"Next! The highlight of today's quarterfinals!"
The host shouted himself hoarse, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. "Match number twelve, Son Goku—versus—match number thirty-eight, Tien Shinhan!"
"Waaaaah!"
The stands erupted in a tidal wave of cheers and shouts, sending the atmosphere to a fever pitch.
Everyone could feel that this match was on an entirely different level.
Bulma momentarily forgot her dreams of rare materials and nervously grabbed the railing. "It's starting, it's starting! Goku versus the three-eyed guy!"
Krillin was even more nervous, his palms sweating. "Tien Shinhan's really strong... Goku..."
Lin Fan's gaze turned to the arena, his expression growing focused.
He knew this was a perfect opportunity to observe a battle between this world's top "ki" fighters up close.
In the arena, Son Goku and Tien Shinhan stood facing each other.
Neither of them talked tough like Giran had. They simply stared at each other in silence, yet the air between them was thick with suffocating pressure.
Their invisible fields of "ki" clashed and surged against each other, even making the dust on the arena floor tremble faintly.
"Begin!" The referee's voice had barely fallen when—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two figures vanished from where they stood!
So fast!
Most of the spectators saw only two blurry shadows collide, followed by a deafening roar!
Bam! Boom! Crack!
A fierce hand-to-hand fight erupted!
The sounds of fists and feet colliding rang out like continuous thunder, their speed too great for the eye to follow.
Son Goku moved with the agility and ferocity of a beast, guided by instinct. Tien Shinhan was composed and precise, his three-eyed vision letting him spot the tiniest openings.
Every exchange was packed with explosive power.
"I... I can't even see them!"
Krillin rubbed his eyes furiously.
"They're so fast!" Bulma exclaimed.
Lin Fan's pupils narrowed. Even with the dynamic vision of someone in the middle stage of Qi Refining, he could barely make out their afterimages!
Their raw physical strength and speed had already reached an unfathomable level.
What shocked him even more was the vast amount of "ki" within them!
As the battle raged, their "ki" surged and erupted like a boiling ocean!
With every punch and kick, huge amounts of "ki" rushed forth, amplifying the force and unleashing terrifying destructive power.
This method of using it was crude, wild, and immensely forceful, but also... incredibly wasteful.
Lin Fan could clearly "see" a significant portion of their "ki" dissipating with each burst, never fully converted into effective offensive power.
"If I could condense True Qi to that degree..."
The thought had barely occurred to Lin Fan when he shook his head to himself.
No. The difference in total quantity was too great.
Compared to theirs, his True Qi was like a stream beside a great river.
But... perhaps there was another way.
He quietly closed his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't want to watch; instead, he sank his entire mind into his sea of consciousness as the basic deduction method of the Great Dao Source Scripture slowly began to turn.
His divine sense was like an exquisitely precise radar, concentrating as it barely enveloped the arena. Rather than trying to follow their movements with his eyes, he focused on sensing the flow of "ki" and the points where it erupted.
In an instant, the world changed before his "eyes."
The colorful world of sight faded away, replaced by a more fundamental scene composed of countless streams of energy.
Son Goku and Tien Shinhan became two fiercely burning Energy Cores, colliding over and over!
He could "see" how Tien Shinhan's ki gathered around his fist just before a punch, then dissipated after the blow landed.
He could "see" how Son Goku's ki flowed into his legs as he dodged, erupting with astonishing speed.
He could "see" the two vast currents of ki crash against each other when they met head-on, creating astonishing ripples of energy that made his divine sense tremble faintly.
"Wow! Tien Shinhan has used the Four Witches Technique!"
The host's startled cry rang out.
Lin Fan "saw" two illusory arms suddenly "grow" from Tien Shinhan's back, formed from condensed ki. Their energy structure was quite ingenious, but maintaining them required a steady and considerable expenditure of ki.
"Kamehameha—!"
Son Goku leaped backward to create some distance, cupping his hands at his waist as a dazzling blue-white light gathered furiously between them!
Lin Fan's divine sense snapped into focus between Son Goku's palms! He "saw" a vast amount of ki forcibly compressed and condensed in an almost brutal manner, forming an extremely unstable sphere of high-energy!
The power was wild and immense, but to him, the efficiency of its condensation seemed rather low. An astonishing amount was wasted in the process.
Boom—!
A thick beam of light roared forth, hurtling straight toward Tien Shinhan!
Tien Shinhan crossed his arms, releasing a torrent of ki to form a defense in front of him!
Rumble—!
A terrifying explosion of energy swept across the arena. The dazzling light made everyone squeeze their eyes shut, and the shockwave even blew the front-row spectators' hair back!
Lin Fan grunted, his face paling slightly.
Even sensing it only through his divine sense, that explosive surge of energy made his heart quail.
It was too powerful! This kind of violent release of energy was far beyond what he could comprehend at his current level.
The dust slowly settled, revealing a large, charred crater in the center of the arena.
Son Goku and Tien Shinhan were both panting. That last attack had clearly taken a heavy toll on them both.
Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes. A trace of shock remained deep within them, but what he felt most was a sense of understanding.
"So... this is how 'ki' erupts..."
He murmured to himself.
It was crude and direct, overwhelming everything through sheer quantity and instantaneous output.
This was almost the exact opposite of the Great Dao Source Scripture, which pursued precise control, an endless cycle of energy, and drawing upon the power of heaven and earth.
Which was better?
He couldn't say.
But he had a vague feeling that the "ki" arts of this world might follow a completely different path—one that could still lead to the pinnacle of power.
And how should he continue along the path he cultivated in this world?
Simply imitate their explosive "ki" techniques?
No. That would mean using his weakness to attack their strength.
Perhaps... he should delve deeper into the potential of the Great Dao Source Scripture and forge a path of his own, a path for a cultivator.
For example... even more extreme refinement?
More precise control?
Or... formations? Talismans? Elixirs?
He watched as the two fighters clashed again, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
To him, this battle was more than a feast for the eyes. It was a window through which he could glimpse a corner of this world's power system, and it helped him clarify his own direction.
The road ahead was still long, but he seemed to have glimpsed a faint glimmer of dawn.
"Goku! You can do it!" Krillin shouted anxiously beside him.
Bulma snapped back to her senses and joined in. "Goku! Knock that three-eyed guy flying!"
Lin Fan smiled faintly and softly added two words:
"Good luck."
Before you continue