Further Cultivation

Inside a training chamber...

Jiang Yun had developed new ideas regarding combat techniques. The concept of power-boosting techniques was already present in the original work; for instance, the Kaioken developed by King Kai could even amplify power twenty-fold, allowing one to defeat enemies dozens of times stronger than oneself. How astonishing that was.

Although King Kai seemed a bit unserious, he was undoubtedly a martial arts master. The high-level figures in Dragon Ball, such as Turtle Hermit, King Kai, and Old Supreme Kai, all appeared eccentric, but in reality, their states of mind had reached a certain level—a level of being unswayed by favor or humiliation. Their martial arts cultivation had also reached profound depths; one must never be deceived by their combat power.

Sometimes, one's state of mind is even more important than combat power, as reflected in the original work. For example, the tranquility like the sky and swiftness like lightning taught by the Guardian of Earth. Or the old man Goku encountered, who could even merge with the heavens and earth; he appeared to be there, yet felt as if he did not exist, having reached a state of unity between man and nature, close to the natural world.

Furthermore, just as Korin taught Kid Goku, they were all tempering the practitioner's techniques and state of mind. By utilizing their pursuit of power and feigning the use of the Ultra Divine Water, they trained them, and their strength improved tremendously through subtle influence.

Take the Ultra Instinct that Goku mastered in the original work. It was said that Goku was well-suited to grasp this divine secret technique, while Vegeta was not. Why was that? The key lay in Goku's pure heart. Having received training from various masters since childhood, he was able to grow rapidly from a combat power of a few tens of thousands on Namek to a Super Saiyan because his foundation was solid, allowing him to perfectly control that power.

As for Vegeta during the Namek battle, every time his power increased, he would become insufferably arrogant, immediately losing sight of himself and ignoring Frieza's immense strength. He even thought he had become a Super Saiyan, only to be slapped down by reality immediately after.

The same happened during the Android battle. When he emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he ignored everyone's objections and insisted on letting Cell evolve into his perfect form, only to suffer defeat. This was because his state of mind was inferior to Goku's, and even inferior to Future Trunks.

Under the training of the future world, Trunks's state of mind had long since surpassed Vegeta's because he shouldered the hope of an entire world. However, because the Dragon Team died too early in the original timeline, the martial arts realms of Gohan and Trunks were quite poor, which kept them stuck at the first stage of Super Saiyan.

Vegeta's state of mind could be said to have truly matured only by the Majin Buu era, when he had the courage to sacrifice himself to fight Majin Buu. At that moment, he was the Saiyan Prince we all loved. Seeing Vegeta in the Dragon Ball Super era caring so much for Bulma could not help but make Dragon Ball fans feel deeply gratified.

Coming back to his senses, Jiang Yun recalled his thoughts on power-boosting techniques. The Kaioken, while powerful, had severe drawbacks. Perhaps because it wasn't what he needed to cultivate, King Kai never continued to develop it, and it wasn't until it reached Goku that it was carried forward. Later, through Goku's modifications, he could even use the Kaioken on top of the Super Saiyan God form.

This made one marvel at Goku's astonishing comprehension. To surpass King Kai's years of effort in such a short time, even if it was based on King Kai's foundation, proved Goku's exceptional talent.

Thinking of his own Half-Step Crushing Fist, which had already hit a bottleneck and could only reach a three-fold boost, he realized that after his own research into Ki, although he had modified the technique to allow for a brief overall boost, it still couldn't compare to the Kaioken. Moreover, Jiang Yun discovered that due to the limits of his own physical strength, the multiplier of the Half-Step Crushing Fist could no longer increase. Although the side effects were far lower than the Kaioken due to the weaker boost, the final consequence was merely exhaustion.

Jiang Yun realized this was just a secret technique for short-term bursts. This technique, which could not be sustained, left him deeply dissatisfied, even though it was already a shocking existence to the outside world.

Over the past few years of training, he had been thinking about how to improve his martial arts, and he had achieved some results. Thinking of various novels from his past life and the conjectures of various readers, Jiang Yun couldn't help but yearn for the techniques in those novels that could instantly boost strength by dozens of times.

After years of research, Jiang Yun was not without gains. He discovered that most martial arts in Dragon Ball involved compressing Ki and then releasing it. When Raditz invaded Earth, Piccolo developed a major move, the Special Beam Cannon. The terror of this move lay in its extreme piercing ability; in the original work, it could even amplify combat power several times over, piercing through both Raditz and Goku, which showed its immense power.

Later on, Goku's Kamehameha was the same; through Goku's constant improvements, it had become his signature move.

Recalling the days when he first saw Goku's Kamehameha, he couldn't help but mimic the same movements; that image still echoed deeply in his mind to this day.

Now, he had the opportunity to face them in a contest of strength, which made Jiang Yun feel like he was at the center of a gathering storm, filled with a sense of grand ambition.

The technique in Dragon Ball that left the deepest impression on Jiang Yun was, without a doubt, Tien Shinhan's Tri-Beam. He was actually able to briefly suppress Cell, who had a combat power of over a billion, with his own power of only a few tens of millions. Regarding the Tri-Beam, Turtle Hermit commented that it was a move performed with one's life; although the side effects were costly, it was undeniably powerful.

Among countless references, Jiang Yun modeled his approach after the Kaioken's operating mode. The Kaioken was a technique that briefly increased the intensity of Ki by burning it within the body, which was why a red aura would appear around the user. King Kai once said that this move had high requirements for the physique, and he feared only a Saiyan like Goku could withstand high multipliers.

Referencing this, Jiang Yun developed his own "Kaioken," which he called the "Jiang Divine Body."

Yes, Jiang Yun placed great expectations on the Jiang Divine Body. Moreover, Jiang Yun wanted to become a True God, not through the shortcut of the divine realm like Goku, but by achieving the divine realm entirely through his own efforts. If he could reach that realm, Jiang Yun guessed it might be comparable to the Super Saiyan Blue state of Goku and Vegeta.

Of course, he was still far from that realm. He speculated that reaching the divine realm required the support of powerful strength, rather than being something that could be inherited like the Guardian of Earth, King Kai, or the Supreme Kai in the original work.

The Jiang Divine Body that Jiang Yun developed could now reach a five-fold boost, and it was a form similar to the Super Saiyan. Although named the Jiang Divine Body, it was a martial arts technique concerning the body. After developing it, Jiang Yun began to speculate about the Super Saiyan. In the extremely ancient era, the origin of the Saiyans, was the so-called Super Saiyan something formed through their own cultivation, which was eventually engraved into their bloodline and passed down?

Whether that was the case, Jiang Yun did not know, but he knew that a powerhouse capable of reaching such a realm was definitely beyond his imagination.

"Regardless of whether it is or not, now is not the time to think about this. I am a martial artist, not a scientist," Jiang Yun said with a relieved smile.

Immediately, his thoughts drifted to the many Martial Alliance disciples who were still undergoing their trials.

"They must be having a wonderful time!" Thinking of this, Jiang Yun smiled mischievously.

And on the other side...