They kept at it until dinnertime, finally stopping only when they were thoroughly satisfied. They had already become engrossed in their training.
This time, everyone treasured the spirit feast even more. After eating, they all insisted on meditating to carefully refine its essence.
They meditated until late into the night, so naturally they had to stay over. Of course, "staying over" didn't mean they all crammed into the little house shared by Wuchen and Goku.
Everyone had Capsules with them—residential Hoi-Poi Capsules—so staying over simply meant resting on the same patch of land.
The next day, it was time to part.
Before they left, Wuchen played the rich man and gave everyone a bottle of pills that could boost their cultivation.
But they weren't the same as the ones he'd given Master Roshi privately the day before.
These pills had been made during the experimental phase. They weren't defective, of course, and they had no side effects. The proportions of the ingredients just weren't quite right, so their effects were much weaker.
As Wuchen handed out the pills, Goku borrowed something from Bulma: the Dragon Radar.
More than a year had passed since they'd last summoned Shenron to make a wish. Goku wanted to search for the Dragon Balls again and find the Four-Star Ball.
Bulma had no reason to refuse. The Dragon Radar was already in the Capsule house she carried with her, so she took it out and gave it to Goku.
After that, everyone said their goodbyes.
Since Master Roshi and the others had come to visit, Wuchen wasn't planning to visit them again anytime soon.
So the brothers saw everyone off at the foot of the mountain, then returned to the house to get ready.
Over the next two days, they used the pressure cooker left over from last time to make some healing pills, then loaded some spiritual materials into the empty Hoi-Poi Capsules. The two of them were preparing to set off on another journey to find the Dragon Balls.
By this time, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar had returned to West City.
"Bulma, we're in West City now. You and Oolong can head home. We should go our separate ways for the time being." As soon as they arrived, Yamcha announced his departure.
"You're not coming home with me? What are you going to do?" Yamcha's sudden announcement caught Bulma completely off guard and made her suspicious. Had her boyfriend found someone new?
"Mm. I'm going to take Puar and find a remote mountain to train in, just like Wuchen and Goku. Haha, don't worry. Once we've grown some spirit fruit, we'll bring you some."
That was right—Yamcha hadn't found someone else. He simply wanted to train hard, like Goku and Wuchen. Ever since losing to Krillin at the World Martial Arts Tournament, his pride had taken a serious blow.
Now that he knew Goku and Wuchen, as well as Master Roshi and Krillin, were all training, he naturally didn't want to fall behind.
But Bulma only laughed at his explanation. "What? That's all? There's no need to go through all that trouble."
"Huh?" Yamcha was taken aback, unsure what Bulma meant.
"I'd already been thinking about this on the way back. You don't need to worry about your training. Come on, let's go home." Bulma smiled slightly, acting mysterious herself.
Yamcha hesitated, but Bulma spoke again. "When we were at Mount Paozu, I asked Wuchen a lot of questions. I know much more about training than you do. Are you sure you want to train on your own without a plan? I've got a pretty good one."
"A plan? What kind of plan?" Yamcha was immediately hooked.
Bulma said no more. She simply took over the driving and headed for home. Yamcha made no move to get out of the car.
Back home, Bulma still didn't explain. She just told Yamcha and the others to do whatever they liked, whether that meant training or resting.
Meanwhile, she found her father, Dr. Brief, and the two of them began a major renovation of their enormous indoor garden.
Yamcha waited anxiously for half a month before Bulma finally got back to him. She took him to the indoor garden he'd visited several times before.
The indoor garden had now become an open-air space. They had removed the roof and walls, turning it into something like an outdoor stadium. The stray cats and dogs and the dinosaurs that had lived inside had all been moved elsewhere.
At the center of the grounds stood several metal platforms that could be raised and lowered. They were equipped with radiation shielding and designed for meditation.
Beyond them were plots of land with trees, crops, and all kinds of flowers and plants. The grounds also had an irrigation system, along with a dozen specially made robots to tend the spiritual plants and prepare food for everyone.
One detail worth mentioning was a larger robot, made by modifying the mecha Wuchen had given them. It was specially designed to prune the fruit trees and harvest the spirit fruit.
A ring of light-gathering devices surrounded the outer edge. Their intensity could be adjusted.
"This... this is... it's practically a perfect training ground! Bulma, you're incredible." After hearing Bulma's introduction, Yamcha was so stunned he could barely speak.
"Perfect? Nothing in the world is perfect except my beauty." Bulma gazed up at the sky, admiring herself for a moment, then continued, "We don't know that much about training, so we'll need to test it in practice before we can tell whether anything needs improving or how to improve it."
"Hey, are you even listening to me? This is so annoying!" Yamcha had only given her a casual compliment, and by now he was already sitting on a metal platform, off to "test it." Oolong and Puar were no different. No one was listening to Bulma at all.
Bulma could only follow after them in frustration and start training too.
Meanwhile, news caused a sensation across the Southern Archipelago in the southern part of the Central Continent.
"Master Mutaito is taking students three days from now. I wonder if I'll be chosen."
"What do you mean, taking students? He said he was going to teach people how to train."
"What do you know? If you get taught by Master Mutaito, you can at least count as one of his students. That's basically the same as taking you on as a student."
Similar talk spread throughout the Southern Archipelago, proving that it wasn't just a rumor.
That was right. Ever since returning from Mount Paozu, Master Roshi had been making preparations. He planned to pass on the training tips Wuchen had given him. That was what Wuchen wanted, too.
Wuchen had even specifically given Master Roshi the introductory section of a basic cultivation method, along with a regular body-tempering method. The main focus was Soul Condensation. It wasn't yet appropriate to spread the later stages of the techniques.
After all, martial heroes could use their strength to defy the law. The cultivation of the entire world had to be handled gradually.
For now, they couldn't allow cultivators to become too numerous or too powerful. Nor could their backgrounds be too complicated. At the very least, they had to remain within a manageable range.
So Wuchen and Master Roshi decided to spread the teachings only on a small scale.
At the same time, they would screen those who received them, judging character before talent.
But no one could see through another person at a glance. Even if they could now, they couldn't predict what that person might be like in the future.
That was why it was so important to teach only the basics. Even if something unforeseen happened, it would be easier to keep under control.
Of course, only Master Roshi and Krillin were handling all this.
As for Wuchen, he and Goku had only just reached the location of the first Dragon Ball—and they hadn't even found it yet.
And their journey to find the Dragon Balls this time was anything but ordinary.
Before you continue