Son Gohan blinked and said, "Oh, Master… then I'll go take a look." Seeing Taro nod in agreement, Son Gohan immediately gathered his ki and took off, flying out of the small pavilion within the artificial rock garden. As he soared into the air, he instantly took in the sight of the entire city.
A city full of classical charm and artistic beauty.
With Jarvis's ultra-fast simulation calculations, it had seamlessly blended the classical architectural styles of Suzhou gardens and other traditional elements from Taro's past life on Earth with the sleek aesthetics of a modern metropolis.
This place, which Taro called Jam City, was a perfect fusion of the ancient and the contemporary. No matter where one walked or stood—whether in the bustling streets, the towering buildings, the Jam gardens, the modern shopping malls, the entertainment centers, or the enigmatic structures of unknown purpose—everything was intricately designed and exquisitely crafted. Everywhere one looked, it was a breathtaking landscape.
"What a beautiful place."
Flying low above the streets, Son Gohan marveled continuously. Looking to the left, he saw a Suzan garden. Turning his head back, he caught sight of the water town of Geras. Weaving through the streets and gliding above, he came upon a shimmering lake, named Slender West Lake…
As he scanned the rest of the city, he noticed in the distance what appeared to be a real-world setting—tall buildings, city walls, mirror-like lakes… The only difference was the complete absence of people. Aside from that, it was nearly indistinguishable from reality. Son Gohan even felt that this place surpassed the outside world. After all, nothing out there could compare to the scenery before him.
Suspended in midair, he lifted his head. At the farthest reaches of the sky, faint streaks of green data streams flickered, reminiscent of distant thunder. Only upon seeing this did Son Gohan remember that this was not the real world.
---
Hathaway pushed open the door to Room 4 on the third floor and was momentarily stunned by the vast cityscape projected within. However, she quickly grasped the situation—after all, she had previously discussed Jam City's design with Jarvis.
At that moment, the virtual projection within the room shifted focus to a small pavilion in a rock garden. Sitting at the stone table and benches were Taro and a refined-looking middle-aged man.
From a distance, a tiny figure appeared to be flying toward them from within the projected cityscape. The figure grew larger and larger—it was none other than Son Gohan. Hathaway glanced at the neural link pod in the corner of the room.
"You're using this to help train Gohan?" Hathaway asked with a smile as she walked forward. It was as if she were strolling through the illusionary gardens of Jam City. Passing through a section of artificial rock formations, she arrived at Taro's side in the room's corner.
Taro, of course, was capable of dividing his consciousness—connecting to Jarvis's space while simultaneously conversing with others in reality.
"Mhm… The reason I had you all deconstruct my mental magic to create Jarvis, and later build the virtual network system upon it, was precisely for this purpose." Taro nodded, reaching out to pull Hathaway close.
Hathaway allowed him to guide her down beside him. With Jarvis's computing resources, running the virtual network was effortless. As she sat down, the crystalline floor automatically adjusted to its most comfortable state.
And so, the two sat together, watching the center of the room, where the projection displayed Taro, Jarvis, and Son Gohan within the pavilion.
They seemed to be engaged in conversation. The scene before them was simply a technological projection of Son Gohan's mental space. He, of course, could not perceive the real-world room, nor could his voice be heard beyond his dimension.
"Jarvis, project the sound externally," Taro said casually, still holding Hathaway close, her body as soft as it had been in her youth. Since a portion of his consciousness already existed within the mental space, he had no need to broadcast the sound for himself—but Hathaway did.
Hathaway smiled, and moments later, Son Gohan's voice rang out evenly from all corners of the room.
"…Master, you're saying that the ultimate technique of the Muten School isn't the Kahehameha?"
It was Son Gohan's voice, and in the projected scene, he was staring at Taro in astonishment.
"Of course not," Taro's projected form replied. "Kamehameha isn't particularly profound—it's just highly practical and has great potential… In fact, compared to your grandmaster Mutaito's technique, the Kikoho, it's still inferior."
"Wow…"
"The technique I'm about to teach you—before you, only one other person has ever mastered it." Taro stood up and nodded at the middle-aged man, Jarvis. "The reason I had you come here today is to teach you this technique."
Hathaway understood immediately. She recalled that her husband had once mentioned, long ago, that he had taken on a disciple.
In the projected image, Taro stretched out both arms in the pavilion and pulled them apart. Instantly, ten streams of data shot out, rapidly condensing into ten monument-like objects surrounding the pavilion. These stone-like tablets hovered silently in midair, evenly spaced in a circle around the pavilion.
Each tablet was covered with a web of chaotic lines. The patterns seemed to follow no discernible order, and it was impossible to tell how they had been carved. Yet, at first glance, one couldn't help but be drawn into them.
Gohan stared blankly at the simplest of the tablets. The tangled lines within the image seemed to transform into streaks of sword light, converging into the figure of a martial artist practicing bare-handed in the vast expanse of the world. Every punch and every palm strike carried a profound meaning…
"This technique, I call it 'Muken'."
…
Time passed unnoticed in the mountains, as the days of training made the years seem fleeting.
Autumn arrived, winter followed, snow fell, flowers bloomed…
Before long, an entire year had passed.
…
On Muten Island, atop the central peak.
Originally, the small mountain at the island's center wasn't as massive or towering as it was now. Over the past decades, Taro's repeated magic training had reshaped the terrain. As a result, when Jarvis was created and the island's residences were rebuilt, Taro moved his house from the foot of the mountain to its midsection.
Gohan had grown accustomed to calling this place Muten Island. To him, it was like a second home.
At the summit, a young boy stood on a small plateau. He had short, tousled black hair and wore a white martial arts gi. Eyes closed, he stood still.
Nearby, a bird with crimson feathers flapped its wings, its sharp eyes closely observing the boy's movements. Then, with a sudden lunge, it pecked at his neck, his shoulder, his back—
Yet, each attack was effortlessly avoided.
Gohan wasn't relying on sight, the most basic form of perception for a martial artist. Instead, he shut his eyes and relied on the sensitivity of his body, attuned to the airflow within several feet around him. Through this acute awareness, along with his ability to sense the ki of the immortal phoenix, he could dodge its sudden strikes as if he had eyes all around him.
The phoenix flapped its wings, lashed out with its claws, and struck with its beak—
Gohan smiled as he gracefully weaved through the attacks, moving like a drifting leaf caught in the wind. He shifted effortlessly within a confined space, his agility remarkable, his body as fluid as if it had no bones, twisting into improbable postures to evade the bird's strikes. Watching him, one might worry that a single gust of wind could blow him away.
"Haha! Ash, your ki might be stronger than mine, but when it comes to martial arts… tsk tsk, you've got a long way to go." Gohan laughed twice, teasing the phoenix.
The phoenix squawked indignantly, flapping its wings in frustration, making Gohan laugh even more.
After playing around with the phoenix for a while, Gohan began practicing his fist techniques once again.
He calmed his mind, gathered his ki, and with each strike, an imposing force surged forth, carrying several times the power of an ordinary punch.
Clearly, over the past year, he had often entered the virtual network to study the "Muten Ten Diagrams" that Taro had simulated through Jarvis. By contemplating the principles within these diagrams, he had now truly stepped onto the path of the Muken.
"Master's Muken is truly incredible… With this skill, winning the World Martial Arts Tournament should be a breeze, right?" Gohan murmured to himself, shaking his head in admiration as he finished his training, his body radiating heat from exertion.
Glancing around, his gaze landed on a half-man-tall spherical stone at the summit. Rubbing his chin, he muttered, "Why do I feel like there's ki inside this thing…? What do you think, Ash?" He turned to the phoenix.
The phoenix, of course, couldn't speak and had no way to answer.
Gohan was merely thinking aloud. Curious, he approached the large stone, patted its surface, wiped away the moss, and pressed his ear against it to listen—
Nothing.
"How strange…" Gohan mused. With a grin, he decided to test it out, raising his hand and releasing a faint pulse of energy toward the stone. The ki was instantly absorbed into it, vanishing like a drop of water in the ocean, without causing the slightest reaction.
No reaction, huh? Oh well…
Shrugging, Gohan stopped thinking about it and turned his gaze toward the distant sun. "Hmm… It should be around ten o'clock by now. Today's Master wife birthday—no, wait… huh? Someone's ki just arrived on the island? It feels a lot like Master and his wife… Is it Master Tam and the others?"