The Arrival of Jaco!

On Yardrat, the oblivious Li Ming was testing the secret technique he had mastered. Babas and the others were sparring before him, and a string of numbers appeared directly on Li Ming's retina.

"Babas, 52,000 battle power? Looks like the earlier fight raised his strength."

Looking at the value displayed on the detector in his hand, Li Ming gained a rough understanding of Spirit Eye's abilities. Once he had confirmed the effects of this secret technique, everything became simple.

Setting the detector aside, Li Ming checked everyone else's battle power as well. Their numbers had all improved to some extent. Though fighting blindly was dangerous, it truly was the fastest way to grow stronger.

Unfortunately, such conditions were difficult to achieve. First, the gap in strength could not be too great. Otherwise, it would not be a battle, but a one-sided crushing.

Second, the opponent had to go all out. This was also the difference between a real battle and a spar. Once you became familiar with the other person's techniques, or even knew them personally, it became difficult to do that.

Just as Vegeta had been willing to be used to awaken the darkness in his heart, allowing Babidi to control him so that he could fight Goku with everything he had, Vegeta at that time had gradually let go of his pride. Having lost his determination to kill Goku, he naturally could not give it his all.

"Boss, how was it?"

Kulunxi and Aor walked over. They had asked the Yardratians about their training methods. Li Ming could teach them some applications of ki as well, but that would take time.

He could not teach as gradually and methodically as Mr. Popo and Korin. At most, he could explain the principles and let them comprehend them on their own.

"Mm."

Li Ming nodded and praised them. "Not bad. All of your battle powers have improved."

In the universe, battle power in the tens of thousands was already quite respectable. As long as their luck was not too terrible, that level of strength was enough for them to live quite comfortably.

Before long, the Babas brothers came over as well. The real purpose of this spar had been to help them adapt to the power they had gained in such a short period of time. The improvement brought by that Fruit of the Tree of Might had simply been too great.

When battle power surged so dramatically, much of that increase would go to waste if they could not adapt to it quickly.

It was like when Li Ming had first mastered Berserk Transformation. The enormous stamina drain was only one aspect; more importantly, he had been unable to fully unleash all of that power.

"Mr. Li Ming."

Su Tu suddenly appeared before him and said, "The Wise One wishes to see you."

"Alright."

The Wise One was named Hu Su. His abilities were very similar to the Grand Elder's, though he had mastered even more miraculous secret techniques.

Li Ming turned to the others and said, "Cain is adjusting the spaceship. If you're interested, you can try training with the gravity chamber."

This was the best method Li Ming could think of. Other than that, perhaps only unlocking their potential could produce better results.

"Yes, Boss." Their response made Li Ming feel somewhat awkward.

To be honest, Li Ming did not like that form of address. Perhaps mercenaries did not have such strict rules to begin with, so rather than soldiers, they were more like bounty hunters who followed interstellar laws.

Combined with the universe's law of the strong devouring the weak, calling someone Boss was more a form of worship toward the strong.

Without dwelling on the detail, Li Ming followed Su Tu to the village where the Wise One lived. The village had already been rebuilt. It seemed they must have had some attachment to it, otherwise the traces of its earlier destruction would not have been so easily repaired.

Along the way, Li Ming also noticed something. Not every Yardratian lacked "ki." Rather, only some Yardratians gained that ability after learning secret techniques for energy control.

This ability allowed them to perfectly control their own energy—that was, their "ki"—making them difficult to detect.

To sense them, one had to train Instant Transmission to a profound level. Just as Su Tu's battle power was actually far inferior to Li Ming's, yet he could easily locate inhabited planets beyond Yardrat with Instant Transmission.

"Please, come in."

Li Ming nodded and entered the house, where he met the Wise One once more. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but perhaps because his senses had improved, the Wise One seemed increasingly unfathomable in his eyes.

This feeling did not come from visible battle power, but from a difference in "rank."

"Please, sit."

The Wise One opened his eyes and looked at Li Ming with admiration. "Pursuing power single-mindedly can cause you to lose your balance."

Li Ming walked before the Wise One and sat cross-legged. He was not accustomed to kneeling. Hearing the Wise One's words, he said, "But isn't the balance of this universe founded upon absolute power?"

"Hehehe, an interesting way of putting it."

The Wise One had not expected Li Ming to hold such an insight. It sounded simple, yet it struck directly at the essence of the universe.

No matter how complicated the laws of the universe were, the closer one came to the end, the simpler they became: whoever had the bigger fist was the truth. It was that simple.

In Li Ming's view, Zeno was absolutely not a qualified ruler. Across eighteen universes—no, twelve universes—countless powerful beings all had to bow and scrape before him. That was power, the intimidation brought by unmatched power.

On a smaller scale, the same principle applied to any universe, any planet, or even any country. Only absolute power was the foundation of everything.

Though they had exchanged some meaningless words, Li Ming had not forgotten why he had come. He asked, "May I ask why you summoned me here?"

"Someone needs your help."

Li Ming froze, somewhat unable to understand what that meant. The Wise One continued, "He is already on his way to Yardrat. I think you should know him."

"Please wait a moment..."

Li Ming pressed two fingers to his forehead and expanded his senses as far as possible. Gradually, his range extended all the way to Giant Forest Planet. After spending some time, Li Ming finally sensed that familiar yet faint ki.

Opening his eyes, he frowned. "Jaco? What does he need me for?"

"Mm... it seems to be related to a planet called Earth. As for the specifics, I do not know."

The Wise One could foresee parts of the future, but only vague clues. He could not predict exactly what would happen.

Just like now, Li Ming had no doubts about this matter.

"Earth..."

After thinking it over carefully for a moment, Li Ming quickly connected the dots. It was not hard to figure out, really. He had not kept track of how long it had been since he left Earth, but considering the long journeys through space, several years had indeed passed.

Fragments of memory kept flashing through his mind. The only danger Earth might face during this period was Vegeta arriving on Earth.

"Thank you."

No matter what, Li Ming was grateful for the sage's reminder. During his training here, he had even begun to overlook Frieza's threat. Now, it was time to deal with some of these troubles.

"It is nothing."

The sage shook his head, then said calmly, "The immense power hidden within your body seems to have undergone some kind of change. I do not know what effect this change will have on you. It is beyond the scope of my abilities."

The power within his body...

Hearing that, Li Ming's expression became somewhat complicated. Ever since undergoing the sage's trial, he had felt as though he had forgotten something important.

At the same time, it felt as if he had cast off a burden. The ki within his body had become exceptionally calm. It was a strange sensation, but the bottleneck to becoming a Super Saiyan no longer seemed so difficult. The potential within his body was also rapidly transforming into strength.

The Spirit Eye secret technique could not reveal his own battle power, but Li Ming could still estimate that it was nearing four million.

Whoosh! Bam!

Jaco quickly arrived on Yardrat. After explaining his purpose, he was brought directly before the sage.

"It's happened!"

His two salted-egg-like eyes bulged wide. Striking an exaggerated pose, Jaco pointed at Li Ming and said, "Mr. Li Ming! Earth is in grave danger!"

"Uh... take it slow. What happened to Earth?"

Li Ming's eye twitched. Although Jaco was a member of the Galactic Patrol, he did not seem particularly reliable. In fact, Li Ming often felt that this guy existed purely for comic relief.

"Two Saiyans are going to invade Earth! And it'll happen in one year. Of course, that's not the most important thing. There's also a monster heading for Earth, and that is... huh?"

At that moment, Jaco belatedly noticed something behind Li Ming. He tilted his head and looked at it curiously.

Li Ming was already irritated by Jaco's habit of dragging out his words and was about to ask who else it was when Jaco suddenly sprang back, staring at him warily.

"Y-you're a Saiyan!?"

"Uh..."

Li Ming had not noticed that his tail was exposed. In fact, it had grown back before he arrived on Yardrat. Jaco had only failed to notice it then because Li Ming had deliberately kept it hidden.

This was going to be hard to explain.

Li Ming had a headache. He wanted to know who else was heading to Earth. Judging by Jaco's reaction, it was probably someone dangerous.