Master Roshi Appears

The three returned to the house.

Looking at the only bed in the bedroom, Hao Shuai took the initiative and said, "Bulma, you can sleep in the bed! Goku can sleep on the floor, and I can meditate on the sofa."

"Goku can sleep on the floor, no problem. Brother Hao, you... you can sleep in the bed with me." As Bulma spoke, her face grew hot and red, and she lowered her head shyly.

"Ah, I'll sleep on the sofa," Hao Shuai said, reluctantly turning her down.

Although Bulma was only sixteen, she was incredibly well-developed. If he lay in the same bed with her, Hao Shuai was afraid he'd turn into a beast. And with his looks, he was confident Bulma wouldn't refuse—but Goku was still here. Hao Shuai had no intention of giving Goku a sex education lesson, so he could only reluctantly turn her down.

Ignoring Bulma and Goku's nonsensical conversation, Hao Shuai sat cross-legged on the sofa and began cultivating the Purple Haze Divine Skill with his eyes closed.

After circulating his energy for a full cycle, Hao Shuai opened his eyes. Feeling that his internal energy had increased considerably, he thought, No wonder animals can talk. The energy in this world's air must be extremely abundant—in other words, there's plenty of spiritual energy or vital energy, which has accelerated the evolution of animals. I bet ordinary humans here are in great shape and live a long time, too.

At the same time, Hao Shuai thought about his fight with Goku earlier. Goku had relied solely on brute strength, and his use of power was crude. Even in the later stages of Dragon Ball, the Dragon Ball warriors still fought hand-to-hand, trading blows at close range.

The reason was probably that vital energy was abundant in this world. As long as Martial Artists trained hard, they could absorb energy from the air—in other words, vital energy—and store it in their cells as what was known as ki, thereby making themselves stronger. So there was no need to develop many technical moves; they only had to focus on increasing their strength.

Why couldn't Earthlings keep up with Saiyans, Namekians, and other aliens in the later stages? Probably because their bodies were different and could absorb and store far more ki than Earthlings, naturally making them stronger.

Moves like the Kamehameha were probably techniques that gathered the ki inside the body and released it all at once. That was also why Goku and the others became weak and exhausted after using the Kamehameha and similar moves.

The ki of Dragon Ball, the Chakra of Naruto, the Spiritual Energy of Bleach, and the internal energy of the Wuxia World probably all worked on the same principle. The only difference was how they absorbed and used the energy in the air.

Although ki had immense destructive power—in the later stages, it could even destroy planets—it required diligent, grueling training and constant fighting to improve. Most importantly, no matter how powerful ki became, it couldn't grant immortality or even ward off disease. For someone like Hao Shuai, who feared death and was also lazy, it was of limited use. A method like internal cultivation, with shortcuts available, suited him better.

Having figured all that out, Hao Shuai closed his eyes and continued meditating to pass the time!

When Hao Shuai opened his eyes again, he glanced out the window. It was already light. He had actually meditated all night—now that was rare!

Seeing Goku still fast asleep and Bulma in a particularly indecent sleeping position, Hao Shuai didn't wake them. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he came out, Goku had just woken up and was about to climb onto Bulma's lap, just as he had in the story.

Hao Shuai immediately stopped Goku, took him outside, and taught him with his fists what it meant for men and women to keep their distance.

After finishing Goku's lesson, Hao Shuai went back inside to wake Bulma, then went to prepare breakfast. When it was ready, he went outside to call Goku in to eat and saw him happily playing with a sea turtle. The turtle looked quite large, its eyes shone with humanlike intelligence, and it could even speak.

"Brother Hao, this old sea turtle is lost and wants to get back to the ocean. Can we take it there?" Goku called out excitedly as soon as he saw Hao Shuai.

Before Hao Shuai could answer, Bulma came outside. Seeing the turtle beside Goku, she said outright, "Goku, is this sea turtle the breakfast you caught?"

"Don't eat me! I don't taste good!..." Bulma's words frightened the sea turtle so much that it turned and scuttled away, shouting as it went.

Bulma exclaimed in surprise, "It's a talking sea turtle? I wonder how it tastes."

Hao Shuai chuckled. "What's so surprising? That dinosaur who kidnapped you yesterday could talk, too—and it tasted great. The meat was delicious."

At Hao Shuai's words, the big sea turtle's face turned pale with fright, and it scuttled away even faster.

"All right, we're just joking. We won't eat you. Come inside," Hao Shuai said, reassuring the terrified turtle.

Goku chimed in, "Don't be scared. I won't eat you!"

After they went inside, the three sat down to breakfast, and the big sea turtle spoke up. "Sorry to trouble you, but could I have a cup of salt water? And if you can, could you add some seaweed?"

"What a pampered sea turtle. But I don't have any seaweed," Bulma remarked.

"I'll take care of it!" Hao Shuai had deliberately stocked his pocket dimension with all the supplies from two or three supermarkets. He had whatever anyone could need.

Hao Shuai took some dried seaweed from his pocket dimension and cooked a huge pot of seaweed soup for the big sea turtle.

The big sea turtle gulped down the entire pot of seaweed soup in one go, let out a burp, and gave a satisfied turtle grin. "Thank you for the wonderful meal! That was the best seaweed soup I've ever had!"

Then the big sea turtle explained that it had been lost for a year and had been trying to find its way back to the ocean.

Bulma told the turtle that it was still more than a hundred kilometers from the coast.

Hearing that, the big sea turtle could only beg Hao Shuai and the others to take it back to the shore. At its speed, it probably wouldn't make it back to the ocean for the rest of its life otherwise.

Knowing that the big sea turtle belonged to Master Roshi, Hao Shuai agreed right away. Bulma never objected to Hao Shuai's decisions.

After breakfast, Bulma packed up the house and brought out the car. They tied the sea turtle to the roof, and the three of them and the turtle set off for the coast, more than a hundred kilometers away.

Two kilometers from the shoreline, the three of them and the turtle ran into a huge bear blocking their way and trying to rob the sea turtle. It could talk, too.

The Bear Demon stood five or six meters tall, with a giant cleaver more than three meters long tucked into his waistband.

Hao Shuai couldn't even be bothered to get out of the car for such a minor character. He simply said to Goku, "Goku, you handle him. Make it quick."

As soon as Goku heard he'd get to fight, he excitedly jumped out of the car and walked toward the bear. The Bear Demon swung his huge blade at him.

Unfortunately for the Bear Demon, his massive body made him clumsy. Goku easily dodged every attack, then leaped onto the bear's nose and punched him, breaking his nasal bone.

Blood poured from the Bear Demon's nose, and he collapsed unconscious.

Hao Shuai got out of the car, struck the bear's head with a palm, then stored the corpse in his pocket dimension. Bear paws were a delicacy, after all; he couldn't let them go to waste.

After dealing with the bear, the three of them and the turtle continued on their way. They reached the shore a little while later.

Seeing the ocean, the sea turtle excitedly crawled toward it, thanking the three of them as he went. After entering the water, he turned back and called, "Please wait a little while! I'll make sure to repay you!" Then, no longer clumsy on land, he dove into the sea and disappeared in an instant.

Goku, who was seeing the ocean for the first time, was thrilled, too. He jumped into the water and played to his heart's content. He even took a gulp of seawater, then grimaced and spat it out. "So the ocean is this salty!"

Hao Shuai took out two beach chairs, and he and Bulma lounged on them, sipping cold drinks and enjoying the sun.

Before long, Goku, who was playing by the shore, shouted:

"Hey, come look! That sea turtle from earlier is back, and he's carrying an old man!"

His shout immediately drew Bulma and Hao Shuai's attention. They stood up and took a look. "He really is!"

Soon, the sea turtle reached the shore. Hao Shuai took a close look at the old man sitting on his back. He looked to be around seventy or eighty years old, with a bald head and a white beard. He was hunched over, wearing a pair of slippers and holding a wooden cane. On his back, he carried a huge turtle shell.

From his appearance, Hao Shuai knew this was the man known throughout the world as the God of Martial Arts: Master Roshi. On the surface, he was a lecherous old man, but in truth, he was a warrior willing to sacrifice his life to destroy evil.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Master Roshi greeted them. Sunlight flashed off his round, gleaming bald head.

Bulma said, "What a fashionable old man."

"I heard you rescued the sea turtle," Master Roshi said.

Before he could finish, Goku interrupted to ask, "Old man, who are you?"

Master Roshi jumped down from the sea turtle's back and introduced himself. "My name is Master Roshi." Then he turned to the sea turtle and asked, "Who rescued you?"

"The three of them rescued me together, and they even made me delicious seaweed soup," the sea turtle replied.

"Hmm, all three of you rescued him? Then I really must give the three of you a proper thank-you," Master Roshi murmured, stroking his chin.