King Kai's Planet
"You mean Piccolo's different body structure makes him unable to use the King Kai Fist at higher multipliers?" Son Gohan asked.
Outside, several people sat cross-legged in a circle on the grass.
"That's right. Namekians' bodies are more flexible, and they're even naturally able to regenerate their limbs and stretch them at will. But this also comes with a drawback: their physical bodies can never match yours in strength at the same battle power. Even using the first level of the King Kai Fist is difficult for Piccolo, and he can't sustain it for very long!" North Kai explained.
"King Kai, does that mean I'll never catch up to them?" Piccolo asked, sounding reluctant to accept it.
"You can still try to catch up to Sun Wukong, but forget about Son Gohan. I can't even see through him!" North Kai said.
"Piccolo, I believe you won't fall too far behind!" Sun Wukong encouraged him.
"Get lost! Like I need you to comfort me?!" Piccolo thought bitterly.
"Don't lose heart. Every race has its strengths and weaknesses. Take psychic powers, for example. Saiyans don't have any at all, but you Namekians can create a miraculous being like Shenron. Maybe you could seek out a higher-level god and ask how to increase your battle power," Son Gohan said calmly.
"A higher-level god? Son Gohan, how do you know so much?" North Kai exclaimed.
"Heh, I also know that your King Kai's Planet used to be much bigger! But then you angered a god..." Before Son Gohan could finish,
"That's enough, that's enough! Don't say that name. Ordinary people might be fine, but if someone like you says it, he'll sense it!" North Kai hurriedly cut Son Gohan off.
His panicked reaction left Sun Wukong and Piccolo staring in amazement.
After all, they'd trained here for so many days and had never seen King Kai lose his composure like this!
"Gods are just living beings whose life forms have advanced to a higher dimension. One day, I'll stand at that level—and even surpass it!" Son Gohan looked up at the yellow, hazy sky of the Underworld, his eyes blazing with battle spirit as a powerful fighting spirit radiated from him.
"Anyway, let's talk about Sun Wukong. He's already learned the King Kai Fist. What delighted me most was that the Spirit Bomb came easily to him. The moment he raised his hand to gather the Spirit of All Things, it rushed to him of its own accord!" King Kai could barely contain his joy; he felt more fulfilled than ever before.
"Hmph, didn't I tell you?" Son Gohan snorted.
"Thanks to you, I can finally be sure that the Spirit Bomb is a skill I can use!"
"What?! Was I a test subject?" Sun Wukong jumped up in shock.
"Ahem... Well, when I created it, I didn't realize the Spirit Bomb had such strict requirements! Only someone with an exceptionally pure heart can learn it," King Kai said, embarrassed.
"Gohan, you knew all along?" Sun Wukong asked, looking at him reproachfully.
"Yeah. I also knew you could learn it, Father. Isn't getting a powerful new skill a good thing?" Son Gohan replied.
"But something still feels a little off!" Sun Wukong felt uneasy deep down.
"Actually, neither of them can make any more progress here. You can take them to a new training ground," King Kai said.
"Right. I came this time to take them back, too. I may need to trouble you again in the future. If you run into any problems, you can also come to me!" Son Gohan treated King Kai with great respect.
Even if he was an unremarkable-looking, pudgy old man!
"Good. Now that you're leaving, I can finally get some proper sleep. All that banging and clattering every day is driving me crazy!" King Kai waved them off dismissively.
"Okay, we won't keep troubling you. We'll be off!"
Son Gohan took the two of them and left using Instant Transmission.
Earth
"Gohan, do you have any new training methods?" Sun Wukong had finally experienced the thrill of getting stronger, so how could he settle down again?
Piccolo also looked at him expectantly.
"Aunt Bulma used the spaceship you rode in when you were little to build a Gravity Chamber! It can reach up to three hundred times normal gravity. You can use it for now to increase your strength! As for Piccolo..." Son Gohan thought for a long time, but still couldn't come up with a way to increase his strength.
After training on King Kai's Planet, Sun Wukong and Piccolo had both increased their battle power considerably.
Sun Wukong had a battle power of around 35,000 in his base form.
Piccolo was a little weaker, barely reaching 30,000.
But at full power, Sun Wukong could use the King Kai Fist at up to five times its normal strength, giving him a battle power of 175,000!
Because of his body, Piccolo could only just manage to use the King Kai Fist. He could reach a battle power of 150,000, but his body would soon break down if he tried to sustain it.
With the gap between him and Sun Wukong growing ever wider, Piccolo was naturally unwilling to accept it.
"As for Piccolo, I think he should ask Kami at the Lookout. An old hand in the family is as valuable as a treasure, after all! Besides, they're two halves of one whole." What Son Gohan really meant was that he wanted to ask Mr. Popo.
But he still didn't dare bring up Mr. Popo directly, so he used Kami as an excuse.
"Okay, then we'll split up. I'll go find Bulma, and Piccolo will go to the Lookout. What about you, Gohan?" Sun Wukong asked.
"I'll go with Piccolo to the Lookout. I'll come find you at Aunt Bulma's house in two days," Son Gohan replied.
"Yoshi! Flying Nimbus, let's go. I'll head over on my own!"
No matter how strong he became, he still loved the soft, fluffy Flying Nimbus!
Unless he was in a hurry, he preferred to ride the Flying Nimbus!
"Let's go, then!" Son Gohan grabbed Piccolo and used Instant Transmission to go to the Lookout.
The Lookout
"Piccolo, the only way to greatly increase your strength is to fuse with me," Kami replied to Piccolo's question.
"Old man, I have some reservations about you. I don't want to fuse with you just yet," Piccolo said irritably.
"Mr. Popo, do you know of any other way?" Son Gohan turned to look at Mr. Popo, who stood behind Kami.
"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber, unlocking his bloodline, or increasing its purity could all greatly improve his strength," Mr. Popo answered without holding anything back.
"I know about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but increasing his bloodline's purity?" Son Gohan asked, puzzled.
"The Namekians' ability to create Dragon Balls is a miracle in itself. The Dragon Balls and Shenron are creations only the supreme god, Dragon God Zalama, can make. If I'm right, the Namekians came into being because they received the blessing of Dragon God Zalama's bloodline. If Piccolo increases the purity of his bloodline, he might catch up to you in a short time," Mr. Popo said, sharing his theory.
"But how do I increase my bloodline's purity?" Piccolo asked, getting to the heart of the matter.
"Repeatedly approach the brink of death and recover. That will awaken the inherited genes hidden deep in your bloodline and cause it to grow stronger on its own," Mr. Popo offered as a solution.
"There's great terror between life and death. Recovering from near-fatal injuries is easy enough with Senzu Beans, but if he keeps skirting the edge of death, his consciousness might become lost in it. He could fall into darkness," Son Gohan said with a slight frown.
Recovering from near-fatal injuries to increase the purity of his bloodline. That sounded a lot like Saiyans!
Saiyans increased their battle power, but they drew that power from their bloodline too. It just seemed to come more easily to them by nature!
There were healing pods off-world, and Senzu Beans on Earth!
"Son Gohan, help me!" Piccolo decided to increase his bloodline's purity first. For now, he would put aside fusing with Kami.
"Sure. We'll try this method over the next two days."