The effectiveness of the fusion technique combining Starlight Convergence and Terpsichora was tested through the practical battle with Hisoka.
Based on the experience of using it for the first time, it had indeed met expectations very well.
The most significant advantage of this fusion technique was that it completely skipped the "thinking" process.
To be more precise, it transmitted "information" directly to every muscle and nerve ending in the body.
By eliminating this otherwise indispensable step, one could always react faster than the opponent in the lightning-fast exchanges of offense and defense.
The value of this trait in combat was self-evident.
Moreover, unlike Killua's Whirlwind, which reacted based on sensing malice, Starlight Convergence provided much more detailed informational feedback.
Beyond that, there was another key difference between the two: Starlight Convergence's perception range was far greater than Whirlwind's.
Based on this point alone, Terpsichora was indeed a better fit for the Starlight Convergence system.
In any case, the conceptual puzzle for the ability to become the world's strongest could now be considered complete.
Next, he just needed to resolve the Chimera Ant incident step by step.
Morrow walked out of the messy alley and headed toward the central region of East Gorteau.
Following the course of action from before the regression, he was supposed to spend the next few days with the workhorse-like Hisoka, searching for lower-ranking Chimera Ant soldiers within East Gorteau to prepare blood packs for the subsequent assault on the palace.
Once the blood packs were ready, he would rendezvous with the main force and await the day of the final assault.
But this time around, there was something more important than collecting blood packs.
King against king, general against general.
The original matchup list had to be changed.
Chairman Netero should be... in the Saggono Mountains in central East Gorteau by now, right?
Walking out of the alley, Morrow identified his direction, and with a slight stir of his thoughts, a clownesque puppeteer instantly materialized above his shoulders.
「Terpsichora」
The clownesque puppeteer stretched its arms like a pair of wings suspended in mid-air, with countless fine Nen strings draping down to connect to the joints all over Morrow's body.
Immediately after, the phantom, which seemed to defy gravity, lifted Morrow up like a marionette, flying into the air.
「In」
Morrow's thoughts turned again as he attempted to conceal the phantom of Terpsichora.
It actually succeeded.
The clownesque puppeteer's presence was hidden, but the ability's effect continued. Morrow remained suspended in the air, as if riding the wind, heading toward the Saggono Mountains.
According to the conventional understanding of the Nen System, an ability like Terpsichora, which could break through one's own limits of strength and speed, usually had to bear the Limitation of being unable to hide the puppeteer.
Being unable to hide the puppeteer also meant that the opponent could perceive the operational trajectory of the Nen strings, thereby predicting the user's offensive intentions.
Just like with Morrow's Starlight Convergence, as long as one's speed could keep up, they could easily capture the puppeteer's hand movements.
He had used this very technique when he fought Neferpitou before.
And the Terpsichora under Tree Rings, having become stronger through Post-Mortem Will, had been enhanced in many ways.
However, compared to the effect of hiding the clownesque puppeteer, the ability to abruptly freeze in mid-air from a state of extreme motion, which he had witnessed when fighting Neferpitou's corpse, was the most terrifying.
Presumably, the Terpsichora he had now imprinted could also do that.
But Morrow wouldn't use this ability lightly.
Because he didn't possess Neferpitou's ridiculously strong bone and muscle structure.
If he were to brake abruptly under Terpsichora's control, the inertia would only injure his own body.
Before I find Chairman Netero, I should familiarize myself with the ability.
Soaring high in the sky, Morrow's gaze was calm as he sank into thought.
He had previously tried to persuade Netero to use the Poor Man's Rose directly, but he had failed.
The reason was that he had been utterly defeated by the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva in their warm-up match, naturally losing his right to speak.
And at this point in time, Netero should already be in the Saggono Mountains, conserving his energy and preparing for the upcoming decisive battle.
What Morrow wanted to do now was to be the one to invite Netero to another warm-up match.
One match each. Very fair.
If he could win this time, then he would take on the King.
More importantly, he needed to use this warm-up match to verify whether the fusion of Starlight Convergence and Terpsichora could stand up to the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.
If it could, it would be enough to prove that he was fully capable of defeating the King.
After all, he still had another trump card up his sleeve.
For the next few days, Morrow continuously familiarized himself with the use of 「Terpsichora」 near the Saggono Mountains.
Once he felt sufficiently prepared, he immediately set off to find Netero.
Before the regression, the Extermination Team had relied on Kalluto contacting Zeno to finally get in touch with Netero before the operation.
Although Morrow didn't know Netero's exact location in the mountains, finding him wouldn't be difficult.
Not long after entering the mountain range, Morrow immediately sensed an intense killing intent.
The source of that killing intent was the aura Netero was emitting while performing his spiritual unification.
Morrow followed the trail of killing intent and soon discovered Netero meditating cross-legged atop a pillar-like rock mountain.
Surprisingly, on top of another rock mountain nearby, Zeno was also present.
Morrow didn't overthink it, nor did he intend to hide his 「Terpsichora」 ability. He simply flew through the air toward their location.
His arrival immediately caught Zeno's attention.
Watching Morrow fly over, Zeno's brows twitched slightly, a flash of astonishment in his eyes.
As a seasoned master, he had long developed the habit of subconsciously activating 「Gyo」 when faced with unusual situations.
Gazing intently now, he saw a blurry, red, half-bodied humanoid phantom, suspending Morrow with Nen threads as he flew over.
For the widely experienced Zeno, a peculiar ability in itself was not enough to surprise him.
What truly moved him was the faint black Post-Mortem Nen circulating within the clownesque puppeteer.
And the aura Morrow was currently emitting actually made even him feel a distinct sense of pressure.
Truly incredible...
Zeno's eyes narrowed slightly, unable to hide the shock in his heart.
Although he hadn't paid special attention to Morrow before, he had a general understanding of the young man's background.
To witness such an exaggerated transformation now, it was truly hard to imagine what the other party had experienced in just a few short years to raise his strength to this level.
On the adjacent pillar-like rock mountain, Netero abruptly opened his eyes and also saw Morrow being suspended by Terpsichora.
Unlike Zeno's concealed shock, Netero felt more confusion.
Because he had experienced this ability, Terpsichora, from Neferpitou.
To be more precise, it was an ability that Neferpitou had comprehended during their battle after he had pushed her into a desperate situation.
Of course, although Netero had experienced the terrifying talent of the Chimera Ants, he also knew that such a complete ability could never be comprehended out of thin air in the middle of a fight.
Neferpitou must have had in-depth conceptualization and preparation for this ability before their battle.
And he had merely given her an insignificant push during the fight.
In other words, this form of ability was not something you could have just because you wanted it, or master just because you wanted to learn it.
Yet what Morrow was displaying now was identical to the ability he had seen from Neferpitou.
In addition to that, Netero, just like Zeno, clearly sensed the change in Morrow's aura.
Stronger, and more oppressive.
This deepened the confusion in his heart, and a look of inquiry couldn't help but appear in his old eyes.
Morrow took in the reactions of the two old men, but he didn't mind.
His purpose in coming here was to use Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva to test the limits of Starlight Convergence · Cosmic Choreography.
And when using this fusion technique, besides the red threads connecting the stars, the phantom of Terpsichora would also appear around his body to further enhance his physical strength and speed.
Morrow didn't want to see Netero get distracted by this phenomenon during their warm-up match.
So he might as well give Netero a mental heads-up in advance.
Meeting their gazes, Morrow landed steadily on the rock mountain opposite Netero and then deactivated his Terpsichora ability.
"Chairman Netero, care to warm up with me?"
He stood on the summit, looked at Netero who was exuding a sharp aura, and got straight to the point.
Netero didn't respond to Morrow's words immediately. Instead, he slowly stood up, his gaze like a torch as he scrutinized the changes in Morrow.
What on earth is going on...
Netero suppressed the confusion and inquiry in his heart and slowly spoke, "A warm-up... It seems you're very eager to take the lead in this operation."
Although his tone was as calm as usual, the days of spiritual unification had tempered his spirit into a sharp blade wiped clean of rust.
As a result, even his soft-spoken words now faintly carried a heart-palpitating edge.
"That's not it."
Seeing Netero's misunderstanding, Morrow shook his head slightly. "Since I lost that day, I won't bring up bombing the palace with the Poor Man's Rose again. I don't need to take the lead. I just want one arrangement: I will be the one to deal with the King."
Not only did he want to take on the King, but he also had to shoulder the Limitation of ending the extermination battle faster than Netero.
"Oh?"
Netero was quite surprised.
He had thought Morrow wanted to bring up the proposal of bombing the palace with the Poor Man's Rose again, but he hadn't expected him to be trying to steal his opponent.
"Can I interpret it this way..."
Netero stared into Morrow's eyes and said slowly, "Your confidence in challenging the King comes from that... ability identical to one of the Royal Guards'?"
This sentence was clearly split into two questions.
Morrow's expression was calm as he said, "I don't have that confidence yet. But if I can beat you here, Chairman, then I'll be certain I can defeat the King."
He paused here, not avoiding the underlying inquiry and doubt in Netero's words, and a sharp battle intent surged from his body.
"Compared to this upcoming warm-up match that will decide who gets to pick their opponent first, are other matters really that important?"
"Ho ho..."
Netero couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
He didn't press the issue further.
Because the aura and battle intent Morrow displayed in his answer were indeed far more important than the "answer" to a question.
What he saw at this moment was like an opponent who could stand at the same height as himself.
Like two rock mountains of similar height, standing opposite each other.
Since that was the case, why not wait until after they fought to ask any questions?
"These old bones of mine... have been sitting here for days. It wouldn't hurt to stretch them out a bit beforehand."
Netero formally accepted Morrow's challenge.
Undeniably, Morrow had ignited his fighting spirit.
On the other rock mountain, Zeno watched this scene and silently retreated, drifting like a falling leaf to a more distant summit, clearing the battlefield.
He could feel Netero's battle intent.
He could also tell that Netero's fighting spirit wasn't ignited just by these few words of conversation.
The real trigger was the undisguised intensity of Morrow's aura, which even he could feel pressure from.
Although judging an opponent's strength based on aura alone was a hasty thing to do, as Zeno's gaze swept between the opposing Morrow and Netero, a conclusion naturally surfaced from the bottom of his heart.
They were evenly matched.
On the contrary, he, the bystander, had become the one with the weakest aura here.
In the arena, numerous cylindrical stone pillars stood scattered like plum blossom stakes.
Morrow and Netero faced each other from a distance, their auras still continuously rising.
Perhaps concerned about being seen as a senior bullying a junior, Netero did not strike first, instead choosing to counter stillness with stillness.
Morrow sensed his intention and, without further hesitation, activated his ability first.
「Starlight Convergence · Cosmic Choreography」
Vast Nen shattered into a sky full of stars, and countless red threads shuttled between them, instantly enveloping the area where Netero stood.
At the same time, a half-bodied clownesque puppeteer materialized above Morrow's shoulders, suspended like a pair of wings.
If categorized by type, Starlight Convergence was more geared towards defense and counter-attack.
But at this moment, Morrow chose to take the offensive.
Under the extreme amplification of Terpsichora, his figure transformed into an afterimage, shooting toward Netero like an arrow released from a bow.
Fusing two abilities into one, is it...
Netero's thoughts flashed, and his palms suddenly clasped together.
After noticing the significant changes in Morrow, his opening move was...
「100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva: 99th Hand」
A solemn, golden Guanyin materialized out of thin air. A sky full of palm shadows rained down like a golden waterfall, crashing toward the charging Morrow.
This grandiose attack made no secret of its intention to end the battle with overwhelming force.
However...
Morrow's consciousness and body were both separate and resonant at this moment.
His consciousness sank into the realm of 「Spirit Echoes」, gradually capturing the trajectory of the Guanyin's limbs within the golden light and shadows.
And his body, under the effect of 「Starlight Convergence · Cosmic Choreography」, perceived the attack route of the 99th Hand with even greater clarity.
In an instant where time seemed to freeze, an escape path emerged from within the overlapping sky of palm shadows.
As the Nen strings tensed one by one, Morrow, moving at a speed that surpassed thought, became a red bolt of lightning, carving a zigzagging trajectory through the suffocating offensive.
Red and gold.
The two bursts of aura light crossed paths.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Within the area covered by the palm strikes, one cylindrical rock mountain after another crumbled to pieces.
But Morrow had already evaded the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's palm strikes and stepped onto Netero's death line in one move.
At the same moment, the condition for Starlight Convergence was met.
A golden chain appeared out of thin air, binding Netero's body.
As Netero watched Morrow bring the threat right before his eyes, a wave of turbulence surged in his heart.
On the distant rock mountain, Zeno, who had been watching the battle with rapt attention, saw this scene, and the shock he had hidden in his heart finally, uncontrollably, showed on his face.
This...
How is this possible?