Fusion Enlightenment

What Merus left behind opened a brand-new door for Li Ming—a path different from Earth's martial arts.

The core of Earth's martial arts was, in fact, ki. Li Ming had long since mastered that, and had even developed techniques suited to himself through it.

But this kind of training had more or less reached its limit. If Li Ming wanted to increase his strength quickly, there was no path left to him besides becoming a Super Saiyan. Yet Merus had pointed out a road different from transformation.

Though it was incomplete, it was already enough to let him take another step forward.

Instinct—turning every movement of the body into instinct, keeping the body in a state of absolute balance, and thereby entering an almost entirely new realm. In that state, Li Ming's strength would enter an unimaginable domain.

However, what Merus had left behind was very vague. It was like a peerless martial art manual; cultivating it successfully on his own would not be something accomplished overnight.

Li Ming had to rely on himself to explore it, and the process might be extremely long.

"Phew..."

Standing in the center of the training room, Li Ming had deliberately adjusted every environmental factor to resemble Earth as closely as possible in order to find that sense of balance, allowing his body to relax.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, an attack came from behind him. Li Ming was caught off guard and struck. With no defenses in place, a sharp pain immediately flared across his back.

Then, attack after attack came flying at him. He had Cain design these machines. Since they were not living creatures, they had no ki. At the same time, he closed his eyes, attempting to evade using his body's instinctive reactions.

Bang, bang, bang!

For an entire day, Li Ming was basically taking attacks. Even though their intensity was not high, they still drained all his stamina.

Crack!

In the end, he dragged his exhausted body out of the training room. On the first day, he achieved nothing at all. Other than exhaustion, there had been no progress whatsoever.

On the second day, Li Ming continued the same training. He had no intention of giving up. This was only the beginning.

Then came the third day, the fourth day... until a month later, Li Ming emerged from the training room with a trace of fatigue. It was not because his training had succeeded, but because they had finally arrived at Yardrat.

"My lord, we have arrived at Yardrat. Should we make contact with them next?" Cain came before him and handed him a towel.

Li Ming took it, wiped away the sweat on his body, and said, "No need. Just land directly. I'll go myself."

"Yes."

One reason for coming here was to see those miraculous secret techniques. The other was to find a way to transform.

After all, once Goku successfully transformed, he was able to completely master the ability within just a year and a half. His strength was comparable to Trunks twenty years later, perhaps even greater. That showed Yardrat truly had something extraordinary about it.

And even if he ultimately failed, learning a few secret techniques to save his life would still be worthwhile.

The spaceship landed on a wilderness plain on Yardrat. Li Ming stepped out of the spacecraft, with the others following close behind. Li Ming had originally planned to go alone, but after discussing it, they decided that Aor and Cain would stay behind to guard the spaceship while the other three accompanied Li Ming to take a look.

After all, as mercenaries, they had almost no time outside of missions. Now that they had come to such a distant place, they naturally wanted to see it for themselves.

"Boss, it looks like someone is coming from over there." Babas pointed at a figure in the distance.

Li Ming nodded. He had spotted the figure from far away, so he was not surprised. These people had probably noticed the spaceship and come to investigate.

"Are they highly vigilant, or is there someone like a Grand Elder here?"

This planet was no less mysterious than Namek. It would be perfectly normal for someone like a Grand Elder to exist here, so Li Ming could not tell whether they had merely come to take a look or already knew why he was here.

"Watch and wait. Without my order, try not to make a move."

"Yes!" Their expressions turned serious. Li Ming rarely gave them orders, usually only making decisions on major matters. But whenever Li Ming truly spoke, they would carry out his commands strictly.

After all, they had been mercenaries for many years. If they still could not distinguish what mattered and what did not at a time like this, that would truly be a failure on their part.

Soon, the figures arrived before them. They were two Yardratians of fairly short stature, with red skin and pointed ears that looked quite similar to the Kullen sisters.

The first thing Li Ming noticed was their battle power, only to discover that he could not sense anything at all. It was not that they were weak—their very basic life aura as living beings had been hidden!

What incredible secret techniques. His interest in Yardrat's techniques deepened further. These two had walked over right in front of him. With that kind of speed, it was impossible for them to have no battle power at all!

"Um... h-hello."

"What was that...?"

The group froze. The Yardratians had not opened their mouths. The voice had appeared directly in their minds. Babas nearly blurted out, "Telepathy?"

"Yes." The Yardratian on the left nodded, confirming Babas's guess.

At that moment, Li Ming stepped forward half a pace and said, "Hello. I came here to learn some of your secret techniques. If possible, I can offer you something in exchange."

The two Yardratians exchanged a glance, seeming to process Li Ming's words. Their language was not the universal language of the cosmos, but a very ancient script.

That was also why they communicated through telepathy. This ability allowed communication even when languages were not shared, though Li Ming did not know whether it could be used to make wishes to Porunga.

Finally, one of the Yardratians looked at Li Ming, and a telepathic message appeared. "Please wait a moment."

Li Ming nodded, guessing they were contacting the planet's sage or leader. After all, these secret techniques had been painstakingly developed by them. There was no reason for them to simply hand them over to him.

They did not wait long before the Yardratians spoke again. "Please come with us. The sage wishes to see you."

"Alright."

Li Ming glanced at Babas and the others. "In that case, Babas, wait for me here."

The others could only nod helplessly. They were mercenaries, not space pirates. This was someone else's planet; since they had not been invited, they could not break the rules.

Li Ming followed the two Yardratians to a village. Yardrat's civilization should have possessed technology as well. After all, when Goku arrived here in the original story, his spaceship had been damaged. Li Ming did not believe Goku had repaired it himself.

Yardrats were simply more adept at developing various secret techniques than advancing technology.

Any one of these miraculous abilities was an invaluable treasure. That was perhaps why Yardrat had chosen to hide away at the edge of the universe. After all, a man was innocent, but possessing a treasure invited trouble.

Along the way, many Yardrats stopped to stare curiously at Li Ming, this "alien." It had been many years since an outsider had visited their planet, so seeing Li Ming was quite a novelty to them.

"I'm terribly sorry." One of the Yardrats walking ahead, seemingly the younger one, apologized to Li Ming.

Li Ming did not mind and said, "It's fine. My name is Li Ming, or you can call me Xilaka."

"Mm, I'm Su Tu. He's my older brother, Su Ji. The two of us are disciples of the Wise One."

Su Tu introduced them in a friendly manner, while Su Ji beside him gave a token nod.

That surprised Li Ming somewhat. Though he did not know whether Yardrats were as peace-loving a race as Namekians, one could see the whole leopard through a single spot. The fact that these two brothers were disciples of the Wise One made it clear that their status on the planet was not low.

That basically meant Yardrats probably did not have particularly bad temperaments. For now, that was the only good news.

Li Ming did not consider himself as cruel as Frieza, but neither did he have Goku's naive, overly kind nature. He truly had no confidence in winning the Yardrats' approval in that regard.

"We're here. Please, come in."

Su Tu and Su Ji led Li Ming to a building. It too had an oval structure, much like those on Earth. Perhaps that was because such buildings saved space well and could effectively withstand external damage.

Li Ming entered the building. An elderly Yardrat sat at the front, and upon seeing Li Ming, he gestured with a hand. "Please, sit."

The old Yardrat spoke directly in the Galactic language, which surprised Li Ming. Still, he nodded and walked over to sit on a cushion.

"Thank you."

"No need for courtesy, guest from a distant part of the universe. Or rather, young warrior, hello."

Li Ming was not surprised in the slightest that he had been seen through. The tail was only enough to fool ordinary people. Before a Wise One whose realm was unfathomable in itself, trying to hide his identity was nothing but wishful thinking.