Comprehending Qi

Inside the cave, a sliver of sunlight shone through a crack and landed on Reke's face.

A small figure lay motionless on the ground, covered from head to toe in dark red blood.

It was impossible to tell if the body was still alive.

I do not know how much time passed, but the figure's fingers twitched slightly, and eyes slowly opened as consciousness returned.

The pain throughout his body began to assault Reke's brain.

His torn lips moved, but he could not produce a single sound.

I'm still alive! This was Reke's first thought, filled with relief.

It hurts! Damn, I really messed up this time. This was his second thought, filled with regret.

You bastard, just you wait. Sooner or later, I'm going to kill you. This was his third thought, directed at the monster with bone-deep hatred.

What am I supposed to do now? Reke stared blankly at the cave ceiling.

My condition is so bad, I can barely move. I'm not going to die in this hole, am I?

No, I can't just wait here to die.

Reke endured the agony, attempting to move his body.

Unfortunately, after trying for a long time, his energy was exhausted and he still couldn't move.

Exhaustion washed over him, his body resisted, and he drifted into unconsciousness.

I do not know if it had been two days or three.

Reke had been struggling in the cave the entire time; whenever he woke up, he tried to move, and whenever he couldn't take it anymore, he fell back asleep.

Thinking back on it, he found it miraculous himself.

Having gone so long without food or medical treatment, not only had he not starved to death, but his body was slowly recovering.

He had already managed to support his own weight and sit up against the rock wall.

He closed his eyes to sense the ki within him, wanting to see if accelerating its flow could speed up his recovery.

During the few days Reke spent recuperating, the surrounding hundred miles had once again become filled with wild beasts.

The traces left by that monster were also slowly being erased by time.

Only the hundred-meter-deep crater at the center remained to tell the story of the terror that occurred that night.

The sounds of insects, birds, and the roars of beasts slowly began to echo in Reke's ears again.

Reke stood up and clenched his fist in disbelief, feeling the ki within him that had grown several times over.

He once again realized the terrifying nature of a Saiyan.

Because he couldn't leave during this time, he had focused all his energy on his internal state.

Facts proved that accelerating his internal ki did not speed up his recovery, but it did allow him to perceive the reason why a Saiyan's combat power increases drastically after a near-death experience or severe injury.

He discovered that when his body recovered automatically, energy surged from his cells; while repairing his body, the remaining majority stayed within him and converted into ki.

He initially thought it was the so-called S-cells, but once he thought about the original creator's settings, he dismissed that answer.

He had only been practicing here in peace for a month; even if he had S-cells, there wouldn't be many.

In other words, he had doubled his combat power relying solely on ordinary cells.

He also formed his own hypothesis regarding S-cells.

Why did Saiyans see a massive increase in combat power after near-death or severe injury in the early stages, but lose this effect after Kakarot and the others became Super Saiyans?

Perhaps Saiyans can reach the threshold of a Super Saiyan using ordinary cells, but if they want a major leap after becoming a Super Saiyan, they must rely on S-cells.

Otherwise, both their base combat power and their transformations would hit a bottleneck, and only by breaking that bottleneck could they achieve rapid progress.

This explained why the original work had classifications like Super Saiyan 1, 2, and 3.

One must cultivate S-cells in the early stages to be able to control their division later on and achieve breakthroughs.

These thoughts only flashed through Reke's mind; now was not the time for him to get to the bottom of it.

After sensing his internal ki for a while, Reke walked out of the cave.

Facing the direction of the stream, he bent his knees slightly and "Whoosh!" Reke vanished from the spot, crossing 20 kilometers to appear by the stream in less than a minute.

He was nearly ten times faster than before.

Reke did the math with his subpar skills and found it terrifying; this speed was already approaching the speed of sound.

"Damn, did I become a Superman? I wonder how far off I am from that 3,000 combat power level." Reke muttered to himself while standing by the water.

Thinking of this, Reke closed his eyes to sense his surroundings.

He discovered he could now perceive ki; within his sensory range, dense, varying amounts of ki appeared all around him.

Focusing his perception toward the location of the 3,000 combat power entity, a massive surge of ki appeared in his senses, like a glowing object a hundred meters in diameter.

Comparing his own strength to the opponent's, he found his own ki had reached about one-third of theirs, and a smile appeared on Reke's face.

The curve of his mouth grew wider, his mouth slowly opened, and he laughed out loud: "Hahaha..."

The suppressed emotions of this period were finally released.

At this moment, Frieza was completely cast to the back of his mind.

He had not expected such massive gains from this near-death experience; while overjoyed, he also felt a lingering sense of dread.

To be honest, he did not really approve of this method. He was only one person; he had been lucky enough to survive this time, but next time, he might just die quietly without a sound.

Recalling it now, he was certain that the monster from a few days ago was indeed the creature with a combat power of 3,000 that he had detected earlier.

This also cleared up a doubt he had been harboring.

"You dog, just you wait," Reke said, casting a sinister glance toward the direction of the monster.

He turned and buried the thought deep in his heart, waiting for the next eruption of power.

He was the type to always repay a grudge. In the past, without strength, he could endure grievances, but now that he had experienced unprecedented power, his mindset had shifted.

Reke sensed the ki in his surroundings, quickly finished hunting his prey, and sat openly by the stream to start a barbecue.

Although he lacked seasoning and his skills were poor.

The Saiyan stomach did not care, and he ate every bite with great relish.

After putting several hundred pounds of meat into his belly, Reke lay comfortably on the ground to rest for a while.

His thoughts drifted to Planet Vegeta.

"I wonder if Kakarot has been born yet. By all accounts, he should be born this year, though I don't know which month."

Although he felt nothing for Planet Vegeta and did not believe that the Saiyans shouldn't have died.

Ever since he heard that Toad Head in the nursery say that his parents in this life were dead, he had made up his mind to resurrect them once he reached Earth or Namek.

Once he repaid the debt of this life, he would not care whether they lived or died afterward.

Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was ensuring his own survival; otherwise, thinking about it was useless.

Therefore, this thought only flashed through Reke's mind, not even lingering for a second.

His main concern remained the follow-up pursuit forces sent by Frieza.

Everything before had been speculation, and there was no guarantee that Frieza wouldn't send people over.

If Frieza truly sent troops to conquer this planet, his plans would hit a snag.

He might have to hide in a corner of this planet indefinitely.

He would have to wait until he became a Super Saiyan, or until Frieza was taken down by Kakarot, before he could finally leave this planet again.