Bulma's Research

At the sight of the two brothers, Bulma was overjoyed and hurried over.

Of course, everyone else remained perfectly still, clearly immersed in cultivation.

"Bulma, why is your energy still so weak? And it's especially unstable," Goku blurted out after sensing that Bulma's energy had barely improved and was rather unsteady.

"You think everyone's a freak like you two? I'm already doing pretty well compared to normal people. Right now, I'm the fifth-strongest person here, after you two!"

"But if you don't count me and my big brother, there are only six of you. Let me see... your energy's only a tiny bit stronger than Oolong's, and his is much more stable."

"You... Hmph. That's only because I haven't been cultivating much."

In the past, Wuchen might have said something to Goku. But this time, he simply watched the two bicker without taking it too seriously.

Just like Krillin, Goku and Bulma seemed destined to become friends. This was simply how they got along.

When the moment was right, Wuchen finally spoke:

"Bulma, were you in such a hurry to find us because something went wrong with your cultivation? Your energy feels off. It seems your meridians may have been jolted. Cultivation takes time; you can't rush it."

Yes, he could tell something was wrong with Bulma's body. His initial guess was that she had taken the pills too hastily and hadn't properly refined them. Fortunately, the pills he had given her weren't very potent, so it wasn't a serious problem.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot the important thing." Bulma glared at Goku before turning to Wuchen.

"It's like this. I've had some new ideas about cultivation, but I haven't been able to make them work, so I wanted to ask you for advice."

"Hmm? Could you be more specific?"

"Well... I'm not sure how to explain it. Come with me. I'll show you, and then you'll understand."

Bulma gestured, but still couldn't figure out how to explain. So she tugged on Wuchen's sleeve and headed out of the training area, motioning for him to follow.

"All right." Wuchen readily agreed. He was about to call Goku along, but Goku had already run over to fiddle with the metal platform. It was the adjustable device Bulma had been sitting on earlier to meditate and train.

Wuchen shook his head with a smile and followed Bulma on his own.

After they left, Goku got the robot's help and successfully raised the adjustable Metal Meditation Platform.

Goku sat down and found it comfortable. The top of the platform was neither too soft nor too hard; it had clearly been carefully designed.

What was more, Goku found it especially quiet. When he meditated there, the sounds from outside became very faint. It must have had some kind of noise-canceling equipment.

The lighting was also excellent, and the sun didn't feel harsh. A row of little holes encircled the meditation spot, blowing a gentle breeze.

Goku could hardly imagine how Bulma had managed to hear the Nanny Robot from all the way over here while meditating and training.

And then ended her cultivation right away to meet up with the two brothers.

Of course, Goku didn't dwell on it.

He began meditating and training, ready to see what it was like to cultivate there.

Before long, Goku began generating spiritual energy, and nearly half of it seeped into his body. It mingled with his vital energy, began circulating through his meridians, and was eventually refined and absorbed by his body.

The portion his body didn't absorb dissipated outward. Even compared to the combined total absorbed and released by the other five, there was far more of it.

This soon alerted everyone else. They ended their cultivation one after another. When they saw Goku where Bulma had been sitting, they finally understood. So it was Goku. They had thought Bulma's research had succeeded.

"Goku, when did you get here? Bulma took us to Mount Paozu to look for you and Wuchen several times, but it seemed like you were never home," Yamcha asked. Oolong and Puar looked at Goku curiously as well.

"Oh, honey, look! Mr. Goku is amazing at cultivation!" Mrs. Brief exclaimed in amazement. Dr. Brief also watched Goku, curious to see him producing spiritual energy at such an incredible rate.

"Huh? You... I think I accidentally disturbed your cultivation." Goku had only been training for a little while and hadn't settled into it yet, so he had heard them.

But the apology sounded somehow different coming from Goku:

"My big brother and I came to return the Dragon Radar. Big brother also refined lots of pills, so they'll definitely help you get started faster. Once you form your Origin Souls, you won't be easily disturbed while cultivating."

Fortunately, everyone was used to him, and no one thought much of it.

Instead, they all smiled. Pills really were wonderful. It was a shame they hadn't used the ones they'd brought back last time; Bulma had taken them all to tinker with.

Thinking of that, Yamcha immediately looked around but couldn't find Bulma or Wuchen.

"By the way, where's Bulma? Where did she go? Wasn't she training with us just now? And where's Wuchen? I don't see him either."

"Oh, I think Bulma took my big brother over there." Goku pointed in a direction and answered.

Yamcha immediately had a bad feeling. Those pills were probably...

Meanwhile, Bulma had already led Wuchen into a fairly spacious, open room.

Although the room had been cleaned, Wuchen still caught a faint burnt smell in the air. There was also a lot of spiritual energy in the room, and it was agitated, as if a spiritual-energy surge had occurred.

Looking more closely, he saw several special cylindrical devices about half a person's height.

Spiritual energy still swirled inside them, and it felt familiar to Wuchen. Wasn't it the energy from the pills he had refined?

The devices were also connected to long, thin tubes made from an unknown material. Their ends led to a special bedlike machine.

"Wuchen, come over here for a moment." Wuchen was still pondering when he heard Bulma call him, and he looked over.

He took a few quick steps to one of the cylindrical devices. It was supposedly half a person's height, but it was actually exactly as tall as Wuchen.

"Look, this is the stuff you gave us before. If I remember correctly, it's called a pill, right? You said taking one and then refining and absorbing it would increase cultivation speed."

Bulma opened the device and took out a pill that had shrunk considerably. She began explaining from the beginning:

"After we got back that time, we..."

"...Then we started taking pills to cultivate faster... But it still felt too slow, so I thought I could cultivate normally during the day and keep improving while I rested at night."

"Then I built this device. I call it the Self-Cultivation Device... Look, I used the spatial-compression and solidification technologies from the Hoi-Poi Capsule principle in here. That way, the spiritual energy released as the pill melted and evaporated wouldn't scatter everywhere..."

As she spoke, Bulma gave Wuchen a rough explanation of how the device worked and what it was for. (The next few paragraphs are pure nonsense; don't take them seriously.)

"...Then the spiritual energy is sent out from here and injected into the body. You have no idea how strongly this energy clings to things, or how unstable it is. It's incredibly difficult to transport!"

"Fortunately, I, Bulma, genius inventor and the universe's number-one beauty, tested countless materials and finally found the perfect one: X23831 Special Alloy. It can transport spiritual energy into the body perfectly!"

As she said this, Bulma radiated brilliance, as if a beam of light were shining down on her!

But a moment later, her confidence wilted:

"But after the spiritual energy is injected into the body, it still has to be refined, and it has to be refined immediately!"

"It can't be injected directly into the dantian you mentioned. In fact, refining it this way is much more troublesome than taking a pill, and it takes even longer."

"So what I wanted to ask is, how can this spiritual energy be injected directly into the dantian? Or, could the spiritual energy inside a pill be refined in advance while the pill is being made?"

Bulma gazed at Wuchen expectantly with her big, sparkling eyes:

"If all else fails, could you give me some more of those pills? I'll keep researching on my own."