The delicacies of the heavens begin with obtaining gem meat.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, an elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in a loose white training uniform, slowly emerged from the smoke and dust.

Although she looked old, her complexion was rosy, and her eyes were surprisingly bright, revealing a sharpness and vitality that belied her age.

The newcomer was none other than Isaac Netero, the 12th president of the Hunter Association and its review committee.

"Who is this old man?"

One of the test takers swallowed hard and couldn't help but ask a question in surprise.

Men Qi took a deep breath, stepped forward, and explained to the crowd in a deep voice.

"The president of the Hunter Association, and also the highest-ranking official in charge of the Hunter Exams—President Netero!"

Upon hearing Menqi's introduction, many candidates couldn't help but show expressions of surprise.

I never expected that the old man in front of me was the president of the Hunter Association.

"Well, although I'm in charge, I'm just a behind-the-scenes person."

Netero spoke calmly, his tone as casual as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"I'm just there to step in and resolve these disputes when they occur."

Looking at Niteró, Jiang Yan curled his lip.

Mediation? He knows who Netero is; he's probably quite pleased right now.

Once the world's number one Nen user, even now in his old age and declining health, he still firmly holds a place among the world's top five Nen users and is the undisputed pillar of the Hunter Association.

Countless people in the Hunter Association revere him as a god; among the twelve earthly branches alone, more than half of the members worship Netero.

Netero deserves immense credit for the Hunter Association's current prestigious status.

But Netero's personality is quite baffling.

Despite knowing that Pariston was a spy for Beyond Netero, he still promoted Pariston to the position of vice president of the Hunter Association, just so that Pariston could cause him trouble and pass the time.

It left behind a complete mess.

Of course, these things have little to do with him.

..............................

Jiang Yan withdrew his gaze and glanced at Xisuo.

At this moment, Hisoka was squinting slightly, looking Netero up and down with great interest.

But a moment later, the murderous aura surrounding Hisoka receded like a tide, and even his smile faded considerably.

Jiang Yan understood.

As expected of Netero, he immediately made Hisoka lose interest in the challenge.

This is actually quite normal. Although Hisoka craves to fight strong opponents, he won't blindly challenge them.

Hisoka enjoys battles where the opponent is evenly matched and life and death hang in the balance, the tension of dancing on the edge of a knife.

For Hisoka, a battle where he was completely outmatched was utterly unpleasant.

"Then, Menqi."

Netero's gaze fell on Menchi, and his tone became serious.

"yes!"

Menqi immediately straightened his back, and his expression became serious.

"Your conclusion, drawn from examining the courage to challenge the unknown, is that everyone has a problem with this attitude."

"That's why it was deemed unqualified, right?"

Nitero spoke slowly, his voice unhurried.

"No, President."

Men Qi denied it, her voice tinged with guilt.

"It's because I heard the candidates belittling Gourmet Hunters that I inadvertently... made the review process too harsh."

Menqi did not lie about this, but he also concealed another reason.

That was Hisoka's uncontrollable killing intent.

From the start of the exam, Hisoka exuded a murderous aura, giving her a strong sense of threat.

This kept her on edge, and consequently, her standards of judgment became much more demanding.

However, this reason is not suitable to be stated in front of all the candidates.

"So, you yourself also feel that this review was indeed excessive, right?"

Netero remained calm.

This level of capriciousness is nothing special within the Hunter Association.

After all, there are plenty of hunters even more willful than Menchi, and the trouble they cause is far greater than this.

Now, Nitero needs to consider how to resolve this mess.

...........................

Men Qi originally intended to resign from his position as examiner.

But Nitro did not agree.

After a moment's thought, Netero had an idea.

"That's right, let's do it that way!"

"You will continue to serve as an examiner, but you will also participate in the new exams in a practical, real-world format."

"So, what do you think?"

Nitro glanced at Menchi, then turned to look at the other examinees around him.

"Wouldn't that make it easier for test takers to believe?"

The candidates naturally agreed with Netero's suggestion; as long as they could continue to participate in the Hunter Exam, they still had a chance.

It's much better than being eliminated and slinking away like this.

Menqi agreed and then began to think about what kind of test questions to give.

Since she is to personally participate in the demonstration, the test questions must be intuitive and persuasive enough.

After a moment, Menqi had an idea and announced it to the candidates.

"So the new test question is—boiled eggs!"

After announcing the exam questions, Menchi turned to Nitro and made a request.

"President, could you please use an airship to take us to Toad Tiger Mountain?"

Mahushan is not far from here; it takes about half a day to walk there.

The problem is that to get to Toad Tiger Mountain from here, you have to go through the Piska Forest.

This forest is home to a large number of ferocious wild animals.

"Toad Tiger Mountain! So that's how it is."

Netero stroked his beard, a smile spreading across his face, already understanding Mencius's plan.

"Of course, no problem."

..............................

Seeing that nothing unexpected had happened, Jiang Yan couldn't help but smile.

After all, he was really looking forward to the grape spider eggs on Toad Tiger Mountain.

The name "grape spider" doesn't come from the fact that this spider looks like a grape, but rather from the fact that its eggs are always hung in clusters between steep valleys.

From a distance, it looks like bunches of grapes, hence the name.

Because it is suspended between valleys, it is extremely difficult to get in.

However, grape spider eggs are far more delicious than ordinary eggs.

In addition, scarcity drives up prices, resulting in extremely high prices for grape spider eggs.

Therefore, the grape spider egg is also known as the "dream egg".

Filled with anticipation, Jiang Yan boarded the Hunter Association's airship.

The airship was extremely fast, and in just half an hour, it arrived near Toad Tiger Mountain.

Jiang Yan leaned against the airship's porthole, his eyes fixed on the scene below, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

From a high altitude, the entire view of Mahu Mountain is clearly visible.

Toad Tiger Mountain is surrounded by forests, and the mountain is bare with no plants growing on it. In the middle, there is a deep and narrow valley that divides the entire mountain in two.

The grape spider's eggs hang between the valleys.