I looked at him strangely, and he actually smiled.

I was somewhat bewildered, wanting to ask him what exactly was going on.

Ishida, however, spoke, “You’ve obtained that ancient book, enabling you to materialize your Nen, but you are still too weak right now to bring out its true power. I merely intended to guide you a bit; otherwise, even if we were to have a duel, it would be meaningless. I never duel with the weak.”

I saw that he didn’t sound like he was joking, but I also felt his reasoning was rather flimsy. Nevertheless, for me, this was a good thing.

I grabbed his hand and stood up. He then stepped back a few paces and said to me, “Nen power is a gentle, gradual force. If you unleash it all at once, you lose the power to sustain it. Not only will you fail to utilize its true strength, but you will also expose major weaknesses.”

The way he spoke sounded like a coach, and any lingering caution I had instantly dissolved. I asked, “But this Nen feels too drawn out. If I release it slowly, even tapping someone’s back feels light—how can it hurt anyone?”

Ishida shook his head and said, “Don’t you know what accumulation means?”

I frowned and asked, “Accumulation?”

Ishida nodded, pointed to a nearby stone, and said, “Try hitting this stone with your most violent burst of power and see if you can shatter it.”

I looked at him. Although I couldn't find any reason to obey him, I hesitated for a moment before doing as he said.

That fierce strength burst forth, slamming into the half-human-height stone, but it only kicked up a layer of dust. The stone didn't budge.

Ishida let out a cold laugh and said, “Good. Now, try to concentrate the Nen in your hand, but don’t let it discharge yet.”

I nodded and began to follow his instructions. A bluish gas began to emanate from my arm, then slowly expanded like an inflating balloon.

As the blue gas grew thicker and denser, I felt a sense of panic, and my hand began to tremble.

I realized that controlling Nen into a fixed shape was an incredibly difficult task.

But Ishida shouted from the side, “Hold on!”

Whether it was for pride or the desire to rapidly increase my strength, even though I was drenched in sweat, I managed to keep the blue gas from dissipating.

It was like a long-distance run; once you passed the extreme point, it paradoxically became less tiring.

The same happened to me. After persisting for a while, the blue gas in my hand suddenly stabilized.

“Good… very good,” Ishida nodded approvingly, then instructed, “Infuse the second surge of Nen into your arm.”

I gritted my teeth and did as he said. The instability returned to my arm, this time accompanied by intense pain, like bone fracturing.

I held on for a while until I felt the second layer of Nen was also approaching its limit. I simply couldn't sustain it any longer.

The concentrated blue gas on my arm was like an unstable bomb, threatening to destroy my limb at any second.

Ishida clearly noticed this and said, “Alright, try hitting the stone again now.”

Before he could finish speaking, I vented all the force in my hand toward the stone.

This time, there was a bang, and the stone shattered, sending fragments flying everywhere, leaving a fist-sized hole.

Ishida looked at me with great satisfaction and said, “Teachable indeed. Try practicing this more on your own. If you want to inflict any damage on Lord Sasuke, don't even think about it without accumulating at least five layers.”

With that, he turned to leave.

I was completely stunned. As he lifted his foot to depart, I asked, “Who exactly are you, and why are you helping me?”

Ishida paused and replied, “You will know in time. I advise you not to follow me now; my other three associates are not as easy to talk to.”

Then he continued walking.

I stood there frozen for a full three seconds before coming back to my senses. I looked at my hand, then at the massive stone, and the events that just transpired felt somewhat dreamlike.

After calming myself, I hurried back to untie Nobita and Nie Chuan.

Nobita looked at me and asked, “Who are you? Are you that person?”

I paused, my mind racing, and said, “That’s right. You’ve gotten smart this time. When I came out, I specifically requested Nie Chuan’s Nen signature from Jie Yuting. I’m pretending to be Nie Chuan now to confuse the enemy, as he is likely their target.”

At this, Nie Chuan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said, “It really is you. I was thinking, if there were truly two of me, that would be troublesome.”

I didn't know what kind of trouble Nie Chuan was referring to, but I had already experienced similar things and didn't feel awkward about it.

Playing along, I said, “That person is inconsequential to the enemy. I might have to show my face as Nie Chuan many times in the future, so you both need to get used to it.”

They both nodded. Then Nobita asked me, “Right, weren't you trapped in that labyrinth? How did you get here? Do you know, we reached the top of the attic, were ambushed by the enemy, and captured here. It was quite a distance traveled in between. Have you been following us all along?”

I gave a wry smile and recounted everything I had experienced, including practicing the ancient book on my own.

They both found it incredible, but having already witnessed my superhuman abilities, they didn't find much reason to disbelieve me.

Nobita sighed and said, “If only I could learn too. Sadly, not everyone can open the Heavenly Eye, and there was nothing written in that book at all.”

I didn't know what to say, merely smiling helplessly. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Nobita rested for a while and said, “But it’s quite nice to have a superhero as a friend. Remember to call me when you’re out fighting crime every night. You can be Superman, and I can be Batman on the side, showing off a bit. By the way, what sort of Hero name should you have? I’ll get you a costume made then.”

I said grimly, “Now is not the time for that. We’ll talk about superhero dreams when there’s a chance to get out.”

I told them both to take off their outer clothes, revealing bruises all over their bodies, as if they had been thrashed with a shoehorn for hours.

There were many soft tissue contusions, and Nie Chuan’s leg was broken.

It seemed they had suffered greatly from the ambush by the white-haired old man. It was a miracle they weren't killed.

Looking at their injuries, I said, “It seems we'll have to rest here for a while. You two are practically incapable of moving.”

The two joked, “We’ll follow the Superman’s arrangement for everything.”

Unfortunately, they had lost their backpacks. Only my backpack still contained a tent, some food, and water.

Luckily, my tent was quite spacious, so I tucked them both inside and set up watch outside the tent while meditating.

Because as soon as I entered meditation, I didn't need to sleep, and I was acutely sensitive to every sound and movement around me. I secretly decided that from now on, I wouldn’t need to change shifts for lookout duty—I could handle it all myself.

They were likely tired too. They chatted nonsense inside the tent, ate some food, and then started snoring.

The things they were rambling about were mostly related to my future superhero career. Initially, I was disdainful, but hearing them talk about it, I started to look forward to it myself.

For example, if two buses were about to collide, I’d stand in the middle, blocking them both with one hand each, and then, amidst the astonished and grateful gazes of the crowd, I’d leap into the air, jump onto a nearby tall building, and vanish instantly. That, damn it, would be so cool.

As I thought about it, I couldn't help but chuckle silently.

After secretly laughing for a while, I resumed meditating.

After fully replenishing the Nen power I had previously expended, I began practicing the accumulation method Ishida taught me.

In truth, I wondered when in a real fight I would have time to charge up. However, charging up before an engagement and launching a surprise attack was certainly a viable option.

Moreover, according to Ishida, in the later stages, one could release some power while retaining some, so even if attacked, the remaining Nen could be used for defense. At that level, one could accumulate power while simultaneously using it in battle, achieving not only immense bursts of force but also inexhaustible Nen.

Thinking while practicing, I soon gathered the second level of force. This time, the sense of pressure was much more manageable than the last.

So, I attempted to stack a third level on top of it. However, this attempt failed. There was a poof sound from my arm, I generated a hurricane on the ground, and the recoil bounced me backward, nearly slamming into the tent.

Crawling up from the ground, my hand felt numb, and I had to rest with lingering fear.

Fortunately, the two slept like logs and weren't woken by the commotion.

After some thought, I decided it was better not to rush things. I would master the second level first before attempting the third.

I practiced like this for about two hours. The speed and stability of accumulating the second level of Nen improved significantly, requiring almost no effort now.

This time, I tried the third level again. Just as I approached the breaking point, I finally managed to stabilize the third layer.

However, being in a state of limit, I noticed the shape of the blue gas was not entirely stable.

And after holding it for a few seconds, some of the gas seeped out through my pores and astonishingly flowed back along my blood vessels.

The force on my arm began to weaken, just like a leaking balloon.

I tried to trace where the returning gas was going and found a warm, comfortable sensation in my lower abdomen.

This reminded me of a line from a Jin Yong novel: “Qi sinks to the Dantian.”

Could it be that my Dantian was accumulating the excess Nen power?

I released the Nen from my hand and tried to mobilize the warm energy in my Dantian.

But after trying many times, all I managed to produce were a few farts...

Having no other choice, I picked up the book again to take another look.