Three Realms

After settling Lana in, Sun Yu followed Mr. Popo to meet the Guardian.

The Guardian was standing at the edge of the Lookout, gazing down at the bustling world below. Sun Yu walked up and respectfully bowed. "Guardian, did you need something from me?"

"Sun Yu, you're here." The Guardian turned around and forced a stiff smile. "I watched your training with Korin just now..."

Oh, was he going to offer him some pointers? Sun Yu perked up at once and smiled. "You flatter me, Guardian. I wonder if you might give this junior a few pointers!"

"Heh heh, I wouldn't go so far as to call them pointers. I've noticed that you've made some progress in controlling your 'ki,' but do you know how the ancients divided the realms of 'ki'?" The Guardian had clearly brought up a concept that had never appeared in the original Dragon Ball story, and Sun Yu immediately became interested.

"This junior does not know. Please enlighten me, Guardian!" Sun Yu bowed. His earnest attitude greatly pleased the old Guardian.

"The realms of 'ki' are divided into Micro-Perception, Knowledge Realm, and Empty Clarity! You can already blend your own 'ki' into your breathing, letting it arise and fade at will. That is the realm of Micro-Perception!" the Guardian explained patiently.

"Then what does the Knowledge Realm mean? Please explain it to me, Guardian!" Sun Yu was eager to learn. The Guardian's words seemed to have knocked on a door leading into the world of martial arts, and Sun Yu longed to open it and explore its mysteries.

"The Knowledge Realm is an elevation of Micro-Perception. The 'realm' refers to a state of mind! Let Popo demonstrate it for you first. That should make it easier to understand." The Guardian pointed toward Popo.

When Sun Yu looked over at Popo, he saw that, at some point, Mr. Popo had taken a wooden stick in hand. At the Guardian's instruction, he began to wave it around, far in front of Sun Yu.

Popo moved the stick very slowly. Sun Yu watched closely for a while, but couldn't sense anything unusual. Just as he was about to ask the Guardian what was going on, the short stick suddenly seemed to grow longer and swung toward him!

"I'll dodge!"

Sun Yu reacted quickly and dodged to the side, but after taking a step, he realized the stick in Popo's hand hadn't grown at all. Had he imagined it?

"Sun Yu, what do you think? Do you understand now?" the Guardian asked, having seen his reaction.

Understand what? How are you old guys so fond of speaking in riddles? Would it kill you to just explain it? Sun Yu was on the verge of tears. He did remember that in the Dragon Ball anime, when young Son Goku underwent special training at the Lookout, Popo had frightened him in the same way with an ordinary wooden stick. But so much time had passed that Sun Yu couldn't remember how Popo had done it.

"This junior is too dull to understand. Please explain it to me directly, Guardian."

A late start to learning the Way, *** many—you're the boss. I'll play the fool, all right?

"Heh heh, this is the Knowledge Realm! Everything has its own attributes, such as length and shortness, speed and slowness, heat and cold... When people perceive these attributes, that's intent. When I make you perceive them, that's the realm. Intent and realm can transform into each other. Just now, when Popo waved the stick in his hand, his intent was to hit you with it. That gave rise to his state of mind!" the Guardian explained.

Sun Yu nodded repeatedly. "I understand. So that's what people mean when they say the realm arises from the heart!"

"Exactly. It seems you really do understand!" The Guardian looked pleased with his pupil.

"What about the realm of Empty Clarity? Could you demonstrate that for me too?" Sun Yu asked.

"You're so impatient. You haven't even learned to walk, and you're already thinking about running? Very well, Popo. Show Sun Yu." The Guardian chuckled and instructed Popo again.

"Of course, Guardian..."

Before the words had even left his mouth, Mr. Popo's eyes went blank. He stared vacantly into the distant sky, as though reminiscing about a run beneath the sunset, back in his lost youth...

"Hey, Guardian, Popo is obviously just spacing out, isn't he? I admit Mr. Popo can be pretty adorable, but..."

Sun Yu wasn't trying to make fun of Popo. He really hadn't felt a thing. In this situation, wouldn't anyone think Popo was just spacing out?

"Don't speak. Close your eyes and sense it with your heart!" the Guardian reminded him.

All right. Sun Yu had actually wanted to close his eyes from the start, since that would let him activate his Sharingan without the Guardian noticing.

As the Sharingan activated, Sun Yu's eyelids could no longer block his vision. The Guardian noticed a slight change in Sun Yu's ki but didn't think much of it.

Under the Sharingan's scrutiny, Sun Yu realized he couldn't detect Popo's ki at all. How was that possible?

It was true that Popo's battle power was very low, but there was no way not even the slightest bit of it could leak out!

In Sun Yu's eyes, Popo's body contained not a trace of energy. If someone told him Popo was a rock, he would have believed it immediately. Even plants and trees had ki, let alone a person.

"How about it? Did you sense anything?" the Guardian asked.

"I didn't sense anything at all. If I didn't know where Mr. Popo was, I wouldn't be able to sense his presence at all," Sun Yu answered honestly.

The Guardian smiled. "That is the realm of Empty Clarity. All things are void. There is nothing to begin with, so how can there be anything to sense?"

"I see..." Sun Yu seemed to have grasped something. It seemed that in this world, cultivating 'ki' was very similar to the Buddhist and internal martial arts principles of cultivating the mind that he'd known back on Earth. Both used practices that reached straight to the heart to improve one's control over ki!

In Sun Yu's memory, after Son Goku finished training under ten times Earth's gravity and reached Planet Namek, several members of the Ginyu Force had used their Scouters to measure his battle power. No matter how they checked, his normal battle power was only... But in reality, Son Goku's battle power at the time was over ... ten thousand!

Looking back, Son Goku must have reached the realm of Empty Clarity by then! He no longer needed to deliberately conceal his power. The realm of Empty Clarity left his mind free of distractions, allowing all his energy to blend into the world around him.

Some might ask, didn't he still have battle power that he couldn't conceal? Actually, it wasn't that he couldn't conceal it; he simply hadn't tried. Popo's battle power was only a little over a hundred, so in the realm of Empty Clarity, none of it showed. But Son Goku was different. His own strength was so immense that even the realm couldn't conceal it. Unless he deliberately suppressed it, some ki would always leak out.

"It's good that you understand. The path of cultivation requires steady progress. You mustn't rush! I'm not too worried about you, but Miss Lana is too competitive. If she doesn't change that, she could easily go astray in her martial arts training," the Guardian said with a sigh.

"Don't worry, Guardian. I'll make sure to keep an eye on Lana too."

"Good! I've taught you all I can. The rest depends on your own efforts. Popo has already prepared two rooms for you in the palace. You can stay as long as you like."

"Then we'll be imposing on you!"