"Let me show you what I can do!" Son Goku said with a grin. "Kaioken x3!"
"Stop, Goku! Your body can't withstand Kaioken x3!" King Kai shouted urgently.
However, King Kai knew full well that without Kaioken x3, Goku probably had no chance of winning.
This is bad. He's probably going to lose.
"Beep, beep..."
The number on Bulma's Scouter kept climbing.
"Th-this... Luo Tian... what's going on? The readings on the Scouter are so strange. Goku's power level... 17,000, 18,000, 21,000..." Bulma exclaimed.
"Careful. That thing's about to explode," Luo Tian said.
"Bang!"
Just as Luo Tian finished speaking, the Scouter suddenly exploded.
Bulma: "..."
Couldn't you have said so sooner?!
I almost got my eye hurt by that thing.
"What happened?" Bulma cried, stunned.
"Goku used Kaioken x3, so his power level should reach 24,000," Luo Tian explained. "This is an older model of Scouter. It can only handle readings up to 20,000. Any higher, and it explodes."
Bulma was at a loss for words.
But soon, she noticed the Scouter on Vegeta's face.
"Huh? His Scouter looks fine," Bulma said.
"His model is a little newer, so it can handle higher power levels," Luo Tian replied with a slight smile.
"What a failure... I should've taken his Scouter and studied it," Bulma said, resting her chin on her hand.
"What? A power level of 24,000!" Vegeta was completely stunned when he saw Son Goku's power level.
How is that possible?
Could the Scouter be malfunctioning?
No!
I can clearly feel how powerful he is.
The Scouter can't possibly be malfunctioning!
But how is this happening?
"Whoosh!"
Just then, Son Goku shot toward Vegeta and slammed a punch into his face.
Vegeta flew backward.
Son Goku raced after him and kicked him hard, sending him soaring into the sky.
Vegeta gritted his teeth and quickly righted himself.
"Whoosh!"
Son Goku came after him again.
Vegeta spread his arms, trying to block Son Goku's attack.
"Smack!"
But Son Goku changed direction in midair.
"Bang!"
Son Goku appeared behind Vegeta and kicked him hard in the face.
"Crash!"
Vegeta plummeted from the sky like a cannonball, leaving a huge crater in the mountainside.
"Raaagh!"
Vegeta flew into a rage, his energy erupting and flattening the surrounding area.
"You bastard!" Vegeta roared.
As he spoke, Son Goku became a streak of red light and shot toward him.
"Bang!"
Son Goku's knee slammed into Vegeta's side.
Vegeta cried out in pain and suddenly swung a punch back at him.
Son Goku dodged Vegeta's fist and landed another hard punch in his stomach.
"Ugh..."
Vegeta's face went pale with pain. Cold sweat poured down him, and blood trickled from his mouth.
"You bastard!" Vegeta was furious, his eyes bloodshot.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Son Goku was panting heavily.
Kaioken x3 was putting an immense strain on his body, too.
"Damn it! I refuse to believe your power level could actually surpass mine!" Vegeta snarled, seething with rage.
This guy's incredibly tough! I can't even beat him down... Son Goku thought with a bitter smile. If this keeps up, he might turn the tables and kill me.
"I won't let this happen!" Vegeta fumed, his body trembling. "I'm a Saiyan prodigy! How could I let a low-class warrior defeat me?"
Son Goku watched Vegeta warily, too.
My whole body hurts.
No wonder Kaioken x3 is so hard on me.
If I keep this up, I might die.
I can't do it anymore. I can't keep using Kaioken.
It's time to try Luo Tian's Ultra Instinct.
With that thought, Son Goku took a deep breath.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, Son Goku let all the energy surrounding him dissipate.
"I won't forgive you! I'll never forgive you!" Vegeta roared. "I'll blow you and this planet to smithereens!"
As he spoke, Vegeta prepared to raise his energy to its full power.
"What did you say?" Son Goku's expression changed.
"Beep, beep!"
Just after Vegeta finished speaking, he suddenly noticed that Son Goku's power level was plummeting.
It had dropped from over 10,000 to just 1,000.
Vegeta paused, stunned.
What's going on?
Why did his power level suddenly drop so much?
Could the Scouter be malfunctioning?
Vegeta frowned, and his anger gradually subsided.
"I get it! That technique you used just now pushed your body past its limits, didn't it?" Vegeta sneered. "You're at the end of your rope now. Am I right?"
Son Goku didn't answer.
"What's wrong with Goku?" Bulma was baffled, too. She could tell he felt completely different from before.
"Goku's going to use Ultra Instinct," Luo Tian said with a smile.
"You mean the Ultra Instinct you taught him?" Bulma asked, slightly taken aback.
"That's right. Who else could've taught him?" Luo Tian replied with a grin.
"But didn't you say he wasn't strong enough to grasp true Ultra Instinct yet?" Bulma asked hurriedly.
"You could put it this way..." Luo Tian explained. "If we divided Ultra Instinct into several levels—elementary, intermediate, advanced, omen, god, true god, and super god... Let's go with that for now."
Bulma: "..."
"Did you just make up those levels on the spot? And... I get elementary and intermediate, and even super god, but what does 'omen' mean, stuck in the middle there?" Bulma asked, wiping sweat from her brow.
"I made them up on the spot. Don't worry about the details," Luo Tian said with a grin.
Bulma was at a loss for words.
Fine. Whatever you say.
"So Goku's at the elementary level now?" Bulma asked.
"Mm-hmm, exactly," Luo Tian replied with a nod.
"What level are you at?" Bulma asked.
"I'm at the super god level," Luo Tian replied.
Bulma: "..."
Luo Tian, can we have a normal conversation?
So you're not just a little stronger than Goku.
"If we divided the super god level into five stages, I'm only at the first stage," Luo Tian said with a sigh.
That's what I was trying to say.
The Grand Priest is already at the fourth stage.
He's even very close to the fifth.
Bulma was speechless again.
"You say that as if someone has reached the fifth stage of the super god level," Bulma said with a pout.
"No one's reached the fifth stage yet, but someone will soon," Luo Tian said with a grin.
Bulma: "..."
Silence fell once more.
"Then tell me, how powerful would someone at the fifth stage be?" Bulma asked.
"How powerful?" Luo Tian scratched his head. "Well, at the second stage, you can shatter the entire universe with a casual wave of your hand."
Bulma didn't want to say anything.
Shatter the entire universe?
Come on.
I might believe you can shatter a planet.
After all, even Vegeta can destroy Earth.
But the entire universe? That's ridiculous.
Well... Luo Tian's exaggerated claims aren't anything new. I'll just pretend I didn't hear that.
"Can Ultra Instinct at the elementary level defeat Vegeta?" Bulma asked.
"We'll see," Luo Tian said with a grin.
Far away.
"We're almost at Kame House. Keep it up, Gohan!" Krillin called.
"Y-yeah..." Son Gohan nodded.
Just after the two finished speaking, they suddenly sensed something wrong behind them.
"What's going on? Why has Goku's energy dropped so much? I can barely sense him anymore!" Krillin stopped abruptly.
"Has... has Dad been defeated?" Son Gohan's expression changed.
"What happened? Goku clearly had the upper hand just a moment ago," Krillin said, completely baffled.
King Kai's Planet.
"Goku! What are you doing?" King Kai was confused, too.
If you keep using Kaioken x3, you'll definitely defeat Vegeta.
You'll be badly injured, but at least you'll take him out.
Why did you suddenly let all your energy dissipate?
At the battlefield.
"Heh-heh. I can tell your body is exhausted. The number on your Scouter shows that your power level is still dropping," Vegeta said with a loud laugh.
Son Goku didn't answer. He quietly focused on the mountains around him, taking in the natural scenery.
"Your power level is 900... 800... 700... It's still dropping!" Vegeta laughed more and more gleefully.
"Haa..."
Son Goku took a deep breath.
"Your power level is 100!" Vegeta's grin widened. "I could kill you with a wave of my hand now."
"Power level 100? Does that mean I haven't trained enough?" Son Goku gritted his teeth, calmed himself again, and focused on the mountains around him. Then he asked, "Hey, what's my power level now?"
"It's still 100," Vegeta snorted. "Stop trying to fool me. Since your power level has dropped this low, I'll put you out of your misery."
As he spoke, Vegeta aimed his finger at Son Goku.
Before you continue