Yamiru felt a bit of a headache, but he could only move forward by following his heart, taking things one step at a time.
For now, he still had to continue practicing energy control with Korin.
Yamiru collected his thoughts and re-entered the game of fighting for the Ultra Divine Water.
He suppressed the agitation in his heart during the battle, avoiding thoughts of how to attack or counterattack, calming both his mind and body, and focusing on listening to his opponent's movements...
It sounds simple, but in practice, it's harder than climbing to the sky.
It requires reversing ingrained patterns of thinking.
It's much harder than drawing JOJO with the left hand and Super Saiyan with the right hand.
Yamiru understood that this was a transformation of the soul, and any kind of transformation is painful, especially for someone like him, who came from another world with a head full of random thoughts. Vegeta, on the other hand, was able to master energy control through just one battle, thanks not only to his outstanding talent as a member of a warrior race, but also because, at his core, he was a pure human—well, a pure fool.
Two souls silently observed the "play" between a cat and a man.
The soul of Gine: "Earthlings are really strange..."
The soul of Bardock: "......" His attention was on the white old cat. If he let his guard down for a moment, he wouldn't even notice Korin's movements, and might even think this cat didn't exist. This shocked the battle-hardened Bardock. He had killed and defeated so many strong enemies, but he had never seen anyone like this—clearly very weak.
After a tiring session, Yamiru took a temporary rest.
"As I said, calm down~" Korin shook his staff and said thoughtfully, "But maybe for you, the real way to find peace isn't in this quiet, remote environment…"
"By the way, Uncle Bardock," Yamiru wiped the sweat from his face and suddenly remembered something, "Earlier, you said you could tell that Korin and I are actually pretty weak? Can you...?" He had originally wanted to mention the power level detector but realized he didn't have any reason to know about it. "...Can you sense our power? Even Jaco doesn't have such a skill as a Galactic Patrolman, and I thought it was something only Earth martial artists could do."
"..." Bardock's soul fell silent for a moment.
The soul of Gine vibrated: "This is a special skill that Bardock developed on his own. I didn't realize that Earth's... martial artists had already mastered this... You guys are impressive..."
Bardock's soul responded: "Power level detectors. It's a technology found on many planets in the universe, though most are used as specialized equipment in laboratories. Until Frieza, that bastard, gave King Vegeta a batch of new wearable detectors for use in battle... But ever since I found out that these wearable detectors had a monitoring function built in, I've hated wearing them. Fortunately, thanks to this habit, I gradually developed the ability to judge an opponent's position and strength without relying on the detector..."
"No guidance? You figured it out all on your own?" Korin praised, "Truly impressive insight~"
Bardock's soul emitted a slight vibration, like a low mutter: "But compared to you, it seems I'm still far behind..."
"That's obvious~" Korin scratched its face with its paw and laughed, "Do you think I'm just anyone? I'm an sage~"
However, the soul of Gine conveyed confusion: "But what's the point? It seems like Bardock's battle power hasn't changed much after mastering this ability... Since there are detectors available, doesn't that make it about the same? I've never heard of anyone in Frieza's army, not even those monstrous beings, having abilities like Bardock's…"
"The Ginyu Force, or even Cooler and Frieza, seem to lack it." Bardock's soul swayed, "Actually, I thought of it as just a convenient little trick. And... this 'training' you're doing now... I don't see any real benefit. Yamiru's power hasn't changed much, right?"
Korin licked its paw and said, "This training isn't about pursuing power. It's about seeking inner peace, looking at everything from a higher perspective, cultivating a better self, and enhancing the inner self... That's the true essence of martial arts training. Though..." It reflected on the harsh universe environment transmitted from Bardock's soul, "Compared to the powerful monsters in the universe, this kind of training on Earth seems useless, but perhaps the fact that it's useless is its greatest use..."
Yamiru, Bardock, and Gine were all speechless. Even someone like Yamiru felt like Korin was talking nonsense...
"For example, I don't think that Frieza you're so impressed by is all that amazing~" Korin, sweating, said with a grin, "Sure, he's terrifyingly strong, but he's just a huge mass of conscious energy~ How does he compare to this vast world, or to the endless universe? If he were here now, the most he could do is kill my physical form. Death is regrettable, but after death, there's another world. And right now, the deity above us, who is far weaker than Frieza, is the one I truly admire~ Who's strong, and who's weak?"
Korin's playful, casual tone made it hard to tell if it was joking. But there was definitely a broad perspective in its words.
Yamiru felt enlightened.
Indeed, for a being like Korin—perhaps more accurately, a member of the divine bureaucratic system—what does it matter if the body or life in this world is destroyed? After all, when Goku and Cell perished together, they casually took the unfortunate King Kai with them. But these two immediately got their afterlife bodies and were chatting as if nothing had happened. The Old Kai transferred his lifespan to Son Goku and then "came back to life" on the spot, without even going to the underworld. There was no need to worry about the King of Hell.
To live or to die?
In the eyes of those higher deities, what is life and death, and what is strength?
The strength of a mortal body may only have meaning in the mortal world…
"..."
Yamiru looked at his own palms, vaguely deep in thought. He recalled the cat sage's earlier words, "Perhaps the useless is precisely its greatest purpose."
"Continue training!"
He gathered his focus, and when the cat sage wasn't paying attention, he lunged forward.
Gine was startled, and his soul seemed to break a sweat.
However, the cat seemed to have anticipated this, easily dodging as if eyes were growing on the back of its head.
"You think a bit of understanding means you can finish your training immediately? How naive~ Training always requires solid, steady progress!"
The white cat stood leisurely on the fence, its posture relaxed, with the vast blue sky behind it, calm and peaceful.
---
The Shenron disappeared, the seven Dragon Balls spun and flew into the sky. Son Goku, emulating Yamiru and Master Roshi's previous actions, jumped into the air to intercept the Four-Star Ball that was trying to fly away.
He landed back on the ground with a thud, safely securing the Four-Star Ball, now turned into a white stone. Suddenly, he scratched his head and looked at the note in his hand, thinking, "Since Shenron said the wish has been granted, I guess it's fine to take a look now?" With curiosity, he unfolded the note. As he read, his brow furrowed slightly, his eyes filled with confusion.
It felt as though a memory's image was tearing apart into fragments, vaguely piecing together the images of a man and woman looking at him with concern.
… "Goodbye, Kakarot."
… "You must live, Kakarot."
Son Goku felt strange, a suffocating feeling in his chest. The distant voices in his ears felt familiar, like memories that almost surfaced.
However, he only puzzled over it for a moment before brushing it off, as there were no clues. With a loud shout to the sky, he called out for the Flying Nimbus. "Going home~"