The Hyperbolic Time Chamber

"Alright, I've heard enough. Go find Mr. Popo; he will be guiding your training from here on out. Let me tell you, don't let his dull appearance fool you—his level is far beyond mine..."

Karin looked somewhat listless, waving a hand weakly. After being struck by Chaya's progress, he no longer had the heart to test Selyne's improvement. Still, he figured Selyne's growth wouldn't be much worse than Chaya's; their talent was truly terrifying.

"Understood. Thank you, Karin. We'll go find Mr. Popo now."

Chaya smiled and glanced at Selyne. Selyne nodded in understanding, following him as they headed toward the interior of the Sacred Temple.

Watching their retreating figures, Karin stood silently in place, muttering to himself, "I must inform Kami about this so he can prepare. Sigh, there are simply too many powerhouses in the universe. I hope no one sets their sights on Earth. Come to think of it, martial arts on Earth really have declined significantly over these past few centuries!"

Karin stretched, yawned, and walked toward Kami's residence.

In the corridors of the Sacred Temple, Mr. Popo sat as still as a meditating monk.

Seeing Chaya and Selyne walk in from outside, Mr. Popo stood up, his coin-like eyes watching them with a calm, harmless expression.

"Mr. Popo has already seen your performance. I cannot teach you using conventional methods. Now, follow Mr. Popo."

With that, he turned and walked toward the depths of the Sacred Temple.

Chaya and Selyne exchanged a look and followed closely behind. They trailed Mr. Popo through several corridors and past numerous intersections, venturing deeper and deeper into the temple. Chaya looked back and realized the path they had taken was now a tangled, crisscrossing mess, like a labyrinth where it would be easy to lose one's sense of direction.

Where is Mr. Popo taking us? We've been walking for so long, we must be close, Chaya speculated inwardly. They were currently at the very base of the Sacred Temple.

Just as Chaya was pondering this, Mr. Popo stopped in front of a large golden door.

Pushing the door open, Mr. Popo said, "Inside is the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. One day outside is one year inside. The environment is extremely harsh, and Mr. Popo will be staying in there with you for the duration of the year."

"It's actually the Hyperbolic Time Chamber!"

Chaya was shocked. He had imagined many ways they might be trained—perhaps being sent to other worlds by machines like in the original story, or to valleys filled with lightning—but he hadn't expected Mr. Popo to bring them directly to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

One had to realize that the air inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was thin, temperatures fluctuated between negative forty and fifty degrees Celsius, and the gravity was ten times that of Earth. Such conditions might be considered harsh for others, but for powerhouses like them, it was naturally manageable. The true test was one's psychological endurance.

Spending a year in a vast, empty, and lonely environment was a massive test of the spirit.

Those with weak wills or poor mental focus could easily succumb to hallucinations.

In the original story, the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was intended for gaining time before a battle and didn't hold much value for cultivation itself, but Chaya was already eager to start, as time was exactly what he lacked.

Chaya had been in the Dragon Ball world for over seven years. If the plot followed its course, Frieza would likely lose patience and destroy Planet Vegeta before long, though he wasn't sure exactly how much time remained until that destruction.

In any case, it wasn't much.

He needed to possess sufficient strength by then. Even if he couldn't stop Frieza, he at least needed to get Rebecca and Adri out in advance.

"Brother Chaya, what is the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Selyne asked, looking puzzled.

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber is an interdimensional space built by a deity. Time inside moves much faster than outside; one day outside is one year inside. It's perfect for cultivators to make emergency breakthroughs. However, one can only enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber twice in a lifetime, and only two people can enter at a time."

Before Chaya could respond, Mr. Popo, who had been standing to the side, answered.

"What a magical place!"

By now, Mr. Popo had opened the golden door. Inside was the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Looking in from the outside, one could only see a pitch-black blur, as if some energy were blocking the view.

Mr. Popo turned to Chaya and the others and said, "Because only two people can enter at once, you must go in two separate times."

"I'll go first..." Selyne jumped to the front.

Chaya shrugged. It didn't matter if it was a day earlier or later. Since Selyne was so eager, he would let her go first.

Just then, he thought of something and asked, "Mr. Popo, didn't you say a person can only enter twice in a lifetime? How many times have you been in, Mr. Popo?"

"Because Mr. Popo was present when the deity built the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Mr. Popo is not subject to that restriction!" Mr. Popo replied in a calm tone.

Chaya's pupils constricted upon hearing this. He heard much in Mr. Popo's words. If Mr. Popo was present when the deity built the chamber, then by that calculation, Mr. Popo had to be at least several thousand years old. Such a long life had allowed him to see through many things.

However, this raised a new question: if Mr. Popo could enter and exit the Hyperbolic Time Chamber without restriction, why was his combat power still so low?

Could it be because Mr. Popo was a servant of the deity?

Unable to figure it out, Chaya shook his head and decided to stop thinking about it. His gaze rested on Selyne as he said, "Then hurry in. It'll be my turn in a day."