It seems it wasn't a hallucination.
In the room's bathroom, Noah was frowning as he looked at his right arm.
Ever since dinner, Noah had felt a slight abnormality in his right arm; his entire arm had a faint burning and stinging sensation.
He initially thought it was a hallucination, but as time passed, the burning and stinging grew more intense, and Noah realized it wasn't his imagination.
Cold water flowed over Noah's right arm, but he didn't feel any coolness.
He tried clenching his fist and found his movements were smooth and unaffected.
"What's going on?" Noah was perplexed by the current situation; he couldn't tell if the sensation in his arm was good or bad.
After drying himself and leaving the bathroom, the burning sensation still hadn't subsided.
Noah shook his arm, decided to ignore it, and sat cross-legged on the bed, preparing to begin his qi refining for the day.
Although he knew his qi refining was unrelated to Nen abilities, Noah had no intention of giving it up.
Even if it wasn't as obvious as Nen, qi refining undoubtedly enhanced his strength.
If it weren't for a month of persistent training and qi refining, Noah believed his fate today wouldn't have been any better than those five unfortunate individuals.
The moment Noah closed his eyes and entered a state of qi refining, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his right arm.
The sudden, intense pain caused Noah to abruptly open his eyes, which he had just closed.
He instinctively grabbed his right arm, breaking out of his qi refining state.
"Ah!" A cry of pain escaped him.
Falling onto the bed, Noah's eyes were wide open, and he gritted his teeth tightly.
The incident happened too suddenly for Noah to react; he could only silently endure the pain.
Following the sharp pain was a sensation of swelling; Noah felt as if his arm was an inflated balloon, seemingly ready to burst with a light poke.
As time passed, the pain and swelling not only didn't subside but began to spread throughout his entire body.
The worst part was that while it's said extreme pain triggers the body's protective mechanism, causing one to faint after reaching a certain intensity, Noah, at this moment, was so frighteningly conscious that fainting was out of the question.
He didn't know how long it had been, but Noah felt he had become numb.
This numbness was literal; every inch of his body was tingling and unresponsive.
The swelling had reached its limit, and Noah clearly felt that in the next second, his body would explode as if it were to burst!
"Ah!"
With his last ounce of strength, Noah let out a roar, and then he felt himself 'explode.'
Not dead?
One second? Or two seconds, Noah slowly opened his eyes.
He realized he was still alive; the imagined bloody mess hadn't appeared.
The burning sensation, the intense pain, and the swelling all vanished at that moment.
Noah could only feel that his body was filled with endless power.
Easily sitting up, Noah clearly saw a stream of off-white aura, like steam, emanating from his body.
These streams were escaping from every pore on Noah's body.
Life energy! Nen ability!
Two concepts flashed through Noah's mind like lightning as he looked at the aura surrounding him.
Nen ability, as it is called, involves opening one's aura nodes to draw out the life energy within the body, which is 'aura.'
Mastering the method of controlling this aura makes one a Nen user.
Noah's current state was, without a doubt, a sign that his aura nodes had been opened.
The off-white aura, like steam, permeating around him was Noah's aura.
If he allowed this aura to dissipate, Noah would face only one outcome: exhaustion and collapse.
Therefore, to prevent this, Noah had only one thing to do at this moment:
Control and retain this aura within his body, achieving the most basic step in using Nen abilities—Ten!
Thinking of this, Noah immediately sprang up from the bed, stood straight by the bedside, closed his eyes, and began to try and perceive the aura within his body.
He didn't realize it until he tried; the moment Noah closed his eyes, he was startled.
Inside his body, an unprecedented change had occurred.
He found that he could now control every muscle in his body, and not just that—his bones, and even every single cell throughout his body, he could perceive and control.
This feeling? Controlling cells? Master?
Noah suddenly recalled seeing his master once make a large cut on his hand with a sharp knife.
Then, under Noah's gaze, in just two short minutes, the deep, bone-revealing wound healed completely, leaving no scar.
At that time, his master had told him that when qi refining reached his level, one could easily control every inch of their muscles, bones, and even cells.
Controlling cells to rapidly divide and achieve quick regeneration was as easy as flipping a hand.
He had only just opened his aura nodes, and he was already on par with his master—is this the Nen ability of this world?
Excitement, intense excitement; this was Noah's current mood.
With this ability to perfectly control his body, Noah effortlessly sensed the aura flowing throughout his body.
With a thought, this aura quickly calmed down and, according to Noah's will, enveloped his body.
Slowly opening his eyes and looking at the aura enveloping his body like a second skin, Noah finally couldn't help but smile.
Ten, one of the four basic principles of Nen, is the most fundamental application of Nen ability.
It involves stabilizing and controlling the aura flowing throughout the body, maintaining it around the surface to enhance one's defense.
Learning Ten meant that Noah had now officially stepped into the world of Nen abilities.
Even if this was just an insignificant step, it was enough to make Noah feel excited and joyful.
If Noah were to fight Ash again at this moment, he might not necessarily win against Ash, but at least he wouldn't end up as disheveled as before.
Among other things, Ash's method of suppressing opponents with malice was now completely ineffective against Noah.
What Noah needed to do next was to master the use of Ten, integrate its application into his instincts, and then gradually learn other Nen ability applications, step by step enhancing his own strength.
Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu... and all sorts of other application techniques related to Nen abilities; just thinking about it filled Noah with excitement.
"Not just Nen abilities, I also can't neglect my qi refining.
Master said that his realm was only touching the surface; the truly powerful stuff is yet to come."
Maintaining Ten, Noah stood by the window and murmured.