The Shadow Clone Technique was activated.
In just a moment, a figure separated from Lin Chuan's body.
His appearance, clothes, and strength were almost exactly the same.
"Not bad! As my strength has increased, creating just one clone doesn't weaken me much. And you, as my clone, can also briefly unleash a power level of one million."
After assessing the clone, Lin Chuan carefully gauged how much strength he had lost.
It was negligible!
Back when his power level was only 15,000, using the Shadow Clone Technique had reduced his strength by about twenty percent, and he could create no more than four clones.
Judging by how things were now, even if he created four clones, his strength might drop, but not by nearly as much as before.
"Isn't that obvious? The Shadow Clone Technique doesn't divide power equally. Besides, you haven't given me much of your strength. With the power I have now, I can fight at full strength for only a minute or two at most," Clone Lin Chuan said.
At that, Lin Chuan smiled. "You could say that as my strength improves, so does my control over my skills. This subtle improvement is exciting."
"Let's test our strength first. Here I come, original!" the clone shouted, launching an attack.
There was no need to keep marveling at it. They were the same person, after all.
As the clone charged at him, the corner of Lin Chuan's mouth curled into a smile.
This was exactly what he wanted: an all-out fight, with both of them unleashing their strength for a short burst!
Lin Chuan gathered his strength and threw a punch. In the blink of an eye, his fist collided with the clone's.
BOOM!!!!!!
The next second, the fierce battle began!
An all-out fight at a power level of one million, with the battlefield in outer space—one could imagine how intense it was.
The two figures darted and flashed through outer space, trading blows and colliding.
They moved so fast that the naked eye couldn't follow them.
Their strength was so immense that even simple punches and kicks shattered the surrounding meteorites.
If they unleashed this power on Earth, they would devastate everything within a radius of a thousand miles.
As they fought, Lin Chuan grew familiar with his strength and faced the pressure from his clone head-on.
That helped him grow even stronger and deepen his understanding of combat.
He continued to transform, using his clone to become stronger. When the fight ended and the clone returned to his body, it would bring him even greater insight.
BANG!!!! WHAM!!!! BOOM!!!! THUD!!!! ...
Explosions continued without end across the cosmos.
Naturally, the fight wasn't limited to hand-to-hand combat. They also launched energy attacks.
After the battle had gone on for more than a minute, the clone clearly felt his energy fading. At last, he spread his arms wide. "One final attack!"
His energy surged, while his ki gathered and compressed.
He focused all his remaining strength into one last finishing move.
"Thunder Smash Cannon!!!"
A blue-and-gold blast shot forth, crackling with thunder and resembling an enormous dragon that roared and clawed its way forward.
It was so powerful that it shattered countless stars along its path.
If this attack hit Earth, there was no doubt it would destroy everything.
Lin Chuan was ready for the clone's ultimate attack. A dense, terrifying red glow had already gathered in his hand.
"Crimson Piercing Wave!!!" His eyes flashed as he found the perfect opening and thrust out his hand, firing the energy blast.
The inspiration for the Crimson Piercing Wave had come from combining the Special Beam Cannon with Frieza's Death Beam.
It was one of Lin Chuan's most thoroughly developed techniques and ranked among his top three ultimate moves.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!
A tremendous explosion burst through outer space.
Whatever its power, its blinding light alone rivaled that of an extremely bright celestial body.
Meanwhile, Lin Chuan and his clone's strength test had reached its final stage.
At that very moment.
Elsewhere.
In the underworld.
On Snake Way, which stretched for more than a million kilometers,
Son Goku and Raditz were running along the road.
In the ten days since arriving in the underworld, they had barely stopped moving except to sleep and eat.
They weren't slow, but they weren't especially fast, either.
It made sense that Son Goku wasn't flying; he wasn't very skilled with the Flight Technique.
But why wasn't Raditz flying?
Because flying for a long time used up more energy than running, and it wasn't much faster than sprinting, either.
"Kakarot, you're far too slow. At this rate, you might not reach the end and meet King Kai even after a year."
"With a foolish little brother like you holding me back, even my progress as your Elder Brother has slowed by at least half."
As Raditz ran faster, he didn't forget to taunt Son Goku, who was trailing behind him.
They had spent the past several days constantly competing and pushing forward.
Their relationship had actually improved a lot, and they had made some progress in communicating.
But Raditz was stubborn. This was the only way he could recapture that strange sense of superiority he used to feel.
Raditz put on a burst of speed and left Son Goku far behind.
Son Goku naturally refused to give up. Even though his big brother's words stung, having someone to measure himself against gave him motivation.
Raditz gave Son Goku the greatest encouragement, bringing out his potential and helping his strength soar in a short time.
He still hadn't surpassed his big brother, but he had passed a power level of one thousand several days ago.
Raditz knew because he was carrying a Scouter.
"Don't underestimate me!! We've only just started!!" Son Goku gritted his teeth, and his skills seemed to improve again.
The burst of speed he unleashed in that short time let him catch up with Raditz, and he even seemed poised to overtake him.
"Hmph! You've got some spirit, managing to catch up. Your determination does remind me of our father," Raditz said, his smile taking on a different edge. "But I'm not giving you another chance. This time, I'm going to leave you behind for good."
The next second, Raditz sped up again.
The gap widened once more. Son Goku was frustrated, but he didn't give up.
If he kept chasing, the gap wouldn't widen too quickly. At least he wouldn't lose sight of Raditz.
But if he actually slowed down, he would truly fall behind.
There was no such thing as giving up in Son Goku's vocabulary.
That was the conviction that had allowed his strength to keep growing throughout his journey.
Snake Way had become the perfect racetrack for the brothers.
They chased each other down the road.
But accidents often happened when one was most relaxed.
Just as Raditz glanced back at the trailing Son Goku, ready to taunt him again, he suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath his feet.
When he came to his senses, he realized that Snake Way had taken a sharp turn right there—and he had been going too fast, so he'd run straight off.
No problem. He could fly!
But...
"Stop right now, Kakarot!!!" he shouted, but it was already too late.
Running at full speed, Son Goku shot off Snake Way just like Raditz and crashed into him.
The two of them fell into the Yellow Springs, one after the other.
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