Sky Master's style remind me of President Netero?
Liam was speechless. Now the second match has completely lost its suspense. Just put the champion's trophy in my arms.
Liam's body, together with the "soul" behind his head, turned to look in the direction of the front mountain.
His move caused a strong psychological impact on other competitors.
It's that simple?
Why didn't John Smith's 'soul' dissipate because of his body's rash actions?!
Shizuku wasn't surprised. As soon as she'd heard the rules of this competition, she understood that for Liam, the first two matches were basically not difficult at all.
When she heard Liam's surprised voice through the Moon Mark in her mind, she also turned her head to look in the direction of his gaze.
[Has Suzaku arrived?]
[Yeah.]
[That guy's really lazy.]
The rock sparrow flapped its wings and flew from the branches. It was about to fly toward the front mountain when it saw a figure sitting very comfortably in the corner of the villa hotel roof.
"Oh?" Netero suddenly looked toward the rock sparrow.