Sophia followed Leo to his lounge, number 2079.
Leo picked up an ordinary piece of paper from the table, infused it with Nen, and tossed it casually at the wall.
The paper shot out like a flying dagger, and half of it instantly embedded into the wall.
Sophia widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief.
"This is Nen," Leo said, turning around.
"Every contestant on the 200th floor can do it. The only difference is the degree of mastery."
A blazing light erupted in Sophia's eyes, and she nodded excitedly.
Leo walked to the center of the training area and began to explain, his tone calm and clear.
"The so-called 'Nen' is the ability to freely manipulate the life energy that overflows from the body—'Qi'. Although everyone slowly emits a trace amount of life energy, most people cannot control its leakage."
He held up a finger: "The technique to keep 'Qi' inside the body is called 'Ten'. Learning 'Ten' can make the body stronger and even delay aging."
Leo paused for a moment, his expression turning serious.
"'Qi' is energy emitted from the human body, so its effect is most significant when used against the human body. Regardless of whether the motive is good or not—if one has ill intent and attacks an unsuspecting person, one can kill using only 'Qi'."
He stomped his foot lightly.
"Bang!"
The ground cracked with spiderweb-like fissures centered on his right foot, spreading out for a meter.
Sophia swallowed hard.
"The only way to counter someone using 'Nen'," Leo continued, "is to learn 'Nen' yourself and use 'Ten' to defend. Use your own 'Qi' to defend against the opponent's 'Qi'. Otherwise, your body will be crushed."
Sophia took a deep breath and asked the most crucial question.
"Then is there any way for me to learn 'Nen' too?"
Leo smiled slightly.
"Two ways. Awaken it slowly, or awaken it forcibly."
"The first requires years of practice—learning to sense the existence of 'Qi' through meditation, sitting, and other methods, gradually learning it step by step. Whether one can learn it and how long it takes depends on individual Aptitude."
He looked at the clock on the wall.
"And you... if you don't register for the 200th floor before midnight tonight, you will be disqualified and have to start over from the first floor."
Sophia's expression changed.
"The second way."
Leo's voice turned cold.
"It is to be directly contacted by an attack infused with Nen from a Nen User. Many contestants on the 200th floor learned Nen this way—the cost is broken limbs, and those who get hit are either dead or injured. They call it 'Baptism'."
Sophia's face turned pale, and cold sweat seeped from her back.
She remembered the terrifying pressure she felt in the hallway earlier—if that had been an attack...
She stood up and bowed deeply to Leo.
"Master, thank you! If it weren't for your warning, I might have..."
"Stop."
Leo interrupted her.
"First of all, I will not take you as a disciple. I warned you only because I didn't want to watch you throw your life away for nothing."
Sophia became anxious.
"Master, I really want to be your disciple and learn from you! Please give me a chance!"
Leo was silent for a moment.
"Let's not talk about that for now. I can forcibly help you open your 'Nen'. Choose for yourself—awaken slowly, or awaken forcibly?"
Sophia lowered her head, her fists clenched. A few seconds later, she looked up, her eyes determined.
"I want to awaken forcibly! I am not afraid of failure!"
Leo nodded.
"Very well. Take off your top, turn around, and face away from me."
Sophia did not hesitate at all. She quickly untied her martial arts uniform, took off her top, threw it aside, and stood ready with her back to Leo.
She had a well-proportioned figure with well-defined back muscles, along with a few bruises and scars that had not yet fully healed.
Leo took a deep breath and cleared his mind. His eyes became focused and deep.
He raised his hands, his palms hovering about a palm's distance from Sophia's back.
"Are you ready?"
Leo's voice was low and powerful.
"Here I come."
As soon as he finished speaking, his hovering palms suddenly pushed forward!
Nen pierced into Sophia's back!
"Ugh—!"
Sophia's body shuddered violently!
The Nen penetrated her body, and an indescribable torrent originating from her life's Origin, like a breached dam, gushed out wantonly from every pore of her body!
In an instant, the lounge was filled with light!
Intense white currents of Qi surged out from Sophia's body like boiling steam.
Her hair was blown upwards by the air currents, and her whole body was enveloped in the erupting halo.
Sophia stared at her hands—countless strands of white "Qi" were uncontrollably and crazily drifting away from her fingertips and her entire body.
She felt as if a valve had been opened inside her, and power was surging, but also rapidly draining away!
"Is this... Qi?!"
She shouted excitedly.
"That's right! This is the life energy, 'Qi'!"
Leo's voice carried a hint of a smile.
"Now, all the 'Aura Nodes' on your body have been forcibly pried open by me, and your life energy is overflowing like water from a broken dam. At the same time, the 'Aura Nodes' in your eyes have also been opened, which is why you can'see' this invisible energy!"
He immediately shouted, his voice carrying undeniable guidance.
"Don't just stare! Listen carefully! Focus your mind immediately! While thinking about keeping this leaking 'Qi' inside, steady your body, don't panic! Close your eyes tightly!"
Sophia immediately obeyed, closed her eyes tightly, and struggled to resist the weakness caused by the loss of that power.
Leo's voice was like a spring breeze, soothing Sophia.
"Imagine your own silhouette! Any posture will do, but you must outline it in your mind!"
"Then, imagine your 'Qi' circulating in your body like blood!"
Following Leo's guidance, Sophia frowned, completely immersed in her imagination.
She tried her best to capture and guide that unruly life energy with her mind.
Time flowed by like fine sand in an hourglass, second by second.
Sophia's brows were tightly knitted, and sweat from her forehead dripped down like broken pearls.
The white Qi currents all over her body were seesawing between wild eruption and desperate containment.
Six minutes later.
The speed at which the wildly erupting "Qi" was dissipating slowed down and converged!
The boiling mass of Qi gradually calmed down, turning into a white halo that covered her body evenly like a thin veil.
The halo clung to her skin, flowing slowly, no longer leaking.
Sophia opened her eyes, looking at the faint halo surrounding her body, her eyes full of unbelievable surprise, feeling this unprecedented power.
Leo withdrew his hand and evaluated silently.
'It took six minutes to master "Ten"... Compared to Gon and Killua, who could grasp it in just one minute, this woman's Aptitude is only passable. However...'
He looked at the almost burning persistence in Sophia's eyes and added the second half of the sentence.
'But this willpower might make up for her lack of Aptitude.'
Sophia turned around and bowed deeply again—this time, the faint white halo flowed with her movements, steadily maintained on her body surface.
"Thank you... Master Leo."
She looked up, her eyes glistening with tears.
"I... I did it."