Breath of All Things

This move was incredibly fast, and its power could reach three times his own strength—over a thousand. It was already different from the Jiang Divine Body.

The Jiang Divine Body was more like an overall boost to his battle power. Explosive Flame Meteor, on the other hand, converted and collided ki. His actual strength didn't change, but the different way ki flowed through the technique allowed it to unleash power far beyond his own!

Thanks to the power of explosive flames, Explosive Flame Meteor was already immensely powerful. With Jiang Yun's current mastery and control of ki, he couldn't compress its energy any further. If he kept compressing it...

Bang!

It would only end one way: he wouldn't kill his enemy. He'd blow himself up instead.

Explosive Flame Meteor contained chaotic, disordered ki, and Jiang Yun had even made it more chaotic—something like the Rasengan from Naruto. Its shape was stable, but its interior was extremely disordered!

Once it struck someone, it would deal enormous damage! And with the power of explosive flames acting as fuel, it was like a thruster, boosting Explosive Flame Meteor's speed to a terrifying degree!

It was time to continue the trial. His training had put him behind by several days.

Jiang Yun covered his eyes again, then leaped into the sea.

Over the following days, Jiang Yun grew more and more adept. He gradually overcame the resistance of the water, and became far more skilled at concealing his ki.

His awareness of his surroundings also grew sharper. He could even feel the currents flowing around his body. Even without using ki, Jiang Yun could catch the fish swimming nearby.

When he used ki, it felt as if countless points of light appeared around him. Each one was the presence of a living being. They were faint, but undeniably there!

As Jiang Yun calmed his mind and settled his breathing, the creatures in the ocean began to treat him like a rock. In their eyes, he was no different from one, so they didn't consider him a threat.

To them, Jiang Yun sitting cross-legged on the seabed looked like a rock with unusual seaweed growing on it. They even mistook his hair for some kind of special seaweed.

Gradually, the world seemed to change before Jiang Yun's eyes. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and in an instant, all around him fell silent. At that moment, Jiang Yun entered a mysterious, profound state.

In his perception, the world seemed to take on new colors. Everything seemed to possess life, along with its own joys and sorrows.

Even all things seemed to contain a special kind of aura. To Jiang Yun, it was completely different from ki. It was something even more advanced.

If he had to give it a name, Jiang Yun would call it Vital Energy!

That's right!

Vital Energy!

In Jiang Yun's view, this special aura that existed in all things could only be the Vital Energy that had appeared in the original story. It was an existence even more advanced than ki.

In the original story, Goku had used a technique called the Spirit Bomb several times, saving Earth from disaster time and again.

As long as you gathered enough Vital Energy, you could even defeat an enemy many times stronger than yourself. Jiang Yun suspected, though, that Vital Energy had to be useful for more than just that.

Vital Energy was the foundation of life. All things possessed it. If Vital Energy ceased to exist, the thing itself would be destroyed.

When he thought about things related to Vital Energy in the original story, Jiang Yun remembered a miraculous tree.

The Tree of Might!

The fruit borne by the Tree of Might could greatly increase a person's battle power. It was said to be a fruit of the gods, accidentally scattered across the universe. The Tree of Might needed Vital Energy to grow, but because the universe was lacking in Vital Energy, it didn't get enough nourishment and forcibly drew on Vital Energy to grow.

That was why planting a Tree of Might would destroy a planet. The place where the gods lived, however, was rich in Vital Energy and could provide all the nourishment the tree needed.

The gods had no interest in the battle power the Tree of Might's fruit bestowed. They only used it as a fruit to quench their thirst, which was why the Tree of Might had ended up in the mortal world.

As its name suggested, the Tree of Might's greatest gift wasn't actually an increase in battle power, but an increase in mental strength. It could even slightly raise a person's dimension. Raising one's dimension could even extend one's lifespan.

And now, Jiang Yun could sense Vital Energy. It was an incredible discovery. A special insight had led him into this wondrous state.

Goku, on the other hand, had entered this state under King Kai's guidance. Jiang Yun's current state was even more complete. It was as if he could hear all things breathing. Everything radiated goodwill toward him, filling him with a sense of nourishment throughout his body and mind. The Vital Energy around him gathered toward his body.

Jiang Yun was actually absorbing Vital Energy!

If King Kai had seen this, he would have been astonished. Even he had only used Vital Energy to develop the immensely powerful Spirit Bomb. Yet Jiang Yun was absorbing Vital Energy itself.

It was as if a whirlpool had formed around Jiang Yun, rapidly drawing the Vital Energy scattered throughout the world into his body. Even the Vital Energy within all the things around him began to gather toward him.

Jiang Yun seemed to hear all things breathing, as if everything possessed life. Just as he began absorbing the Vital Energy of all things, an exceptionally pure stream of Vital Energy surged toward his body, far beyond anything scattered through the world.

Jiang Yun sensed the joy of all things, as if they were dancing with him. If cultivators existed in this world, they would surely cry out in astonishment!

This was a sign of a spirit body entering a state of sudden enlightenment!

Wasn't the state Jiang Yun had stumbled into a kind of sudden enlightenment, too?

In this state, Jiang Yun absorbed Vital Energy like mad. He only gradually stopped an hour later.

When Jiang Yun came to, he was overwhelmed with delight. His body felt better than ever, and his battle power had changed dramatically, reaching just over a thousand.

But that wasn't his greatest gain. His greatest gain was that Vital Energy had washed over his body and raised his innate potential by an entire level, bringing it to that of a super-genius. He still couldn't match Vegeta, but he had reached Goku's level.

Don't think Goku had poor potential. His battle power at birth had indeed been very low, but his terrifying comprehension made up for his lack of potential. He built a solid foundation from childhood, received guidance from many renowned masters, and after he became a Super Saiyan, his bloodline tempered his potential anew, allowing him to firmly surpass Vegeta.

As for the gap between Jiang Yun and the Saiyans, there was no doubt: Saiyans had powerful bodies, and after recovering from near death, their battle power grew stronger. He couldn't compete with that. It was simply their racial advantage.

But if you compared Jiang Yun with every Earthling currently on Earth, there was no question—his potential was the best in the world. Even Krillin fell far short of him now.

Jiang Yun shot excitedly into the sky, circling through the air and freely expressing his joy. Now, he believed he finally had what it took to fight the powerful enemies of the future. He had trained so relentlessly because Earthlings' potential was vastly inferior to the universe's monsters. Though he was confident he could compete with them, he hadn't dared slack off for even a moment.

Now, he was confident he could chase after anyone. He even looked forward to one day fighting Jiren, who was said to surpass the God of Destruction. What Jiang Yun didn't know was that he really would fulfill that dream in the future.

Of course, that was a story for later.