The Way that can be spoken is not the eternal Way. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all things.
Thus, always free of desire, one may observe its mysteries; always filled with desire, one may observe its manifestations.
These two arise from the same source but have different names. Together, they are called the profound.
Profound upon profound, the gateway to all mysteries. The Way gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things. All things bear yin and embrace yang, blending their vital energies to achieve harmony. What people despise most are being alone, being destitute, and being unworthy, yet kings and lords use these as their titles. Thus, things may be diminished and thereby increased, or increased and thereby diminished. What others teach, I teach as well.
Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat all things like straw dogs. The sages are not benevolent; they treat the common people like straw dogs. Is the space between heaven and earth not like a bellows? Empty, yet never exhausted; in motion, it produces ever more. Too many words bring exhaustion. Better to hold fast to the center.
Beneath the sages, all are ants. Fail to become a sage, and you are an ant."
As Lei Chen recited the Tao Te Ching, he absorbed the spiritual energy of this world of time—or rather, the vital energy.
The Dragon Ball world had only vital energy, not spiritual energy, so Lei Chen could absorb only the vital energy of heaven and earth.
Feeling the flow of time around him, Lei Chen entered a wondrous state. He sat in meditation like that for three months.
His battle power increased by more than 20 billion, reaching 70 billion. Lei Chen had possessed 58 billion in his newly achieved Super Saiyan 2 form. After three months of cultivation, he had finally reached the level Son Gohan attained after defeating Cell.
Son Gohan's base form had 700 million. After recovering from his injuries... base form! Since Super Saiyan 1 was fifty times stronger than base form, and Super Saiyan 2 was twice as strong as Super Saiyan 1, Super Saiyan 2 was a hundred times stronger than base form. Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 form at the time had 70 billion, and Lei Chen's battle power was now 70 billion.
Super Saiyan 1 was fifty times stronger than base form. Super Saiyan 2 was a hundred times stronger than base form, while Super Saiyan 3 was four times stronger than Super Saiyan 2, or four hundred times base form.
But in Lei Chen's eyes, Super Saiyan was merely a divine power—or perhaps a secret technique. Hadn't Broly, with just Super Saiyan 1, beaten Super Blue Son Goku and Vegeta to a pulp?
The evil Saiyan Cumber was the same.
Vegeta's Super Saiyan 2 wasn't much weaker than Son Goku's Super Saiyan 3. In Lei Chen's view, as long as one's base power was strong enough, even Super Saiyan 2 could beat Super Blue to a pulp.
Of course, though Lei Chen's calculations worked out that way, cultivating one's base power to the level of Super Saiyan 2 or Super Saiyan 3 was almost harder than reaching an epiphany and attaining Ultra Instinct.
Super Saiyan God, on the other hand, was a realm. Anyone could transform into it, regardless of their strength. All it took was for five kind-hearted Saiyans to pass their Saiyan light to you, and then you could transform.
"I never imagined the Tao Te Ching would work in the Dragon Ball world, too. Does that mean I'm cultivating the Way?"
Would I eventually become a Super Saiyan Immortal?"
Lei Chen muttered to himself. He had never been idle during those thirty-some years. He had tried almost every method he could think of to leave Sky Blue Planet.
He had studied and practiced the Tao Te Ching, Buddhist scriptures, and martial arts manuals he remembered from his previous life online, along with things from novels like the Great Way of Space and the Great Way of Time. That had allowed Lei Ge to cultivate at least a little of them over those forty-some years.
At the very least, he had managed to learn Instant Transmission. He could also stop time, and he knew Time Skip. Though his battle power was lower than Son Goku's and Vegeta's—he couldn't even beat Vegeta—
Even if Son Goku and Vegeta teamed up, they still couldn't kill Lei Chen. They would have to fuse into Vegito.
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