Inquiring About the Path to Breakthrough

"Super Saiyan 4?"

Old Kai frowned, stroking his long white beard as he narrowed his eyes. His face was full of confusion. "What form is that? How come I've never heard that name before?"

"Super Saiyan 4."

"Super Saiyan... 4?" His eyes suddenly went wide. Even the hand buried in his beard froze, and his previously drooping eyelids snapped open as though Chen Hao had said something he simply could not believe.

"You brat! You've actually surpassed the limits of Super Saiyan and reached that legendary state!"

His voice trembled with excitement. He could barely walk steadily as he took two steps forward, looking as if he wanted to pull Chen Hao apart and inspect him from head to toe to see just how extraordinary this Super Saiyan 4 was.

Chen Hao showed no reaction. His eyes remained as calm as a stagnant pool. "I came to ask you a question."

"What is it?"

Old Kai reined in his excitement. He quickly realized that Chen Hao was not here to chat this time; his expression was far more serious than before.

"About breaking through Super Saiyan 4."

Chen Hao stared straight into his eyes, his gaze sharp enough to cut. "I've been stuck at the bottleneck of full-power Super Saiyan 4 for three years. I've worn out my fists, trained until I collapsed, and tried again and again in battle to break through that wall, but I never succeeded. Now I want to know—how do I reach Super Saiyan 5?"

The moment he finished speaking, even the wind seemed to stop.

The broken sword fragments no longer rolled across the ground, and the birdsong from the distant cliffs seemed to drift farther away.

Old Kai narrowed his eyes, as if weighing whether Chen Hao had truly made up his mind.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice carrying a suppressed heaviness. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"I'm sure." Chen Hao's voice was hard, like an iron plate striking the ground.

"Fine." Old Kai took a deep breath, his chest rising as the golden patterns on his divine robes flashed faintly.

"If you want to break through Super Saiyan 4 and go beyond it, you must learn Ultra Instinct."

"Ultra Instinct?" Chen Hao frowned, and for the first time, a trace of emotion stirred in his eyes. "Isn't that the power used by Beerus, God of Destruction?"

"Yes, that one." Old Kai nodded, his gaze deepening at once. "That is the realm of gods. No matter how mortals force themselves, they cannot reach it. Don't expect your willpower to make your body react with such divine precision. At that point, the body has to act on its own—without the mind interfering, without consciousness making judgments. Only when body, soul, and ki become one, completely united, can you touch that realm."

Chen Hao's fingers tightened, and his knuckles cracked softly.

He lowered his head to look at his palm, as if contemplating something.

But Old Kai suddenly changed his tone, his words carrying a teasing note. "If you want to practice Ultra Instinct, the first step is to break your body's limits and make your ki undergo a qualitative transformation. Your ki is strong now, but in the end, it's still at a mortal level. Without that transformation, even if you train for ten thousand years, you'll still only be a Super Saiyan 4."

Chen Hao looked up. "How do I transform my ki?"

The corners of Old Kai's mouth curved upward, his smile carrying the air of an old fox.

He stroked his beard, and his eyes held a wisdom that suddenly sent a chill through one's heart, like an abyss smiling directly at you.

Slowly, he dropped a few words, each one crashing into the air:

"It's simple—you have to... die once."

The light of dusk fell upon the towering dome of the temple, slanting across the marble floor in shafts of gold. Fine dust hung in the air, drifting slowly through the light.

The entire hall was silent, with only the distant sound of wind and the faint fragrance of flowers from the courtyard.

Chen Hao's brow twitched. His dark brown pupils were like a lake struck by a falling stone, ripples spreading across them. "Die once?"

Old Kai stood in the center of the temple, slowly moving his hands and beard. His beard glimmered silver-white in the sunlight.

An inscrutable smile hung on his lips. "That's right."

He paused, and the traces of worldly experience passed through his aged eyes. "I don't mean faking your death. I mean complete death. Only by personally crossing the threshold between life and death can you break the shackles of a Saiyan body—your race is like that. After recovering from near death, your power surges dramatically. You should know that better than anyone."

Chen Hao folded his arms, his fingers gripping his elbows, his gaze full of thought. "But I've already died before."

"Aren't you still standing here?" Old Kai shot him a glare, looking just like an old man exasperated by a child.

He waved a hand, his brows scrunching together. "I mean you need to die again—truly die, then come back. Not possessing another body—you must step into death once, then return to this world."

Chen Hao fell silent for several seconds and lowered his head. His gaze suddenly became so deep that it seemed to pierce through a thousand years.

Slowly, he raised his head and looked straight at Old Kai. "You want me to willingly die?"

"In theory, yes." Old Kai nodded, his voice echoing through the hall.

He raised a finger and pointed at his own chest. "And it has to be real death. Not unconsciousness, not the loss of consciousness—you need your heart to stop beating, your blood to stop flowing, your lungs to stop breathing, until even your life force is gone. The kind of death where even the King of Hell would put a full stop beside your name in the Book of Life and Death."

The moment he finished speaking, Android 18 suddenly rushed forward. Her golden hair drew a bright arc through the air as her face turned icy, her lips pressed into a thin line. Her fingers clutched Chen Hao's arm so tightly that her fingertips nearly dug through his sleeve. "No! This is too crazy!"

The blue light in her eyes was thick with unease.

Chen Hao gently took her hand, feeling the warmth in her palm. He patted the back of her hand, signaling for her not to panic.

Then he turned to Old Kai and asked, "Is there any other way?"

"Do you think this is as simple as drinking water or eating?" Old Kai spread his hands and shrugged, carrying the helpless air of a mischievous old man. "Of course the risk matters. But if you want to break through a Saiyan's limits, how can you do it without risking your life? This is the only path I know. You're gambling with life and death—do you think that comes cheap?"

Chen Hao's frown gradually eased. He lightly rubbed his chin. "What exactly is Ultra Instinct?"

"That's the second step." Old Kai spoke slowly, his voice low as though reciting scripture. "You must first break through to Super Saiyan 5 before you're even qualified to learn Ultra Instinct."

His withered hand gestured through the air. "This is no ordinary technique—it is a divine skill. You must make your body sense danger automatically and react directly, without needing that battle-trained brain of yours to think. You may be powerful now, but your body and consciousness still follow the Saiyan instinct of charging headlong into everything. You're like a dull blade; only the tempering of life and death can make you worthy of an edge."

Old Kai let out a long sigh and turned his gaze into the distance. "Ultra Instinct... even Gods of Destruction need to study it for a long time. It isn't something anyone can learn just because they want to."

Chen Hao nodded, his eyes reflecting that beam of golden light.

At that moment, Supreme Kai Shin, who had remained silent in the corner, finally gathered the courage to speak. There was nervousness and curiosity in his voice. "Um..."

He swallowed and asked carefully, "The Ultra Instinct you mentioned—is that the technique Lord Beerus uses in the legends?"