Korin Tower, Kami's Lookout

Jiang Ling looked at the young man beside him and said in surprise, "You're... Upa?"

"Yes, I am. How do you know my name?" Upa asked, somewhat puzzled.

Hearing that, Jiang Ling was even more surprised. "Aren't you a girl?!"

In his memory, Upa had been so cute as a child that he had to be a girl!

How had he grown up into a man...

"Says who!"

Upa was a little angry. "Who said I was a girl? I'm going to be a real man like my dad!"

Jiang Ling suddenly understood.

So not everyone cute was a girl...

"Climbing the tower is an extremely dangerous trial. One misstep and you'll fall to your death. Are you sure you want to challenge it?"

Bora coughed lightly, his expression serious.

He felt it was very necessary to tell Jiang Ling.

After all, plenty of martial artists had failed the challenge before.

Jiang Ling nodded. "I'm sure. I want to take the challenge."

"Then you'll have to defeat me before you can climb the tower. If you can't beat me, you'll never make it to the top."

Bora slowly took a stance.

Jiang Ling shook his head, indicating there was no need to go through all that trouble.

Then his body moved, and in the blink of an eye, he shot past Bora and Upa, father and son, charging toward the pillar supporting Korin Tower.

Bora didn't even react.

His speed was absurdly fast!

Jiang Ling stepped straight onto the pillar supporting Korin Tower.

Under Bora and Upa's shocked gazes, he shoved both hands into his pockets and started running up the vertical pillar as if it were flat ground!

Even Newton would have had to give him a thumbs-up.

Bora's mouth fell open at the sight, dumbstruck.

Only after a long while did he squeeze out two words. "Badass..."

Upa stared in shock at Jiang Ling's figure as it grew farther and farther away.

After a long time, he finally asked, "Dad, is he... really going to be okay like that? He won't fall, will he?"

Bora calmed himself, shook his head, and pointed at that figure.

"Probably not. Look, while he's running on the pillar, he can even spin and jump—and with his eyes closed, no less."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The gale roared past his ears.

Before long, Jiang Ling saw the round, hollow building at the top.

With his hands in his pockets, he pushed off hard with his feet and leaped up, spinning a stylish three hundred and sixty degrees in midair before turning gracefully and landing inside the tower.

What appeared before him was a cat standing upright like a person, slightly chubby, covered in white fur, its paws holding a staff taller than itself.

Somehow, it didn't look out of place at all.

"You must be Korin, right?"

"That's right. I am Korin. May I ask what this brave warrior is called? Meow~"

Korin gave a slight nod and spoke politely.

"Hello, Korin. My name is Jiang Ling."

Jiang Ling sized Korin up curiously.

Although he had seen him many times in the manga, this was the first time he had seen the living, breathing Korin standing right in front of him.

He looked so cute. Jiang Ling really wanted to give him a good pet!!

"Jiang Ling, since you climbed the tower, do you need the Ultra Divine Water? To obtain the Ultra Divine Water, you must pass my trial in combat."

Jiang Ling shook his head. "I'm not drinking the Ultra Divine Water. I heard that Ultra Divine Water is highly poisonous, and only people with pure hearts won't be poisoned to death."

"I don't dare gamble on whether I'll be poisoned to death, because gambling and drugs are my sworn enemies!"

Korin: "..."

"Then is there anything I can help you with? Meow~"

Jiang Ling said seriously, "If possible, could you give me some Senzu Beans?"

Senzu Beans were one of the most absurdly overpowered items in Dragon Ball.

No matter how strong you were, no matter how badly injured, as long as you were not dead yet, eating one would absolutely bring you back to full health.

In gaming terms, HP and MP recovered by 100%.

"Senzu Beans, huh..."

When Korin heard that, his face showed some difficulty.

"Not right now. If it were a few years ago, I could have given you some, but the Senzu Beans have all been used up, meow."

"I'll be honest with you. In half a year, two powerful enemies will invade Earth. Once the next batch of Senzu Beans matures, they have to be prioritized for the warriors, so I can't give any to you, meow~"

Jiang Ling slapped his forehead.

He had almost forgotten about that.

Before this, the stockpile of Senzu Beans built up over several hundred years had been squandered by Yajirobe, and now Senzu Bean resources were tight. In half a year, Vegeta would invade, so they needed to prepare some Senzu Beans just in case.

Thinking of that, Jiang Ling could only blame his own bad luck.

He spread his hands, looking helpless.

"All right, then. But I worked so hard to get here. It'd be a bit unreasonable for me to leave just like that."

Korin's whiskers trembled when he heard that.

You ran straight up here, and you call that hard work?

If that counted as hard work, what were the people who had failed to climb up before supposed to think?

"Then what do you want? I'll consider it, meow."

"I want to go to Kami's Lookout."

Jiang Ling raised a hand and pointed upward, stating his second reason for coming.

Kami was the god who managed Earth. His status was even higher than the cat hermit's, and he also held a trump card that could practically be called bug-level.

The Hyperbolic Time Chamber!

Train inside for one year, and only one day would pass outside!

If Jiang Ling wanted to use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in the future, he had to go through Kami.

"If you can climb the tower, then you're qualified to go to Kami's Lookout."

"However, going to Kami's Lookout requires Kami's permission. I'll communicate with him."

After saying that, Korin closed his eyes.

A while later, he opened them and looked at Jiang Ling.

"Kami agreed. Go on up."

Jiang Ling nodded and stood still where he was.

The cat hermit did not move either.

The man and the cat just stared at each other like that.

"Why aren't you going up?" the cat hermit could not help asking.

"Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me? Do you think everyone can fly?" Jiang Ling spread his hands helplessly.

"Ah, this..."

Korin scratched his head.

After spending so much time around Son Goku and the others, he had actually forgotten about that. "Sorry about that. Wait a moment."

With that, Korin raised his staff. His plump body waved its arms and legs as he muttered under his breath, as though performing some kind of ritual.

"Meow meow meow meow..."

A rising and falling incantation came from his mouth.

A teleportation array glowing with white light appeared out of thin air before Jiang Ling.

"This is a teleportation array. It can take you straight to Kami's Lookout. Just step inside."

Korin stopped moving and signaled for Jiang Ling to enter.

Jiang Ling nodded, took a capsule from his pocket, pressed the switch, and tossed it to the ground.

After a puff of smoke, ten bags of cat food appeared on the floor.

"Korin, it's our first meeting, and I didn't bring much of a gift. Please accept this cat food."

Jiang Ling said it with a smile. Without waiting for Korin to say anything, he stepped into the teleportation array and vanished.

"Cat food? What's that?"

Korin was puzzled.

He opened a bag of cat food and sniffed it. His eyes instantly burst with a gleam of light!

Not caring about anything else, he eagerly plunged his cat head inside and began eating the cat food in great mouthfuls...

"Delicious, waah, waah, waah! I've never eaten anything this good before, waah, waah, waah..."

Jiang Ling entered the teleportation array.

After only a slight wave of dizziness, he appeared on a plaza.

The towering Kami's Lookout stood not far away. Two rows of green trees were planted across the broad plaza, adding a touch of greenery to it.

Several figures were cultivating on the plaza.

They were Krillin, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu, Yamcha, and Yajirobe.

All of them were familiar figures from the early stages of Dragon Ball.

They had been summoned by Kami for special training, preparing for the Saiyan invasion half a year later.

Right now, they were sparring to improve their skills.

When they suddenly saw someone appear out of nowhere, they stopped and looked over one after another.

Once they saw the tail behind Jiang Ling, their expressions changed drastically.

"He has a tail too?! Is he a Saiyan?"

"A Saiyan!!"

"Could the Saiyan invasion have come early? What do we do? Goku is still training with King Kai, and we're still so weak. What do we do!"

"Damn it! We'll fight him with everything we've got!"

Seeing their look of readiness to die, as if they were about to risk everything in a desperate fight, Jiang Ling hurriedly stopped them.

"Stop, stop, stop. Wait a second. I'm not a bad guy!"

The group paused, their faces wary as they exchanged glances.

They were not stupid.

If Jiang Ling were a bad guy and wanted to wipe them out, he would have already made a move by now.

Besides, they had heard that Saiyans could not control their aura. The aura Jiang Ling gave off did not seem very strong, which was also why they did not act rashly.

"How did you get here? What business do you have?"

Yamcha, dressed in an orange martial arts uniform, asked warily.

Jiang Ling stood with his hands clasped behind his back, raising his head to look up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

The wind roared high above.

It blew against his clothes, making them snap loudly.

Without him realizing it, it added a touch of melancholy to his air.

"I came to see Kami on Korin's recommendation."

When they heard Korin's name, everyone looked toward Yajirobe.

After all, he had always lived by Korin's side, so he should know something.

Yajirobe finished the snacks in his hand and spread his hands. "What are you all looking at me for? I've been training with you this whole time. How would I know what's going on at Korin Tower?"