Mount Paozu Forever

The afterglow of the Co-Prosperity Conference was like Mount Paozu's autumn maples—brilliantly red for a while, then slowly falling into the soil of everyday life.

By five in the morning, Chi-Chi's apron was already rustling in the kitchen. She had ordered a new batch of organic flour, sent from Universe 6's Saiyan base—Caulifla said it was the first crop of wheat they had grown themselves, tended for over half a year according to the organic farming methods Chi-Chi had taught during her earlier training sessions, and the harvest had turned out unexpectedly well. The day Chi-Chi received the flour, she opened the bag and smelled it for a long time before steaming a basket of buns with it. Son Goku ate several in one go and said the buns tasted like Universe 6. Ji Ming asked what Universe 6 tasted like. After thinking for a long time, Son Goku said it tasted like... buns. Chi-Chi laughed so hard beside him that she nearly tore the ties off her apron.

At Kami's Lookout, Dende's healing technique training course had already reached its third session. The first group of trainees had been medical representatives from various universes; the second expanded to Saiyan military doctors and emergency department chiefs from major Earth hospitals; by the third, even Universe 11's Pride Troopers had sent two medical officers to sit in. Dende stood in the plaza at Kami's Lookout, still shorter than the podium, but his voice had long lost the childishness he had possessed years ago on Namek. When lecturing on "wave-frequency calibration for cross-species healing techniques," he habitually used his antennae to trace waveforms in the air. The trainees found it funny at first, but later discovered that the waveforms he drew were more precise than any holographic projection.

Piccolo still stood at the edge of Kami's Lookout every evening, gazing down at the sea of clouds. He had kept that habit since becoming Earth's god, and he continued it to this day. The difference was that he had once stood there alone. Now Nail stood beside him, and Dende occasionally carried over a small stone stool and sat at his feet. The sight of three Namekians lined up watching the clouds was secretly photographed by Krillin and posted in the Universe 7 Core Combat Power group chat, captioned: "Kami's Lookout sunset tour group. Admission free. Bring your own pumpkins." Piccolo did not reply after seeing it, but the next day he sent an old photo of Krillin being thrown to the floor by Vegeta in the Gravity Chamber as retaliation. The group chat instantly erupted. Krillin spammed over a dozen stickers in an attempt to push the photo out of view. This meme war finally ended when Ji Ming posted a picture of Vegeta holding Trunks, captioned, "Vegeta Holding a Bomb.jpg." Vegeta himself saw it and replied with one word: Delete. Ji Ming did not delete it. Bulma took a screenshot and archived it.

The Gravity Chamber complex in New Vegeta City became a famous landmark of Universe 7. Bulma shared the blueprints with Universe 6, and Caulifla's group was replicating a scaled-down version on their side. King Vegeta's assessment was, "The gravity multiplier is too low. It should at least be doubled." Champa immediately retorted through cross-universe communications, "You think everyone is as insane as you Universe 7 Saiyans?" Beerus coolly added from beside him, "So you admit you're inferior to us." The two Gods of Destruction began arguing again, and Whis and Vados simultaneously muted their respective Gods of Destruction.

Ji Ming's Ultra Instinct entered a new stage. After the Tournament of Power, he spent a long time repeatedly reviewing every frame of data from his final battle with Jiren. Combining that with the godly cultivation notes Whis had left behind, he gradually worked out a method of merging Ultra Instinct with other Saiyan forms. The red aura of Super Saiyan God and the silvery-white radiance of Ultra Instinct no longer had to alternate. They could overlap and fuse for extremely brief moments, creating an unprecedented form of interwoven red-and-silver light. When Whis came by to mooch a meal last time, he saw Ji Ming testing the new form in Mount Paozu's back hills. Smiling, he remarked, "If Lord Beerus saw this, he would probably want to fight you again," then helped himself to a box of cookies Chi-Chi had just baked.

Frieza's reform under probation continued. His application during the Tournament of Power had been approved by Earth's court. He was allowed to retain part of his combat power on the condition that he regularly provide combat simulation data to the Saiyan recruit training camp. He performed that task exceptionally well—after reviewing the simulation data Frieza submitted, Piccolo reluctantly admitted, "His combat intelligence is indeed higher than I expected." Frieza wore a standard fake smile upon hearing that, then replied in an extraordinarily elegant tone that he had no need for praise from a Namekian. Son Gohan expressionlessly added a line to their conversation log: Recommendation: the two of you collaborate on a set of cross-species joint defense tactics. Submit a draft next week. Frieza and Piccolo glared at Son Gohan simultaneously. Son Gohan pointed to the chief editor badge on his chest and said it was an order. Watching from the side, Ji Ming felt that the way this world operated was becoming more and more interesting.

That afternoon, Krillin and Android 18 came to Mount Paozu as guests. The moment Android 18 entered, she set a thermal container on Chi-Chi's stove. Inside was tomato beef stew she had made. Krillin and Ji Ming sat in the courtyard drinking tea, while Android 18 and Chi-Chi chatted about something in the kitchen, muffled laughter occasionally drifting out. Listening to it, Ji Ming suddenly remembered that when he had first crossed into this world years ago, Android 18 had still been a cold-blooded killer under Dr. Gero's control. Now, she was in Mount Paozu's kitchen discussing how to stew tomato beef with Chi-Chi, while Krillin drank tea with a Saiyan outside. The change was not about increased combat power, but a complete reversal in how they lived.

"What are you smiling about?" Krillin asked, holding his teacup.

"Nothing." Ji Ming took a sip of tea. "I just think tomato beef stew is pretty good."

A few days later, a Universe 6 Saiyan delegation arrived, personally led by Caulifla. This time, though, the nature of the visit was completely different—it was purely a friendly exchange.

Caulifla was still barefoot, with Kale following beside her clutching a notebook. Cabba and several Universe 6 Saiyan warriors walked behind them, each carrying agricultural products grown by their own hands.

The signing ceremony was held at Capsule Corp headquarters in West City. Bulma prepared a full-scale, top-tier reception plan, complete with red carpet, champagne, and everything else. But Caulifla was clearly not interested in such formal occasions. The moment the ceremony ended, she rushed straight for Mount Paozu. As soon as she entered, she shouted at Chi-Chi, "Tempura!" Chi-Chi had been prepared. She brought out a platter of tempura that had long been ready, and Caulifla grabbed several shrimp with both hands, her cheeks puffing out like a hamster's. Vegeta came up from behind and rapped her on the back of the head, saying that Saiyans needed manners when they ate too. Caulifla looked up at him and said, "Don't you grab ribs with your hands too?" Vegeta's hand froze in midair, and his expression stiffened for a moment. Krillin murmured from the side, "She's not wrong."

Kale's training results were better than anyone had expected. She could now maintain the power of her berserk form in her normal state without losing control, though when her emotions occasionally surged, her wild green aura still leaked out uncontrollably. Vegeta gave her plenty of crucial advice along the path of Instinctive Destruction. He never praised her verbally, but Ji Ming noticed that whenever Vegeta corrected Kale's punching angles, he cursed at her a little less.

"I heard you've been searching for ruins of the primordial gods lately." Caulifla got straight to the point at the dinner table. "Cabba detected similar energy fluctuations in the frontier starfields of Universe 6. If you're heading into the dimensional rift, count us in."

"This isn't a fight. We're investigating ruins, and it could be dangerous." Ji Ming put down his chopsticks.

"Who'd go if it wasn't dangerous?" Caulifla grinned, wearing the distinctly Saiyan smile of someone eagerly anticipating battle. Kale gently tugged at her sleeve from beside her, but she was smiling faintly as well.

Ji Ming watched her for a few seconds, his peripheral vision sweeping across Vegeta and Son Goku. Vegeta stood with his arms crossed in silence, while Son Goku sat cross-legged atop a boulder and gave a slight nod. Ji Ming looked back, met Caulifla's fearless eyes, and nodded.

"We'll notify you of the departure time. But for this investigation, the main team leaders will be sent by Universe 6. You've spent more time operating in the frontier dimensions, so you're more familiar with the patterns of the fluctuations." After saying that, he lifted his teacup. "Also—your organic flour is good. Chi-Chi says send more next time."

Caulifla froze for a moment, then smiled brilliantly. Chi-Chi took the opportunity to ask whether they could make daifuku with Universe 6's glutinous rice as well, and Kale quickly wrote it down.

It was morning again. Ji Ming sat alone in meditation atop a boulder on Mount Paozu, his breathing steady and deep. Wind at the summit gently stirred the needles of the distant pine forest, while the golden light of Kami's Lookout flickered between the clouds. He reached out, plucked a pine needle from a branch beside him, and placed it on his fingertip. The needle glimmered pale gold in the morning light. The wind softly blew it away, and it silently drifted down onto the cover of the notebook resting on his knees. The universes of the two Zenos remained full of unknowns, but he had learned one truth: peaceful everyday life was what a warrior should protect most.

At dinner, Chi-Chi made a huge pot of braised pork. Sitting in his usual spot, Ji Ming used his chopsticks to move aside the top layer of meat. Sure enough, a tempura shrimp was buried at the bottom of his bowl. He picked it up and took a bite.

At dusk in late autumn on Mount Paozu, wind poured down from the ridge, making the pine forest rustle. Ji Ming sat cross-legged on a boulder in the courtyard, an old notebook with curled pages spread over his knees. Since his Ultra Instinct had entered a new stage, the range of his perception of ki had nearly doubled. Now, even while sitting on Mount Paozu, he could faintly catch weak dimensional fluctuations from an enormous distance away. Those fluctuations came from the frontier regions where the twelve universes met, like wisps of blue smoke sealed inside a glass cover, occasionally drifting over in faint traces of impurities that belonged to no known energy spectrum. He knew what they were—the ruins of the primordial gods still contained something that was slowly breathing.

Whis had sent the latest observation report a week ago. The positional accuracy of that dimensional rift at the border between Universes 6 and 7 had narrowed from "an error of several light-years" to "stable wormholes can be opened." Attached to the report was a scan of a fragmented manuscript provided by the Supreme Kai of Universe 12. It had been left behind by the primordial gods and written in extremely ancient cuneiform. Scholars of Universe 12 had spent a long time translating just the first section. The translation indicated that a primordial god named Spela was sealed within that dimensional rift. The manuscript called him a "Guardian," whose duty was to protect the boundary between the primordial gods and the newborn gods. During the reconstruction of the multiverse's order, all Guardians unwilling to submit to Zeno's system had been erased. Spela was the only one who had chosen to seal himself voluntarily. What he had sealed was not himself, but a dimensional passage called the Primordial Corridor. According to the manuscript, that corridor connected to the starting point of the age of old gods. If opened by force, it could have unpredictable effects on the physical laws of the existing twelve universes.

"He sealed himself together with the corridor for so long because he didn't want it opened. If he awakens, it means the seal has deteriorated to the point where even his slumber can no longer sustain it. When that happens, we must establish contact with Spela before any other force finds the corridor—so that no one can open it without authorization." Ji Ming consolidated all the intelligence at the combat meeting on Mount Paozu. Vegeta, Son Goku, Piccolo, Nail, Son Gohan, Krillin, Caulifla, and Kale were all present. Whis attended remotely as an angel, while Beerus ate Chi-Chi's freshly fried tempura nearby.

"Some things belonging to the primordial gods can erase the gods of the present. The Grand Priest hasn't issued a formal commission this time, but many pages in the observation log he sent were marked, 'Universe 7 attention recommended.'" Whis's voice came from the wristband, still gentle but less lighthearted than usual. Beerus slowed slightly as he chewed his tempura, but said nothing, merely giving a snort through his nose.

The division of responsibilities was quickly determined. Ji Ming, Vegeta, Son Goku, and Piccolo would enter the dimensional rift to carry out the core investigation. Nail, Caulifla, and Kale would establish a multilayered sealing formation outside the rift, with Dende coordinating remotely to maintain the formation's near-Earth synchronization. Krillin and Tien Shinhan would remain at Kami's Lookout for immediate response, while Son Gohan would oversee all rear support coordination. The fleet was scheduled to depart two days later.

The wormhole exit opened in a boundless expanse of deep purple void. There were no stars, no directions, no points of reference—only faint bands of golden-white light leaking from a distant dimensional crack like frozen lightning. Ji Ming and Son Goku entered their Ultra Instinct forms at the same time. The instant their silvery-white auras lit up, a path paved in pale golden aurora automatically emerged through the void. At the end of that path, a giant door made of pure energy slowly took shape.

The door had no handle and no keyhole. Only a line of primordial god script was carved into its lintel. Piccolo's antennae trembled slightly as he translated the text through mental perception: "I sleep to guard the boundary. Whoever awakens me must relinquish the heart of dominion."

Ji Ming stepped forward and pressed his palm against the door. The silvery-white radiance of Ultra Instinct seeped from his palm into the door's patterns, while the godly ki of the Crimson-Gold Light Core slowly merged with it. In that instant, his thoughts were pulled back through countless images from the past—the cooking smoke of Mount Paozu, the towel Vegeta had handed him in the Gravity Chamber, the tempura Son Goku buried in his bowl, Chi-Chi clutching his hand while standing on a field ridge. He had never fought to dominate anything. These were not burdens to him. They were answers that required no hesitation.

Sensing his consciousness, the massive door silently opened inward.

Beyond it lay a vast space made entirely of aurora. The ground was not solid, but flowing aurora supported by some sort of transparent light membrane. Countless streams of light extended from every direction toward the center, where a gigantic humanoid silhouette floated at their convergence. Its body was made of translucent golden-white light crystals, like ancient starlight frozen in amber. Its hands were crossed over its chest, its eyes tightly closed, and the glow on its surface pulsed at an extremely slow rhythm.

Piccolo made direct mental contact with Spela. His Namekian antennae synchronized with his sensory system, translating the ancient language into intermittent phrases. Ji Ming's consciousness was drawn by Spela into an ancient vision of a galaxy—not the dark-golden void of the trial grounds, but a true starry sky from the era of the primordial gods billions of years ago. Spela's voice surged in from all directions. It was no longer an ancient echo of consciousness, but a calm and solemn tone closer to reality.

"Inheritor—no, new Guardian. The godly bloodline of the primordial Saiyans flows through you, but your heart is younger and freer. You must have already realized this: when you returned the godly bloodline and awakened all the dormant Saiyans across the twelve universes, the first seal on the Primordial Corridor began to loosen. I was not sealed within this space. I remained here by choice, guarding the corridor's entrance. But after billions of years, the seal has reached the threshold of natural decay. Forcing it to remain serves no purpose."

Ji Ming calmly looked upon the vision of stars. "We didn't come to open the corridor. We came to make sure no one opens it from outside. If your seal is about to vanish, then what we can do is replace the old seal with a new one—with all of our strength."

Spela remained silent for a long time. Light patterns slowly churned inside the golden-white crystalline silhouette, as though it were rereading every detail of the new generation before it. Its perception passed one by one over Vegeta, Son Goku, Piccolo, Nail, Caulifla, Kale, and then Dende farther away, who was reinforcing the formation with ancient Namekian sealing arrays, along with every companion sustaining the barriers from the rear. At last, it slowly lowered its head and moved its giant hand away from its chest.

"Guardians of the new generation, your will is no less than that of any primordial god. I will no longer bear this door alone. Inheritor, join every companion present and pour your power into the sealing core of the corridor. From this day onward, the key to the Primordial Corridor will be entrusted to you."

Vegeta's Silver Blue aura erupted first, and high-precision beams of Instinctive Destruction poured into the sealing core. Son Goku's silvery-white Ultra Instinct followed close behind, then Piccolo and Nail's dual Namekian sealing array, and Caulifla and Kale's crimson Super Saiyan God resonance. At the center of them all, Ji Ming spread out the godly ki of the Crimson-Gold Light Core into an enormous red-gold curtain of light, weaving everyone's power into a brand-new seal upheld jointly by the new generation of warriors from all twelve universes.

When the final light pattern embedded itself into the corridor entrance, Spela's silhouette began to weaken slowly. Countless particles of golden-white light peeled away from its surface and flowed into the aurora beneath everyone's feet. Before its consciousness finally faded, it left Ji Ming with one final sentence: "I am the last shadow of the primordial gods. You are the new generation living in the present. From now on, the Primordial Corridor will no longer be a prison, but a bridge built together by all who are willing to protect it."

The trembling void settled, and the aurora path slowly faded. The great door closed once more behind them, but at the end of the primordial god inscription upon it, a new line had appeared—one sentence engraved in ancient Namekian, Saiyan ki-patterns, and Earth writing alike: Guardians, the handover takes place here.

When the fleet returned to Earth, cooking smoke was rising from Mount Paozu right on schedule.

The wormhole exit opened less than a few hundred meters above Mount Paozu. Bulma had specifically set the landing coordinates far away, afraid the exhaust would scorch Chi-Chi's newly turned vegetable plot. Yet the moment the fleet came to a stop, Vegeta was the first to jump down the gangway. His heel landed right on the edge of a freshly repaired radish bed, trampling a row of seedlings until they toppled every which way. Chi-Chi stormed out of the kitchen with a spatula in hand. Vegeta walked toward the Gravity Chamber without looking back, his pace nearly twice as fast as usual. Watching from afar, Bulma silently wrote a note in her notebook: Add a Chi-Chi buffer zone outside the Gravity Chamber.

When Ji Ming came down the gangway, Chi-Chi was crouched beside the radish bed, straightening each fallen seedling one by one. She did not nag Vegeta, nor did she complain about the fleet landing site committee. She merely looked up at Ji Ming and said, "There's porridge in the pot. Serve yourself."

Ji Ming entered the kitchen and lifted the lid of the clay pot on the stove. Heat rushed into his face. The white rice porridge bubbled away, with a small plate of pickled radish and half a salted duck egg beside it. He filled a bowl and carried it into the courtyard, sitting on the boulder polished smooth by Son Goku's years of meditation. He drank mouthful after mouthful. The porridge was hot, the rice soft and tender, and the salted egg yolk flowed with golden-red oil—just like it had years ago.

That afternoon, Krillin and Android 18 arrived with Marron. The moment Krillin entered, he slapped his thigh and said he had heard about the dimensional rift, continuing to slap it for a good while before stopping. He went into the kitchen and cooked a huge table of dishes with Chi-Chi, while Android 18 contributed a beef stew. At dusk, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu arrived from their martial arts grounds deep in the mountains, carrying several large boxes of vegetables they had grown themselves. Nappa brought half a wild boar leg over his shoulder. He had set out early specifically to have it roasted for nearly two hours at a certified barbecue area in New Vegeta City. When he set it on the table, grease still sizzled across its surface as he declared that this time, it was definitely not burnt. King Vegeta arrived last with several old Saiyan generals. He brought no adjutants, only several bottles of homemade fruit wine bought from a newly opened winery in the Saiyan settlement. Piccolo and Nail came steadily down from Kami's Lookout, Piccolo carrying a large bag of pumpkins. When Krillin opened the door and saw Piccolo voluntarily bringing pumpkins, he commented, "Saiyan autumn has truly arrived." Piccolo ignored him, but took a pumpkin from the bag and set it directly on Krillin's personal chair.

Ji Ming sat in his old seat, watching the room fill with people squeezing past one another. Pan stood on tiptoe, stretching her chopsticks toward the farthest plate of tempura; Marron helped steady her chair beside her; Chi-Chi emerged from the kitchen carrying the final dish, steamed sea bass, calling for everyone to sit. Amid clinking cups and dishes, no one asked how dangerous the dimensional rift had been, and no one asked whether the primordial god seal would fail again. They simply passed chopsticks to one another, fought over ribs, and complained about Vegeta trampling the radish bed.

Vegeta finally spoke. "I didn't step on it on purpose today."

Chi-Chi was lifting a piece of pumpkin toward Piccolo's bowl. At his words, her chopsticks froze in midair. Everyone turned to look at Vegeta. Vegeta looked at no one. He only poked at the ribs in his bowl with his chopsticks and said in an extremely serious tone, "I already had Bulma allocate a dedicated fund to compensate for that vegetable plot."

The whole table fell silent for several moments. Chi-Chi put down the pumpkin, walked over, and gently patted Vegeta on the shoulder. "You've finally learned to apologize. That's a good thing." Then she added, "But if you step on my vegetable plot again, that dedicated fund doubles."

Krillin couldn't hold back his laughter, only for Vegeta to flick him precisely in the forehead with his chopsticks from across the table. The laughter mingled with the steam from the food and drifted out the windows of Mount Paozu, over the carrot patch Vegeta had trampled, over the clearing where Ji Ming had first erupted into Super Saiyan form at four and a half, over the massive boulder polished bright from Son Goku sitting cross-legged on it year after year, until it melted into the golden light shimmering from Kami's Lookout in the dusk.

Late at night, Ji Ming and Son Goku sat side by side on the roof. Son Goku tilted his head up at the star-filled sky, the Power Pole resting across his knees, with no silver aura of Ultra Instinct igniting around him. Ji Ming pulled out the old notebook Chi-Chi had stuffed into his arms, flipped to the last few pages, and drew out a photograph. Written on the back in blue ballpoint pen were the words—"Son Gohan, age four, helping Mommy pick vegetables for the first time."

Below the roof, Chi-Chi and Bulma chatted as they washed dishes in the kitchen, planning next spring's vegetable patch. At Kami's Lookout, Dende was using the star trails of his healing technique to conduct graduation assessments for a new group of trainees, while Nail spread out the newly compiled sealing technique textbook beside him. The nightscape of New Vegeta City reflected against the edge of the distant mountain shadows, and lights in the Saiyan residential district quietly came on one after another.

Ji Ming put the photograph back into the notebook and closed it. Then he heard Goku speak beside him. "The matter of the Primordial Corridor isn't over yet. The time Spela mentioned is only the beginning here. There are still several ancient seals that need to be checked one by one, and next month we'll have to patrol the border of Universe 2 again."

"I know."

"Good." Son Goku rose to his feet, slung the Power Pole over his shoulder, and called down from the roof, "Chi-Chi—what are we having for breakfast tomorrow?"

Chi-Chi's vigorous reply came from the kitchen: "Steam your own buns! And don't go sneaking raw dough again!" Ji Ming stood and followed Son Goku as he jumped off the roof. The wind of Mount Paozu swept through the pine forest and skimmed over the massive boulder. There would always be a bowl and chopsticks for him on the table, and at the bottom of that bowl, there would always be a tempura shrimp. In the distance, the golden light of Kami's Lookout shimmered quietly between the clouds. Below the mountain, the lights of New Vegeta City were spreading outward in widening circles. Tomorrow morning, the panel in the Gravity Chamber would light up again, and new vegetable seeds would sprout once more in that trampled carrot patch.